Artist:   Papa Mali
Song:   "Early in the Morning"
Album: Do Your Thing
Label:   Fog City Records
Year:    2007

Somewhere deep in the Louisiana bayou, a seance is happening with the swamp blues and deep funk grooves that is the essence of Papa Mali's music playing on repeat in the background. Nothing would please Mali, a devout believer in the spirit world and self-proclaimed High Deacon of the D.A.F.H. (Divine Assembly of Freaks and Heads) more.  For "Early in the Morning," he puts a voodoo spell on the 20th century Appalachian folk ballad "Little Sadie" by slightly altering the lyrics and and mixing it with a Mardi Gras Indian rhythm. The result is a wall-shaking, bass-laden version of the original about a man who shot his "girl" only to be apprehended and sentenced to jail.  Without bail.  Though Mali who is unsurprisingly a Louisiana native enlisted many of New Orlean's finest for this recording--Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Monk Boudreaux on percussion, the Dirty Dozen Band's Kirk Joseph on sousaphone and Henry Butler on piano--it's drummer Robb Kidd's uptempo caveman beats and Mali's distorted blues-heavy vocals that truly evoke ghosts of the bayou's past.