Music
Smoky Greenwell: Blues For Democracy (Greenwell Records)
Give props to Greenwell for his socially conscious “Homeless Christmas” (from Smokin’ Christmas) for an ugly subject that’s easy to look the other way.
Johnny Angel and Helldorado: Long Days, Short Pay (Independent)
When Johnny Angel gets into something, he immerses himself so deeply he might as well be a Luddite off the grid.
Ghalia Volt: Shout Sister Shout (Ruf Records)
Look at Ghalia Volt’s feet; you won’t see any grass growing underneath them since she constantly evolves her musical landscape. Since the Belgian blues guitarist’s arrival in the Crescent City in 2016, she’s already cut several albums.
The Groove Krewe featuring Jonathon Boogie Long: Blues From the Bayou (EP) (Sound Business Services)
To understand Blues from the Bayou featuring Jonathon Boogie Long and its predecessor recording, Run to Daylight featuring Nick Daniels III, is to understand the Groove Krewe. The Groove Krewe is not the typical performing group with the same perennial frontman but a triumvirate of music industry veterans Rex Pearce, Nelson Blanchard, and Dale Murray.
Corey Ledet Zydeco: Médikamen (Nouveau Electric Records)
If you haven’t noticed by now, Corey Ledet is on a mission to burrow deeper and deeper into his Creole culture. On his 2021 album Corey Ledet Zydeco, the zydeco accordionist revealed his passion for Kouri-Vini, a French lexified Creole language and the native tongue of his father CJ and other family members. On that pivotal 2021 recording, Ledet sang five songs in the language and vowed every song would be in Kouri-Vini from then on. With Médikamen, he holds true to that promise. All songs were recorded in his cultural idiom.
Jason Ricci and the Bad Kind: Behind the Veil (Gulf Coast Records)
o matter what lofty accomplishments and accolades Jason Ricci has reaped over his illustrious career, he’s become a product of his Crescent City environs, his home for over a decade. The preeminent harp howler has collaborated and performed with many of the city’s best: Papa Mali, The Iguanas, Eric Johanson, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Anders Osborne, Johnny Sansone, Dean Zucchero, and others. In 2021, Ricci and pianist, organist Joe Krown released one of the year’s hippest albums in City Country City.
Parchman Prison Prayer: Some Mississippi Sunday Morning (Glitterbeat Records)
Since 2009, music producer Ian Brennan has focused on recording underrepresented regions of the world, including prisons, like Malawi’s overcrowded maximum-security Zomba prison. Brennan believes inmates are typically the most silenced and ignored segment anywhere, regardless of country.
Buckwheat Zydeco, Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band: New Beginnings… (Bloodline Music)
It’s almost a curse being the son of a famous musician, especially when yo’ big daddy is the legendary Buckwheat Zydeco, who elevated Zydeco to worldwide prominence. If you don’t measure up, there will be plenty happy to cut you down to size. Sir Reginald Dural understands that but embraced the challenge anyway by assuming the stage name of Buckwheat Zydeco, Jr.
Julian Primeaux: Songs For The Heart of Sister Flute (Nature & Grain Music)
If you’ve only seen Julian Primeaux as zydeco accordionist Corey Ledet’s slingin’ sideman guitarist, Songs For the Heart of Sister Flute is the artistic side he’d prefer you to hear. It’s the fiery blues rocker’s fourth album and the second of a loosely themed trilogy regarding how emotional experiences affect the heart.
Gregg Hill: Bayou St. John (Skippy Records)
Bayou St. John is Gregg Hill’s sixth overall record and second since relocating to the Crescent City in 2018. It’s also his first album recorded in New Orleans.
