August 2005
Alt NO
- No-Man-Band
One-man-bands have always really impressed me. Until I met a man with no band: IMAGINE “the” BAND. The name perfectly describes…
BackTalk
- Aretha Franklin
Photo by Earl Perry On the Wednesday preceding her Friday night Essence Festival performance, Aretha Franklin was in her bus heading…
Bayou Boogie
- The End of Zydeco Dancehalls
Zydeco music is enjoying the best of times and worst of times. Today, the music has more bands that ever in…
Bluesworthy
- Remembering Big Daddy
You couldn’t park on the same block as the Notre Dame Catholic Church that bright Wednesday morning. Summer had settled into…
Cover Story
- Shannon Powell: A Decidedly Different Drummer
“I had a hell of an upbringing in New Orleans—rich, rich, rich,” declares Shannon Powell. The drummer, who shows off his…
Dis 'n' Dat
- Roll Your Own
Roller Girls or C.I.A. operatives? Despite my wealth of journalistic credentials, there are still times that even I, Michael Jastroch, Associate…
Feed Me Something, Mister
- Raw and Order
Elvis wields a knife in Fat City. It’s true; I’ve seen it. And in the process he is slicing, paring and…
Hidden Charms
- Island on the Bayou
Troy Shondell If you take Highway 90 (or “Route 90” as Clarence “Bon Ton” Garlow would have it) out past Mosca’s…
Jazzin'
- Surrendering To The Trumpet
Nicholas Payton The Satchmo SummerFest’s Club Strut (Friday, August 5), Frenchmen Street’s nighttime musical banquet, is always a blast. This year…
Letters
- Letters August 2005
CUE-TE Dear Ian [McNulty], I want to eat Cue, with Yue. — Susan Maakestad, Memphis, TN Thanks for your [Ian McNulty’s]…
Mojo Mouth
- Music Is the Key
Subscribers Jules and Saskia Hartogs. As I write this, I’m freshly returned from a two-week vacation in Amsterdam and Paris. We…
Dining Out
- Raw and Order
Elvis wields a knife in Fat City. It’s true; I’ve seen it. And in the process he is slicing, paring and…
Reviews
- Hootie & the Blowfish, Looking for Lucky (Sneaky Long Records)
I’m sorry to say it, but Hootie & the Blowfish epitomized for me all that was sad about ’90s music. I… - Solomon Burke, Soul of The Blues (Shout! Factory)
The Dominican pianist Michel Camilo has been a jazz star of sorts since at least 1988 when he debuted impressively on… - James Andrews and the Andrews Family, Hear No Evil (Keep Swingin' Records)
Trumpeter/vocalist James Andrews remains old-school as he waves away the notion of preconceived stylistic barriers. On Hear No Evil, he moves… - Merry-Go-Drown, As She Screams (Independent)
Merry-Go-Drown’s sophomore release, As She Screams, follows much in the same vein as their self-titled debut. It’s nine more tracks of… - The Peasall Sisters, Home To You (Dualtone)
Hannah, Leah and Sarah Peasall are three young sisters from Tennessee, the oldest of which just graduated from high school. Their… - Various Artists, Billy Crystal Presents The Milt Gabler Story: From "Strange Fruit" to "Rock Around The Clock" (Verve)
This is not only a sensational collection of first rate jazz, it is a truly endearing performance. The first time I… - Shemekia Copeland, The Soul Truth (Alligator Records)
Robert Plant once referred to Shemekia Copeland, daughter of Texas blues legend Johnny Copeland and nearly a star in her own… - Vic Shepherd, Chromatic Cocktails (Independent)
From the regional relevance of “Boll Weevil” to the over-covered “Oyé Como Va,” Shepherd interprets these songs and other favorite jazz… - N'Stankt, Places Please (ShiNOLA Records)
While the band’s name may imply a dirty, dirty funk, this quartet’s debut album achieves a more glossy type of sound,… - Various Artists, Swing Around The World (Putumayo)
This is certainly one of the odder Putumayo compilations, featuring 12 selections of broadly defined “swing” music from the planet Earth,… - Michael Juan Nunez, About To Snap (Parishing Records)
A presidential term ago Michael Juan Nunez proved there was life after the River Babys, Lafayette’s seminal rockers, by dropping a… - Leroy Jones, New Orleans Brass Band Music: Memories of the Fairview & Hurricane Band (Independent)
"It started a reaction,” trumpeter Leroy Jones once said of the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band, which was established by Danny… - Outlaw Nation, Tripping Wire (Ralph Records)
At first glance, it would be practically impossible to tell what kind of music lies within the packaging of this album.… - Buzzy Beano, Between Hay & Grass (Redionis)
Topcats singer, producer, and local music luminary Buzzy Beano takes a break from the covers game in his main band to… - Lizz Wright, Dreaming Wide Awake (Verve)
Lizz Wright’s debut Salt introduced a talented vocalist with deep roots in spiritual music and the ability to convey the soulful… - Rebecca Barry and the Headhunters, Rebecca Barry and the Headunters (Independent)
Always pick your friends up at the airport when they call. Rebecca Barry, one of the city’s leading tenor sax blowers… - Shannon McNally, Geronimo (Back Porch Records)
The first thing that strikes the listener about Shannon McNally is her laid back, sultry, slightly weary approach that is as… - World Leader Pretend, Punches (Warner Bros)
Local alternative rockers World Leader Pretend move onto a major label with their sophomore effort, Punches. And judging from the sound,…
