Issue Articles
A Walk Around the Sun: Erika Lewis with a little help from her friends
When COVID hit, Erika Lewis was at a crossroads. The singer and new mother had relocated from New Orleans to Asheville, North Carolina, the year before, and between the birth […]
Erika Lewis, A Walk Around the Sun (Independent)
Fans who know Erika Lewis as the brassy blues singer in front of Tuba Skinny have only gotten a part of the story. On her debut solo album, Lewis, now […]
Tuba Skinny, Blue Chime Stomp (Independent)
Seven recordings in and Tuba Skinny have established themselves as more than revivalists. Still mining the early jazz, blues and ragtime that have made them local favorites, this New Orleans […]
Tuba Skinny, Owl Call Blues (Independent)
To call Tuba Skinny revivalists would be to miss the point. The New Orleans ensemble, often seen busking on Royal Street, have never conceded the death of the early jazz […]
Marcia Ball, The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man (Alligator Records)
Consistency is a virtue, at least in the case of Marcia Ball. With The Tattooed Lady and the Alligator Man, the Texas blueswoman continues her string of reliably wonderful, largely […]
Dom Flemons, Prospect Hill (Music Maker Relief Foundation)
Best known for his work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, singer and multi-instrumentalist Dom Flemons has learned his trade the old-fashioned way. Years of performing (and often re-creating) a wonderful, […]
Harmonouche, Joli Songe (Independent)
Everything old is new again in the capable hands of Raphael Bas and Harmonouche. His band—the name combines harmonious, harmonica, and “manouche,” the French term for Gypsy jazz—tosses Gypsy swing […]
Michaela Harrison, Listen to the Music (Independent)
Michaela Harrison has a formidable voice. On her second CD, a collection of standards and should-be standards (like Cat Stevens’ “Wide World”), the Frenchmen Street chanteuse shows off her impressive […]
Alabama Shakes Take Their Time at Jazz Fest
For better or worse, the Alabama Shakes are well past the bar-band stage. Even before the Athens, Alabama, group’s 2012 debut CD, Boys and Girls, blasted their raw soul-drenched rock […]
Tuba Skinny, Pyramid Strut (Independent)
Tuba Skinny just keep getting better—and better at capturing their lively early jazz, blues, and ragtime sound in the studio. On this, their fifth release (recorded in Tasmania), the septet […]
