By now, it should be obvious that this is not your father’s Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Under Ben Jaffe’s leadership, it has become something more post-modern and conceptual. The name’s the thing, even if the cast of players changes from session to session and track to track. It celebrates New Orleans and traditional jazz, but [...]
From the opening slow rising track through the march-like rhythms and resigned vocals that close this compact disc, Rotary Downs’ new Cracked Maps and Blue Reports hits on all cylinders. Over the last couple of years, Rotary Downs as a live band has grown more confident and assertive onstage, and this is reflected in this [...]
You can’t judge an album by its artwork. Such holds true for the Mark Weliky Trio’s self-titled debut. In stark contrast from what you’d expect from the carefree, self-assured lads who grace the rather garish cover, the young jazz outfit comprised of guitarist Weliky, bassist Martin Masakowski, and drummer Paul Thibodeaux (classmates at UNO) plays [...]
Imagine stumbling into a 4 a.m. jam session between cult icons Captain Beefheart and the B-52s. Preposterous, right? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll get out of New Orleans new wavers the Way’s bizarrely contagious, unsettling romp, Half Awake. It begins with “Big Red Rubber Ball,” a twisted organ boogie that finds leader Benjamin Arthur Ellis [...]
Krewe of Eris is an annual Mardi Gras marching parade, a swarm of costumed miscreants who meet in the Bywater and meander through the Upper Ninth Ward and the French Quarter. More than 60 strong, they parade putting a premium on spirit over technique, warbling and screeching, squirming and flailing. Their cares are few, their [...]
The King of the Jungle” is back and as always, Eddie C. Campbell delivers the goods. This one is a real finger popper from beginning to end. Like most of the better known blues guitarists from the west side of Chicago—Magic Sam and Otis Rush come to mind—Campbell’s got a sound all his own. (The [...]
The talk of the town this last month has been unity. The overarching narrative of the Saints saga has been the way in which this Super Bowl season has brought New Orleanians (wherever they are) together across all lines and boundaries, whether economic, geographic, generational, or racial. Even more than during Mardi Gras, the Who [...]
It’s hard to pin down the Jack Brass Band. Their 2007 album, Traditionally Speaking, was a fairly traditional New Orleans affair. The Minneapolis group’s new record, Fourth Movement, has them sounding at times more like a salsa combo. They strut through an unlikely song set, including covers of Michael Jackson, Rick James, and Bill Withers.
This [...]
As Chris Ardoin, J. Paul and Curley Taylor keep pushing zydeco to its progressive left; Lil Wayne and Same Ol Two Step keep it firmly staked close to where it once sprouted. The third CD from Same Ol Two is its most consistent yet and more traditionally bedrocked in the Opelousas-Lawtell school of zydeco than [...]
In 2008, saxophonist Larry Ankrum felt the urge to record again. It had been 16 years since the release of his debut album, It Cannot Be Exhausted by Use, and over six since collaborating with New Orleans trombonist Jeff Albert in the Albert- Ankrum Project. The seasoned musician and world traveler also felt compelled to [...]
