February 2008
BackTalk
- Damian Kulash of OK Go and Mark Mullins of Bonerama
A year and a half ago, OK Go was just another power pop band, but then it made a video for…
Bookmark
- Marybeth Hamilton, In Search of the Blues (Basic)
Marybeth Hamilton’s In Search of the Blues isn’t a search for the blues per se. More accurately, it’s a search for…
Cover Story
- The Road Not Taken
Amanda Shaw is leading her band through a driving, blues-rock tinged version of “Hot Tamale Baby.” As she dances around the…
Features
- Classic Songs of Louisiana: "Big Chief" by Professor Longhair
“Me big chief, me got ’em tribe. Got my squaw right by my side, My flag boy just went by, My… - Grammys: The Jethro Tull Effect
The first-ever Grammy Award for best Cajun/zydeco album brought out quite the field of nominees—not just the standard five, but thanks… - Mardi Gras: Between the Tractors
- The Best of the Beat 2007
For the second year in a row, you love Trombone Shorty. At the Best of the Beat January 12, we again…
Fresh
- The End of the Show
The Medicine Show has finally delivered its cure. For the past 10 years, this music show at Grant Street Dancehall in… - Movers at a Standstill
The Imagination Movers started taping their upcoming television series for the Disney Channel at the University of New Orleans’ Nims Center… - Turning 30
The Radiators are about to celebrate their 30th year as a band, but that’s not about to slow them down. The… - Growing Up
On one page of One Generation at a Time: Biography of a Cajun and Creole Music Festival, a pre-fame Steve Riley… - Has Harry Got Game?
The Hornets returned to New Orleans this season, and with them came the NBA All-Star Game, which takes place February 17… - Truth and Water
Somewhere south of Nashville, in a great big hardwood ballroom of a recording studio with baffles and warrens of isolation booths,…
Letters
- February 2008 Letters
NOD TO HIS ELDERS The Shamarr review in OffBeat of his CD was a real snub and after he took out…
Mojo Mouth
- Keepin' It Real
Okay, so I'm flipping through channels, looking for something to entertain me before I go to work. I come across the…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Brazilian Grill Steak House
How will you celebrate your Mardi Gras? Will you follow the Buzzards down to St. Charles and then beg Zulu for… - Reconcile Changes
''How are you going to beat having Emeril Lagasse on the avenue?'' asks Craig Cuccia, founder of Café Reconcile. He's not…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Brazilian Grill Steak House
How will you celebrate your Mardi Gras? Will you follow the Buzzards down to St. Charles and then beg Zulu for…
Reviews
- Nick Lowe, Jesus of Cool 30th Anniversary Ed. (Yep Roc)
The years have treated Nick Lowe’s debut album curiously. On first listen, I was a little disappointed, but that may… - Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark (New West)
A Blessing and a Curse found the Drive-By Truckers uncharacteristically uncertain. They’d got what they wanted and were trying to figure… - Free Form Funky Freeqs, Urban Mythology, Vol. One (Thirsty Ear)
How much do you love Vernon Reid? Your appreciation for Urban Mythology, Vol. One depends on the answer being “a… - Big Daddy 'O, What You Gotta Go Through (Rabadash)
This is a highly entertaining set of well-chosen covers and telling originals. A case in point of the latter is the… - Big Chief Alfred Doucette, Rollin' Wit Da Legends & Marie Laveau (Independent)
In late August 2005, Kevin O’Day played his last weekly show at Ray’s, a luxurious glass-walled club atop the World Trade… - The Bad Off, Lady Day (Independent)
For the past few years, the Bad Off has been working the local clubs, perhaps energized by a renewed love of… - Luther Allison, Underground (Ruf)
While this is a fascinating and rare documentation of vintage Chicago blues, listeners shouldn’t for a minute buy into the claim… - Various Artists, Women's Home Music (Louisiana Crossroads)
“Cajun Music is more than just two-steps and waltzes,” Michael Doucet has always contended. One of the cultural facets the BeauSoleil… - The Karl Denson Trio, Lunar Orbit (Bobby Ace)
The packaging may read “The Karl Denson Trio,” but Lunar Orbit is pretty much a one-man show. Karl Denson began his… - The Honey Island Band, The Honey Island Band (Independent)
The Honey Island Swamp Band combines the talents of some of New Orleans instrumental ringers and lets them open it up… - Linnzi Zaorski, Hot Wax and Whiskey (Independent)
On this, her third release, retro torch singer Linnzi Zaorski appears to have realized if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.… - Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, Keep the Tradition Alive! (Maison de Soul)
Twenty years ago, Jeffrey Broussard unknowingly rerouted the course of zydeco simply by incorporating the double-clutching beat (two quick bass drum… - Honky Tonk Band, Honky Tonk Band (Girl-Q)
Even if it is a generic-sounding sobriquet, there’s a lot to live up to with a name like the Honky Tonk… - Allison Moorer, Mockingbird (New Line)
Her voice lifts, husky yet lighter than ether… These are not her songs, yet they are exhaled as something from deep… - Evan Christopher, Delta Bound (Arbors)
Although his engagements in New Orleans are fewer since the federal flood, clarinetist Evan Christopher’s music has not suffered in the… - Nicholas Payton, Mysterious Shorter (Chesky)
The influence of saxophonist Wayne Shorter on the world of jazz is undeniable. As a member of the 1960s Miles Davis… - Bonerama with OK Go, You're Not Alone (Independent)
Those who missed the live collaboration between Bonerama and modern-rock wunderkinds OK Go’s benefit gig for Sweet Home New Orleans and… - The Savoy Family Band, Turn Loose But Don't Let Go (Arhoolie)
By now, it’s safe to say that any recording with “Savoy” emblazoned on it is probably something of quality with smart…
