May 2009
BackTalk
- Booker T.
Getting ready for his Jazz Fest appearance with Drive-By Truckers as his backing band, Booker T. Jones is thinking back to…
Features
- Language Barriers
When we think of Zachary Richard at Jazz Fest, we think of a sort of Cajun Jimmy Buffett, not the quieter,… - Fest Focus: Lionel Ferbos
- On the Road Again
This past February, trumpet player Shamarr Allen was tapped to be part of the Willie Nelson’s touring band in support of… - Fest Focus: Buckwheat Zydeco
- Fest Focus: MyNameIsJohnMichael
- This Is Pop?
Blame Bill Millar. Although the English music critic had used the term throughout the Sixties, “swamp-pop”—a label everyone agrees is his… - Ponderosa Stomp Focus: Classie Ballou
- The Bridge to Somewhere
Nineteen year-old Conun Pappas began playing piano out of sheer curiosity. Now, as part of the Bridge Trio, he'll back up… - Ponderosa Stomp Focus: Otis Clay
- Choir Practice
- Fest Focus: Kings of Leon
- Fringe Benefits
- Fest Focus: Bruce Daigrepont
- The Write Stuff
- Sacred Songs: Danny Barker
“When Danny first approached me, I saw him as someone who was quite cool,” remembers trumpeter Leroy Jones with a smile… - Hard Headed Woman
“In the ’50s, when I had the nerve to jump out there and be the only girl recordin’ this stuff, and… - Fest Focus: Drive-By Truckers
- Fest Focus: John Scofield
- Jazz Fest Focus: Chuck Brown
For many, Trouble Funk’s 1982 album Drop the Bomb was their introduction to Washington, D.C.’s homegrown funk, which was dubbed go-go.… - Fest Focus: Cedric Watson
- Jazz Fest: From "A" to "Z"
We’re raised not to act like know-it-alls, and nothing reminds you that you really don’t know it all like looking at…
Fresh
- Hand-made Music
This year, OffBeat has not one but two covers for the Jazz Fest Bible. Artist/musician Jon Langford of the Mekons and… - Promises, Promises
On the surface, The Promised Land: A Swamp Pop Journey is the tale of Lil’ Band O’ Gold trying to make… - Wings Make the Man
There’s a strain of African-American gospel music indigenous to Louisiana in which loud electric guitars and rough-throated vocals dominate, with stomping… - New Orleans Sounds
“When I started writing, I never thought I was going to be published” says Louis Maistros. The proprietor of Louie’s Juke… - Let the Healing Begin
If there is any New Orleans pedigree that an unknown musician could ever hope to shoot for in their corner, Josh… - Live from Lafayette
Most teenage indie rock fans show their devotion by etching the names of their favorite bands on their notebooks or schoolbags.… - The Friends and Family Plan
April 25 is the birthday of Ella Fitzgerald, and Generations Hall will host a show in her honor by Fitzgerald’s son,…
Letters
- May 2009 Letters
IS R&B DEAD? You asked if New Orleans R&B is dead [Weekly Beat March 26]. I don’t think it is—at least…
Live Wire
- Mastodon
4-12-09, Mastodon, House of Blues: Appraising the thinning headbanger manes assembled reverently around the House of Blues' stage in anticipation of… - Dan Deacon
4-13-09, Dan Deacon, Freeman Auditorium: I am holding hands with a shoeless girl in Freeman Auditorium on Tulane's campus as Dan…
Mojo Mouth
- Myth Busters
The Jazz Fest is one of the greatest music festivals on the planet. If you’re reading this, then you probably agree.…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Snooks Eaglin (1936-2009)
The generation that made the defining records in New Orleans’ rhythm and blues became a little smaller when Snooks Eaglin died… - Obituary: Eddie Bo (1930-2009)
Still mourning the unexpected deaths of Snooks Eaglin and Antoinette K-Doe, the New Orleans music community suffered yet another bitter blow…
OffBeat Eats
- Two to Get Ready
- A Culinary Map of Jazz Fest
- Dining Out: Four Jazz Fest Performers Dish about their Favorite Dishes in the City
- Alex McMurray Hits the Spot at Daniel's
Daniel's on the Bayou 3443 Esplanade Ave. (504) 940-5939 How did you find Daniel's? My friend Jeff Treffinger came in… - Dining Out: Mandina's
Some restaurants here just say “New Orleans.” Mandina’s screams it. It reopened in February 2007 and the regulars still line up…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Four Jazz Fest Performers Dish about their Favorite Dishes in the City
- Dining Out: Mandina's
