Music
Dr. John: Dr. John: The Montreux Years (BMG)
Dr. John: The Montreaux Years collects recordings from seven of the late, much-loved singer-pianist’s Montreaux Jazz Festival sets. Following the April release of the Tipitina’s Record Club’s Solo Piano: Live In New Orleans 1984, The Montreaux Years is this year’s second official Dr. John concert album. It’s available in CD and digital formats, while the Tipitina’s Record Club album is a limited-edition vinyl LP.
Soul Food: Dustin Dale Gaspard plays songs to tell his stories
Dustin Dale Gaspard makes his Jazz Fest debut this year. It’s a career breakthrough for the soul and swamp pop-inspired singer songwriter from southwest Louisiana. Upon learning he’d be on the Jazz Fest roster, Gaspard felt relieved and grateful. “It was something that I needed in that moment,” he recalled. “I’d been wondering if this whole music thing was going to work out, if I could get a break.”
Mississippi Rising: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram is sitting on top of the blues world
He’s sitting on top of the blues world. Christened “the next explosion of the blues” by Buddy Guy, 24-year-old Christone “Kingfish” Ingram has already won his first Grammy Award. He’s also topped Billboard’s blues chart; won nine Blues Music Awards; and, moving beyond the usual blues outlets, has been profiled by NPR’s Morning Edition, The New York Times, Rolling Stone and The Washington Post.
Give Me The Power: Luther Kent puts his heart and soul into music
After 60 years on the bandstand, Luther Kent doesn’t often rehearse. Not even for his annual spot at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. When Kent, a.k.a. “Big” Luther Kent, and his 13-piece band, Trick Bag, play on Jazz Fest’s opening day, he’ll pick the songs he’s singing while he’s on stage performing. “Whatever feels right for the audience,” the blues, jazz and rhythm-and-blues singer said.
Ingrid Lucia Talks Back
Ingrid Lucia Talks Back. In New York in the 1990s, Ingrid Lucia and her traditional jazz band, the Flying Neutrinos, flirted with the big time. New York audiences loved them and a recording deal with the Universal Music-linked Fiction Records was in the works. But the deal didn’t happen and the music business, in general, didn’t know what to do with Lucia and the Flying Neutrinos, an act, less easily marketed than the contemporaneous neo-swing acts Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, Royal Crown Revue and Squirrel Nut Zippers.
Samantha Fish: Blues Expression and Punk Power, an electrifying performer
With a new album on the way and global tour dates in 2023, the New Orleans-based Samantha Fish is in the thick of an escalating career.
Huey “Piano” Smith (1934-2023)
Huey “Piano” Smith, a 1950s rock and roll star from New Orleans, has died.
Distinctly Mine: Marc Stone finds a voice of his own
Marc Stone’s spring festival season schedule is shaping up nicely. Stone, a singer, guitarist and songwriter inspired by classic blues and soul, is also relaunching the guest star-filled album he pulled from release last year. Following some sonic tweaks and market strategizing, he’s re-releasing Shining Like a Diamond on April 14, just in time for festival season.
Colin Blunstone of The Zombies Talks Back
The return of the Zombies is one of music’s great comeback stories. Following a twenty-two-year hiatus, singer Colin Blunstone and keyboardist Rod Argent reunited in 1999 for an intended six performances only. By popular demand, the reunion continued, lasting more than two decades longer than the Zombies’ 1960s tenure in the music business.
James Booker Behind The Iron Curtain: A five-CD box set features the piano genius’ East German concerts
A sprawling document of James Booker’s borderless genius, Behind The Iron Curtain plus… contains three complete and previously unreleased solo concerts by the New Orleans piano prodigy.
