July 2008
BackTalk
- Jimmy Robinson
Guitarist Jimmy Robinson remembers hitchhiking barefooted to the French Quarter from the Lakefront to play guitar when he was 16. He…
Cover Story
- Re-Funked
When you think of the Essence Music Festival, you think of Frankie Beverly and Maze. Stevie, Aretha, Beyoncé, Chaka Khan and…
Features
- Classic Songs of Louisiana: "Mr. Big Stuff" by Jean Knight
“Mr. Big Stuff, who do you think you are? Mr. Big Stuff, you’re never gonna get my love.” One of… - Lil Wayne: To Mix or Not to Mix
- Essence: Space Oddities
Fresh
- Rock in a Brass Town
Life isn’t easy for a rock band in the birthplace of jazz. However, Good Guys, a local metal-meets-lounge act, are trying… - The Song of the Week
“I was having drinks with a friend,” recalls singer/songwriter John Michael Rouchell of MyNameIsJohnMichael, “and he called me lazy. He said… - First Stevie, Then Scully
Fabled R&B singer Andre Williams recorded with Stevie Wonder, Ike and Tina Turner and Mary Wells. Ryan Scully joins that list… - OffBeat Nominated for Press Club Awards
The nominations for the Press Club of New Orleans have been announced, and OffBeat received eight nominations in six categories. Jan… - Dixie Saints
The husband and wife team of Yoshio and Keiko Toyama have been providing much-needed instruments to the school children of New… - It's All About Families
In late April, Elisa Monte was in Southwest Louisiana doing additional research for Zydeco!, a modern dance project. She visited the… - On the Road Again-Or Not
With gas prices passing the four-dollar mark in New Orleans, everybody has to think twice about driving. Because the road is…
Letters
- July 2008 Letters
WATERMELON MAN In 1979, I flew from Houston to Nashville. On the flight was Bo Diddley. He was in his black…
Mojo Mouth
- Essential Matters
I love my job. I really do. My Mama always said I was lucky to have found a profession that combines…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Dean Lutz (1974-2008)
Dean Lutz, the creator of the New Orleans band Patient Zero, died of a cerebral hemorrhage on June 10 in San…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: MiLa
Sit down at MiLa, the glossy new restaurant in the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel, and two miniature cast iron skillets arrive… - The Good Stuff
Lu Brow, the bartender at the Swizzle Stick Bar, drops several lime wedges into a cocktail shaker and squeezes the last…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: MiLa
Sit down at MiLa, the glossy new restaurant in the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel, and two miniature cast iron skillets arrive…
Reviews
- Mitch Woods featuring the Lazy Jumpers, Jukebox Drive (El Toro)
Mitch Woods’ Big Easy Boogie was a well-meant tribute to New Orleans, and it probably got a better reception in other… - Cassandra Wilson, Loverly (Blue Note)
Although standards are an important part of the jazz catalogue, standards albums are often disappointing affairs, predictable and too reverential to… - Amos Lee, Last Days at the Lodge (Blue Note)
How far you go with Amos Lee is contingent on how far a soulful voice carries you. Last Days at the… - Lyfe Jennings, Lyfe Changes (Columbia)
First things first—can we all take a pledge to just say no to Auto-Tune? The program that creates T-Pain’s signature robo-voice?… - New York Dolls, Live at the Fillmore East (Sony/BMG)
I didn’t see the New York Dolls the first time around, but it’s hard to imagine that David Johansen ever looked… - Otis Redding, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector's Edition) (Atco/Rhino)
Disc one, track six—“Shake”—second verse: “Ya shake it like a bowl a’ soup yeah / Ya let it go loopity-loop yeah.”… - Amy Trail, Lushious Life (Independent)
On her second independent release, Amy Trail locates herself fruitfully in a piano-driven singer-songwriter mode circa the mid-1970s. Elegantly simple melodies… - Good Guys, The Social Engagement (Independent)
My highly subjective (and most likely inaccurate) interpretation of chaos theory is that seemingly random occurrences are actually orchestrated happenings. The… - Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza (Heads Up)
You don’t hear of many female bassists, but Esperanza Spalding headlines in her dual role on vocals and “doolin bass.” With… - Egg Yolk Jubilee, Labor of Lunch (Independent)
Frank Zappa once asked in an album title if humor belonged in music, which was a bit of a red herring… - Walter Jr., A Long Way from Lafayette (Gator Tone)
If you’re looking for the latest swamp funk party throwdown from Walter Jr., baby, this ain’t it. Instead, A Long Way… - Judith Owen, Mopping Up Karma (Courgette)
Mopping Up Karma is a flashback of sorts, a return to material Judith Owen started in Los Angeles in 1998 with… - Charles Thibodeaux and the Austin Cajun Aces, Hommage a Andrew Cormier (Independent)
Texas has always had an affinity for the indigenous French music of its Louisiana neighbor. Southeast Texas became a cultural stronghold… - Hurray for the Riff Raff, It Don't Mean I Don't Love You (Independent)
Technology has made it possible to make hour-plus albums, but does that mean bands should make hour-plus albums? I’ve heard the… - Truth Universal, Self-Determination (Independent)
If there is any hip-hop scene that would be well served by a conscious rapper, it would be New Orleans’. However,… - Jamal Batiste, The Unorthodox Drummer: The First Assemblage (Jam-All Productions)
There’s a lot to admire about The Unorthodox Drummer: the First Assemblage, starting with Jamal Batiste’s nerve and ambition. The album… - Jimmy Robinson, Vibrating Strings (Independent)
Jimmy Robinson, New Orleans singer and guitar-twanger extraordinaire, has just released a new album. Vibrating Strings is his first solo acoustic… - Tom McDermott, All the Keys & Then Some (Parnassus)
What do Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Tom McDermott all have in common? They composed short pieces (preludes) of music… - Gravy, Said & Done (Independent)
Naming your band after that strange liquid which fills the streets of the Quarter is a dicey proposition—“Gravy” is a funky,… - Davy Mooney, Astoriano (LateSet)
Buzz has been building in the jazz world about Davy Mooney and his 7-string guitar. The New Orleans-native placed third in… - Umami, Umami (Independent)
You can pinpoint the moment Umami comes to life. The album is likeable, elegant jazz-inflected R&B—lush, warm, and Anita Baker-like—until it… - Todd Sickafoose, Tiny Resistors (Cryptogramophone)
Todd Sickafoose’s new record Tiny Resistors is a rich megabyte of jazz collaboration. I say megabyte to emphasize the weird, expansive… - Sonny Landreth, From the Reach (Landfall)
Steak is good, and bleu cheese, mushrooms and sautéed onions are all good on a steak, but you don’t want them… - Dr. Michael White, Blue Crescent (Basin Street)
It would be hard to overstate the significance of Blue Crescent in the history of New Orleans music. At the moment…