Some restaurants here just say “New Orleans.” Mandina’s screams it. It reopened in February 2007 and the regulars still line up…
The Spot
- Alex McMurray Hits the Spot at Daniel's
Daniel's on the Bayou 3443 Esplanade Ave. (504) 940-5939 How did you find Daniel's? My friend Jeff Treffinger came in…
Reviews
- Honey Island Swamp Band, Wishing Well (Independent)
In the years since the Honey Island Swamp Band released its first record, it has crossed the country and been the… - Buckwheat Zydeco, Lay Your Burden Down (Alligator)
It seems like only yesterday when Buckwheat Zydeco commemorated his 20th anniversary with the career retrospective The Buckwheat Zydeco Story. A… - Various Artists, The Roots of Hip Hop (Harte)
I don’t know if all of these songs are the ancestors of hip-hop, but this is a first class collection of… - Derek Trucks Band, Already Free (RCA Victor)
In many ways, 2006’s Songlines was a landmark album for the Derek Trucks Band. It was vocalist Mike Mattison’s first studio… - Wynton Marsalis, He and She (Blue Note) and Branford Marsalis, Metamorphosen (Marsalis)
Both of these albums are very effective jazz projects coming from markedly different directions, and as such, they reflect the personalities… - Ingrid Lucia, St. Valentine's Day Massacre (Independent)
On America's Next Top Model, Tyra Banks tells the young model-wannabes to smile with their eyes. The contestants pretend they get… - Kermit Ruffins, Livin' a Treme Life (Basin Street)
Kermit Ruffins has two subjects for songs: How much he loves New Orleans and how much he loves the Treme. Everything… - John Boutte and Paul Sanchez, Stew Called New Orleans (Threadhead)
Friendship has its privileges, and in the case of singer John Boutte and Paul Sanchez, that means getting together and knocking… - Billy Iuso and the Restless Natives, Restless Natives Live at the Sandpiper Lounge (Independent)
The Sandpiper Lounge, a funky dive at 2119 Louisiana Ave., is the venue where guitarist/vocalist Billy Iuso holds court these days,… - Eric Lindell, Gulf Coast Highway (Alligator)
Gulf Coast Highway captures Eric Lindell in top form. While Change in the Weather (2006) revealed the essence of this diamond-in-the-rough,… - The New Orleans Moonshiners, The New Orleans Moonshiners (Independent)
Since other cities have young string bands, it would be overreaching to claim that there’s some special phenomenon taking place here… - Shamarr Allen, Box Who In? (Independent)
“I’m like a diamond in the rough / and it’s tough ’cause the game keep calling my bluff,” Shamarr Allen quips… - The Junior League, Smile Shoot Smile (Not Lame)
I once tried to arrange for the Junior League’s Joe Adranga to interview Micky Dolenz of the Monkees, and to be… - Dr. Lonnie Smith, Rise Up! (Palmetto)
Dr. Lonnie Smith is no stranger to New Orleans. Over the years, the venerable funk-master has recorded and performed with many… - Zachary Richard, Last Kiss (Artist Garage)
A true folk icon in every sense of the phrase, Lafayette, Louisiana’s Zachary Richard has devoted his life as a poet,… - Roy Rogers, Split Decision (Blind Pig)
Roy Rogers has several Jazz Fest highlight moments on his resume, particularly his incendiary special guest appearances with Bonnie Raitt and… - Booker T., Potato Hole (Anti-)
In which the imperial (not imperious) king of B3 soul and funk climbs out of his own hole to make friends… - Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch)
The River in Reverse succeeded not just because it was a timely and human response to Katrina or because it mined… - Garland Thompson, The First Time (T-Do)
Vermilion Parish is Louisiana’s biggest cattle-producing parish, so it stands to reason that with that many cattle, cowboys and an affinity… - MyNameIsJohnMichael, The People That Come and Go (Independent)
MyNameIsJohnMichael is nothing if not ambitious. The band spent 2008 writing, recording, and releasing a new song every week of the… - Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel, Willie and the Wheel (Bismeaux)
Asleep at The Wheel’s been rolling since 1974, but this is their first showdown with Willie. I’m happy to report that… - The Blue Note 7, Mosaic (Blue Note)
Blue Note Records—the name itself holds much weight in the minds of even the most uninitiated jazz fans. The legendary record…
