Issue Articles — Features
Rollicking and Playful: Marcia Ball featured at Blues and Barbecue and Funk Fests
As Hurricane Francine approached Louisiana in September 2024, Marcia Ball was at home on a sunny day in Austin, Texas. A resident of the Texas’ capital since 1970, the singer, piano player and songwriter lives on a street lined with old houses and oak trees in a neighborhood that could be in New Orleans, the source of her musical inspiration, or Baton Rouge, the city where her music career began.
Big Easy Boogie: Singer-pianist Mitch Woods Rendezvous in New Orleans
Mitch Woods fell in love with New Orleans music during his first visit to the city in 1981. A native of New York City and longtime West Coast resident, Woods has periodically lived in New Orleans. A boogie-woogie and rhythm-and-blues singer-pianist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, his next trip to the city will see him performing October 13 at the Crescent City Blues and Barbecue Festival and October 17 at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro.
Whose House? Shagg’s House!: Expect the Unexpected with Ryan “Shaggadelic” Batiste
Ryan “Shaggadelic” Batiste has been in the lab, and the fruits of his labor are coming to light. He has a new album, Shagg’s House, as a featured artist with his group Raw Revolution at Gentilly Fest, and his own Locals’ Fest just turned five this year.
Living Up To Its Moniker: The TBC Brass Band
The TBC Brass Band, which closes out this year’s Treme Fall Festival on Saturday, October 26, 2024, has truly lived up to its name. Formed in 2002 by students at Carver and Kennedy high schools, it carried on and remained a unit through devastatingly tough hardships such as hurricane Katrina and the murder of a saxophonist Brandon Franklin.
Jonathon “Boogie” Long: Missing mentor Luther Kent, but moving forward
Jonathon “Boogie” Long has been making music for 30 of his 36 years on Earth. From a family of singers, he first played guitar at six years old. Growing up in the Baton Rouge area with sacred music, rhythm-and-blues, blues, jazz fusion and jam band music, he evolved into the eclectic performer and songwriter heard on his four, soon to be five albums.
Boo! Ghosts Are Watching: Stoo Odom on His Spooky New Album
In 2013, after nearly two decades in San Francisco, the nimble-fingered bass man and composer Stoo Odom moved back to his birthplace, where he was conceived in what is now the New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum and his father co-founded the legendary Maple Leaf Bar.
50 Years and Tomorrow: Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Celebrates 50
If you haven’t heard by now, brace yourself for a shock: Festivals Acadiens et Créoles (FAeC) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Halfway to the centurion mark is astoundingly remarkable for anything, corporations, marriages, let alone a grassroots, non-commercial festival.
Genres Be Damned: Steve Lands and Kosmi(k)rewe makes his Satchmo SummerFest debut
How one might musically perceive trumpeter Steve Lands primarily depends on where you caught him be it at a live show, on a recording or even blowing his horn behind a gospel choir. The versatile musician, who’s making his Satchmo Summerfest debut as a leader, doesn’t play favs when it comes to styles.
Vibes and Wisdom: The Eye of Ben E. Hunter
Ben E. Hunter is back with Cross Roads, his ninth album, continuing down his unique lane with “New Orleans Afro-Caribbean Folk Music.” Though his story is quintessentially New Orleans, it’s also far different from that of most musicians. As expected, it was a no-holds-barred talk with insight and perspective.
The Deezle Chronicles: Part I
Darius “Deezle” Harrison is not only a multi-Grammy-winning producer now shaping the best and brightest musicians at The Throne, but he is also a great storyteller. His history is as New Orleans as it gets, and is a testament to focus, determination, and following what fulfills you. This is the first in a series:
