In 2020 the pandemic may have stopped live music, but recorded music continued with too many great albums to include. As usual, we’ve polled our writers and editorial staff and have gathered 50 of OffBeat’s most recommended albums of the year. We didn’t include reissues and only included 2020 releases. Some titles released in December 2020 will be considered in the 2021 “Best of” list.
Six of our choices are being considered for a Grammy: PJ Morton: Gospel According to PJ Morton; New Orleans Nightcrawlers: Atmosphere (see feature in this issue); Sweet Cecilia: A Tribute to Al Berard; Bobby Rush: Rawer Than Raw; Harry Connick, Jr.: True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter and Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours self-titled album. Grammy-nominated Lucinda Williams’ Good Souls Better Angels didn’t make the list but was interviewed in our November 2020 issue.
Alex McMurray is one of the big winners, scoring with both 2020 releases ranked in the top five. Both albums were reviewed by John Swenson who said of McMurray “A great songwriter writes overarching poetic narratives. The songwriter as lyric poet doesn’t just turn out albums or mixes, they weave myths that touch our collective soul…” Also, in the top five, vocalist Gregg Martinez’ MacDaddy Mojeaux who talked about the album, “I was really determined to take it up another level, spend the money, not cut corners and not settle for anything.” It certainly was well-worth those extra bucks. Brett Milano who reviewed Sweet Crude’s Officiel // Artificiel says “It’s a really good album by a band pushing New Orleans music in a fresh direction.”
Along with Alex McMurray, Debbie Davis is also a champion, placing two albums in the top fifty. Interesting Times with Josh Paxton and Oh Crap, It’s Christmas! Volume 2: A Family Album with Matt Perrine and friends. A rare inclusion for a Christmas album, but as Brett Milano says “What it doesn’t have, for the most part, are the songs you’re really sick of.”
We understand the difficulties in ranking and we only rank the Top 10. We hope that the readers use this list merely as a guide to the best music that Louisiana has to offer in 2020: there’s a lot of great music out there!
The Top 10
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Alex McMurray: Lucky One (Independent)
At the end of the day McMurray is sustained by the enduring bonds of love and friendship. Some of his best songs touch on this theme and the title track here is a worthy addition to the canon.
—reviewed February 2020 by John Swenson
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New Orleans Nightcrawlers: Atmosphere (Independent)
Atmosphere, is the solid rhythm section with the mighty team of bass drummer Caytanio Hingle and snare man Kerry “Fatman” Hunter of the New Birth Brass Band, plus the spectacularly lowdown sousaphonist Matt Perrine. The New Orleans Nightcrawlers fill Atmosphere with jumpin’ good-times, fine musicianship and a welcoming sense to join these old friends in the joy of music.
—reviewed January 2021 by Geraldine Wyckoff
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PJ Morton: Gospel According to PJ Morton (Morton Inspiration/Tyscot Records)
The songs reflect Morton’s stylistically modern outlook and often contain lyrics that could be interpreted from a either a religious or secular viewpoint. A good example is “So In Love,” a lively number that pleases with its reggae-like rhythm. Gospel According to PJ offers spirituality, heart and soul through the gift of music.
—reviewed October 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
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Gregg Martinez: MacDaddy Mojeaux (NOLA Blue Records)
“This whole album was more ambitious than anything I’ve ever done before,” Martinez says. “I was really determined to take it up another level, spend the money, not cut corners and not settle for anything.” Of the 13 tracks, four are originals. Martinez wrote two: the touching, southern-esque ballad “Moonlight & Magnolias” and the rollicking “Eva Delle,” christened after one of his mother’s good friends.
—reviewed July 2020 by Dan Willging
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Alex McMurray: Road Songs (Diphthong Records)
A good songwriter writes good songs. A great songwriter writes overarching poetic narratives. The songwriter as lyric poet doesn’t just turn out albums or mixes, they weave myths that touch our collective soul and seem at once personal and in synch with the human zeitgeist. Alex McMurray is such a writer, and his songs that make up Road Songs may someday be remembered as a myth of these times akin to Joni Mitchell’s Blue or Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks.
—reviewed November 2020 by John Swenson
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Michael Doucet avec Lâcher Prise: Lâcher Prise (Compass Records)
The envelope-pushing set symbolizes total freedom and portrays Doucet as a consummate artist with a musical palette that’s radically different from anything he’s done with BeauSoleil.
—reviewed March 2020 by Dan Willging
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Sweet Cecilia: A Tribute to Al Berard (Independent)
Though beloved Cajun fiddler Al Berard left this world all too soon in 2014, his legacy lives on. When it comes to tribute albums, there’s no deeper connection than that of Sweet Cecilia, a trio consisting of daughters Laura Huval and Maegan Rankin, and niece Callie Guidry who were practically weaned on these heartfelt creations.
—reviewed May 2020 by Dan Willging
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Bobby Rush: Rawer Than Raw (Deep Rush)
For a guy facing his 90th birthday, Bobby Rush sure doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet. Rawer Than Raw lives up to its title. Sporting just an acoustic guitar and harmonica, it’s a rather energetic and clever effort. It’s very much Rush’s tribute to his adopted hometown state Mississippi and the pioneers of the blues that inspired him
—reviewed August 2020 by Jeff Hannusch
By the time it’s all said and done, Cameron Dupuy should be on every list of top Cajun accordionists of all time. Though it’s often a high-octane affair, “Baby Please Don’t Go” is off the rails… Fun stuff no matter where the needle drops.
—reviewed September 2020 by Dan Willging
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Sweet Crude: Officiel // Artificiel (Verve Forecast)
The first really grabbing moment on Sweet Crude’s sophomore album happens midway through the opening track, “COGO.” At the point where you expect an instrumental solo, frontwoman Alexis Marceaux instead goes into a Laurie Anderson-esque spoken bit. It’s a surprise, but somehow it fits perfectly on a track that already has a funky bassline, bilingual vocals and two different chant-along choruses. And it sums up what Sweet Crude is all about: namely, pop music with endless possibilities.
—reviewed June 2020 by Brett Milano
THE NEXT 40
(not ranked, but listed in alphabetical order)
79rs Gang: Expect the Unexpected (Sinking City Records) The first thing you hear when you drop the needle onto the groove to play Expect the Unexpected is scratching, a sonic device that places this recording in a contemporary framework. The setting, which continues to use Heigle’s e-beats and Black Indian samples under Bougere and Bossier’s call-and-response singing, sets the scene for the statement-of-purpose opener “79rs Bout To Blow” that would sound at home in a hip-hop mix.
—reviewed August 2020 by John Swenson
Adonis Rose: Piece of Mind – Live at Blue Llama (Storyville Records) In the spring of 2019, drummer Adonis Rose gathered some of his very talented peers and musical cohorts to record Piece of Mind – Live at Blue Llama, his first release captured outside of a studio. This combination of fresh, strong, and exciting players comprised the components to create a night, and thus an album, worth savoring.
—reviewed October 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Aurora Nealand & Tom McDermott: Live at Luthjen’s (Big Whinny) Singer/saxophonist Nealand and pianist McDermott never cared too much about musical boundaries, so the set list for this duo album is about as eclectic as you’d hope. There’s Chopin, Carole King and Duke Ellington; a few familiar hits and a handful obscurities.
—reviewed May 2020 by Brett Milano
Barry Stephenson: The Iconoclast (Independent) On The Iconoclast, Barry Stephenson and friends rely on the historic foundations of jazz and without hesitation forwards the motion.
—reviewed December 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Borealis Rex: Dawn ’Til Done (Drag Snake Records) Dash Rip Rock leader Bill Davis is the most familiar face in the lineup, but he’s very much a team player here. Chance Casteel does the front-man duties otherwise, with a lot of bluesy grit in his delivery. They’re true to their school, applying some ’70s swagger to songs that sound mighty good right now.
—reviewed July 2020 by Brett Milano
Brad Walker: Dockside Sessions (Independent) On Dockside Sessions, the often spiritual and intense saxophonist Brad Walker has again purposefully aligned himself with like-minded and hugely talented musicians to fulfill the visions of his fine compositions.
—reviewed December 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Cyrus Nabipoor: Live at the Marigny Opera House (Nabipor Music) Nabipoor’s quintet recorded Live at the Marigny Opera House on May 23-24, 2019. Its seven originals and two beautiful covers of material rarely heard in a jazz context reveal much about a bandleader and composer/arranger for whom no style or emotion is off limits. At various times, the music is dark, edgy, frenetic, and even digs into some silliness as the talented young leader and his risk-taking sidemen turned his raw material into a swinging musical adventure.
—reviewed December 2020 by Ken Franckling
The Daiquiri Queens: The Daiquiri Queens (Independent) The thoughtful song selection is not the typical fare young groups draw from, but pulls from the obscurer corners of the Cajun cultural repertoire. Besides “Plus Tu Tournes” from Irene Therese Whitfield’s 1939 groundbreaking book Louisiana French Folk Songs, there’s also a percussive children’s song “J’ai passé dessous le pommier” that can be traced back to France.
—reviewed September 2020 by Dan Willging
Dave Easley: Easley Rider (Independent) The sound and spirit of the late 1960s run through Easley Rider. Opening song “I’m Crying” begins like classic Allman Brothers before segueing to a dreamy ’60s, San Francisco atmosphere including tribal percussion.
—reviewed May 2020 by John Wirt
David L. Harris: More Than Love, To Be a Man (Independent) David L. Harris has usually been described as a trombonist who is adept in both traditional and modern jazz and one who also sings. He hasn’t laid down his ax by any means, though it is his singing that stands out on the album.
—reviewed April 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Davy Mooney & the Hope of Home Band: Live at National Sawdust (Sunnyside Records) t’s such a blessing that this talented collective headed by guitarist Davy Mooney with drummer Brian Blade, saxophonist John Ellis, pianist Jon Cowherd and bassist Matt Clohesy was able to record an album before a live audience on January 27, 2020.
—reviewed October 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Debbie Davis & Josh Paxton: Interesting Times (Independent) The pair repurpose a stack of mostly familiar songs into a suite that alternates dry humor with righteous anger, but it feels inclusive in the same way the old Clash albums did. Musically it has the intuitive interplay that comes naturally to this duo, which has played on-off together since Leigh Harris (who then had Paxton as her accompanist and became an instant friend to Davis) introduced them 20 years ago. Their arrangements take some zigzags, but always get to where the song wanted to go.
—reviewed May 2020 by Brett Milano
Debbie Davis, Matt Perrine and Friends: Oh Crap, It’s Christmas! Volume 2: A Family Album (Independent) There are of course different kinds of Christmas songs—sentimental ones, reverent ones, rocking ones and oddball ones—and like the first album, the second includes a bit of everything (the oddball choice coming from the Stephen Colbert holiday special). What it doesn’t have, for the most part, are the songs you’re really sick of. Instead they go even more on this volume for seasonal gems that don’t often get covered.
—reviewed December 2020 by Brett Milano
Delfeayo Marsalis & Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Party (Troubadour Jass Records) Jazz Party lives up to its name, though it’s not a celebration happening just anywhere. It’s a New Orleans party.
—reviewed February 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Dirk Powell: When I Wait For You (Compass Records) Though Powell plays a dozen instruments and shares the wealth with 17 other musicians/vocalists, including Rhiannon Giddens, the arrangements aren’t overly thick. Still, there’s plenty that can’t be digested with a few superficial listens.
—reviewed November 2020 by Dan Willging
Don Vappie and Jazz Créole: The Blue Book of Storyville (Lejazzetal Records) This album is one you can listen to over and over and if you so choose; delve into the extensive liner notes for even more enrichment.
—reviewed May 2020 by Jay Mazza
Dr. Michael White: Dr. Michael White Live (Basin Street Records) Though the material on Michael White Live exists on other of the clarinetist’s releases, these versions offer the spirit of music played before a live enthusiastic audience.
—reviewed August 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Gabrielle Cavassa: Gabrielle Cavassa (711330 Records DK2) California native, and since 2017 a resident of New Orleans, vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa takes a poetic approach to her lyrically-driven compositions that fill most of this self-titled album.
—reviewed November 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Goldman Thibodeaux & The Lawtell Playboys: La Danse à St. Ann’s (Nouveau Electric Records) This live recording by 87-year-old Goldman Thibodeaux & The Lawtell Playboys is significant in countless ways and will likely grow in importance in the years to come. He’s a folklorist’s goldmine, a standard-bearer for Creole lala music that was a precursor to the first-generation style of zydeco championed by Clifton Chenier.
—reviewed June 2020 by Dan Willging
Harry Connick, Jr.: True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter (Verve) Best of all is “Why Can’t You Behave.” Harry breaks it down in the middle to just vocals, his updated stride piano and Lucien Barbarin’s muted trombone. For a couple seconds he drops the Sinatra vocal veneer and goes more New Orleans on us. It’s a fantastic track, showing all sides of one incredibly talented New Orleans musician.
—reviewed January 2020 by Tom McDermott
The Iceman Special: Dr. Dude’s Masquerade Parade (Independent) At first, the Iceman Special tagged itself “swamp-funk,” but keeping any label stuck to this free-ranging band is a challenge. “We do modern music that comes from deep Louisiana roots,” Staples says. “But we’re not tied to anything.”
—reviewed March 2020 by John Wirt
Jason Marsalis: Jason Marsalis Live (Basin Street Records) Jason Marsalis Live offers the spontaneity of music created by truly talented artists playing in the here and now while performing before an appreciative, though occasionally a bit rowdy, audience.
—reviewed August 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis: The Music of Wayne Shorter (Blue Engine Records) There’s no doubt about it that Wayne Shorter’s often quite lengthy solos stand as the apexes of this fine album recorded live in 2015 during the legend’s three-night residency at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Certainly, the excellent musicians who fill the Orchestra and contribute to the arrangements of Shorter’s material selected from decades of his works as a leader and sideman are a strong element to the success of this collaboration.
—reviewed March 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
John “Papa” Gros: Central City (Funky Krewe Records) Central City, which collects a wealth of local musicians and showcases the many sides of Gros’ musical abilities… the cover of the Irma Thomas classic “It’s Raining,” which Gros sings with more passion than power, really nailing the high notes.
—reviewed May 2020 by John Swenson
Johnny Vidacovich: ’bout Time (Independent) Johnny Vidacovich is one of the relatively hidden treasures of New Orleans music to outsiders, but locals know how important he is to the fabric of the city’s culture. Vidacovich has only a handful of solo outings, so ’bout Time is a welcome addition to his catalog. The record showcases his abilities as a bandleader and poet as well as beatmaster.
—reviewed August 2020 by John Swenson
Kidd Jordan: Last Trane to New Orleans (RJ Records) Throughout his long career, Kidd Jordan has played in all realms of music. It shows on the diversity he and the like-minded members of the band bring to the project as heard on the fun and danceable “Re-Rebirth of Cool,” and the bluesy “Come Ye (The Revival).” Kidd’s great knowledge and sound come together under his signature passion for freedom of expression on Last Trane to New Orleans.
—reviewed September 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Lawrence Sieberth Quartet: An Evening in Paris (Musik Blöc) With incisive voicings, warm sax tones, and melodies that ache to speak to us in words, An Evening in Paris is just like and unlike anything Sieberth has done before.
—reviewed September 2020 by Stacey Leigh Bridewell
Leigh Harris: Waking Up in Dreamland (Deeva Records) Now, as she so often did in life, Leigh gets the final word, speaking to us from beyond the grave in Waking Up in Dreamland. Like Leigh herself, the posthumous four-track EP, produced and mixed by her husband and longtime bass player Rick Ledbetter, is tiny but mighty.
—reviewed December 2020 by Cree McCree
The Lena Prima Big Band: Live in Concert (Basin Street Records) It’s also appropriate that the album was made in Las Vegas, where this kind of music originally flourished. You’re just as likely to find rock bands nowadays, so Prima and company bring back the Vegas of legend: Eternally cool, with some pasta fagioli.
