Music
Marcella Simien: To Bend to the Will of a Dream That’s Being Fulfilled (Swamp Soul Records)
To say this is the most radical project Marcella Simien has ever done would be the understatement of the year. Other than DJ QEMIST supplying the beats for “Yogananda’s Affirmation” and co-producing the track, it’s only her on the remaining nine cuts, no Memphis-based funk-soul band this time.
Sean Ardoin and Kreole Rock and Soul: 25 Back To My Roots (Zydekool Records)
If you weren’t too hungover and bleary-eyed from this year’s New Year’s Eve Celebration, you might have witnessed Sean Ardoin’s “Mardi-Gras-on-steroids” performance at the Rose Bowl Parade New Year’s morning. What a way to kick off another activity-packed year, which includes Ardoin launching his signature brands of coffee. It also marks the multi-Grammy nominee’s 25th Anniversary as a solo artist. Ardoin recorded 25 Back To My Roots that consists of eight originals co-written and mostly co-produced with his talented son Sean Ardoin II to commemorate the quarter-of-a-century milestone.
Joe Hall (1971-2024)
Old-time Creole music lost one of its finest torchbearers with the unexpected passing of accordionist and vocalist Joe Hall on Thursday, November 21, 2024, due to congestive heart failure. Hall, 52, is survived by his wife Linda and son Justin.
Barry Jean Ancelet and Sam Broussard: Le Grand Silence and Other Stories (Swallow Records)
Sometime in the 1980s, then University of Louisiana Professor Barry Jean Ancelet began writing French-language poetry under the nom de plume of Jean Arceneaux. Some were ultimately reworked into song lyrics; others were initially written as lyrics. Ancelet reasoned that most Louisiana French literature was consumed as song lyrics.
Benny Turner: BT (Nola Blue Records)
When Nola Blue Records president Sallie Bengtson established her label a decade ago, then New Orleans bassman and vocalist Benny Turner, age 75, was its debut artist, and his critically acclaimed Journey was its inaugural release.
Rainy Eyes: Lonesome Highway (Royal Potato Family)
Rainy Eyes, whose civilian name is Irena Eide, made the long trek from her native Norway to Denmark to the Bay Area to eventually land in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she has lived for the past four years. Lonesome Highway is the tale of two recordings, starting in the unincorporated coastal community of Bolinas, California, and completed by Dirk Powell at his Cypress House studio on the banks of the Bayou Teche.
Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band: Dirt on My Diamonds Volume 2 (Provogue Records)
There’s no denying the FAME Studios / Muscle Shoals connection in Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s pair of separately released Dirt on My Diamonds volumes, but it’s not what you would expect.
Eden Brent: Getaway Blues (Yellow Dog Records)
When it comes to musical instruments in blues, it’s the guitar that rules. It’s more prevalent than the piano, it’s portable, and has greater potential for varying sounds, tones, and tunings. True, blues is guitar-dominated, but just hours of solid, nonstop guitars can lead to saturation burnout, at least to some ears, making the blues pianist a welcome treat.
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.
Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers: Now Is The Time (Angel Dove Global/Universal Music)
Though 2024 is half over, Dwayne Dopsie is already knocking out a banner year. On February 26, the Zydeco accordionist received a call from producer Raphael Saadiq to be part of Beyoncé’s landmark country album Cowboy Carter, released March 29. The next day, the Zydeco accordionist hopped on an airplane bound for Los Angeles to play his accordion on Dolly Parton’s signature classic “Jolene.”
