Issue Articles
A Second Chance at a First-Class Life: Mike Zito aspires to even greater things.
Mike Zito is making the most of his second chance at a first-class life. In May, the Memphis-based Blues Foundation’s Blues Music Awards named Zito best blues-rock artist. It’s his […]
In Memoriam: Clarence Fountain (1929-2018)
Clarence Fountain, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner who led the Blind Boys of Alabama for nearly 70 years, died June 3 in Baton Rouge. His death leaves Jimmy […]
New Orleans Jazz Museum launches Gallatin Street Records
Earlier this year, the New Orleans Jazz Museum issued Gallatin Street Records’ debut release. Gypsy-jazz band Bon Bon Vivant recorded Live at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the museum’s […]
The Posies Talk Back
Amidst the Seattle grunge-rock surge of the late 1980s and early ’90s, the Posies struck their own idiosyncratic path. In 1988, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, two indie-pop prodigies from […]
Tony Hall talks back
Bassist, guitarist, drummer, singer and songwriter Tony Hall’s myriad accomplishments include co-founding Dumpstaphunk. The deep-grooving funk-jazz-soul quintet came together in 2003 for an Ivan Neville appearance at the New Orleans […]
Sharp Dressed Man ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons on taming that beast
Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard, collectively known as ZZ Top, probably are the only intact major rock band from the 1960s still firing on all cylinders. Since their […]
Van Morrison, Versatile (Legacy)
Van Morrison’s 38th album finds the Irish soul man fit as a fiddle. Singing standards by George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Frank Loesser, Jule Styne and more, Morrison and […]
The Vettes, Gold Star (Album Review)
Slicing synthesizers, thumping drums, march tempos and big hooks—it must be the 1980s. Actually, the time is now, the late 2010s, and the ’80s-inspired Vettes write and record counterintuitively fresh […]
Fest Focus: Jake Shimabukuro
FRIDAY, APRIL 27—FAIS DO-DO STAGE, 2:45 P.M. In 2005, Jake Shimabukuro’s stunning ukulele rendition of George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” made him a YouTube sensation. The video […]
Fest Focus: Terrance Simien
SATURDAY, APRIL 28—FAIS DO-DO STAGE, 2:55 P.M. Grammy-winning zydeco artist Terrance Simien has played every Jazz Fest since 1986. “I tell people this all the time,” he says in […]
