Issue Articles
Jessie Hill (1932-1996)
New Orleans lost one of its more colorful rhythm and blues artists September 17, when Jessie Hill succumbed to kidney and heart failure. He was 64. Hill is best known for recording one of New Orleans’ most distinctive — and successful — records, “Ooh Poo Pah Doo,” Jessie Hill was born December 9, 1932.
Bounce Music Hits the local rap scene
Who would have thought six years ago when bounce music first hit the local rap scene that it would still be around today? Sure it was catchy and easy to dance to—repetitive chants over “Triggerman” beats and numerous other funky tracks—but did it have lasting appeal?
Louisiana Music Factory celebrates its 10th Anniversary
Blues record buyers know that the first place to look for those new, used or reissued albums by their favorite blues artists is in the capacious CD bins at the Louisiana Music Factory, the one-of-a-kind record shop on Decatur Street just across from House of Blues in the French Quarters.
Harold Battiste Recovers
“I’m coming along pretty good,” says Harold Battiste, the legendary jazz musician, record label founder and teacher, speaking from his room at Touro Infirmary. Battiste suffered a stroke on May 21; since early June, he’s been in rehabilitation at Touro, and is scheduled to go home by mid-July.
Jimmy’s Celebrates Its First 15 Years
It’s been 15 years since Jimmy Anselmo purchased the pool hall at 8200 Willow Street, booted out the regular clientele—which mostly consisted of patients from a methadone clinic up the street—and opened Jimmy’s Music Club. Originally, Anselmo intended for the joint to focus on jazz, but he quickly decided he’d do better with more popular styles of music. For his first weekend, he booked Lil’ Queenie and the Percolators and a new musical alliance called the Neville Brothers.
Costuming in New Orleans
Costuming, in New Orleans, is a religion. This religion has two high holy days–Halloween and Mardi Gras. Halloween is reserved for scary, outrageous and/or sexy costumes while Mardi Gras is the time when devotees opt for the simply outrageous and/or sexy. At Halloween, one can be a slutty cheerleader with a slashed jugular vein; at Mardi Gras, being a slutty cheerleader (if you’re male) is enough to satisfy the tenets of doctrine.
Backtalk with Earl King
The seventh son of a seventh son, Earl King, composes songs that are witty, wry observations of human nature. Earl’s guitar playing, inspired by Guitar Slim and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, directly influenced Jimi Hendrix, whose rendition of Earl King’s “Come On (Let the Good Times Roll)” is a highlight of the Electric Ladyland album.
All in a Generation’s Work
I never thought I’d still be cranking out OffBeat after an entire generation. I thought that I would have completed my work by now, that is, I thought that the New Orleans and Louisiana music community would be cohesive; it would be prosperous; and its accomplishments would be recognized and applauded.
They Call Us Wild: The Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans
Urban American culture begins and ends in the street, where wave after wave of ethnic immigrants has crested, broken, and, largely, dispersed into the vast suburban landscape of metro America.
Why? John Boutté asks the question that’s on all our minds
John Boutte took the outdoor stage in Austin’s Town Lake Park on March 18 around 6:45 p.m. He was part of the South by Southwest Music Conference’s free outdoor concert to honor Louisiana music and its resilience since Hurricane Katrina. The event had begun early in the afternoon with dancers two-stepping on the green grass to the rural swamp music of Beausoleil and Buckwheat Zydeco, and then to the urban funk of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.
