Donna’s closed last month. “We turned in our license,” said the club’s namesake, Donna Poniatowski. “When we went to city hall the lady told me, ‘Now there won’t be any live music on North Rampart Street.’” Poniatowski and husband Charlie Sims closed Donna’s because of the condition of the building. “It’s in horrible shape,” she [...]
Vox and the Hound: Vox on the Run
Leo DeJesus can’t limit himself to the sidelines. Vox and the Hound started as yet another project for the former front man of the City Life and member of MyNameIsJohnMichael. He needed an outlet for the songs he was writing that weren’t right for MyNameIsJohnMichael but that were too good to pass up.
He recruited MyNameIsJohnMichael [...]
Pazfest: Why Joni?
The very first PazFest, held 10 years ago, attracted more than 400 people, and more than 50 musicians participated. On September 2-6, PazFest returns with a tribute to Joni Mitchell in efforts to raise money for the Ruth Paz Foundation, which is committed to making adequate health care available to those who can’t receive health [...]
Lloyd Price: Adults Only
By virtue of recording the classic R&B “Lawdy Miss Clawdy” in 1952, Kenner’s Lloyd Price is not just a pioneer of rock ’n’ roll, he just might well be the founding father. Besides recording several hits over the next 15 years, Price hasn’t been content to assume the role of an “oldies” performer and sit [...]
Jimmy Robinson’s Musicworks Series: Following Costello
All New Orleans musicians have a story. Jimmy Robinson wants to hear them.
The Twangorama guitarist’s Musicworks Series features a guest musician every Thursday night at the Carrollton Station starting in September, and Robinson hopes to take audiences behind the scenes of their favorite local musicians and expose them to information not easily found at a [...]
Madden Picks the Saints: September
For the last few years, Supagroup’s Chris Lee has been playing Madden versions of the next week’s Saints game on his Xbox. He has discovered that these “simulations”—as he refers to them to his wife—have been surprisingly accurate predictors of the real game results. With that in mind, he’ll predict this season’s Saints games for [...]
Remembering Fred Anderson
(Chicago-based jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson passed away June 24. Valid Records’ Benjamin Lyons reflects on his passing.)
The Velvet Lounge on Chicago’s Near South Side was an old-fashioned joint covered in the funkiest ’70s-style wallpaper this side of John Shaft’s imagination. I always likened it to Little People’s Place in the Treme, except the common [...]
Dirty Linen Night: Getting Dirty
The French Quarter’s “answer” to White Linen Night comes at dusk the following Saturday. Royal Street shuts down to traffic and its galleries, mostly owned by artists, prop open their doors to the public until 9 p.m. Crowds admire their work and interact with the artists while milling around the galleries.
August 14, more than 60 [...]
Washboard Rodeo: What’s in a Cowboy Name?
Washboard Rodeo is bringing cowboy jazz to New Orleans. The Western swing group recently released its self-titled debut album, an acoustic affair filled with harmonies and light washboard percussion. The tracks are covers of Western swing classics including “Women, Women, Women”, “Jack o’ Diamonds” and “Fort Worth Stomp”. Western swing developed in the ’30s and [...]
Tropical Isle: Back on Bourbon
A year after a four-alarm fire ripped through the building, the Tropical Isle at the corner of Toulouse and Bourbon re-opened last month with a renewed commitment to live music on Bourbon Street. Equipped with new state-of-the-art sound systems, the Tropical Isle and Tropical Isle Bayou Club (formerly Beach Club) will continue the tradition of [...]
