Issue Articles
The World’s Premier Guitar, Sousaphone and Washboard Trio: The Tin Men Celebrate 20 Years
Chaz Leary, you know him as “Washboard” Chaz, holds the back cover of the new Tin Men album, Hit It!, up to the computer camera on a Zoom chat. He’s sitting with bandmate Alex McMurray at the latter’s house, while in another chat window is the third member of the trio, Matt Perrine.
Lost Bayou Ramblers, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra: Lost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (Live) (Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra)
If you’re a Lost Bayou Ramblers fan, you’ve certainly seen fiddler-singer Louis Michot on stage at times wearing a zippered jump suit—a Cajun onesie, as some came to call it.
Bringing the Happy: Sean Ardoin teams up with the Stax Music Academy
“People ask, ‘What do you do?’” Sean Ardoin says in a chat from his Lake Charles home. His answer? “I get to provide the atmosphere for people to choose to be happy.” He pauses a fraction of a second for emphasis. “I bring the happy.”
Paul Sanchez: Between Friends … and Me (PSM)
When Paul Sanchez wrote a song, nearly 20 years ago, for Darius Rucker to sing, the Hootie frontman was not happy with its tone or title: “Nothing Here.” Rucker didn’t like the negativity, Sanchez notes now. Rucker changed the title and a few of the lyrics, and abracadabra… “Something Here.” Positively.
Jon Batiste: World Music Radio (Verve/Interscope)
Jon Batiste: World Music Radio
Carmela Rappazzo: Whispering (Studiola Records)
Well, it’s not hard to imagine that scene with Carmela Rappazzo’s Whispering. There is a cabaret theatricality to it, flowing from that opening, not forced, not in every song, but threading through the words and sounds and manners. And it’s probably no accident that several songs make explicit allusions to acting and pretending, to playing roles.
Genius and Depth: Jon Batiste always smiles when talking about New Orleans
Of course, Batiste always seems to be smiling. His effervescence helped propel him to global fame as bandleader/cohort on Late Night With Stephen Colbert from its start in 2015 to August 2022, when he left to focus on his own projects. Well, that and his prodigious musical talents and scope as he’s showcased his vast, ever-expanding universe of soul, R&B, pop, jazz and classical.
Dan Montgomery: Cast-Iron Songs and Torch Ballads (Fantastic Yes Records)
“What you did back then don’t mean a thing today,” sings Dan Montgomery in the cast-iron curtain-raiser for this affectionately rocking set.
Nick Spitzer of American Routes Talks Back
Nick Spitzer of American Routes Talks Back. Nick Spitzer is rarely at a loss for words. His conversational ease and deep knowledge of music across a wide spectrum have been at the core of American Routes, the New Orleans-based and widely syndicated public radio show he’s produced and hosted since 1999, on which he’s talked with musical artists both obscure and famous from blues, country, folk and much more, eliciting stories and insights far beyond the common canon.
Exuberance and Passion: Angélique Kidjo makes a lot of music
Angélique Kidjo is rapturously, ravenously eating crawfish, stuffing her mouth from her hands, making ecstatic noises, then rubbing the top of her shaved head in the throes of pure elation, never mind the residue and spices she’s getting all over.
