December 2007
BackTalk
- Judith Owen and Harry Shearer
Since Katrina, Judith Owen and Harry Shearer have been two of the most outspoken champions of New Orleans, preaching its charms…
Cover Story
- George Porter, Jr.: My World and Welcome to It
“How many hours have you spent on stage?” The question slows George Porter, Jr. down. Sitting at his living room table,…
Features
- In the Rearview Mirror
Once year-end suggested some sort of critical consensus. If you read enough of them, you knew the three or four albums… - What's My Second Line?: Twelve Steps in a New Orleans Tradition
- Mary Gauthier: The Road Home
Fresh
- Will Panel for Recovery
Though it was a little depressing to see the music of New Orleans represented at New York’s CMJ convention only by… - Ronnie Kole Honored
Soon there will be a new face among the statues in New Orleans Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street. On Friday… - Caroling in the Cathedral
It wouldn’t be Christmas time in New Orleans without the annual Cathedral Christmas Concerts. Once again, local choirs and New Orleans… - Absolut Rebuilding
Absolut Vodka launched the limited-edition Absolut New Orleans this past summer, and now they’re giving back to the city that inspired… - Buck Plays Bob
Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr., leader of Buckwheat Zydeco, has used the accordion to become a world-traveled, Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated musician. But… - The Nevilles Return
November is early for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to make any announcements, but November 15, festival producer Quint… - The Beauty of the Boswells
If you don’t know who the Boswell Sisters are, you can be forgiven because the group broke up more than 70…
Letters
- December 2007 Letters
"I hope his music and non-profit organization "Voice of the Wetlands" moves enough Americans to use their voices and votes to…
Mojo Mouth
- Happy Holidays
The OffBeat staff—myself, Joseph Irrera, Alex Rawls, Craig Guillot, Elena Reeves, Eric Broad, Sarah Lockwood and Richard Giraldi—wishes you all a…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Cafe Freret
Café Freret makes an imposing muffuletta. The massive round loaf, studded with sesame seeds and dusted with Parmesan cheese, sits on… - A Southern Review
Is Southern food just the way we eat in the South? Or is it the way we used to eat? In…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Cafe Freret
Café Freret makes an imposing muffuletta. The massive round loaf, studded with sesame seeds and dusted with Parmesan cheese, sits on… - A Southern Review
Is Southern food just the way we eat in the South? Or is it the way we used to eat? In…
Reviews
- Various Artists, Various Christmas Albums (Various Labels)
The challenge with Christmas music is to catch the right mood. The holiday almost inherently sentimental, and it requires artists making… - Mindy Smith, My Holiday (Vanguard)
The strongest release of new music is Mindy Smith’s <em>My Holiday</em>, which has become one of my favorite albums of the… - Robyn Hitchcock, I Wanna Go Backwards (Yep Roc)
Robyn Hitchcock is commonly referred to by critics as a surrealist, and that’s certainly the notion filmmaker Jonathan Demme puts… - Hope Waits, Hope Waits (Radar Proof)
“Fortune Teller,” the third track from Monroe, Louisiana singer/songwriter Hope Waits’ self-titled debut, tells the tale of going to a… - Peter Himmelman, The Pigeons Couldn't Sleep (Himmasongs Recordings)
Rock ’n’ Roll has always been thought of as a young man’s game. Live fast, die young, and leave a… - Nils Landgren Funk Unit, License to Funk (ACT)
If I didn’t live here, I’d feel more love for License to Funk. It’s a well-made, sincere funk album by… - Captain Coconut, Shoop! (Captain Coconut1234)
Captain Coconut has built a strong following out of its New York City base at the Knitting Factory, but the… - D.C. Sills, Better When I'm Loved (Independent)
Alexandria folk singer D.C. Sills highlights an interesting phenomenon on Better When I’m Loved, her first full length album. She,… - David N. Meyer, Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music (Villard)
If Gram Parsons hadn’t existed, somebody else would have connected country and rock, and that person would have become the… - Soul Asylum, Welcome to the Minority: The A&M Years 1988-1991 (Hip-O)
