Issue Articles — Features
Louis Armstrong Tribute: A conversation with Armstrong House Museum’s Ricky Riccardi
In 1925, Louis Armstrong made his recording debut as a bandleader and vocalist with his first Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five release. Previously an uncredited sideman on recordings, the Hot Five records introduced listeners to the musical brilliance and charismatic personality that made Armstrong an international star.
Snappy: The Tin Men could only be from New Orleans
The epigram “this band could only be from New Orleans,” though applicable to bands as varied as the Meters to Egg Yolk Jubilee to the Shake ’Em Up Jazz Band, still has value when assessing a band’s music and performance.
The King of Zydeco: Clifton Chenier Centennial
December 1987 still brings grief to zydeco musicians and fans. On December 12, Clifton Chenier, the beloved King of Zydeco, died at the age of 62.
Chloé Marie: Shiny As Gold
Chloé Marie is a singer and songwriter to behold, with her beautifully somber tone and soaring phrasing. She also has quite a range of performance styles. As we chatted at The Bean Gallery, with the occasional streetcar easing on past, it became clear that her layers were more plentiful than expected.
Bonsoir, Catin: A conversation with Christine Balfa
Joe and Cleoma Falcon, a husband-and-wife duo, recorded “Allons à Lafayette,” Cajun music’s first commercial hit, in 1928. Ever since, women have had an ironic relationship with the genre.
Going Back to Coolsville: Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones was no stranger to New Orleans when she flew in from California to play Jazz Fest in 1992. She’d lived on the seamy edge of the Quarter in the early ’80s with a tribe of swashbuckling outlaws while working on Pirates, the critically acclaimed follow-up to the meteoric success of her Grammy-winning self-titled debut.
Defying Labels: Mr. Sipp is not one dimensional
Castro Coleman’s contributions to the Count Basie Orchestra’s 2024 album, Basie Swings the Blues, earned the charismatic Mississippian his first Grammy award. That same year, Coleman received a second Grammy nomination for his solo album The Soul Side of Sipp.
River Eckert, A Piano Prodigy, is putting good energy into the world
River Eckert made his Jazz Fest debut in 2024 at 14-years-old. A singer, pianist, composer and arranger, he’s a New Orleans native steeped in his hometown’s indigenous rhythm-and-blues and funk.
Gladney: High Vibrations and Deep Meditations
Gladney’s been playing Jazz Fest since the seventh grade, but this year’s fest is his first gig as a bandleader. He’s a trailblazer and purveyor of spiritual qualities in music and life. Release of his Inner Peace album is imminent.
Johnny Allan: Promised Land
In the 1960s and ’70s, fans jitterbugged and two stepped while Johnnie Allan sang, danced and pranced in dancehalls, like the Southern Club in Opelousas and the Jungle Lounge in Ville Platte. In 2025, Allan traded prancing for a stool at center stage.
