Issue Articles — Features
The Mission of the Music: Stephen Marley’s Old Soul
Stephen Marley brings his “Old Soul Tour Unplugged” to New Orleans, featuring songs off his new album Old Soul, plus selections from his entire catalog, and Bob Marley classics. He’s a multi-Grammy winner as a solo artist, producer, and band member, as well as a key part, of course, of an iconic musical family.
Danilo Pérez: Musician, social activist and teacher
“When we play together we feel Wayne is with us on the stage,” says Danilo Pérez of the late, legendary saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter.
From Tragedy to Triumph: The New Orleans Nightcrawlers Make 30 Years
It’s been a bittersweet year so far for groundbreaking band The New Orleans Nightcrawlers, a true all-star group. Though they didn’t win their second Grammy this year, it was still an honor to be nominated on their 30th anniversary.
Lights On: Kristin Diable always had a pulse in the real world
“I cannot believe it’s been nine years,” Kristin Diable says with a sigh and a laugh. “Honestly, after being in the business of music this long, and even teaching the craft and business of songwriting at Loyola, it’s as mysterious to me as it ever was. But that’s all right, I’m all for the long game.”
Helen Gillet: A Whirling Dervish Improviser
Helen Gillet’s cello is much more than just an instrument. It’s a visceral extension of her body and soul and her peripatetic mind, which ranges as far and wide as a childhood spent shuttling between Belgium, Singapore and Chicago, where she first picked up the cello at age nine.
Sharing Gospel’s Joy
In Louisiana, musical families prevail throughout many genres and enjoy the inclusion of multiple generations in their harmonic journeys. Gospel music is, of course, no exception. Two outstanding examples performing in the Gospel Tent at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as they’ve done for many years, are the Dynamic Smooth Family and The Bester Singers.
New World Rising: After two decades Brian Stoltz is back!
This may come as a shock to anyone who’s ever seen him play, but Brian Stoltz doesn’t think of himself as a hotshot guitar player. There’s no doubt that Stoltz can solo with the best of them—and he literally did solo with the best of them, as a longtime Neville Brothers and funky Meters member, and as a studio player for Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt and others. But for him, the real action happens when you sit down and put pen to paper.
The Cotton Club Meets Studio 54: Eliza Sonnenschein manifests her journey
The performer Eliza Sonnenschein was born Gabrielle Elizabeth Sonnenschein to a military family in Germany. As her career has been building, she’s on the verge of a major career step and getting her acting chops up too. We sat down at the Audubon Zoo to find out why they’re all asking for her.
Barbara Hawkins & The Dixie Cups Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of “Chapel of Love”
New Orleans’ own The Dixie Cups are celebrating a big anniversary, not only for the 60th anniversary of timeless “Chapel of Love,” but all the other hits that followed. They are also the feature of this year’s radiant Jazz & Heritage Festival poster. Founding member Barbara Hawkins looked back on a time in which three teenagers were the premier girl group in the country, knocked the Beatles off the number one pedestal, and took Mardi Gras Indian music to the airwaves. Founding members Rosa Hawkins and Joan Johnson are no longer with us physically, but their spirit and legacy flourishes.
Teacher, Musician and Thinker: Branford Marsalis is coming home
In late January the Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer, Branford Marsalis, announced he was returning to his native New Orleans where he will serve as artistic director of The Ellis Marsalis Center for Music (EMCM) in the upper Ninth Ward. The center is named after the patriarch of the Marsalis family who held the artistic director position until his death in 2020 from complications of the Covid-19 virus.
