Manny About Town
Bill Wharton: Serving Up Blues and Gumbo

By Manny Meland

Manny Meland with Bill Wharton

Young Bill Wharton found an old guitar in back of his house in Monticello, Florida. He took it into the barn and taught himself to play. He also loved cooking. In later years, as a performer, he decided to put cooking and music in the same show. Some called it a gimmick.

“It’s the two things I’ve always loved to do – play music and cook gumbo,” Wharton says.

Florida’s own Bill Wharton, an American original, mixes his gladesy Florida blues with his swampy Florida gumbo. He stirs his blues with a twang of country, a pinch of gospel and some classic rock and roll. In town February 26 for Hollywood’s Mardi Gras Fiesta Tropical, Wharton appeared at WLRN for the South Florida Arts Beat program where he was interviewed by Ed Bell. Pollo Tropical did the cooking for the lunch we were served at the radio station.

Nevertheless, these Florida boys, Bill (Sauce Boss) Wharton from Monticello and his drummer, Big Jim Jennes from the Jacksonville area, were laying down the beat with Miami’s Bob (Beep Bop) Grabowski sitting in on the travel base, cooking up a heaping serving of groove and funk. He got down with a few tunes from his latest CD called Florida Blues. And blues he did, with “The Gumbo Song”, “Down in the Valley”, “Dirty Rice”, “I Broke My Heart”, “Whadya Gonna Do”, “We’re On Our Way” and “Going Back to Florida”.

Bill Wharton, Big Jim Jennes and Bob Grabowski perform at the WLRN studio in Miami

I tasted Wharton’s gumbo a couple of months ago when I caught his act at Tobacco Road. Even Jimmy Buffett loved his gumbo. Jimmy wrote a verse on his CD Beach House On The Moon called “I’ll Play For Gumbo”. Buffett and the Parrott Heads dig Wharton’s act.

While in town, Wharton found time to bring his show and gumbo to a homeless center in Miami. He does this in every city he performs. He reminded us that 35 percent of  homeless people are veterans and 25 percent of homeless people have mental problems. Some are employed but can’t afford housing. He has fed over 135,000 people through his charity Planet Gumbo. By taking his program to the homeless, he is in the tradition of other entertainers who wish to make this world a better place. Think of Willie Nelson and Farm Aid, and Bono of U-2 with his effort on behalf of Africa.