This three-disc set collects the two albums Soul Asylum recorded for A&M Records—Hang Time (1988) and And the Horse They… - Bettye Lavette, The Scene of the Crime (Anti-)
It’s rare that well-known bands can suppress their identity when they back others, but the Drive-By Truckers follow the lead… - Various Artists, I'm Not There (Columbia)
Only a handful of songs from this two-disc set of Dylan covers turn up in Todd Haynes’ excellent meditation on… - Borbetomagus, Live in Allentown (Agaric)
In the typically garish language often used by critics of improvised music, Phil Freeman writes in the liner notes to… - The Staple Singers, The 25th Day of December (Riverside)
The last few years have been sad ones for Christmas CDs, with few new discs of note. The Staple Singers’… - Renaissance Cadienne, Minuit Cadien: Noel Pays des Bayous (Tracas)
Inquiring minds are never satisfied, an M.O. that certainly fits Renaissance Cadienne. In their 17-year-existence, the Lafayette-based Cajun folkloric troupe… - Various Artists, Have a Merry South Louisiana Christmas (CSP)
Just when you’ve thought you’ve heard and seen it all comes the first swamp pop Christmas CD—and it’s not half… - Bruce Hornsby, Christian McBride, Jack DeJohnette, Camp Meeting (Sony Legacy)
Since his breakthrough The Way It Is album in 1984 Bruce Hornsby has worn many a musical hat. His collaborations… - Smithfield Fair, 20 for 20 (Stevenson Productions)
For years, Smithfield Fair has planted thistles in the bayous, only to watch them seed, flourish and re-germinate again. Its… - Marc Adams, Grooves for Sale (Independent)
If the album subtitle—“Can’t Give it Away”—is modest, the starring cast is anything but. With backing by local staples sax… - Gravity A, Naissance (Independent)
Instead of jazz/jam/funk, this is jazz/jam/rock, which means that when it doesn’t lean toward fusion, it veers toward art rock. Gravity… - Various Artists, City of Dreams (Rounder)
If you’ve been listening to New Orleans music during the past 25 years, chances are your collection contains more than… - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Raising Sand (Rounder)
Producer T Bone Burnett says he wanted everybody out of their comfort zones, himself included. His failure on that point… - Murmur, Fermata (Backporch Revolution)
It’s cheating a little to call Fermata a Katrina project; it’s more of an echo (literally) of our past. Some… - Joe Warren Cormier, Pure Cajun (Swallow)
Over the years, Swallow Records’ Encore Series has unearthed out-of-print treasures to CD but usually it has been artists of… - John Scofield, This Meets That (Emarcy/Umgd)
John Scofield needs no introduction. The jazz guitarist is not only a master of improvisation but has recorded with a… - Phillip Manuel, PM (IIFire)
Here are two words to describe the new Philip Manuel album: Ooooooh yeah. A collection of soulful slow jams and… - Johnny Rivers, Last Boogie in Paris: The Complete Concert (Shout! Factory)
I recall about 20 years ago finishing a 5K road race and the post-race entertainment on board a riverboat was… - Derrick Freeman, It Is What It Is (Independent)
Is the key to this album in the monolithic sound of the bass and drums on the Bill Withers-penned opening… - John Doheny and the Professors of Pleasure, Tulane University Faculty Quintet (Independent)
John Doheny and the Professors of Pleasure strike the perfect balance between pedagogy and practice. The Tulane music school Faculty… - Grayson Capps, Songbones (Hyena)
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with spare, acoustic songs, but instead of sounding more “authentic,” that presentation highlights everything mannered in Grayson… - Ani DiFranco, Canon (Righteous Babe)
To some, “greatest hits” packages seem like an industry trick to bleed more money out of an artist’s fan base… - Esquizito, Vol. 4: Come Rain, Come Shine (Maison Musique)
There’s a lot to like on Esquizito’s new album, starting with its democratic feel. The jazz vocalist shares the spotlight… - Howard Wiley, The Angola Project (Independent)
Howard Wiley’s The Angola Project is full of anger, bitterness, sorrow, joy and beautiful music. Inspired by Louisiana’s Angola State… - Mary Gauthier, Between Daylight and Dark (Lost Highway)
On Easter, Patti Smith says, “Those who have suffered understand suffering and therefore extend their hand.” Thibodeaux native Mary Gauthier’s…
