January 2014
BackTalk
- BackTalk: Sherman Bernard, Lifetime Achievement in Music Business Award Honoree
Sherman Bernard’s decades in the New Orleans music business have garnered him a multitude of experiences and stories. He established Bernard…
Cover Story
- Cyril Neville: Lifetime Achievement in Music Award Honoree
Cyril Neville was born in 1948, the youngest brother in what has long been considered the first family of New Orleans…
En Route
- En Route: Bare Handed Bear Handlers' Owen Legendre at Crepes a la Carte
What do you like about Crepes a la Cart? I like that they have sandwiches made of pancakes. Their…
Features
- Dr. Steven Price: Best of the Beat 2013 Heartbeat Award Honoree
Dr. Steven Price is a warm and gregarious man. His eyes twinkle in a certain way when he speaks to you.… - Jason Patterson: Lifetime Achievement Award in Music Education (2013)
Education comes in varying forms. It can be obtained in formal, institutionalized settings or a casual conversation. Simply, it is the… - OffBeat Magazine's 2013 Best of the Beat Nominees
- Louisiana Musicians Make Naughty and Nice 2014 New Year's Resolutions
Ingrid Lucia: My realistic resolution is “quality over quantity,” but my outrageous one is to make my single “Ladies Football Nation”… - Critics' Picks for 2013's Best Louisiana Music Albums
Culled from over 200 Louisiana releases, OffBeat's critics recommend five albums that you should add to your collection. David Kunian… - Top 50 Louisiana Music Albums of 2013
From Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s new sound that’s anchored in the past to the New Orleans Suspects live at the Maple…
Fresh
- Grand Ole Opry, Meraux Foundation to Rehabilitate Jazz Landmarks?
In late July, NOLA.com reported that the operators of the Grand Ole Opry had been in talks with local stakeholders the Meraux… - Louisiana Musicians Nominated for Blues Music Awards
- Ponderosa Stomp Veterans Kick Off New Orleans Parish World Tour
Ponderosa Stomp fans that got their rocks off at October’s garage/psychedelia extravaganza will be treated to an encore on January 10… - It's Five Somewhere with "Papa" John Gros
What have you been up to? I’ve been enjoying not being a bandleader. I’ve had a blast playing with all my… - Louisiana Music Factory Relocates to Frenchmen Street
- The Howlin' Wolf Turns 25
The music club founded by brothers Jack and Jeff Groetsch first opened its doors in 1988 in a small L-shaped room… - My Music: Vanessa "Gal Holiday" Niemann
"I'm from western Maryland, where there’s a lot of bluegrass music. My mom is a classically trained opera singer. She met… - Monthly Guitar Extravaganza Series Evokes Danny Barker
Like a pop-up restaurant, a musical series, the Guitar Extravaganza, has been taking place at various venues across the city. The…
In The Spirit
- In the Spirit: Gin in My System by Lucky Rooster's Christine Jeanine Nielsen
"I like the acidity of this. I always like drinks to be a little more sour than sweet. And I like…
Letters
- January 2014 Letters to OffBeat Magazine
TEARS OF JOY Maybe it’s the two glasses of wine I just drank, but Bonnie [Raitt]’s comments [Backtalk, December 2013] about…
Mojo Mouth
- Mojo Mouth: Simply the Best
Twenty years ago, we decided to break the mold and do something that had never been done in New Orleans before:…
Obituaries
- Obituary: George H. Buck, Jr. (1929-2013)
George H. Buck Jr. founder of the GHB Jazz Foundation and the Palm Court Jazz Café, has passed away of a… - Obituary: Larry McKinley (1928-2013)
Larry McKinley, producer, the co-founder of Minit Records, and the voice of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has passed…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Ba Chi Canteen (Restaurant Review)
A wise man once said: “Never trust a skinny cook.” That adage immediately jumped to mind on my first visit to… - En Route: Bare Handed Bear Handlers' Owen Legendre at Crepes a la Carte
What do you like about Crepes a la Cart? I like that they have sandwiches made of pancakes. Their… - In the Spirit: Gin in My System by Lucky Rooster's Christine Jeanine Nielsen
"I like the acidity of this. I always like drinks to be a little more sour than sweet. And I like…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Ba Chi Canteen (Restaurant Review)
A wise man once said: “Never trust a skinny cook.” That adage immediately jumped to mind on my first visit to…
Photo Op
