October 2007
BackTalk
Bookmark
- John Sinclair, Guitar Army
Not a moment too soon does Process Media release a new edition of the radical 1970s classic manual and commentary Guitar… - Gayle F. Wald, Shout, Sister, Shout! The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Beacon)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the unsung heroines of American music. She was a virtuoso female guitar player who moved…
Cover Story
- Down on the Corner
It seemed like a good idea. Galactic was about to release a new album, From the Corner to the Block, and…
Features
- Intensity or Surprise
Wilco’s latest album Sky Blue Sky is one of the most subtle recordings in the group’s history, a surprise to some… - Rotary Downs' American Roots
- Voodoo Fest: How Do You Voodoo?
Much of Voodoo involves the acts you’ve known for all these years; then again, there are some you might not know.… - Just Joking: A New Orleans Halloween Carol
- Mutemath: The Name Game
Fresh
- A Bright Idea
A new Ninth Ward Business Innovation Center hopes to spur economic development in the weary region. A partnership between the Idea… - A New Boo
One of the masterminds behind Mardi Gras in New Orleans for the past 60 years is cooking up something fresh for… - Declaration of Independents
The Zydepunks are one of six bands selected by Billboard to compete in the southeast region for the Independent Music World… - Festival, Festival!
Voodoo may be the biggest festival in the area in October, but it’s not the only one. The Hard Rock Café… - Irma Honored
On September 7, the Recording Academy honored Irma Thomas along with Booker T. and the MGs, Willie Mitchell (producer and arranger… - Go By Your MOMS and 'Em
With Halloween comes MOMS Halloween Party, this year taking place at the Howlin’ Wolf Saturday, October 27. The theme this year… - For the Love of Culture
Many Louisiana festivals isolate the elements of the state’s culture, taking music, food and art out of context. The truth we… - Read a Book!
The Young Leadership Council (YLC) is reviving its “One Book, One New Orleans” project this October. The campaign wants everyone in… - Words on Film
New Orleanians know longtime resident John Sinclair more as a multi-tasking guardian of the arts than a counter-culture warrior. The wide…
Letters
- October 2007 Letters
AHEAD OF MANY As much as you [Jan Ramsey] seem to struggle (both pre and post Katrina) to urge a city/state…
Mojo Mouth
- All That Jazz
Ah, fall in New Orleans. There ain’t nothin’ better—except maybe spring. But fall is so glorious here because it means that…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Goodbye to Matthew Cormier
Funeral services for 22-year-olds are supposed to be sad occasions, but the family and friends of zydeco musician Matthew Cormier had… - Obituary: Wilson "Willie Tee" Turbinton
World famous jazz musicians “Cannonball” Adderley and Weather Report counted him as one of their favorites. The Geto Boys and Sean…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Luke
At Luke, chef John Besh has built himself a clubhouse. It’s a place to kick back and eat well without the… - Fragile History
We know what New Orleans would be like without Angelo Brocato. For 13 months after the storm, it remained closed and…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Luke
At Luke, chef John Besh has built himself a clubhouse. It’s a place to kick back and eat well without the…
Reviews
- Various Artists, Summer Records Anthology: 1974-1988 (Light in the Attic)
I keep thinking I’ve said pretty much all I have to say about dub, toasting and reggae, and then something… - Lone Ranger, On the Other Side of Dub (Heartbeat)
I keep thinking I’ve said pretty much all I have to say about dub, toasting and reggae, and then something… - Dennis Alcapone, Forever Version (Heartbeat)
I keep thinking I’ve said pretty much all I have to say about dub, toasting and reggae, and then something… - Aretha Franklin, Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul (Atlantic/Rhino)
“Rare and Unreleased” promises so much, and the CDs bearing the phrase rarely deliver. The results are often for completists… - Young Marble Giants, Colossal Youth (Domino)
This three-disc set presents the complete output from Young Marble Giants, a post-punk band from Cardiff. It includes Colossal Youth,… - Various Artists, Wattstax (Stax)
