Issue Articles
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.
Bobby Rush Talks Back
Bobby Rush, the blues man who put funk in the blues, turns 91 years old on November 10. A singer, harmonica player, guitarist and songwriter, his late-blooming mainstream success includes the three Grammy awards he’s won in the past decade. Rush’s 28th album, All My Love for You, clinched the latest of those golden gramophone statuettes in February.
An Attitude For Altitude: The Return of the Headhunters
For over 50 years, The Headhunters have been breaking ground, first with Herbie Hancock, as the baddest most innovative band out there. They’re continuing to do so on new release The Stunt Man from Ropeadope. With albums including Head Hunters, Thrust, Flood, and Man-Child, they not only pioneered jazz-funk on a wholly other sonic level but also had a visual component now referred to as Afrofuturism. All this is in keeping with the ethos that you can’t go to the future without the roots of the past.
Dining Out: Smoke & Honey
Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis has merged two of her family cultures to create her restaurant in Mid City. Smoke & Honey offers a menu uniquely inspired by Ellwood Yiagazis’ Greek and Jewish heritage. Ellwood Yiagazis and her business partners Lauren Lynch and Chad Vigneulle opened the spot in January.
It’s Time to Celebrate Black Americana Fest
t’s long overdue for the first New Orleans festival focused on elevating “the narrative, music, and history of Black artists in the Folk, Country, and Americana traditions.” Dusky Waters, Teena May, and Mark Williams II have planned a great day focused on music, inclusion, and community.
Young Men Olympian Jr. Celebrates Its Amazing 140th Anniversary
It’s difficult to conceive that the Young Men Olympian Jr. Benevolent Association has been active since 1884, just over to 20 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people in the United States. One can imagine, however, how important the organization was at the time when one of its prime functions was to provide burial services to Blacks who during that era were denied life insurance by white owned companies.
Vintage vinyl treasures (Episode 42)
Here are five vintage live albums from 1974. Each one has its place in music history and each one makes for a memorable listening session every time that I take them out for a spin. Not sure but it seems to me anyway these days that my collection of live records might just be more like fine wine than some of their studio counterparts, getting even better with time. Anyone else agree?
Luther Kent (1948-2024)
Luther Kent, known for a big soulful voice and his horn-based group Luther Kent & Trick Bag, passed away Friday, August 16, 2024, of congestive heart failure. He was 76.
Rabadash Records owner John Autin Talks Back
Rabadash Records, an independent record company founded in New Orleans, celebrates its 40th anniversary September 7 at Chickie Wah Wah.
