Karen Ponzio Photo
Christine Ohlman and Jim Chapdelaine.
There are three things you can count on in December: stores jammed with holiday shoppers, roads jammed with holiday travelers, and Christine Ohlman jamming though The Beehive Holiday Blowout at Cafe Nine. The 10th annual event happened Sunday during the Sunday Buzz with the legendary Beehive Queen, her sweet as honey band, and a hive full of fans that sang and danced along nearly nonstop as the rain poured down outside.
“Whoa! You people are hopped up already!” shouted Ohlman as she came to the stage wearing a Santa-like jacket with golden garland draped around her neck while the crowd screamed and cheered.
(For those who are not in the know, Christine Ohlman is not only a local legend but a world-renowned one as well, performing as a vocalist for the Saturday Night Live Band since the 1990s and also performing live and recording with a staggering list of musicians. Check out her website and prepare to be amazed.)
Shouting out people from her hometown, Massachusetts, and all around Connecticut, she told everyone “this is our home, the musician’s living room, even Paul Mayer is here,” referring to the Nine’s former owner, who was in attendance.
She then let everyone know that her band, Rebel Montez, was down by two on this day due to illness, so she and drummer Lorne Entress made some calls and got “the A team” to join them for the afternoon.
Introducing the band, Ohlman added a bit about each of their many accomplishments. Drummer Entress had toured with Mary Chapin Carpenter, and in addition to being a part of Rebel Montez, also played with Big Al Anderson. Bassist Scott Spray had played with, among others, Johnnie Winter and Stevie Wonder. When introducing guitarist Jim Chapdelaine, she said “he has a handful of Emmys. We won’t let you know how he got them.”
Ohlman also let the audience know they would not be playing originals, but rather a “great list, a fantasia of the American Songbook and Christmas songs.”
And with that, she announced the first song would have “nothing to do with Christmas.” That song was “Who Do You Love?” by Bo Diddley, which right off the bat highlighted the raw and righteous beauty of these four performers, who dug deep and unearthed a soulfulness that honored the classic but gave it a fresh twist. Ohlman stopped in the midst of it to talk more about rock ‘n’ roll and performers, who had the juice and who thought they had it, while making the crowd laugh and smile and groove along. They kept their own juices flowing with a soul-stirring version of “Wade in the Water” next, Ohlman’s voice reverberating throughout the venue in a most holy manner.
Holiday songs happened too, including “Blue Christmas” by Ernest Tubb, who Ohlman referred to as a “badass,” and the current number one song in the country, “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee, before which Ohlman told the story of how she had been at Brenda Lee’s house. It was one of many stories she told during the set that also included words of wisdom, encouragement (especially to dance along to the songs), and gratitude.
Before the band launched into “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield — who Ohlman said she loved “like nothing else” — she noted “it meant something in the ’60s and it means something now.”
“If you want to give me a present, take this song to heart from now until New Year’s,” she said, and then added with a smile “and then you can revert to your old ways,” which garnered laughs and cheers from the crowd.
Ohlman’s words and the band’s music combined to lift the audience into a state of spirited celebration. There wasn’t a thing she asked that they did not respond to, clapping along to Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” dancing along to “Sea of Heartbreak” — which saw Entress take lead vocals with Ohlman and Chapdelaine joining in on harmonies for the chorus. She also knew how to get them laughing, like when she announced right before Ray Charles’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You” that “Christmas is also a time for bittersweet things, and this song could really push you over the edge.”
The joy was seemingly endless and the songs were all beloved classics taken to another level: “This Train” by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who Ohlman called “one of the architects of rock ‘n’ roll”; “Green River” by John Fogerty; and “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding. More and more people sang along, and the dance floor in front of the stage filled up. By the time the band had banged their way through the Everly Brothers, Hank Williams, and Buddy Holly, you could feel the beat through the bar stools and barely see the band through the crowd of dancers bopping along with “Not Fade Away.”
Another Christmas tune, “Run Run, Rudolph,” really got the joint shaking, and after it was over Ohlman told the crowd they had “made her Christmas.”
“Every one of my records has premiered here,” she told them. “It’s my home. Long may the Nine wave.”
Ohlman wasn't the only one smiling, that's for sure.
After the final song, “Take Me to the River,” the crowd chanted for one more, which they were granted in the form of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” but before that Ohlman had one more request.
“Please be good to each other,” she implored. “Stop all of the hate. If we start in New Haven, maybe it will spread all over the world.” By the time the song was over, and after the standing ovation and the dozens of conversations and hugs shared throughout the room, one could believe that anything Ohlman touched with her voice, her heart, and her soul had a chance of coming true.
