Music
Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis, Two Men with the Blues (Blue Note)
Some effort has been made to compare the match-up of Wynton Marsalis and Willie Nelson to the historic 1930 collaboration between Jimmie Rodgers and Louis Armstrong, “Blue Yodel Number 9.” […]
Dr. Michael White, Blue Crescent (Basin Street)
It would be hard to overstate the significance of Blue Crescent in the history of New Orleans music. At the moment when it appears that the last remaining treasures of […]
Dr. John, City That Care Forgot (429/Savoy)
Dr. John has always been a superior songwriter. A master conceptualist, he envisions lyrics and music as part of an overall vision. He is one of the very few denizens […]
Brass Bands: Off the Record
Late last year when committees began to consider who was eligible for New Orleans music awards nominators were faced with a puzzling dilemma. How could a Best Album award in […]
Ellis Marsalis Quartet, An Open Letter to Thelonious (ELM)
Thelonious Monk compositions are like Egyptian tombs, each with its own unique curse for those unworthy to open them. Monk himself had little patience for those who didn’t understand how […]
Tom McDermott and Connie Jones, Creole Nocturne (Arbors)
There’s a generally accepted piece of so-called wisdom going around town that would have all traditional New Orleans jazz musicians playing the same eight songs over and over because “that’s […]
Paul Sanchez, Exit to Mystery Street (Independent)
New Orleans native Paul Sanchez wanted to write and perform his own songs, so he went to New York City, where he became part of the “anti-folk” acoustic music scene […]
John Boutte, Good Neighbor (Independent)
New Orleans native Paul Sanchez wanted to write and perform his own songs, so he went to New York City, where he became part of the “anti-folk” acoustic music scene […]
Obituary: John Brunious
Another one of America’s non-renewable resources disappeared when trumpeter John Brunious, leader of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for more than 20 years, died February 12. Brunious and his younger […]
Jesse McBride, Jesse McBride presents the Next Generation (AFO)
I’ve been spending a lot of time recently ruminating on the nature of traditional New Orleans jazz and the extremely subtle differences between the approaches taken by its continued practitioners. […]
