January 2007
BackTalk
- Craig Klein
Of all this year’s recipients of OffBeat’s Heartbeat Award, the Arabi Wrecking Krewe may have the most organic origins. Bonerama member…
Bookmark
- Michael Streissguth, Johnny Cash (Da Capo Press)
Johnny Cash has been more commercially active in his latter and posthumous years than he was for much of the… - John Sinclair, Va Tutto Bene/It's All Good (Stampa Alternativa)
Poet, critic, and counterculture icon John Sinclair’s new book is a great introduction to his oeuvre as well as a compilation…
Cover Story
- Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music: Fats Domino
Everybody knows Antoine “Fats” Domino. He is the celebrity’s celebrity, a walking trademark, known and loved throughout the world. Unlike all…
Features
- Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award in Music Education: Harold Battiste
The words “The Future of Our Past” printed on the upper right cover of Harold Battiste’s sheet music/workbook, The Silverbook, speak… - Best of the Beat Heartbeat Award: The Musicians' Hurricane Relief Agencies
In the months after Hurricane Katrina, a number of plans to restore Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage were proposed. State Lieutenant-Governor Mitch… - Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award in Music Business: Warren Hildebrand
Warren Hildebrand was born into the New Orleans music business. His father, Henry Hildebrand, founded the city’s largest wholesale record distributorship,… - The Top 50 Louisiana CDs of 2006
Selected from nearly 300 Louisiana releases, Hurricane Katrina hasn’t slowed us down, our 2006 Critics’ Choice of the year’s finest musical…
Fresh
- Market on the Move
- Growing Up in Many Ways
In the last few years, it has become a source of amusement that there’s nothing short about Trombone Shorty anymore. Troy… - Putting the French in Frenchmen
- Done With Mirrors
While Timothea was the embodiment of living with Hepatitis C in New Orleans until she passed away in October, for many… - Do You Know…the Magnetic Ear
Who: Martin Krusche’s Magnetic Ear is a five-piece band that runs the jazz gamut. A native of Munich, Germany, tenor saxophonist… - Something in the Air
The uninitiated may be tempted to call Chris Ardoin the Phil Collins of Zydeco, especially after listening to his new CD,… - Happy Anniversary
Tipitina’s celebrates its 29th anniversary January 11-14. Thursday night the Uptown music club presents “Horns and Hatchets,” a night of brass… - A Little Love From Your Grammy
On December 7, the nominees for Grammy Awards were announced, and Louisiana-related artists or projects received 11 nominations. Elvis Costello and… - Some New Orleans Music Retailers Rocking
Last month’s closure of Tower Records in the French Quarter was certainly a huge blow to the local music retailing business.…
Letters
- January 2007 Letters
COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT OFFBEAT Just a coincidence I’m sure that the OffBeat email [The Weekly Beat] arrived just as I…
Mojo Mouth
- The More Music, The Merrier
January—while a pretty slow month in the city—is a flurry of activity at the OffBeat offices. January is the month we…
Obituaries
OffBeat Eats
- What's in a Name?: Michael Sichel of 7 on Fulton
“I’m listening, I’m listening. Michael Sichel bounces around the kitchen at 7 on Fulton, where he took over as Executive Chef… - Dining Out: Jazz Tacos
I was prowling the French Quarter one afternoon last August, when a food writer friend called with a tip to check…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Jazz Tacos
I was prowling the French Quarter one afternoon last August, when a food writer friend called with a tip to check… - Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award in Music Education: Harold Battiste
The words “The Future of Our Past” printed on the upper right cover of Harold Battiste’s sheet music/workbook, The Silverbook, speak…
Reviews
- Various Artists, Six the Hard Way (Heartbeat)
If Rounder/Heartbeat’s series of reissues of material from Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Studio One label has done nothing else, it has… - Tony Furtado, Thirteen (Funzalo)
Thirteen brings to mind the sort of contemporary short stories that seem to emerge from MFA programs. The songs are… - Bill Kirchen, Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods, (Proper)
