The High Hat is an excellent restaurant in St. Paul, known for its killer breakfast and brunch. But it also serves as a cozy music venue, often featuring jazz and jazz adjacent artists. On this particular Friday evening, it was Willie Wisely playing 60’s inspired soul being supported by The Tommy Barbarella Organ Combo. We covered Wisely’s appearance at Lakeville’s Pan-O-Prog in July, as well as having interviewed him. He’s a long-time Twin Cities musician, and his 2019 album Face the Sun is probably well aligned with the evening’s vibe. Tommy Barbarella is a keyboardist and was a member of The New Power Generation, the recording and stage band for Prince in the early 1990’s.

The first number, an instrumental, really let Barbarella run on the B3 organ. The rest of the band (guitar, bass, and drums) was instantly on and the strong bass in combo with the organ was outstanding. Wisely joined the rest of the band for a classic in Storehouse of His Love, and the crowd was fully into it. Face the Sun was indicative of the evening, as the title track was played with Wisely on acoustic guitar. A quick re-start of a cover of What the World Needs Now (“The drum brushes were out of tune!”), was the best early pairing of Wisely’s vocals and Barbarella’s B3. The B3 organ is a pretty great instrument with a very specific sound and Barbarella made it sing. Six Buckets of Kerosene was an early Wisely classic and that funk was perfect in this group’s hands, with both audience and band quickly getting the yelled lyrics near the end of the song. Drummer Dave Anania brought an extra level of intensity to that number which was particularly impressive. A final instrumental brought us to the end of the first set, and it was a hyperkinetic finish.

The second set opened with Wisely solo on acoustic for a couple of numbers, starting with a beautiful version of Through Any Window. That group of three songs, with the newer California, and the ethereal Vagabond was worth the price of admission itself. (Side note: drummer Anania came and stood next to me for that group of songs, having personally requested California. His quiet singing along was truly a moment of one artist’s respect for another. I was lucky to witness it up close.) The Tommy Barbarella Organ Combo was back on stage for another of their instrumentals and the jazz funk simply dripped as each musician got their moment in the sun and all were fantastic. The whole group back together, Wisely was clearly having a blast and the second hour was flying by. A sly moment by the band to play a little backing music while he tuned and then introduced the next song was a good set up for There’s One in Every Generation. A Christmas song was timely both for the season and with all of the recent snow. You’ll Never Find was a perfect cover for this group as Barbarella was off the charts and Wisely was dancing all across the venue. A final bit of walk off music for Wisely had the band closing to Booker T & the MG’s Green Onions, about as cool and perfect a number. Willie Wisely and friends had put on a heck of a performance and the atmosphere was buzzing as a happy crowd headed towards merch and to visit with the artists.