Issue Articles
Collateral Damage
Sam Price of Otra came to New Orleans to play the Voodoo Music Experience. Now living in San Francisco, he had to pack for a flight and to save space, […]
Tis the Season
In honor of the election season, Mem Shannon has a funky new “single” available for download titled “Good-Bye Mr. President (Time For You to Go).” It’s available for download for […]
George Strait, Fresh Cut Christmas (Hallmark)
People say the Nashville of classic country no longer exists, but the fiddle, mandolin and pedal steel on Fresh Cut Christmas make George Strait’s Nashville sound equally lost in […]
Tony Joe White, Swamp Music: The Complete Monument Recordings (Rhino Handmade)
Tony Joe White’s appearance at Tipitina’s this fall became a pleasantly unexpected trip through his substantial catalogue. One of the highlights was “The High Sheriff of Calhoun Parrish,” a […]
Various Artists, Christmas Break (Telarc)
This album is “Relaxing jazz for the holidays,” but for some of the versions, you could replace “relaxing” with “narcotizing” or “blitzed.” Oscar Peterson’s “White Christmas” and Mel Torme’s […]
Rhonda Vincent, Beautiful Star: A Christmas Collection (Martha White/Rounder)
Rhonda Vincent’s Christmas album works because she commits to the songs, and to what the songs are supposed to be. She doesn’t make them show pieces for her voice […]
Blackbeard, Strictly Dub Wise (Front Line/EMI)
Blackbeard—Dennis Bovell—doesn’t quite have the same reputation as Augustus Pablo, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Mad Professor or the other great names in dub. His dubs aren’t as spiritual as Pablo’s, […]
Incognito, Bees+Things+Flowers (Narada Jazz)
Incognito is the sort of thing that couldn’t come out of America. The lite jazz/soul/funk is all about the groove and feel, creating an unapologetically bourgeois sound that, like […]
Johnny Cash, The Legend of Johnny Cash Vol. 2 (Universal)
As is often the case, the second cull through a legend’s work is in many ways more fun than the first. The Legend of Johnny Cash has the career-defining […]
Judith Owen, Here (Courgette)
The subversive sense of humor that leads part-time New Orleanian Judith Owen to record cabaret versions of “Eye of the Tiger” on Here and “Smoke on the Water” on […]