Guitarist Bill Kirchen was the picker who played the iconically twangy guitar on Commander Cody’s “Hot Rod Lincoln,” so it’s… - Chris Thile, How to Grow a Woman from the Ground (Sugar hill)
Reasons Why’s release accompanies the pop bluegrass trio’s announcement that it is going on “hiatus,” which many have taken as… - Nickel Creek, Reasons Why (Sugar Hill)
Reasons Why’s release accompanies the pop bluegrass trio’s announcement that it is going on “hiatus,” which many have taken as… - The Ying Yang Twins, Chemically Imbalanced (TVT)
For years, the Ying Yang Twins found their musical, social and spiritual home in strip joints. Seemingly every track was… - Crosley Songwriter Recordable Turntable
When the Crosley Songwriter Recordable Turntable was delivered I wasn’t that eager to open the box. Figuring out how to make… - Various Artists, New Orleans: Rebuild, Restore, Rejoice (Mardi Gras Records)
This compilation of tracks from albums on Mardi Gras Records is good, simple fun, leaning heavily on brass band tracks… - Chris Lenox, Meridian (Independent)
When an artist subtitles his previous collection “A Solstice Ritual,” you know his muse is going to require deep thought on… - Cleat Wooley, Here On the Bayou (Independent)
Despite being a Vietnam vet and an actor in the upcoming indie flick Here on the Bayou, Wooley’s biggest claim to… - Marty Christian, Bluesicana (Independent)
James Taylor sometimes deceives himself into thinking he’s got the blues. If Sweet Baby James actually had them—or, more accurately, understood… - Richard LeBouef, Longneck Vacation (D&R)
Richard LeBouef calls this his “Meet Richard LeBouef” album, which is funny considering his handful of recordings and the country smash… - The Tomatoes, Trendy (Independent)
When the Tomatoes started as the Joneses, having a sound and lyrics rooted in late 1970s British punk and new… - Tom Waits, Orphans (Anti)
Do you need a three-disc Tom Waits album? Probably not. After a decade of exploring the sonic dark, dusty holes… - Wayne Toups & Zydecajun, Reflections of the Past (D&R)
A traditional album from progressive Cajun roots rocker Wayne Toups shouldn’t come as a total surprise. After all, he started his… - Buddy Guy, I Can't Quit the Blues (Silvertone/Legacy)
Spanning five decades, this three-CD box set features a lot of familiar material as well as some rare and previously unreleased… - Various Artists, Confessing: Deep Soul From New Orleans (Grapevine)
An English label that fills the quirky needs and desires of Northern Soul enthusiasts, Grapevine has unearthed 20 rare New Orleans… - Honky Tonk Disciples, Kickin' Up Dust (Independent)
The best honky-tonk music sounds like someone’s life boiled down to lines that are poetic in their simple precision. Very… - Ernie Vincent, City Moods (Kolab)
The Dap Walk Man (Ernie Vincent), is back with a serving of New Orleans blues, funk and soul, albeit a relocated… - Various Artists, Who Dat? (Mardi Gras)
The Who Dats are back and ready to play. In 1987, New Orleans was on cloud nine because the Saints were… - We're Only In It for the Honey, Gimme More (Independent)
The first time I saw We’re Only In It for the Honey a few years ago at the now-defunct Zeppelin’s, I… - Spirit of New Orleans, Some of These Days (SONOP)
It seems that the Helsinki-based Spirit of New Orleans (SONO), saved the best for last on its sophomore release. The group… - Pat McLaughlin, Horsefly (Creamstyle)
Pat McLaughlin makes soulful, country-inflected rock ’n’ roll sound so easy and natural that it seems like every city ought… - Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, Hot As a Pistol, Keen As a Blade (Hip-O DVD)
By now, Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint’s The River in Reverse has been pretty thoroughly celebrated, most recently with a… - Chris Ardoin and NuStep, M.V.P. (NuStep4Lyfe)
Hailing a new release as an artistic and commercial breakthrough is always risky, but in the case of Chris Ardoin and… - New Birth Brass Band, New Orleans Second Line! (Mardi Gras Records)
Sirens wail and the shout goes out, “Who Dat Called Da Police.” The New Birth Brass Band gets the party rolling… - Harry Connick, Jr., Chanson du Vieux Carre: Connick on Piano, Vol. 3 (Marsalis Music)
The prolific Harry Connick, Jr. enjoys many interests and always has lots of irons in the fire. So it makes sense…
