Jonathan Freilich’s guitar work and compositions are the sound of modern jazz in New Orleans. Although sometimes abstract and angular, they have rhythmic bounce and melodic sense that is much more accessible than similar music made in other settings and still reflect the best New Orleans music. His new album, Electric Eggplant, features musicians who [...]
Sidney Bechet’s music and prowess on the soprano saxophone was every bit as powerful, soulful, and inventive as his New Orleans compatriot Louis Armstrong, but Armstrong became the most famous jazz player ever and Bechet became more of cult figure. Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses’ new live recording, A Tribute to Sidney Bechet, is [...]
For the past decade, the Branford Marsalis Quartet has been one of the best working jazz bands on the planet. The tightness of that unit is reflected in this duo recording from saxophonist Marsalis and pianist Joey Calderazzo. Songs of Mirth and Melancholy starts with a jaunty blues from Calderazzo’s pen, “One Way,” that has [...]
It’s hard to define what kind of music cellist Helen Gillet plays on this record. There is a contemporary classical vibe to this as well as a jazz sensibility and an avant-garde edge. However one chooses to define it, it is great music. Gillet plays her cello and uses effects and loops to add to [...]
It’s hard to believe that the same Fat Possum who put out the bad man blues of R.L. Burnside, T-Model Ford, and the “Crack Whore Blues” is now releasing a spiritual album, but when the artist is the Reverend John Wilkins, it makes sense. Wilkins is the son of Robert Wilkins of “Prodigal Son” and [...]
Preservation Hall is renowned worldwide for its music and spirit. In their new book about the Hall, photographer Shannon Brinkman and interviewer Eve Abrams capture that spirit in both beautiful shots and heartfelt comments from the musicians who populate it. The photographs focus on the musicians, the audience, and the setting, and Brinkman captures it [...]
In 2011, African-American-owned record labels are not news. Motown is the best-known example, and New Orleans has had No Limit and Cash Money Records. In 1961, the notion of African-Americans owning a record label was a radical one, but it was Harold Battiste’s vision. AFO (All For One) Records was not only Black-owned but a [...]
Almost nobody can beat Tab Benoit for playing raw, dirty-sounding roadhouse blues. There is something about when he gets to rocking that gets everybody going in the way the best blues and rock ‘n’ roll should. Even his guitar tone has that slash-through-your-speakers/earbuds psycho tone that everyone from Travis Wammack to Johnny Guitar Watson to [...]
Marcia Ball’s new record is a tribute to her consistency. It shows off what she does best, swinging uptempo grooves, boogie dance numbers, and a fantastic variety of piano playing from Chicago-style blues, driving barrelhouse tunes, and Professor Longhair-esque keyboard runs such as on “We Fell Hard.” Ball pulls off the piano playing with such [...]
New Orleans is one of the musical catalysts of the planet. In the almost three centuries that history has recorded at this crescent in the Mississippi River, events have occurred that have changed the sound of music in our world. Louis Moreau Gottschalk took Cuban and Congo Square rhythms and melodies and adapted them to [...]
