After 25 years of running and rebelling, Steve Earle’s 14th album, I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive, renders a sobering conclusion: “Doesn’t matter / ’cause there ain’t no way I’m ever gonna leave this town.” Fans of HBO’s Treme will recognize these lyrics as those of street musician Harley Watt, the character portrayed [...]
On the joint release Dollar$ & Daialogue, New Orleans emcee Slangston Hughes and Memphis rapper/producer L’Daialogue DiCaprio show they aren’t afraid to put their money where their mouths are, delivering an album that is as deep lyrically as it is sonically. The deft production by the team of L’Daialogue and MiZUnderstatistic compliments the two underground [...]
Lines stretched around the 300 block of Chartres Street on Saturday afternoon, July 2, as crowds gathered – serenaded by the Soul Rebels – outside of a pop-up Carol’s Daughter location in the French Quarter for a chance to meet the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Mary J. Blige. Over the past four years, Blige has [...]
“Stand flat-footed, and sing from your heart.” These were the words Roebuck “Pops” Staples used to motivate a young Mavis Staples. Together with her father and siblings, the Staple Singers did just that, creating a unique legacy in the history of popular music. Their songs, which became known as “message songs,” blended elements of gospel [...]
With Orange Moon, Alexis Marceaux takes an ambitious leap as a solo artist: stepping out of the prosaic, singer-songwriter nest of her capable 2009 debut, Dandelion, into the daring, cinematic skies of indie folk. The album, which she dedicates to the memory of a friend lost to cancer, is a lush, emotionally charged, suite with [...]
Pianist Conun Pappas, Jr.’s second album, The Other Side of Me, is filled with loneliness, despair, isolation, and Auto-Tune—lots of Auto-Tune—and just about every other lo-fi, processed effect imaginable. It’s also about as far removed from the elegant jazz found on his 2010 debut, Oh, What a Feeling, as imaginable. Here, over the course of [...]
Simply put, guitarist Bill Frisell is a master of the sonic landscape—a virtuoso of both timbre and texture. Though rooted in jazz, the breadth of Frisell’s work spans the genres of blues, folk, rock, country, world, chamber, and classical music. Over the course of his professional career, dating back to the early ’80s, Frisell has [...]
Growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana, a young Malcolm Welbourne spent his summers and school vacations at his grandparents’, soaking up the sights and sounds of the Crescent City. Akin to another famous Malcolm from around here—Malcolm John Rebennack Jr.—Welbourne’s mysterious musical persona, Papa Mali has since etched his name into its lore. Like Dr. John’s [...]
In the two years since the release of her debut, Musical Playground, Sasha Masakowski has blossomed from a fresh-faced song girl into an enchanting songstress. The 24-year-old vocalist’s follow-up, Wishes, is a daring and dynamic effort that captures the creativity and cunningness of the Crescent City’s new generation of jazz musicians. Early on, an auspicious [...]
For many, jazz is merely a style of music. For New Orleans, it is as much a part of its tradition as it is an institution. Founded in 1973, the New Orleans Creative Center for the Arts (NOCCA), has championed its legacy in the contemporary era. In its brief history, NOCCA alumni such as Harry [...]
