Music
Gillet Singleton Duo, Ferdinand (Independent)
This is not ya mama’s string duets. She would not recognize some of the sounds coming from this direct and powerful live recording from cellist Helen Gillet and bassist James […]
James Booker, Classified: Remixed and Expanded (Rounder Records)
The rap on James Booker’s Classified is that it was good, but not even close to what one might see and hear on any given night at the Maple Leaf […]
BackTalk: Passing a Good Time with the Maple Leaf’s Hank Staples (Interview)
Hank Staples is old-school—a raconteur of no mean talent, able to regale listeners with 30 years of wild and sordid tales of the renowned and notorious Maple Leaf Bar and […]
Jason Isbell, Southeastern (Thirty Tigers)
Jason Isbell’s skills as a songwriter have never been in doubt. His songs “Outfit” and “Danko/Manuel” rank as some of best his former band, the Drive-By Truckers, ever did. And […]
Why Does James Booker Matter?
With increasing frequency, the life, music, and mystique of pianist James Booker are asserting their presence again in our consciousness. Never far from the surface, Booker’s keyboard prowess and legendary […]
The Melatauns, Bards of Melatonia (Independent)
From the sounds of this record, Melatonia is the extra-dimensional world where the drinks are always cold, the nights breezy, the music rocking, and the musicians loose. When you find […]
Breton Sound, Maps (or Cartography and the Art of Generalization) (Independent)
For a five-song EP, Breton Sound concentrates on perfecting a certain sound. There’s hard-rock seriousness, rave ups, and a pretty ballad that slowly switches into an almost march. They pull […]
My Music: Alvin Youngblood Hart
“My oldest brother was in his mid-teens in the Bay Area in the mid-’60s, so whatever was going on, you picked up on early. I picked up the Bill Graham […]
Next Generation Big Band, Harold Battiste Presents: The Next Generation Big Band (AFO Records)
Any time that local musicians get projects released of some of the rarely recorded New Orleans music, it is something to be celebrated. Jesse McBride has been working on making […]
Rex Gregory, Rocket Summer (Independent)
Rex Gregory’s latest release, Rocket Summer, exhibits maturation in his playing, his writing, and his band. This is a jazz record that gives reference and nods to the past while […]