—reviewed October 2020 by Brett Milano
The Magnificent Seven: Live At Tipitina’s (Funky Krewe Records) New Orleans has had a long history of one-off bands that coalesce and dissolve like a fabulous tale from 1001 Arabian Nights. Magnificent Seven is such a group, a gathering that took place based on a fan’s whimsy and lasted for five gigs before vanishing like a puff of smoke from a genie’s lamp.
—reviewed November 2020 by John Swenson
Michot’s Melody Makers: Cosmic Cajuns From Saturn (Nouveau Electric Records) It’s amazing to think how something so time-honored and staunchly steeped in tradition could be so psychedelic, sometimes bordering on the avant-garde (“Reveil Michot”). With one foot firmly planted in the future and the other cemented in the past, Michot’s Melody Makers couldn’t blend its universes any better.
—reviewed November 2020 by Dan Willging
Mike Dillon: Rosewood (Royal Potato Family) On Rosewood, the name of which comes from the lumber used to make the marimba’s bars, Dillon digs deep into his vast array of both acoustic and electronic instruments and gadgets.
—reviewed December 2020 by Geraldine Wyckoff
Naughty Professor: Everyday Shredder (Independent) Throughout this EP, Naughty Professor keeps the listener on alert for rapid musical shifts that despite the band’s funky New Orleans roots are more in keeping with great progressive jazz and jazz fusion.
—reviewed March 2020 by Jay Mazza
The New Orleans Johnnys: Outta Ya Mind (Independent) Don’t expect these New Orleans Johnnys to don seersucker suits, bowties and boater straw hats like those blue bloods you envision strutting around the Garden District. But do count on a massive injection of tightly crafted, action-packed hybrid of rock ’n’ roll, blues rock, funk and a dollop of swamp pop that rarely hits pause, not even for a New York second.
—reviewed September 2020 by Dan Willging
The Revelers: At the End of the River – Au bout de la riviére (Revelers Records) Don’t think of the Revelers as staunch proponents of any particular genre but rather a synthesis of South Louisiana styles that is uniquely its own. On its third full-length album and easily its best yet, the sextet states that point well, with 11 originals that embrace a variety of styles.
—reviewed February 2020 by Dan Willging
The Revivalists: Made in Muscle Shoals (Loma Vista) It’s hard to resist calling this the band’s version of U2’s Rattle & Hum—both are heartfelt roots detours… But it plays to one of the Revivalists’ strengths, their sense of music history—and if this means their Achtung Baby is coming next, so much the better.
—reviewed April 2020 by Brett Milano
Shawn Williams: The Fear of Living, The Fear of Loving (Independent) It’s a brave album in a few ways: Most of these songs are too intense to slot easily into the kind of club gigs she was doing beforehand. And there isn’t a song here that doesn’t dive into risky emotional territory, whether it’s the depression she admits to in the title track, or the frank confessions in “Lost My Mind.” Also here is one of the more painful breakup songs in recent memory, “Afterall,” in which the singer gears herself for never being loved again.
—reviewed October 2020 by Brett Milano
Terrance Simien’s Krewe De Monifique: Ancestral Grooves (Music Matters Records) With close to 40 years on stage and 34 consecutive appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Simien reflected on life and heritage with Ancestral Grooves in ways he never imagined.
—reviewed January 2021 by Herman Fuselier
Tim Laughlin: New Standards (Gentilly Records) Laughlin knows how to write a melody, how to create a nice opening phrase, extend it, vary it, and throw in surprise chords here and there for seasoning. “Happy Again,” starts simply but quickly adds harmonic delight before soaring to a satisfying conclusion.
—reviewed May 2020 by Tom McDermott
The Write Brothers: Into the Sky (Threadhead Records) You can hear what each writer brought to that table when you listen to the album: Spencer Bohren’s cowboy poetry; Jim McCormick’s attention to the craft of assembling narratives and song structures; Alex McMurray’s whimsical observations on the human condition; and Paul Sanchez’s capacity for wringing the toughest personal emotions into a story. But there is also a collective sound that goes beyond the comfortable vocal harmonies and easygoing interlace of guitar parts. The Brothers had a creative dialogue that combined each one of their unique talents and filtered them through a mutual exchange which grew into a confluence, much like a family band.
—reviewed June 2020 by John Swenson
