December 2016
Cover Story
- Little Drummer Boy: Cowboy Mouth’s Fred LeBlanc celebrates being alive
If you caught Cowboy Mouth at the 2015 Jazz Fest, you saw one of the best moments of Fred LeBlanc’s life.…
Features
- Send Him a Friend: Anders Osborne’s road to sobriety
Anders Osborne’s status as a musician in recovery is well known. In many of his songs he’s dealt with the spiritual… - Where the Wild Things Are: ROAR! rocks like a lion, jams like a lamb
“Coming from Colorado, it was interesting for me to learn how many lines are drawn from both the punk and jazz… - Back to Basics: Mike Zito is himself again
Guitar, bass, drums and the blues. It’s back to basics for Mike Zito. He’s returned to the riff-fueled blues-rock that inspired… - Khari Allen Lee is an eager and disciplined student of the arts
“I like to say that I’m as old as this universe and as new as this moment,” offers saxophonist Khari Allen Lee,… - Secret Longings: Musicians' Holiday Wish Lists
In the summer of 2009, before the football season had even begun, trumpeter, vocalist, composer and mighty New Orleans Saints fan…
Fresh
- In conversation with Paula Mejia, author of "Psychocandy"
With its searing noise-crush aesthetic and echoey fills layered beneath pop melodies straight out of the ’60s girl-group sound, the Jesus… - The New Year's Playlist
‘Tis the season for New Year’s playlists, and we can’t help but notice that a lot of the choices we’ve seen… - My Music: Casey Wayne McAllister
“My father was a songwriter and a guitarist. He and his friends played these huge jam sessions. Their music was all… - Soundcheck: Five Questions with Debbie Davis
“I know musicians are supposed to be countercultural, but I’m a total Christmas geek,” confesses singer Debbie Davis. Two years ago she…
BackTalk
- Jim James talks back
“You can talk about it all you want, but what you gonna do? Time’s your oyster, the grave is always getting…
In The Spirit
- In the Spirit: Alex Siler at Primitivo
“When I first came to New Orleans, we were doing a lot of busking just to pass the time. That was…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Shank Charcuterie
Chef Kris Doll has spent most of his New Orleans culinary career toiling away in obscurity in the depths of the…
Letters
- December 2016 Letters to the Editor
Be Different. He Is. The following letters are in response to Sam D’Arcangelo’s news post about Bob Dylan being awarded the…
Mojo Mouth
- Magical Thinking
I heard early this morning from a staff member that Mose Allison, one of jazz’s great players, had passed away. Of course,…
The Spot
- Matt Rhody Hits the Spot at Angela Brocato
What do you get here? Always ice cream. Sometimes a cannoli. How often do you come? I try to resist coming…
Reviews
- Rewind: Paul Sanchez, "Jet Black and Jealous" (PSM/Little Fish Platters)
“Most of it was recorded in 1989. I was in New York, making friends with people in the anti-folk scene. During… - Amanda Shaw, "Amanda Shaw" (Independent)
This would be Amanda Shaw’s big national swing-for-the-bleachers superstar bid if she had just turned 18; as it is, a lot… - Kristin Hersh, "Wyatt at the Coyote Palace" (Cash Music)
Kristin Hersh makes albums you have to think about, which can be the commercial kiss of death (and in her case,… - Al “Carnival Time” Johnson and Margie Perez, "Don’t Go, Santa!" (Toby Wraye Music)
This hilarious single, produced by the irrepressible Louie Ludwig, is bound to get airplay during the holiday season on WWOZ. It’s… - The NOLA Players, "Christmastime in New Orleans" (AimHigher/Verve)
In many ways, Christmastime in New Orleans sounds just as one might expect when an 18-piece ensemble of some of this… - K. Jones and the Benzie Playboys, "Morning Train" (Independent)
