Issue Articles — Live Wire
Tom Waits, Saenger Theatre, Mobile, Alabama, July 2, 2008
Two hours down the road in our sister city of Mobile, Alabama, Tom Waits stomped into his first number, “Lucinda.” Dust curled from the circular wood stage as he galumphed […]
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 her band, and, well, covering Bob Dylan. I get […]
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 festival is far from attracting the hordes of tourists […]
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 relative—you might even say Einsteinian—soundscape. Songs which would otherwise […]
Wynton Marsalis Presents Congo Square with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Yacub Addy and Odadaa!, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Montreal, June 28, 2007
Wynton Marsalis is a little like Barry Bonds in the batter’s box. Don’t expect him to bunt. Marsalis swings for the fences and when he hits it out, the whole […]
Rob Wagner, Hamid Drake and Nobu Ozaki with Kidd Jordan, the Dragon’s Den, June 4, 2007
The trio of saxophonist Wagner, bassist Ozaki, and world-renowned drummer Hamid Drake had played the previous night at the Blue Nile to celebrate the release of their new CD on […]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Republic, June 13, 2007
When Black Rebel Motorcycle Club released its self-titled debut album seven years ago, only “Whatever Happened to My Rock ’n’ Roll” was a strong enough song to get me around […]
Manu Chao, Tipitina’s, June 13, 2007
Unity has always been sought, but rarely achieved, between peoples of the world, which is why the Manu Chao concert was important. Before the show, hundreds pooled outside Tipitina’s flaunting […]
101 Runners, Rosy’s Jazz Hall, March 4, 2007
Seeing the 101 Runners, a combination of the funk band Gradoux, big chiefs Monk Boudreaux, David Montana, Roddy Lewis, and percussionists Geechie Johnson and Uganda Roberts might be what it […]
Lil’ Band o’ Gold with Robert Plant, Tipitina’s, February 4, 2007
There was a rumor going around that legendary Led Zeppelin singer, Robert Plant was going to make an appearance at Tipitina’s with Lil’ Band o’ Gold. It seemed incongruent that […]
