Issue Articles
Smoking Time Jazz Club: 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and A Stomp! (Independent)
After a couple of releases as the side project The Secret Six, the musicians in the Smoking Time Jazz Club are back with their effervescent lead vocalist Sarah Peterson on a new collection of traditional-minded blues and jazz.
Various Artists: Fritzel’s Jazz Pub (Independent)
Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub, which is located on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, bills itself as a the place “Where Jazz Lives!” The club has recently released two albums chronicling live performances in the intimate space just off the hubbub of the city’s most touristic street.
Saturn Quartet: Luz (Independent)
Less than a year ago, I reviewed the debut album from the Saturn Quartet. The jazz group is back with another fine effort called Luz. The title cut is from the pen of Brazilian great Djavan and opens with the drummer Gerald Watkins, Jr. playing an intricate, samba-like pattern on his toms. The rest of the album features originals and three covers from film score composers as well as a composition from a local up and coming trumpeter.
Brass Brass Everywhere: Original New Orleans Brass Fest at Armstrong Park
New Orleans Original Brass Fest at Armstrong Park
Eponymous Debut Redux: Davis Rogan celebrates 25 years since All That’s debut
Davis Rogan first had visions of the band that would become his groundbreaking hip hop, brass band, funk hybrid All That while still in college. The 1985 Ben Franklin graduate matriculated through Reed College in Portland, Oregon. But before graduating, he took a year off and returned to New Orleans.
The Secret Six, Chicken You Can Roost Behind the Moon (Independent)
The Secret Six continue to be one of the most prolific bands recording in New Orleans today. This new collection of traditional jazz and blues goes deep into the well of old-time music, while also bringing back a couple of tunes that ought to be covered more often.
Geovane Santos, Ciranda (Independent)
New Orleans-based Afro-Brazilian guitarist Geovane Santos returns with his first album of all original music.
Ranky Tanky, Live at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz Festival (Munck Mix)
I was fortunate enough to see Ranky Tanky’s debut set at the fest and wrote about it in my recap saying, “…South Carolina-based Gullah musicians Ranky Tanky brought so much spirit it felt at times as if we were in jazz church. The band sang and played their hearts out much to the delight of the smallish crowd.”
David Bandrowski and the Rhumba Defense, French Onion Superman (Independent)
Dave Bandrowski is a legend among a certain subset of New Orleans music lovers. The tenor banjo player is known as a musician’s musician. His album, the whimsically titled, French Onion Superman, is a testament to both of those facts.
