Music
Jon Batiste: Beethoven Blues (Batiste Piano Series, Vol. 1) (Verve)
It doesn’t take long for Batiste to yank Ludwig Van from the Romantic-era parlors of Vienna to the red-light dens of Storyville. Just six seconds, to be exact, into this album centering on Batiste’s solo piano interpretations/interpolations of Beethoven pieces. That’s when he slides from the familiar lilt of Für Elise into a frisky, blue-notes-laced run with such elegance and grace that even the maestro himself would be delighted.
Nine Lives is Back: First full concert staging at the Civic in nine years
“Nine Lives,” the acclaimed book by the late journalist Dan Baum that tells the stories of nine New Orleansians and their families and communities in the years from 1964’s Hurricane Betsy through 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, may have even more than nine lives.
Another Heart and Another Ann Savoy
Ann Savoy doesn’t have an exact count of how many performances she’s done at Jazz Fest over the course of the 45 years since she first played there. But it’s a lot: 80? 90? Maybe as many as 100?
Finding Something Epic: Béla Fleck’s Bluegrass Heart
Trying something he’s never tried before is a passion for Béla Fleck. Trying something no one has tried before—on the banjo at least—is a calling. “Yeah, that’s my happy place,” he says, truly beaming on a video chat from his Nashville home. “To try to find something epic, or at least that I perceive as epic. Whether it’s epic or not, it’s enough to get me to feel like it’s worth going to work every day—if you call this work.”
The Songbird of Wassoulou: Oumou Sangaré is always moving
Quint Davis and his team basically built the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival from the ground up decades ago. But they didn’t build it from the ground up the way Malian singer and cultural activist Oumou Sangaré built the Festival International du Wassulu for its inaugural edition in 2017.
Quite A Ride: Samara Joy, the new Ella Fitzgerald
“Oh man,” Samara Joy sighs, pulling her hair back, her eyes widening behind a pair of glasses. “Um, it’s been quite a ride.”
Jourdan Thibodeaux – Preservation For A New Generation
Jourdan Thibodeaux apologizes for his appearance as he signs on to a video chat. He’s taking a break from work, he explains, and he’s covered in sweat and sawdust. “We got a new business out here,” he explains, looking around at the construction he’s been doing. “Cypress Cove Landing.”
Music Brings Us Together: The Nous Foundation’s Louisiana French Cajun and Creole music project
It’s been a while since the Library of Congress has added new recordings of Cajun and Creole music to its permanent archives.
“The last major recordings of Louisiana French music were done in the 1960s,” says Scott Tilton, executive director of the Nous Foundation, a New Orleans-based organization dedicated to preserving and promoting French and Creole language and culture. “And those were wonderful musicians, but it was not exactly the most diverse slew. It’s mostly white male Cajuns.”
Judith Owen: Winter Wonderland (Holiday Edition) (Twanky Records)
If Judith Owen has released this set of holiday gems to get us ready for the singalong portion of the “Christmas Without Tears” spectacular she and hubby Harry Shearer will be hosting at the Orpheum on December 19, then she has a real cruel streak. Might as well ask us to go one-on-one with Zion Williamson.
Christmas Without Tears: Harry Shearer and Judith Owen’s Annual show benefits the Innocence Project New Orleans
Christmas Without Tears: The Christmas show with Harry Shearer and Judith Owen benefits the Innocence Project.
