reviewed together with James Booker’s Blues & Ragtime from New Orleans. There are around 15 James Booker albums on the market, but in fact the Piano Prince released only five LPs of music during his lifetime. Four of these five should be considered the very best of his work. The easy-to-find ones are New Orleans [...]
Tag Archives: pianists
James Booker, Blues and Ragtime from New Orleans (Black Sun Music)
January 1, 2012 – 12:57 am
reviewed together with James Booker’s The Piano Prince of New Orleans. There are around 15 James Booker albums on the market, but in fact the Piano Prince released only five LPs of music during his lifetime. Four of these five should be considered the very best of his work. The easy-to-find ones are New Orleans [...]
Sing a Song of Santa: New Christmas Albums
December 1, 2011 – 12:14 am
Listen to Alex Rawls’ “An OffBeat Christmas 2011″ playlist on Spotify Once upon a time, everybody cut a Christmas song. Country singers, R&B singers, surf bands and crooners—they along with countless jazz men and novelty artists cut celebrations of Santa, snow and the spirit of the season. These days, Christmas albums aren’t as ubiquitous as [...]
Bob Andrews, Chills and Fever (Independent)
November 1, 2011 – 12:51 am
Former Brinsley Schwarz/Rumour keyboardist Bob Andrews has immersed himself in New Orleans piano since moving to the city. On this self-produced album, he largely and agreeably leans toward the R&B that was cool currency during pub rock days. The title track is a well-chosen cover of Ronnie Love’s 1961 hit, and it creeps along at [...]
Jonathan Batiste’s Underground Music
October 1, 2011 – 12:19 am
New Orleans has long been a piano town. And it’s long been a parade town. Therein lies the problem: If you’re a pianist, you can’t join the parade. No one’s yet found a way to strap a Steinway around his or her neck and march down St. Charles Avenue. This dilemma has often perplexed Jonathan [...]
Davell Crawford Signs to Basin Street Records
September 21, 2011 – 6:36 pm
Davell Crawford is Basin Street Records‘ newest signed recording artist, making the acclaimed pianist and singer number twelve on the 14-year-old label’s marquee list of artists. From his fast fingers to his soulful voice, Crawford is a master of the New Orleans R&B and gospel. As the grandson of local legend James “Sugar Boy” Crawford, [...]
Henry Gray, Lucky Man (Blind Pig Records)
July 1, 2011 – 12:54 am
When blues pianist Henry Gray released Lucky Man in 1990, it was his first solo American album despite years of recording and playing with Howlin’ Wolf. This release is the reissue of the original vinyl LP. Outside of a cover of Fats Domino’s “My Girl Josephine,” Lucky Man is straight-up Windy City blues. For the [...]
Conun Pappas, Jr., The Other Side of Me (Independent)
June 1, 2011 – 12:45 am
Pianist Conun Pappas, Jr.’s second album, The Other Side of Me, is filled with loneliness, despair, isolation, and Auto-Tune—lots of Auto-Tune—and just about every other lo-fi, processed effect imaginable. It’s also about as far removed from the elegant jazz found on his 2010 debut, Oh, What a Feeling, as imaginable. Here, over the course of [...]
Tom McDermott and Evan Christopher, Almost Native (Threadhead Records)
May 1, 2011 – 12:52 am
A grid of 12 images adorns the cover of Almost Native. It includes a po-boy, a pair of maracas, and the Arc de Triomphe. If that seems too subtle, the track listing includes titles like “Tandé Sak Fè Loraj Gwondé”, “Chorando Em Paris”, and “Tango Ambiguo”. Styles range from waltz to blues to choro and [...]