- Best Louisiana Music Photography 2013 Winners
In December, OffBeat held its inaugural Best Louisiana Music Photography contest. From our submissions, we selected the top 15 shots and…
Reviews
- Alexandra Scott, I Love You So Much Always (Independent)
From Cat Power to Joanna Newson, much of indie folk seems to revolve around women with offbeat personalities and technically imperfect… - Gregg Martinez, Creole Soul (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
A power vocalist recalling elements of Sam Cooke, Luther Vandross and Teddy Pendergrass, blue-eyed soul singer Gregg Martinez’s strength is in… - Organic Trio, Home Remembered (Independent)
Home Remembered isn’t your ordinary organ jazz trio album. Considering that guitarist Brian Seeger is at the helm of this project,… - Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Fine Rude Thing (Groovesburg Joys)
If it hits a bit rough at first—the subject of the title track comes scurrying in like an overly avuncular first… - Mike Torian, To New Orleans (Independent)
The City that Care Forgot arguably holds a more powerful allure for artistic types, post-K, than it ever has. Feeling sad… - Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band, Destiny (Independent)
On his previous release, Nothin’ But the Best, Corey Ledet vowed to stop succumbing to popular demand and be comfortable in… - Stover with the Voormen, Self-Titled (Independent)
Every Lennon has a McCartney, and vice versa. In the case of the defunct local roots-rock group Bad Mayo, there was… - Various Artists, Buffa’s Live from the Back Room, Volume 1 (Independent)
Buffa’s Lounge lives on Esplanade Avenue, situated between boho Marigny and tourist Quarter(s), a location that perfectly mirrors its aesthetic. The… - Peter Harris, The Jackal (Independent)
It is about time that one of the best bassists in town has released an album as a leader. Audiences and… - Chubby Carrier, Back to My Roots (Swampadelic Records)
Ever since Chubby Carrier won a Grammy in 2010, he hasn’t had to beat his brains out on the road to… - Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces, Firmamento de Amor (Independent)
There are two immediate surprises in store for those discovering Tyler Kinchen and the Right Pieces, a septet that practices sort… - Max Bernardi, Humble Beginnings (Independent)
Max Bernardi is a rootsy chanteuse who paints Blaine Kern floats in her day job, a backstory which might explain her… - Georgi Petrov Quartet, Lost Originals (Independent)
Like so many musicians before him, guitarist Georgi Petrov, 26, headed to this city to study at the University of New… - Brother Dege, How to Kill a Horse (Independent)
Once dubbed one of the best-kept secrets of the South, it’s hard to imagine Brother Dege remaining a chic cult figure… - Frank Wess, The Flute Mastery of Frank Wess (Progressive)
Frank Wess, arguably one of the top jazz flutists of the twentieth century, passed away last October at the age of… - Daniel “Weenie” Farrow, Norbert Susemihl, Seva Venet, Kerry Lewis, Romantic New Orleans (Crazy Good New Orleans Jazz)
It’s all about the songs and their execution. When musicians who know the music like it is the veins in their… - Various Artists, The South Side of Soul Street: The Minaret Soul Singles, 1967-1976 (Omnivore Records)
Getting a CD (double, no less) like this unexpectedly in the mail to review really makes my week. Minaret was briefly… - Creole Stomp, Pipeliner’s Blues: Doin’ Time (MME)
Formerly Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp, Stroughmatt yanked his name from the moniker since Creole Stomp had become more than just… - FIGHTs, Music for Villains (Independent)
When Lafayette’s J Burton heard Brian Eno’s “King’s Lead Hat” for the first time, he noticed something: a juxtaposition of sloppy… - Rick Trolsen, Rick Trolsen’s New Orleans Po’Boys (Lort Records)
Rick Trolsen is an extremely versatile musician and certainly one of the top trombonists in the city. Indeed, no less of… - Jim Clayton, Songs My Daughter Knows (Clay-Tone)
Toronto-based pianist Jim Clayton considers New Orleans his home away from home. He spends considerable vacation time and got married here.… - Leyla McCalla, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes (Music Maker Relief Foundation)
Leyla McCalla’s debut record as a leader is ambitious, deep and gorgeous. Playing an array (cello, guitar and banjo) of string…
