The 2012 Essence Music Festival lineup was announced this morning, and among the list of local artists is a name most people hadn’t heard before this past fall: Luke James. With the homepage WhoIsLukeJames.com and Twitter handle @WhoIsLukeJames, James knows fans are probably curious where he came from. But the St. Augustine grad (real name: [...]
In 1992, the Wu-Tang Clan hit the scene with their debut single “Protect Ya Neck”. The following year the Staten Island collective released their first album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), and the rest is history. The song featured original members RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and the late Ol’ [...]
A new remix by Gypsyphonic Disko (Ben Ellman and DJ Quickie Mart) always inspires a celebration, but this time it’s a celebration that’s inspiring a new Gypsyphonic remix. Just in time for the start of the New Orleans Saints’ NFC playoff run against the Detroit Lions tonight comes a Balkanized version of the Saints anthem [...]
DJ T-Roy should be well known to any fan of Jamaican music in New Orleans. At his weekly Bayou International Soundsystem gigs at Dragon’s Den (Wednesdays) and Blue Nile (Thursdays), he runs the gamut from classic to contemporary dancehall, playing to clubbers and dreads alike. This hour-long mix, selected and blended by T-Roy, features some [...]
For the last few years, local video production team 2-Cent, led by director Brandan “bmike” Odums, has released an annual Christmas-themed video spoofing popular rap and pop stars. This year’s video skewers everything from Beyonce’s “Party” to Chris Brown’s “Look at Me Now”. The parodies are spot-on; if you’re not familiar with the originals, check [...]
Sarah Quintana is an unsung singer in New Orleans, with a haunting voice and an ear for a pretty melody. A NOCCA grad schooled in jazz guitar, she sings original folk-jazz compositions and French chansons. An album of her work is much overdue, and Quintana hopes to change that with her current Kickstarter campaign, looking [...]
Dip, baby, dip / slide and move your hips —Glen David Andrews, Lil’ Rascals Brass Band’s “Knock with Me, Rock with Me” The latest local video making the viral rounds on social media? A mounted crowd-control police officer (a regular sight in the French Quarter) showing off his horse-riding skills by commanding his steed to [...]
Long-running community theater organization Junebug Productions hosts an ambitious second line Saturday, December 3, as part of an ongoing storytelling and performance series, the Homecoming Project. The second line, led by the Hot 8 Brass Band, includes theatrical and musical performances as well as street art installations along the route created by artist Ron Bechet’s [...]
Coco Robicheaux passed away in the early evening Friday, November 25 at Tulane Medical Center. He had been rushed to the hospital after having a heart attack and collapsing at his favorite hangout, the Apple Barrel on Frenchmen Street, where he could often be seen lounging on the outdoor bench in his trademark reptilian boots. [...]
After Nicholas Payton‘s infectious, groove-heavy album Bitches was rejected by Concord Records in 2010, Payton leaked it online for free download in November that year. In early 2011 it appeared again, and began making waves not only with Payton’s longtime jazz fans, but with funk lovers enamored with its synth- and drum machine-laden textures that [...]
