December 2010
BackTalk
- The Radiators
On November 4, Ed Volker, the principal songwriter and singer with the Radiators, sent a letter of resignation to his bandmates…
Bookmark
- Sandy Warren, Art Blakey: Cookin’ and Jammin’—Recipes and Remembrances from a Jazz Life (Margaret Media)
Growing up where fresh fruit meant the occasional brown banana or “sour green apple he found on the ground,” Art Blakey…
Cover Story
- Dumpstaphunk Is All Ears
Ivan Neville wanted to meet at Mahony’s on Magazine Street. The night before, Dumpstaphunk had slayed an audience at Lafayette Square,…
Features
- A Dixieland Santa Claus: Louisiana Christmas Music
Christmas music fans keep to themselves. They’re out there, wondering if they’re weird for listening to it all year around, while… - School's Out for These UNO-Educated Jazz Musicians
“I’m just trying to connect with people my age because it’s dying. Jazz is dying. We have to find a… - Kid Ory: The Permission Not Given
[Updated] Edward “Kid” Ory may not be as well known as the superstars of early jazz, players such as Louis Armstrong…
Fresh
- Madden 11 Predicts the Saints in December
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS AT CINCINNATI BENGALS, DEC. 5 It’s snowing in Cincinnati; seems like it should be an advantage for the… - DesCours: Architecture in My Art
What? DesCours, a free, annual, public event that presents 14 large-scale architecture installations by international architects. These experimental installations use new… - Santa's Got a Brand New Book
Last year, Jamie Bernstein included the song “Black Santa” on his Songs from the Tree of Life album, which he recorded… - Louis Prima 100 Years Later
Louis Prima would have been 100 this year. Jazz Fest honored him this year with a series of Prima-themed shows, and… - Chick Lit: Sean Yseult's White Zombie Memoir
What? Sean Yseult of Rock City Morgue has released her memoir from her White Zombie days, I’m in the Band: Backstage… - Trombone Shorty's Red Hot
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews will curate an all-star New Orleans revue scheduled for December 3 and 4 at the Brooklyn Academy…
Letters
- December 2010 Letters
TALES OF THE OFFBEAT As a fan of old pulps and EC Comics, I am quite captivated by the cover of…
Mojo Mouth
- Preserve the Moment
I thoroughly enjoyed going to Cleveland to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last week. But I’ve always been…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: The Rib Room
Entering the stately dining room of the Rib Room on a Friday at half past noon, you may well have full… - James Singleton Hits the Spot at Crescent Pie and Sausage Company
Crescent Pie and Sausage Company 4400 Banks St. (504) 482-2426 How often do you come here? We've calmed down and come… - Doctor's Orders: Wines by New Orleans MDs
It is a well-told tale that Americans cared little for wine until the mid-’80s when a 60 Minutes report revealed the…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: The Rib Room
Entering the stately dining room of the Rib Room on a Friday at half past noon, you may well have full… - Doctor's Orders: Wines by New Orleans MDs
It is a well-told tale that Americans cared little for wine until the mid-’80s when a 60 Minutes report revealed the… - Dumpstaphunk Is All Ears
Ivan Neville wanted to meet at Mahony’s on Magazine Street. The night before, Dumpstaphunk had slayed an audience at Lafayette Square,…
Photo Op
- Monk Boudreaux
Photographer: Erika Goldring Date: April 5, 2009 Monk Boudreaux is Big Chief of the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians. I’ve walked…
The Spot
- James Singleton Hits the Spot at Crescent Pie and Sausage Company
Crescent Pie and Sausage Company 4400 Banks St. (504) 482-2426 How often do you come here? We've calmed down and come…
Reviews
- Cedric Watson et Bijou Creole, Creole Moon: Live From the Blue Moon (Valcour Records)
Creole Moon, a live recording from Lafayette’s Blue Moon Saloon, is Cedric Watson’s second release in less than a year following… - Bipolaroid, Illusion Fields (Independent)
Bipolaroid has always been a lot less psychedelic than advertised. Until now. Previously a mishmash of psychedelic surface signifiers borrowed from… - Various Artists, Sehorn’s Soul Farm (Charly Records)
Here’s a welcome return of an old friend (two actually), and a reminder that for every Irma Thomas, Lee Dorsey, the… - The Local Skank, Collect All Five! (Independent)
We might as well quit counting what “wave” we’re on, because it seems like ska—the music the most white people feel… - By & By String Band, Little Darling Pal of Mine: Songs of the Carter Family, (Independent)
The first song on Little Darling Pal of Mine is “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” and with it the band announces its… - Tarik Hassan, Tarik Hassan (Independent)
For his debut album, bassist Tarik Hassan assembled an outstanding quartet that features Rex Gregory (saxophones), Austin Johnson (piano, Rhodes) and… - The Professors of Pleasure, Volume Two (Independent)
The Professors of Pleasure, John Doheny’s Tulane University faculty jazz band, use their second CD, Volume Two, to put on a… - Los Po-Boy-Citos, Brand New Dance (Independent)
In a city that has synthesized musical styles throughout its history, a boogaloo band makes perfect sense. Los Po-Boy-Citos embraced that… - Leroy Thomas, Jewel of the Bayou (Maison de Soul Records)
Though Leroy Thomas’ CDs have been consistently good over the years, they’ve also had a run-and-gun sound that left them rough… - Flow Tribe, Now Ya Know: Live at Tipitina's (Independent)
Perhaps the dominant trend in recent New Orleans party-rock music has been to lean heavily on wah-wah guitars and drum kits.… - pLink Floyd, Nickels & Diamonds (Independent)
In a 1991 interview with OffBeat, Béla Fleck expressed frustration at being constantly credited with “bringing the banjo to jazz.” While… - Arson Anthem, Insecurity Notoriety (Housecore Records)
Arson Anthem, according to the band’s website, has a mission: to bring “the roots of painful amplification, raw production, and a… - Ray Charles, The Undiscovered Masters (Concord Records)
In discussing Ray Charles, local trumpeter Frank Mitchell once stated, “I don’t know who first called him ‘The Genius,’ but they… - The Jazz Passengers, Reunited (Justin Time Records)
Given that jazz can easily slip into the realm of the too serious, the return of the Jazz Passengers with their… - Mutemath, Armistice Live CD/DVD (Warner Bros Records)
My first instinct when watching Mutemath's Armistice Live DVD was that it made the show look more exciting than it really… - Down, Diary of a Mad Band CD/DVD (Independent)
Visually and conceptually, Down’s Diary of a Mad Band is the diametric opposite of Mutemath’s Armistice Live. There’s no tricky lighting…
