January 2020
Cover Story
- Lifetime Achievement in Music: Charlie Gabriel
Lifetime Achievement in Music Charlie Gabriel When Charlie Gabriel, 87, was a youngster of maybe eight or nine years old, he…
BackTalk
- Rhiannon Giddens talks back
In 2007, Rhiannon Giddens performed at the Folk Alliance International conference with the aspiring black string band Carolina Chocolate Drops. On…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: True Food Kitchen
Locals don’t have to go too far back in time to remember just how challenging it was to find restaurants that…
Features
- The 50 Best Albums of 2019 in Louisiana Music
We’ve polled our writers and editorial staff and have gathered 50 of our most recommended albums of the year. We didn’t… - The Folk Alliance celebrates creativity and supports traditions
The 32nd annual Folk Alliance International conference is coming to New Orleans. Running January 22 to January 26 at the Sheraton… - The Banjo: An unusual voice in the story of New Orleans music
The first banjo ever documented in New Orleans was in 1819. British-American architect Benjamin Latrobe illustrated the instrument as he witnessed… - Accordion-making was considered a hobby, but Randy Falcon turned it into a business
Randy Falcon grew up in the French-speaking region of southwest Louisiana listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Dave… - The complete list of nominees for the 2019 Best of the Beat Awards
The OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation’s Best of the Beat Nominations are in. We solicited nominations from musicians and many… - Lifetime Achievement in Music Education: Steve Masakowski
Steve Masakowski never focused on making teaching his career. While attending Boston’s Berklee College of Music he earned a Professional Diploma… - Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer): Clarence “Delco” Dalcour
Best of the Beat Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer) Clarence Dalcour, 71, is a soft-spoken man who as Big… - Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Musician): Margie Perez
Margie Perez embodies what it means to be a working artist in New Orleans right now: she plays whenever possible, constantly… - Lifetime Achievement in Music Business: Shirani Rea of Peaches Records
When Shirani Rea opened Peaches Records in 1975, she became an independent business owner with a humanist approach to her bottom…
Fresh
- Five Questions with WWOZ Deejay Suzanne Corley
Describe your musical worldview when you moved to town. I moved to New Orleans in 1991 and I didn’t have very… - Five Questions with the Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans (MaCCNO)
We’ve seen several street performers arrested this year because of a law previously deemed unconstitutional. How can we protect the rights… - My Music: Natasha “Nattie” Sanchez
My dad, [George Sanchez], is a writer, actor and director, and my mom was an actress, so I was always around… - ARTFUL DUET: Emilie Rhys, Noel Rockmore exhibit at Jazz Museum
Despite not growing up with her portrait-painter father, Emilie Rhys is a third-generation artist. Following in famous New Orleans artist Noel… - JEN: the Premier National Jazz Event in New Orleans
The Jazz Education Network (JEN) is a “global community that inspires collective improvisation in music, action and word. Their annual gathering…
Letters
- Letters to the Editor: OffBeat Magazine, January 2020
New Orleans and Nashville This letter is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “The Difference Between New Orleans and Nashville”…
Mojo Mouth
- Mojo Mouth: A Note From OffBeat Publisher Jan Ramsey
A Busy New Year, Musically By the time this issue of OffBeat hits the street, it’ll be past Christmas and in…
Obituaries
- In memoriam: Jerome “Jerry” Jumonville (1941 – 2019)
New Orleans saxophonist, arranger and composer Jerry Jumonville passed away on December 7, 2019 after a long illness. Originally from New… - In Memoriam: Earl Bernhardt (1939-2019)
Earl Bernhardt, an entrepreneur, co-proprietor of the Tropical Isle chain of French Quarter clubs (with longtime partner Pam Fortner), friend and…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: True Food Kitchen
Locals don’t have to go too far back in time to remember just how challenging it was to find restaurants that…
Reviews
- Evan Christopher, Fapy Lafertin, Dave Kelbie and Sebastien Girardot, A Summit in Paris (Camille Productions)
On A Summit in Paris clarinetist Evan Christopher joins his contemporary, early jazz stylings with the Django-worthy technique of guitarist Fapy… - James Martin, Keep Movin’ (Independent)
Saxophonist James Martin’s first album, Something’s Gotta Give was a fairly straightforward New Orleans funk album, but there were hints he… - Bookmark: Bryan Wagner, The Wild Tchoupitoulas (Bloomsbury Academic – 33 1/3 Series)
Bloomsbury Academic has been publishing short books that analyze classic albums from different perspectives. The subjects of these books range from… - Harry Connick, Jr., True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter (Verve)
I’m a big fan of the multi-faceted Connick, and have nearly all of his recordings. Harry is 52; I first heard… - Kenneth Hagans, New Orleans Trumpet (Independent)
Trumpeter Kenneth Hagans combines New Orleans traditional jazz chestnuts, spirituals, a couple of classic New Orleans rhythm and blues numbers and,… - Blato Zlato, In The Wake (Independent)
One thing that has not gone unnoticed in the age of streaming is the dearth of information about any given recording.… - Bipolaroid, Paint It, Blacker (Get Hip Recordings)
The Troggs of “Wild Thing” fame were supposedly named after a British fad that saw kids moving into Blighty’s famous caves… - Sabrina Stone, International Date Line (Independent)
New York City-born Sabrina Stone, like any good singer, is in love with her voice. And why not? That’s some good… - Misled, Chemical Reaction (Dixie Dawg Records)
KISS Army alert: If you’ve seen the latest farewell tour and you’re distraught over never getting the best again, check out… - Korgy & Bass, Remote (CavitySearch)
Looks like we’re gonna need a new Best of the Beat category for Wittiest Band Name. The moniker of Portland duo… - Shanin Novrasli, From Baku to New York City (Jazz Village)
The name Shanin Novrasli might not ring a bell, though his associates on his latest album, From Baku to New York,… - Elizabeth Joan Kelly Farewell, Doomed Planet! (Independent)
Elizabeth Joan Kelly has specialized for the better part of a decade now in creating ambient “background” music designed to create… - Katy Hobgood Ray featuring Dave Ray, I Dream of Water (Out of the Past Music)
So much American roots music is folk balladry when you get right down to it, or at least it started that… - T’Monde, Lights in the Harbor (Valcour Records)
On the third album in its eight-year existence, Cajun trio T’Monde continues to distinguish itself from its fuller band contemporaries. Vocals… - Paul Sanchez, I’m a Song, I’m a Story, I’m a Ghost (Sanchez Music)
A Lonesome Coda After a prolific few years, Paul Sanchez is rather suddenly saying goodbye. He’s announced that this is…
