Issue Articles — Fresh
From the Street to the Stage: Big Chief Juan Pardo at the Congo Square Rhythms Festival
Golden Comanche Big Chief Juan Pardo is also a key part of the group Tribal Gold, the union with the New Orleans Suspects, who will be playing the Congo Square Rhythms Festival. The dust had barely settled on Mardi Gras when we sat down at Rue de la Course to discuss how everything is organically coming together for him in the right way.
Vintage Vinyl Treasures (Episode 36)
Another installment of Vintage Vinyl highlighting five artists who gave us a hit song about the rain is at hand. Release dates span a period of 20 years, so I am covering a fair amount of territory from a musical style standpoint. Each brings back fond memories from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll in the ’60s and the ’70s to one new wave and two rock classics of the ’80s. My how time passes quickly these days.
Best of the Beat 2023 Award Winners
OffBeat’s 2023 Best of The Beat Music Awards took place on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at Tipitina’s. The Best of The Beat Awards™ is a program of the OffBeat Music & Cultural Arts Foundation and was presented by the Gia Maione Prima Foundation and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation, with support from OffBeat Magazine and WWL-TV.
The 100th anniversary of Slim Harpo: Baton Rouge’s most successful blues recording artist
This year is the 100th anniversary year of Slim Harpo’s birth. Although 1924 is the agreed upon year of his birth, the month of his birth is widely misreported. This identical disagreement—regarding the month a famous Louisiana musician was born—has also existed for Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John, and Louis Armstrong.
Vintage Vinyl Treasures (Episode 35)
This month’s installment of Vintage Vinyl highlights five artists who each gave us a great tune or two about the rain. And given the weather as of late and a growing list of rainy-day favorites in my record collection, I should have enough for another entry or two as long as the creek don’t rise in 2024. Hope that you enjoy it and for your reading pleasure, selections are listed in chronological order of release.
Jazz & Heritage Concert Series: Gladney kicks off contemporary jazz series
“I’m a sixth generation native of the Lower 9 so we’ve been here a bit,” Gladney proudly offers and then laughs.
The Return of the Dew Drop Inn
More than fifty years after the Dew Drop Inn’s reign as “the swankiest spot in the South,” the resurrection of the fabled nightclub, restaurant and hotel is at hand. Although the meticulously refurbished Dew Drop complex at 2836 LaSalle Street in New Orleans hasn’t set a grand opening date yet, hotel rooms are available beginning January 19.
Vintage vinyl treasures (Episode 34)
Four of the five entries of this month’s installment on vintage vinyl were acquired recently well off my beaten path. While on a Texas vacation that included Galveston, I made a side trip and found the first two gems in a funky vinyl shop in Baytown.
The Box That Rocks: The Cigar Box Guitar Festival is coming!
In a city of festivals, the eighth annual Cigar Box Guitar Festival is one of the most unique, while being quintessentially New Orleans. It offers great music, unique instruments, and special guests in an ideal location, the New Orleans Jazz Museum. From veteran Lil’ Jimmy Reed to young Erin Coburn, this is a fest for the best in the field.
Searching for Stardom: Barbara Barnes Sims participated in Sun Records’ Golden Years
Barbara Barnes Sims’ firsthand account of Sun Records presents an insider’s view of the legendary Memphis label. From 1957 to 1960, Sims worked at Sun, promoting and publicizing Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Rich and the company’s lesser-known acts. Even though Elvis Presley left the label two years before Sims’ arrival, much more rock and roll history was made after his departure.
