“Due South: Roots, Songlines, Musical Geographies” New Orleans music is once again the central focus of a national music conference this month as Seattle’s Experience Music Project (EMP) has chosen to hold its annual Pop Conference here in the Birthplace of American music at Tulane University from April 19 – 21. Certainly a perfect choice [...]
Tag Archives: Documentary
Obituary: Les Blank (1935-2013)
April 10, 2013 – 5:16 pm
The great documentarian Les Blank died last weekend, and we recall his showing a rare film at Ponderosa Stomp… I’m proud to say that the great documentarian Les Blank nearly had me thrown out of a film showing in the fall of 2010. The occasion was that year’s Ponderosa Stomp, and Blank was at One-Eyed [...]
YouTube du Jour: Freddie Keppard
May 29, 2012 – 2:48 pm
OffBeat‘s June issue hits the streets of New Orleans today, and includes a story on Freddie Keppard, the great early New Orleans jazz trumpeter. Keppard ascended to the New Orleans jazz throne after Buddy Bolden disappeared from public view, but left the city for California in 1912. His spot in the limelight was taken by [...]
Tchoupitoulas Screening at Sync Up: Interview with Director Bill Ross and Producer Michael Gottwald
April 30, 2012 – 2:56 am
Any lover of both New Orleans and film knows the difficulty moviemakers have had in capturing the essence of the city. For every success like Down By Law there’s The Big Easy. For every Hard Times, Live and Let Die. Add the new film Tchoupitoulas to the list of successes. The hazy masterpiece loosely tells [...]
Wayne Toups: Movie Star?
April 19, 2012 – 4:35 pm
The Pine Leaf Boys‘ Wilson Savoy is taking on a new role—filmmaker—as he makes a documentary about Cajun music star Wayne Toups. The two play in the Band Courtbouillon with Steve Riley, and Savoy has started a Kickstarter project to help fund the documentary. What is your relationship to Wayne Toups? I’ve known about [...]
YouTube du Jour: Raymond Myles
February 27, 2012 – 4:04 pm
In the ’80s and ’90s, Raymond Myles was considered one of, if not the, greatest gospel singers in New Orleans. In October 1998, at the height of his career and on the precipice of wider fame beyond the gospel world, he was shot dead during a carjacking on Elysian Fields Avenue. Myles released only one [...]
YouTube du Jour: Zigaboo Modeliste with Erykah Badu, Mark Ronson Dap-Kings
February 15, 2012 – 12:47 pm
Last night, Meters drummer Zigabooo Modeliste performed on the Late Show with David Letterman with Erykah Badu, Mark Ronson, and members of the Dap-Kings. The group is part of Re:Generation, which pairs producers with musicians across genres as a documentary project. The group recorded the song played last night, “A La Modeliste,” with Mos Def [...]
