September 2007
BackTalk
- Chef John Besh
This month, Restaurant August celebrates its fifth anniversary. During those years, John Besh, the restaurant’s chef and now owner, became one…
Cover Story
- Backstage at Emeril's
John Boutte walks onto the set of Emeril Live in New York City, tired and triumphant after a sold out show…
Features
- A Whole Lotta Lovin'
On May 19, Fats Domino played Tipitina’s. He didn’t play for a long time and he may have been a reluctant… - Christian Scott: A Turbulent Anthem
When Christian Scott took the stage of the Jazz Tent during the 2006 Jazz Fest, the short trumpeter in the trim… - Zydepunks: Exile on Decatur Street
Hipsters and stoners converge at Checkpoint Charlie’s on this muggy Friday evening. The smell of stale beer drifts through the air…
Fresh
- New Name, Same Roots
In the two years since Katrina, hip-hop/world music quartet E.O.E. has endured much, including a reorganization, a rechristening and a long… - A Matter of Taste
Recently, New Orleans’ chefs have done well by the James Beard Foundation, with Restaurant August’s John Besh and Cochon’s Donald Link… - Back to Congo Square
The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation is reviving the historic Congo Square for the first annual Congo Square Rhythms Festival,… - The Lee Boys and the Outside World
The Lee Boys—guitarist Alvin, vocalists Derrick and Keith Lee and their nephews steel guitarist Roosevelt Collier, bassist Alvin Cordy, Jr. and… - A Fig By Any Other Name
When the Figs perform, the female group takes the stage in vintage-themed dresses in the style of the 1920s through the… - More Dominos
September 25 will be quite a day for Fats Domino and fans of his music. The Tipitina’s Foundation and Vanguard Records… - Bad Business
June 22 was Katherine Johnston’s last day working for WEA (Warner Brothers, Electra, Atlantic). People leave jobs everyday, but in Johnston’s…
Letters
- September 2007 Letters
FRENCHMEN AND BOURBON I read your [Jan Ramsey] latest “Mojo Mouth” and for the most part agree with you. Frenchmen Street…
Live Wire
- Neko Case, Republic, August 12, 2007
Neko Case doesn’t think of her music as Americana, despite having pedal steel wizard Jon Rauhouse and Chicago’s Kelly Hogan in… - Satchmo SummerFest, French Quarter, August 3, 2007
Many jazz loving out-of-towners think the annual Satchmo SummerFest is the perfect excuse to come to New Orleans in August. The… - Gov't Majik, the Hookah Cafe, July 29, 2007
Like Modal Jazz, opium or both, Afrobeat is a timebender: a release from the rigid tyranny of Clockword, into a more…
Mojo Mouth
- Killing Corruption
I grew up in Louisiana, and have lived here most of my life, but I’ve had the opportunity to live in…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Oliver Morgan (1933-2007)
Oliver Morgan, a.k.a. “Nookie Boy,” a.k.a. “The La La Man,” died July 31 in Atlanta. Morgan had moved to Georgia after… - Obituary: Earl Turbinton (1941-2007)
The eclectic New Orleans avant-garde jazz saxophonist Earl Turbinton, a.k.a. “The African Cowboy,” succumbed to lung cancer August 3 in Baton… - Obituary: Thorny Penfield (1934-2007)
Our New Orleanian friend (and lover of Shakespeare) Professor Thorny Penfield shuffled off this mortal coil early Tuesday morning, August 21,…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Shaggy's
We are a nation united by our love of processed meat between a bun. At least that’s what I believed before… - Have Weber, Will Travel
Pableaux Johnson grew up in New Iberia, but he was never infected with a fever for the LSU Tigers. “It just… - Backstage at Emeril's
John Boutte walks onto the set of Emeril Live in New York City, tired and triumphant after a sold out show…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Shaggy's
We are a nation united by our love of processed meat between a bun. At least that’s what I believed before… - Backstage at Emeril's
John Boutte walks onto the set of Emeril Live in New York City, tired and triumphant after a sold out show… - Chef John Besh
This month, Restaurant August celebrates its fifth anniversary. During those years, John Besh, the restaurant’s chef and now owner, became one…
Reviews
- Alec Wilkinson, The Happiest Man in the World (Random House)
Ingrid Lucia came to New Orleans in 1985 aboard a raft as part of the Flying Neutrinos, a family band… - Amy LaVere, Anchors and Anvils (Archer)
Produced by Jim Dickinson this is quite an interesting one. Amy LaVere is a singer/songwriter/upright bass player (quite a unique combination)… - Jake Smith, Real (Rocketown)
These days, all God’s chilluns are from New Orleans, and no CD crosses my desk that doesn’t announce the artist… - The Sadies, New Seasons (Yep Roc)
