Many years ago, American Airlines ran a contest asking entrants to write an essay about the place they most wanted to visit. The top prize was a trip to that destination. “I wrote that New Orleans was my spiritual home,” remembers Arturo O’Farrill, the 45-year-old, Mexican-born, New York City-raised pianist who is the son of [...]
Benny’s Back
YOU LIKE US! YOU REALLY LIKE US! Enclosed please find my check as my donation to OffBeat. This is just a small way to say thanks for all your efforts and perseverance, past, present and future, to help the music culture and musicians of New Orleans. What you [Jan Ramsey] have accomplished with regard to [...]
TCB with TBC Brass Band
Even if you aren’t familiar with the name To Be Continued Brass Band, chances are you’ve heard this young, hotshot group blowing at their regular spot on the corner of Canal and Bourbon streets. Or, maybe you caught a little of one of their impromptu sessions in front of One Shell Square, where the band [...]
No One Like Rosalee
When I would hear the snap of my mailbox shutting late at night I could be fairly certain that Rosalee Baker was on the prowl dropping off press releases. Baker, who died November 10 at her daughter’s home in Texas, was a night owl who did much of her work as a freelance publicist/consultant after [...]
Warmdaddy’s Home
“Desi always says that we’ve been married for 15 years but she’s only known me for seven because I’m on the road so often,” says Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson. Now, the saxophonist will be seeing more of his wife and blowing more around town having resigned from his 17-year association with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis as well [...]
Surrendering To The Trumpet
Nicholas Payton The Satchmo SummerFest’s Club Strut (Friday, August 5), Frenchmen Street’s nighttime musical banquet, is always a blast. This year it boasts some of New Orleans’ very finest who, because of their often-busy schedules, are making their first appearances at the festival. Pianist Ellis Marsalis is in town to hold down his regular spot [...]
John Ellis’ Sound Advice
Catching an early Thursday afternoon Jazz Fest set can be difficult for some people and often impossible for many hard working, nine-to-fivers. But folks who missed saxophonist John Ellis’ performance, one of the best 45 minutes in the Jazz Tent, get another shot. The North Carolina native, one-time New Orleanian, and now Brooklynite digs in [...]
Miller’s a Team Player
Two nights’ worth of sets by pianist Mulgrew Miller with his trio, bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Karriem Riggins, were recorded at Yoshi’s, Oakland, California’s much touted and highly respected jazz club. The results were last year’s release, Live at Yoshi’s Volume One, and the just out Volume Two that capture this superior group presenting [...]
Kidd’s Kids
“I always wanted to do something that showcased everybody because we have so many people in my family who play on a professional level,” says trumpeter Marlon Jordan of his new release, You Don’t Know What Love Is. Though various members of the Jordan clan have performed and recorded together in the past, the album, [...]
Catching Craig Klein
“I used to go crazy at the French Quarter Festival,” exclaims Craig Klein remembering past events when he’d play six different sets in one day. “I remember running from one to the next and thinking this is insane.” Not to say the trombonist is slouching at this year’s festival. He’ll be leading two groups—his fine [...]
