Music
Strawberry Presents, Strawberry Presents (Nocturnal)
Since guitarist and vocalist Christopher Strawberry (whose adopted surname was bestowed on him by Willie Dixon. Really.) hooked up with drummer Talley Mulligan and bass player Greg Easterly in 1995, […]
Chip Wilson, Chip Wilson and a Jumpin’ Somethin’ (Independent)
Just released in January, guitarist Chip Wilson’s Chip Wilson and A Jumpin’ Somethin’ is a showcase of small combo 30s and 40s style jazz. A New Orleanian for the past […]
Guardians of the Flame, New Way Pocky Way (First Tribe)
“This is the New Way Pocky Way for the New Day.” – Victoria Harrison, Age 7. So opens this intriguing and powerful record that embraces the Mardi Gras Indian heritage. […]
Juice, Fortified (Independent)
Juice is the newest addition to the healthy New Orleans funk scene, dominated most recently by Galactic. Hoping for some of Galactic’s local and national success, Juice adds what they […]
Donald Harrison, Free To Be (Impulse!)
Free To Be is the natural successor to Harrison’s 1997 release, Nouveau Swing, which won some attention for the alto saxophonist’s elegantly liquid playing and a conception based on straight […]
Various Artists, Medicine Show Live at Grant St. Dancehall (Acadian Art Council)
Here’s a pure slice of the vibrant southwest Louisiana cultural scene that has given rise to, among others, the Grammy-winning Cajun Renaissance group, Beau Soleil. Recorded mainly at a live […]
Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy, The Odyssey of Funk & Popular Music, Vol. 1 (Atlantic)
Trickster or saint? Ever since the ’60s, trumpeter Lester Bowie has plied the art of the avant-garde, trying to get us to hear the music we call jazz with new […]
Coolbone, Brass Vibes (Jenjaz)
Coolbone may have lost its major label deal with Hollywood Records, which produced 1997’s Brass-Hop and offered the surreal hope that a New Orleans brass band playing jazzy hip hop […]
Mahalia Jackson, In My Home Over There (Peacock Gospel Classics)
It’s easy enough to forget about the root of all roots music. As Cyril Neville reminds us on his Uptown Allstars CD, “Here in New Orleans, home to the greatest […]
Marva Wright, Bluesiana Mama (Aim)
This album from “The Blues Queen of New Orleans,” was recorded in Switzerland in 1994, and its domestic release is long overdue. Fans who’ve been hungering for the material Wright […]