Wattstax was an event, a concert, a movie and a marketing scheme; the new three-disc Wattstax documents all of the… - Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, 100 Days and 100 Nights (Daptone)
There’s a lot of blog love for Sharon Jones, and that makes a lot of sense. Jones’ debut album and… - Lost Bayou Ramblers, Live: a la Blue Moon (Swallow)
The studio efforts of The Lost Bayou Ramblers are simply phenomenal—raucous tunes that both stay true to Cajun simplicity and employ… - Audry's Old Bed, Tragedy on Dogpound Road (Independent)
Audry’s Old Bed already has quite an interesting history for being a fairly new alternative-folk father-son duo. John and Kyle Herbert… - Settly, Settly (More Recordings)
You have to admire anyone who stakes out his musical landscape and clings to it no matter what. In the… - Omar Kent Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan, On the Jimmy Reed Highway (Ruf)
One of the benefits of collecting records in the early 1970s was that nearly every one of Jimmy Reed’s many records… - Mark Murphy, Love Is What It Says (Verve)
“Incredible” is the word that keeps coming to mind when contemplating this masterful compilation of musical anomalies that seems to take… - Joe Henry, Civilians (Anti-)
Whenever you look at an old picture from the ’30s or ’40s, the same feeling tends to creep up on you.… - William Parker's Raining on the Moon, Corn Meal Dance (Aum Fidelity)
William Parker is a prodigious talent. His prowess on the bass is undisputed. Even in the most chaotic moments of the… - Christian Scott, Anthem (Concord Jazz)
Anthem is a fierce album and a worthy follow-up to trumpeter Christian Scott’s widely hailed Rewind This. It’s such a mature… - Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble, Nothin Feels Like This (Louisiana Soul)
Curley Taylor never intended his third disc to come out like this. It’s not the most polished affair, having been recorded… - The Firecracker Jazz Band, Firecracker Jazz Band Explodes (Euphonian)
The Firecracker Jazz Band from Asheville, North Carolina, bears a remarkable resemblance to the Hollywood bunch that used to call themselves… - Arbor Vitae, Arbor Vitae (Redamp)
The debut album by Lafayette’s Arbor Vitae is a surprising record that defies expectations. It stands out in a world of… - Adam Levy, Washing Day (Lost Wax)
The name Adam Levy probably doesn’t ring an immediate bell in your brain, but you could be forgiven. He’s not even… - The Spiritualaires of Hurtsboro, Alabama, Singing Songs of Praise (CaseQuarter)
The CaseQuarter label out of Montgomery, Alabama burst on the scene in 2003 with God’s Got It by gospel singer/guitarist Rev.… - Zap Mama, Supermoon (Heads Up International)
The sixth and final definition of “groove” in Webster’s dictionary is “a pronounced enjoyable rhythm.” If one could amend the term,… - Various Artists, Vee-Jay: The Definitive Collection (Shout! Factory)
The success of Vee-Jay Records can be neatly summed up in the old adage, “right place, right time.” Likewise, its demise… - Dennis Stroughmatt and Creole Stomp, Long Roads and Bloodshot Eyes (Swallow)
At first, it may be hard to digest the wide palette of styles Dennis Stroughmatt paints here on his musical canvas,… - Michelle Shocked, ToHeavenURide (Mighty Sound)
Michelle Shocked always brings something different to her performances and recordings. She’s done everything from campfire folk to New Orleans funk… - Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note)
The Charles Mingus group of 1964 was one of his best, with two of his strongest musical soulmates—longtime drummer Dannie Richmond… - Big Blue Marble, Natchez (Independent)
There was a time when Dave Fera seemed uncomfortable with his own art, playing a rock ’n’ roll show one… - Red Stick Ramblers, Made in the Shade (Sugar Hill)
Made in the Shade is the Red Stick Ramblers’ first release on Sugar Hill Records, and the title track kicks it… - "The Sleeping Giant" James Winfield, Lonely Lonely Nights (Southland)
James Winfield has spent his life around New Orleans R&B. He’s hung out the Dew Drop Inn. He worked alongside Lee… - Anders Osborne, Coming Down (M.C. Records)
There has been plenty of rhetoric about New Orleans music post-Katrina, but just as 9-11 didn’t produce a wellspring of inspired…
