February 2020
BackTalk
- Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph talks back
As eclectic as the New Orleans music scene is, it’s still hard to imagine an artist having a more diverse career…
Cover Story
- Supreme Green Fairy: Tank and the Bangas reign over Krewe Bohème
Tarriona “Tank” Ball made a list of the great things Tank and the Bangas experienced in 2019. It’s a long list:…
Features
- Michael Doucet with Sarah Quintana pursues a new direction with Lâcher Prise
It happened on Mardi Gras Day 2018. That’s when Michael Doucet, singer and fiddler in the Grammy-winning Cajun band BeauSoleil, met… - Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi, celebrates 55 years of beauty and culture
Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi, remains one of the most recognizable big chiefs in the Mardi Gras Indian Nation. His… - Darius Lyndsley is on a mission to turn his art into something more
Darius Lyndsley, “Da Bucket Banga,” beats his buckets on a curb outside of Belle’s Diner in the French Market—lifting the bucket… - Mac’s lifelong friend Stanley Chaisson opens his Dr. John vault
Dr. John passed away last June, but his music just keeps coming. Two significant releases have been issued posthumously and these…
Fresh
- MY MUSIC: Glen Hall
James Andrews, Troy and Glen David Andrews are first cousins with my mom so I grew up around music. Glen David… - Charlie Wooton joins Blue Monday Mission
Blue Monday Mission, operating in Lafayette for three years, helps aging, retired and elderly musicians. A division of the nonprofit Love… - Five Questions with Kermit Ruffins on His New 9th Ward Juke Joint
Some people have expressed concern that because you’ve opened Kermit’s 9th Ward Juke Joint you might be giving up the Mother-In-Law.…
Letters
- Letters to the Editor: OffBeat Magazine, February 2020
Jerry Jumonville Jerry [Jumonville] and I met and gigged in the late ’50s. I went to New Orleans around 2001 or…
Mojo Mouth
- Mojo Mouth: An Opportunity…and a Warning
Recently, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation was absorbed by the city’s convention and visitors’ bureau, New Orleans & Co. Last…
Obituaries
- In Memoriam: Robert Parker (1930-2020)
Bandleader, sideman, artist and composer Robert Parker died at his Roseland, Louisiana home on January 19 from natural causes. He was… - In Memoriam: Jerome “5th Ward Weebie” Cosey (1977-2020)
On January 9, 2020, New Orleans lost a regional hip-hop legend when producer and rapper 5th Ward Weebie died. Reigning supreme…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria
Everyone has a handful of go-to restaurants they count on for consistently delicious dining experiences. Felipe’s makes the cut for most…
Reviews
- Alex McMurray, Lucky One (Independent)
A new Alex McMurray album is a call for celebration. Not a huge, Mardi Gras-like celebration, because songwriters’ albums no longer… - The Revelers, At the End of the River – Au bout de la riviére (Independent)
Save yourself some confusion. Don’t think of the Revelers as staunch proponents of any particular genre but rather a synthesis of… - Dopolarians, Garden Party (Mahakala)
Kidd Jordan is still a force of nature at age 84 even as he is limited physically by health problems. His… - Jeff Chaz, No Paint (JCP Records)
The seventh track on this album is called “Blues Buffet,” which sounds like either the kind of cruise you might hear… - Jackson Stokes, Jackson Stokes (Create Records)
Everything about this album is retro: The sound, the packaging (which purposely evokes a mid-’60s Columbia-label design), the length (nine songs,… - Beau Bayou & The Sabine Connection, True to My Roots (Independent)
It’s not often that a zydeco band is fronted by a high school football coach, but such is the case with… - Max & the Martians, “Please Hold On” / “Love on Vacation” (Mashed Potato Records)
Max Bien-Kahn and his ever-mutating band of backup Martians have been swimming around in the shallow end of indie alt.country whatevercana… - GG Shinn, Live in Concert (Independent)
In 1992, the 10-piece, horn-powered, blue-eyed soul aggregation Bits & Pieces invited GG Shinn to be its marquee vocalist at the… - Think Less Hear More, The Contenders I (Independent)
Here’s a high-art concept for you: live scoring a film in real time with a modern jazz outfit, then removing said… - Various Artists, Friends & Legends of Louisiana (L & M Star Productions)
Not a bad strategy to get your songs heard; enlist a few household name vocalists; surround them with a crack studio… - Shane Lief and John McCusker, Jockomo: The Native Roots of Mardi Gras Indians
Whether you look forward to Super Sunday all year or you have no idea who the Mardi Gras Indians are, Jockomo:… - Waylon Thibodeaux Here We Go Again (Rabadash Records)
Fiddler Waylon Thibodeaux calls his third Rabadash Records release his “blues CD,” something that label honcho and session pianist John Autin… - Delfeayo Marsalis & Uptown Jazz Orchestra: Jazz Party (Troubadour Jass Records)
Vocalist Tonya Boyd-Cannon kicks off the title cut of Jazz Party with a spirit that embraces the album’s name. It’s a…
