Fred LeBlanc, Here on Earth (Independent)

John Thomas Griffith, Aluminum (Laughing Gravy Music)

Marcia Ball, Presumed Innocent (Alligator Records)

I was fascinated last summer, during an interview, listening to Marcia Ball recount the years-long process it required for her to master Professor Longhair’s left-handed technique on the song “Tipitina”—which […]

Voodoo: The Rex of Hexes

“Black Benny” Williams

LOUIS’ HERO As the traps maestro and bass drum brujo for a variety of New Orleans brass bands at the dawn of the twentieth century, Benny “Black Benny” Williams is […]

Cowboy Mouth, Easy (Blackbird/Atlantic)

Cowboy Mouth

Louis Armstrong, The Complete Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)

Louis Armstrong

Marcia Ball

The scene at Tipitina’s that Monday night is typically insane. It’s the end of the annual WWOZ Professor Longhair Tribute/Piano Night during Jazz Fest, and show-closer Eddie Bo has, in […]

Lyle Lovett: The Song’s The Thing

Lyle Lovett

Zachary Richard, Silver Jubilee: The Best of Zachary Richard (Rhino)

Zachary Richard