Walter Wolfman Washington is a soulful musician of rare talent, as well as a deep thinker and hip philosopher, and his hometown is New Orleans. Walter has cut his teeth for the last 50 years playing everywhere from European festivals to bars that Google Maps will never find. New Orleans is notorious for its wildness, parades, and celebrations. New Orleans is Mardi Gras, but it‰۪s also the uptown class of Allen Toussaint and hip style and language of Dr. John. Walter has always embodied both, but finally we have a set of songs that reflects the yin to Walter‰۪s bring-the-party yang. This is the record that we all have known he has in him. This is the night after that party, or maybe just the after party. He‰۪s been given free rein to express himself, and that‰۪s special. Producer Ben Ellman has assembled a sympathetic group of musicians from keyboardists Jon Cleary and Ivan Neville to a versatile rhythm section of bassist James Singleton and drummer Stanton Moore. Soul Queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas lends her voice to a cut and matches Wolfman note for note. Those two go back a long way. Walter played guitar in Irma‰۪s band in the late 1960s. Can you picture how much fun that might have been? And this is their first recording together. His future is his past indeed. ‰ÛÓ DAVID KUNIAN, WWOZ New Orleans/ Curator, New Orleans Jazz Museum