Issue Articles — Features
Traversing the Map: Corey “Passport P” Peyton raps with global ambition
“I’m looking at life through a wider frame,” Corey “Passport P” Peyton says in the intro track of his new solo rap project, Global Ambition, out May 11. It’s a […]
Jazz Fest A to Z
Get a Jump On It All you need to know is in our Jazz Fest Guide. > View our Full Online Guide OffBeat’s Jazz Fest “A to Z” contains […]
Do You Know What It Means?: Kermit Ruffins pays tribute to Louis Armstrong
When Louis Armstrong left New Orleans to go to Chicago in 1922, he joined up with his mentor, Joe “King” Oliver, and from there he went on to become one […]
Like Father Like Son: Willie Nelson’s son Lukas Nelson is a gifted songwriter and singer
Lukas Nelson, whose father is Willie Nelson, knew what he wanted to be when he was 6. The revelation arrived like a vision. In a dream, Nelson stood on a […]
San Francisco-based musician and promoter Mitch Stein feels at home in New Orleans
Mitch Stein scored his first success as a live-music promoter decades ago by booking New Orleans’ first family of funk, the Neville Brothers. While attending Syracuse University in the early […]
Alvin Fielder: Keeping the motion in the music with Kidd Jordan
“The first time Kidd and I played together in 1974 it was like instead of a kinship it was a twin-ship,” remembers master drummer Alvin Fielder of saxophonist Kidd Jordan. […]
Southern Crossroads Connection: Charles Lloyd with Lucinda Williams
If spirituality is predicated on the notion that there’s something bigger out there than ourselves, then it makes sense Charles Lloyd would not distinguish between his spiritual beliefs and his […]
Drums in the Bloodline: Weedie Braimah brings the African element to the music
Djembe master Weedie Braimah will be on stage at the Jazz Fest with trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, trombonist/trumpeter Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, percussionists Alexey Marti and Bill Summers and […]
Hey Pocky Way: A Mardi Gras Indian Jazz Fest guide
If you go to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, you gotta go see the Mardi Gras Indians at the Heritage Stage. It’s the perfect place to hear this […]
Samantha Fish’s polished guitar work and engaging vocals are a force to be reckoned with
Before Samantha Fish appears in the music video for “Blood in the Water,” from 2017’s Belle of the West, we see a man running in slow motion, his brow furrowed, […]