Maria Muldaur Brings Way Past Midnight Tour To Phoenix

by Kevin Wierzbicki

Maria Muldaur - October 17, 2024 - Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix

Maria Muldaur brought her Way Past Midnight tour to the music theater at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix for an evening that celebrated her more than 50-year career and the 50th anniversary of her hit "Midnight at the Oasis," to which the tour name refers. The show was a multi-media event where Maria told stories and gave background about each song before she played them, while photographs pertinent to each song were projected on a large screen behind her. There were some rarely-seen treasures in the photo montages, including shots of her with the likes of Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt and Dr. John.

With the three members of her Red Hot Bluesiana Band already on stage (guitarist Craig Caffall, keys man Chris Burns and drummer Dave Burns) Muldaur came out to a warm welcome from the audience and took a seat on a stool center stage. Maria began her storytelling "at the beginning" as she put it, recalling how she was raised in Greenwich Village in New York City, her earliest exposure to music, how she ran away from home and became a "mother's helper" to support herself and how she became involved in the nascent Greenwich Village folk scene where she met Bob Dylan. Dylan, in fact, was the one that encouraged her to perform the Peggy Lee-associated "I'm a Woman," an early number that remains a fan favorite today and was the first song performed during this Way Past Midnight show. Muldaur spoke about how she moved to North Carolina to learn the fiddle before she played the traditional song "Honey Baby Blues," of course playing fiddle on the cut.

The mid-set lineup of songs featured spoken intros about Maria's interactions with Dolly Parton, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Allen Touissant and JJ Cale as she performed "My Tennessee Mountain Home," "The Work Song," "Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues)" and Cale's bit of swamp rock eeriness, "Cajun Moon." One of the most touching moments of all the stories came when Muldaur played Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair" where she told how the elderly Carmichael came to the recording session for the song and ended up singing on it. After playing "Louisiana Love Call" which she originally recorded with Aaron Neville, Maria played what she called 'The Big Three' fan favorites: The naughty Blue Lu Barker tune "Don't You Feel My Leg," "It Ain't the Meat" and "Midnight at the Oasis." Muldaur's backing trio played exquisitely throughout the show as Chris Burns played bass electronically while also supplying melody on electric piano, Dave Burns kept a steady beat on a small kit and Caffall switched between acoustic and electric guitar, often garnering applause after his solos. One song in particular put a spotlight on Caffall as late in the show Muldaur played Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love" where he roared with attention-getting bursts of electric guitar while allowing plenty of space for Maria to shine with her vocals. Muldaur had already proven she still has great vocal chops earlier in the show but she put on a veritable clinic as she shrieked, howled and vamped through an acapella portion of the song that was nothing short of jaw-dropping; she even looked a bit stunned herself that she had pulled off the vocal showcase so flawlessly. The show was a rare event that not only delivered stellar music but also loads of charm from the much-beloved artist.

Find a list of upcoming Maria Muldaur shows here.

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