November 2014
BackTalk
- BackTalk: Maria Muldaur
Although she’s probably best known for the massive 1974 pop hit “Midnight at the Oasis,” Maria Muldaur is also a highly…
Bookmark
- Dennis McNally, On Highway 61: Music, Race and the Evolution of
Cultural Freedom (Counterpoint Press)
Dennis McNally has written two very useful books on American culture—an extremely well researched biography of Jack Kerouac, Desolate Angel, and…
Cover Story
- Jason Marsalis' Eager Curiosity
Drives the Constant Student
When drummer/vibraphonist Jason Marsalis and his brother, trombonist Delfeayo, met with noted journalist and musician Leonard Feather in 1992 to participate…
Features
- Artisan Bread in New Orleans Finally Gets an Attitude
If it wasn’t for the white delivery van parked out front of the old Capt. Sal’s Seafood building on Toledano Street… - Voodoo Fest Schedule Conflicts:
Who are You Going to See?
There are three stages at the Voodoo Music + Arts Experience and each one has a stacked schedule. Though the good… - Benjamin Booker’s Invigorating Palette Returns to New Orleans
Pop culture tends to have a romantic notion of the diligent solo artist toiling away at his or her art in… - On Tour in the Death Star with Honey Island Swamp Band
It's the middle of the night somewhere in West Texas, and the members of the Honey Island Swamp Band haven’t slept… - Davis Rogan is Still Raw and Funky Without the Chaos
It's the day of Cosimo Matassa’s funeral, and Davis Rogan and I are sitting in the kitchen of Esplanade Studios eating… - Dumpstaphunk’s All-Native New Orleans Lineup
The effect of landing the right drummer in the right band at the right time cannot be underestimated. When Virginia-born, New… - Sudan Social Aid and Pleasure Club Dances for Peace
When the Sudan Social Aid & Pleasure Club jumps out of the doors of the Treme Center, all eyes excitedly turn… - Cha Dooky Do: A Tribute to The Music of Art Neville
Four years ago, Uptown resident Doug Grego’s annual Bacchus party turned into something much more than just another bash along the…
Fresh
- The Roots of Music Raise the Roof
While on break from touring with Rebirth Brass Band, drummer Derrick Tabb discusses his vision for The Roots of Music in… - LadyFest 2014 Brings Together Female Performers of New Orleans
Roselyn Lionhart is a Michigan-born songstress in her mid-’70s with long, fierce braids drawn back from her face. When we connect… - The New Movement Gets Set for Hell Yes Fest 2014
It is a dream house: A converted two-story shotgun on St. Claude Avenue down the block from Hank’s Seafood complete with… - 504 Rock Art Circus
504 Rock Art Circus returns this month with a six-foot troll, tattooed pin-up girls, burlesque dancers and hot rods to Oblique… - Soundcheck: Five Questions with Parkway Bakery Owner Jay Nix
So, which is it: po-boy or poor boy? It’s poor boy. And you know why? If we’re going to be real… - Hot Vegan, in From The Cold
Barbara Menendez set New Orleans on fire in the ’80s with her punk-rock band The Cold. She’s now back with another… - 10 Songs for Thanksgiving
Just in time for Thanksgiving, this month’s playlist features 10 lesser-known culinary gems. No surprise that it’s slanted toward Cajun and… - My Music: Quintron
As a downriver dawn casts first light over the Ninth Ward on a clear and calm October morning, Quintron stands on… - One Song's Story: "Get You a Healin'"
Carlo Ditta, owner of Orleans Records and long-time New Orleans musician/producer/raconteur, got on the phone to the OffBeat offices last month.…
In The Spirit
- In the Spirit: Tyler Chauvin of Treo
I started bartending 12 years ago at Café Banquette. I was 18 and started as a shot girl. That was the…
Letters
- November 2014 Letters to OffBeat Magazine
TIM GREEN I first heard Tim Green play with Anders Osborne, where he added a dimension to the music which made…
Mojo Mouth
- Meeting Ellis Marsalis in Paris
It was 1987 (pre-OffBeat), and I was really just getting into the New Orleans music scene, not really as a fan,…
OffBeat Eats
- OffBeat Eats: MoPho
When Chef Michael Gulotta announced his departure from his post as Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant August to open a Southeast… - In the Spirit: Tyler Chauvin of Treo
I started bartending 12 years ago at Café Banquette. I was 18 and started as a shot girl. That was the…
Dining Out
- OffBeat Eats: MoPho
When Chef Michael Gulotta announced his departure from his post as Chef de Cuisine at Restaurant August to open a Southeast…
The Spot
- PH Fred Hits the Spot at Milkfish