Typically, the Sadies have treated vocals like taking out the trash, something you do only because you have to. For… - Peter Case, Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John (Yep Roc)
At the other end of the scale from the new Steve Earle album is Peter Case. Musically, he has backed… - Arthur Alexander, Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter (Hacktone)
Arthur Alexander is best known for “Anna” and “Soldier of Love,” and his songs were typified by solid craftsmanship and… - Steve Earle, Washington Square Serenade (New West)
Steve Earle is the poster boy for an “Americana” genre—a genre that isn’t quite folk, country, blues or rock—but while his… - New Orleans Music in Exile (Starz DVD)
Robert Mugge’s documentary on Katrina’s devastation comes to DVD just in time for the hurricane’s second anniversary and as a… - Hipbootjoe, Louisiana State Line (Independent)
Playing covers can only go so far before a band starts itching to strut its stuff, something that Hipbootjoe can easily… - Truckstop Honeymoon, Diamonds in the Asphalt (Squirrel)
These days, Truckstop Honeymoon parks its rig in Lawrence, Kansas, but Ninth Ward Katrina refugees Mike West and Katie Euliss still… - JC Melancon, I Stand Alone (Sound Check)
If there is any truth to the old adage that time rewards those who wait, then Krotz Springs’ songwriter JC Melancon… - Harlem Experiment, Harlem Experiment (Ropeadope)
In 2001, Ropeadope Records began an interesting experiment. They took acclaimed musicians from varying musical genres but the same hometown and… - Various Artists, Dedans le Sud de la Louisiane (Cinq Planetesm)
Film crews traipsing the Louisiana countryside are a common sight these days but back in 1972, seeing such a troupe must… - Bryan Lee, Katrina Was Her Name (Justin Time)
Guitar-slinger Bryan Lee is always at his best in a live setting—but unfortunately, his latest isn’t a live album (He’s already… - Mem Shannon, Live at Tipitinas (Northern Blues)
If you need proof that songwriting still matters on a blues album, just compare the respective Katrina songs on Bryan Lee… - Bokoor Band, Bokoor Beats (Otrabanda)
Black Africa’s first liberated colony, Gold Coast became Ghana in 1957 and raced away from the confines of history—the rural economy… - Betty Davis, Betty Davis/They Say I'm Different (Light in the Attic)
One angle I don’t see in the press, about these two expansively-lauded, overlooked-freakmama-originator-certified reissues of the former Ms. Miles Davis’ first… - Lil' Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers, Doin' It Big Time (Cha Cha)
“My father always told me to take my time,” Lil Nathan sings about the sage advice pops Nathan Williams (of Nathan… - AM, Soul Variations (Edgecliffe Music)
A press release for Northshore-raised, Loyola-educated, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter AM said that all 10 songs from his previous album were… - Don Cherry Quintet, Live at Café Monmartre 1966 (ESP-disk)
The late Don Cherry is likely most well-known for his association with Ornette Coleman, forming the crucial front line with Ornette… - Ledisi, Lost and Found (Verve Forecast)
There’s almost always some difference or disjunction built into modern rock ’n’ roll—the difference between the tone and nature of… - Maurice Berzas and the Mamou Playboys, Live at Snooks, Volumes 1 & 2 (Sterling Productions)
When Tina Pilione turned a collection of old tapes into Maurice Barzas with the Original Mamou Playboys: Live at Snook’s, Volume… - Terence Blanchard, A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) (Blue Note)
The last we heard from Terence Blanchard on record was the vibrant Flow, which he showcased at the 2005 Essence Festival… - Buddy Flett, Mississippi Sea (Out of the Past)
A founding member of A Train (probably the best Louisiana rock band that should have, but didn’t make it big) and… - Supagroup, Fire for Hire (Foodchain/Merovingian/C05)
Supagroup has never lacked personality. For years, set lists were comprised of songs that used “rock” in every title as… - Zydepunks, Exile Waltz (Nine Mile)
Since their formation, the Zydepunks have been one of New Orleans’ most rousing live performers. Their energetic arrangements will get you… - Andy J. Forest, Real Stories of Love, Labor and Other Man-Made Catastrophes (Independent)
Smug pundits have long ridiculed latter day blues musicians for the dubious sin of plying other people’s miseries for subject material.… - Fats Domino, Greatest Hits: Walking to New Orleans (Capitol/EMI)
Sixteen songs have become a part of our musical language and are instantly recognizable, and only 21 of those songs… - Various Artists, Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino (Vanguard)
Tribute albums are often a cruel taunt. The typically impressive talent roster covering a legendary artist promises musical thrills a-plenty,…
