January 2013
BackTalk
- BackTalk: Mannie Fresh, Still Fly
In the late ’90s, with a young, criminally underrated crew hell-bent on partying its way out of the projects, unheralded Uptown…
Bookmark
- John McCusker, Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz (University Press of Mississippi)
The true secrets of Edward “Kid” Ory (1886-1973) might still lie locked up in Gregg shorthand—a form of stenography that was…
Cover Story
- The Legends of New Orleans R&B: Best of the Beat 2012 Lifetime Achievement Awards
The Legends of New Orleans R&B, honored at OffBeat’s Best of the Beat awards show, will be recreated during the upcoming…
Features
- OffBeat's Top 50 Louisiana Albums of 2012
“BEST OF” LISTS ARE ALWAYS A DAUNTING TASK. Any numeric ranking is subjective at best. In compiling this rundown, we reviewed,… - Jonathan Bloom: Best of the Beat 2012 Lifetime Achievement in Music Education
Fourth-generation New Orleanian and Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement honoree in Music Education Jonathan Bloom was destined for the classroom.… - Big Chief Howard Miller: Best of the Beat 2012 Heartbeat Award
In New Orleans, where so many traditions are handed across the generations through family ties, teaching is far from being an… - Jimmy Anselmo: Best of the Beat 2012 Lifetime Achievement in Music Business
Jimmy Anselmo, this year’s Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in Music Business, has spent his lifetime in the… - Best of the Beat Awards 2012 Nominees
January brings OffBeat’s annual Best of the Beat Awards and our assessment of Louisiana music in 2012. During December we solicited… - The New Swing Street: Frenchmen Street's Trad Jazz Explosion
Check through the arts columns of the New York Times these days and there is scarcely a mention of traditional jazz.… - Louisiana Music: A Primer Volume 1, No. 1, Jazz
When people visit New Orleans, they’ll inevitably hear music at clubs like Preservation Hall, Snug Harbor and the Palm Court, or…
Fresh
- Art Op: D. Lefty Parker, Portrait of Katey Red
I first met Katey Red as backstage security at the Spellcaster in 1999. Quintron had played some tracks for me, and… - James Martin: Something Borrowed, Something Blue
To celebrate his first solo album, singer-saxophonist James Martin made a unique display of filial piety. “I released the album in… - Tulane University Constructs Big Chief's Abode
An avid student of French existentialism and a serious collector of modern jazz LPs, Donald Harrison Sr. was not your average… - Uniquity: Boom-bap and Jazz Rap
As we walk to conduct our interview at a quieter Marigny bar, rapper Renard “Slangston Hughes” Bridgewater ("The Connoisseur of Fine…
Letters
- January 2013 Letters to OffBeat
BOB FRENCH’S LESSON I met Bob French at WWOZ and mentioned that I have a son, Mike, who is a young…
Mojo Mouth
- Tumult Yields Promise
The year 2012 has been tumultuous, for sure. About halfway through, our longtime editor left unexpectedly, as did another staff member…
OffBeat Eats
- The Lagniappe Brass Band's Chet Overall Hits the Spot at the Joint
Do you remember the first time you came here? I just remember having a face-gasm whenever I first had the pulled… - Dining Out: Pascal's Manale
In most other parts of the country, the arrival of winter may conjure culinary images of hearty stews and roasted game…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Pascal's Manale
In most other parts of the country, the arrival of winter may conjure culinary images of hearty stews and roasted game…
The Spot
- The Lagniappe Brass Band's Chet Overall Hits the Spot at the Joint
Do you remember the first time you came here? I just remember having a face-gasm whenever I first had the pulled…
Reviews
- Aaron Neville, My True Story (Blue Note Records)
My True Story started out as Aaron Neville’s “doo-wop project” but became something else. On a promotional video made for the… - Bruce Daigrepont, Jamais de la Vie (Independent)
Here’s a question guaranteed to stump the self-anointed trivia experts: What do metal thrashers Metallica and Cajun accordionist Bruce Daigrepont have… - Calvin Johnson Jr., Jewel’s Lullaby (Alma Records)
On debut albums, it makes sense for young jazz musicians to introduce themselves by playing material penned by the masters. That… - Stover, Past the 9 (Independent)
There is a contained energy to Stover’s latest release. From the first to the second to last tune, it seems that… - Golden Triangle, Swamp Blues (Independent)
Call Chuck Wentworth a sonic matchmaker of sorts. The Rhythm & Roots Festival honcho pegged it right when he arranged a… - Matthew Davidson, Step Up (Magnet Music)
Matthew Davidson is a hell of guitar player. The scrubbed, grinning Shreveport 14-year-old, Ferris Buhler-looker demonstrates on this impeccably produced demo… - Don Rich, Kinda Sorta (Jin)
While Pierre Part’s Don Rich is often touted as a modern day swamp pop super star, truth be told, this CD… - Harry Bodine, Travellin’ the Southland (EP) (Independent)
There’s always been a kinship between New Orleans and Austin, Texas—Cyril Neville, Marcia Ball, the Iguanas and Theresa Andersson are among… - Tony Goulas, Every Room Is Blue (Independent)
For years Tony Goulas was everyone’s favorite sideman; having served in the ranks of the Boogie Kings, G.G. Shinn, T.K. Hulin’s… - Mighty Sam McClain, Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey) (City Hall Records)
With a great title and a tight band, Mighty Sam McClain’s latest record is a fine work that shows off the… - John Lee Hooker Jr., All Hooked Up (Steppin’ Stone)
When the first song on a blues album includes the line “All her friends was on Facebook,” you can assume that… - James Martin, Blue (Independent)
James Martin’s second CD Blue states his credo emphatically with the jazzy/funky hard-hitting opening number “Get With It.” Over background vocals… - Dash Rip Rock, Black Liquor (Alternative Tentacles)
Behind Dash Rip Rock’s party-band exterior has always been a dead serious Southern rock group kicking to get out. The last… - Louisiana Red, When My Mama Was Living (Labor Records)
Louisiana Red was an old-school bluesman. He had a searing, knife-in-your-gut voice that sounded as if his lyrics were experiences he… - High Performance, That’s What Makes Cajuns Dance (Swallow Records)
In some ways, High Performance has it backwards. Most groups release a studio album or two before dropping the Über hip…