Though K. Jones and the Benzie Playboys honor John Delafose, Boozoo Chavis and Preston and Keith Frank here, they do so… - Big Joe Kennedy, "Big Joe Kennedy’s 504-Tified" (Independent)
BJK is one of NOLA’s better-kept secrets. He’s got a strong pianistic touch, immersed in the NOLA tradition of Dr. John… - Cauche Mar, "Cauche Mar" (Independent)
When is a metal band not metal? Possibly when it takes the chamber music route, as Cauche Mar does here on… - Chris Miller, "Le boute s’approche" (Independent)
Cajun musician Chris Miller knocks it out of this park on this 18-track/8 originals affair that’s primarily rooted in the classic… - The Spike Band, "What It Means" (Independent)
Usually when an act starts singing a blues-funk song about how much they love étouffée, they’re not doing much more than… - Hamid Drake + Jeff Zielinski, "Sawt-e-Sarmad" (Independent)
Drummer and percussionist Hamid Drake has made many sojourns to New Orleans and is usually associated with creative jazz saxophonist and… - Paul and Friends, "Journey of the Heart" (P&J Records)
Christian yacht rock? Seems like an unlikely sub-subgenre of popular music, even in today’s balkanized music industry. However, this is the… - Louisiana Soul Revival, "Louisiana Soul Revival featuring Doug Duffey" (Independent)
It’s hard to imagine what keyboardist/vocalist/songwriter Doug Duffey hasn’t done in his six decades in the music biz. He was active… - Steve Giarratano, "Steve Giarratano and Friends" (Sound of New Orleans)
Originally recorded in 1995, reedman Steve Giarratano opted not to release this jazz recording with guitarist Bill Huntington, bassist Jim Markway… - Buku Broux, "Live from Jackson Square" (Independent)
Multiculturalism is nothing if not the lifeblood of New Orleans culture, from its food to its music to its architecture, which… - Nick Sanders & Logan Strosahl, "Janus" (Sunnyside Records)
In Roman mythology, Janus is a god of two faces, one that looks forward and the other backward. That this particular… - Kevin Ray Clark, "The Awakening of Calm" (Independent)
New Orleans musicians and New Age music are an unlikely mix. But trumpeter Kevin Clark gave his melodies to jazz pianist… - Ca $ell, "Grade 'A' Disco Sh$t" (Fire on the Bayou)
In a lot of ways, hip-hop and pop have become almost indistinguishable from each other in the club, yet Ca $ell’s… - Melissa Etheridge, "Memphis Rock N’ Soul" (Concord Music)
No one can accuse Melissa Etheridge of not having guts, and not just because of her status as an early LGBTQ… - Walter Mouton and the Scott Playboys, "Live at Festivals Acadiens et Créoles" (FAC)
Considered a musician’s musician, the venerable Walter Mouton is the stuff legends are made of. For the past 65 years, he… - Steve Pistorius, "Steamboat Days" (Independent)
Steve Pistorius has been serving up great rag, Jelly Roll Morton, stride and New Orleans jazz for as long as one… - The New Orleans Swinging Gypsies, "Esplanade Swing" (Independent)
The eight-fingered solos of Django Reinhardt loom large over all gypsy jazz, and that goes double for this debut album, mostly… - Sean Ardoin + Zydekool, "Live at the Chicken Run!" (Independent)
In the past few years, Sean Ardoin has noticed that zydeco recordings, admittedly his included (Return of the Kool), have been… - The Tumbling Wheels, "Play the No Counts" (United Bakery)
On the cover of this CD, which shows the five undressed band members crammed into a backyard pool, the Tumbling Wheels… - Gregory Agid Quartet, "Words Are Not Enough" (Independent)
It’s gratifying that a next generation of musicians looks to the compositions of some of this city’s masters—and sometimes their teachers… - Mia Borders, "Fever Dreams" (Blaxican Records)
In the past, Mia Borders was one of those obviously gifted artists who hadn’t settled a musical direction yet. For her…
