Issue Articles
Jimmy Maxwell (1953-2024)
Musician, band leader and conductor Jimmy Maxwell passed away on February 29, 2024, at the age of 70.
Gina Brown (1965-2024)
Singer and entertainer Gina Brown passed away on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, at Touro Hospital.
Jo-El Sonnier (1946-2024)
Grammy Award-winning Cajun and country artist Jo-El Sonnier passed away at the age of 77. Sonnier suffered a fatal heart attack following a performance in Llano, Texas on January 13, 2024.
Best of the Beat 2023 Award Winners
OffBeat’s 2023 Best of The Beat Music Awards took place on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at Tipitina’s. The Best of The Beat Awards™ is a program of the OffBeat Music & Cultural Arts Foundation and was presented by the Gia Maione Prima Foundation and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, with support from OffBeat Magazine and WWL-TV.
Carnival Tales: Musicians Tell Their Favorite Mardi Gras Stories
Carnival Tales: Musicians Tell Their Favorite Mardi Gras Stories. With Carnival season approaching, we’ve once again asked some musicians to tell us their favorite Mardi Gras stories and included others from previous years. The stories we got range from the heartwarming to the fanciful to the downright raunchy; we wouldn’t expect anything else. And all are, of course, absolutely true—but then, who can really tell at this time of year?
Peter Martin + Generation S: Peter Martin & Generation S (Open Studio Records)
Pianist Peter Martin has taken an innovative approach to his latest project.
Best Albums Of 2023 in Louisiana Music
Some of our Best of the Albums of 2023 picks were nominated for a Grammy, including Jon Batiste’s World Music Radio, Bobby Rush’s All My Love For You, Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton’s Death Wish Blues, Buckwheat Zydeco, Jr.’s New Beginnings…, Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra’s self-titled album, New Breed Brass Band’s Made in New Orleans, New Orleans Nightcrawler’s Too Much To Hold, The Rumble’s Live at the Maple Leaf, Dwayne Dopsie’s Live at the 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Rickie Lee Jones’ Pieces of Treasure.
The Best Of The Beat Music Awards 2023 Nominations
OffBeat’s annual Best of the Beat Awards started nearly 30 years ago, in 1996.
Jean Knight (1943 – 2023)
New Orleans singer Jean Knight has passed away at the age of 80 on November 22, 2023.
Greg Miles (1966 – 2023)
OffBeat photographer and prolific music photographer Greg Miles passed away on November 19, 2023 at his apartment in Mid City.