What did you order today? Spam Fried Rice with a fried egg on top. Are…
Reviews
- Asylum Street Spankers, The Last Laugh (Yellow Dog Records)
There are many bands that integrate humor with their songs, but few who do it so well or without detracting from… - Adam Schroeder, Let’s (Capri Records)
As a longtime admirer of Harry Carney, Gerry Mulligan and Serge Chaloff, I welcomed this opportunity to hear another talented baritone-saxophone… - Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood, Juice (Indirecto Records)
Medeski, Martin and Wood have a good thing going with 20-plus years of being both a groovy and avant-garde organ trio.… - H.G. Breland, No Rhyme or Reason (Independent)
H.G. Breland is one of those seasoned music-business vets you’ve never heard of, a roots-rocker from the Mississippi Delta who made… - Luther Dickinson, Rock ‘n’ Roll Blues (New West Records)
Guitarist and singer Luther Dickinson’s new solo record has a retrospective aura to it. Both musically and lyrically, Dickinson is looking back… - Various Artists, Boppin’ by the Bayou: Made in the Shade (Ace)
The ninth, 28 track release in the “By the Bayou” series, Ace has once again assembled an impressive showcase of early… - Peter Stampfel, Better Than Expected (Don Giovanni Records)
As Mark Bingham began the process of closing down Piety Street Studio he began lining up the projects he would work… - Billy Boy Arnold, The Blues Soul of (Stony Plain)
The number of Chicago blues artists that were active in the ’50s, and that are still out there today, can be… - Chris Thile & Edgar Meyer, Bass and Mandolin (Nonesuch Records)
At the top of the heap of the “Americana” genre are some genuine stars: banjoist Bela Fleck and fiddler Mark O’Connor… - Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires, Dereconstructed (Sub Pop)
It seems that every smart band from the South has to make their southern statement record. Tom Petty, Jimbo Mathis, and… - Rory Block, Hard Luck Blues: A tribute to Skip James (Stony Plain)
Someone please explain to me why, after all these years, Rory Block has never played the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage… - The Cajun Country Revival, Greetings from Louisiana! (Valcour Records)
Just as they did on 2011’s The Right Combination, Jesse Legé and Joel Savoy join forces with Foghorn String Band’s Nadine… - Louie Ludwig, These Are the Ways of My People (Independent)
When you think about unrepentant progressive singer-songwriters, you think of Louie Ludwig, at least locally. The portrait which graces the cover… - Andrew Block, You Can Only Go Up From Here (Independent)
Everything about Andrew Block’s debut CD You Can Only Go Up From Here seems to have been fit precisely into place,… - Alex Bosworth, Here for You (Pearl River Records)
There’s no reason Alex Bosworth couldn’t go as far as she wants in the music industry. Her persona is warm and… - Marcello Benetti Shuffled, From East To West (Independent)
Drummer Marcello Benetti Shuffled’s new record From East To West builds on this quartet’s debut. It shares the sense of whimsy… - Jerry Lee Lewis, Rock & Roll Time (Vanguard)
Jerry Lee Lewis already made an album called Last Man Standing 10 years ago. But now with Fats Domino and Little… - Dale Watson, The Truckin’ Sessions: Part 3 (Red River)
Dale Watson apparently hates everything about modern country music, so it’s no wonder his vision of heaven—as described on one of… - St. Cecilia’s Asylum Chorus, Recordings Vol. 1 (Independent)
St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians, so it makes sense that choral director Lucas Davenport, late of the New… - Rory Danger & the Danger Dangers, The Age of Exploration (Independent)
It’s rare that a concept record rocks so hard. Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers’ debut recording is propulsive and energetic… - Richard “Piano” Scott, Jambalaya Town (Independent)
Richard Scott is one of the freaks of the New Orleans trad-jazz scene. He romps on the piano, is the trombonist… - Keith Frank & the Soileau Zydeco Band, Live at Slim’s Y-KiKi Vol. II (Independent)
On his second live album recorded at the same venue, the faux Tropicana Slim’s Y-KiKi, Keith Frank repeatedly asks the question… - Cardinal Sons, The Echo Choir (New Song)
Make no mistake—Cardinal Sons’ five-track EP isn’t a modest, indie release for a local audience. It’s a sparkling, well-produced modern pop… - Lost Bayou Ramblers, Gasa Gasa Live (Bayou Perdu Records)
The Lost Bayou Ramblers’ last studio album, Mammoth Waltz, was a quantum leap in merging trad Cajun and underground rock into…
