April 2008
BackTalk
- Ellis and Jason Marsalis
While we’re talking, Ellis Marsalis takes two calls and ignores another. Spring in New Orleans is a musician’s busiest time, and…
Bookmark
- Mick Burns (ed.), Walking with Legends: Barry Martyn's New Orleans Jazz Odyssey (Louisiana State University Press)
British born jazzman Barry Martyn is a grand storyteller, a good drinking companion, and just the person to have around if…
Cover Story
- Tom McDermott: The Keys to the City
Tom McDermott does not stand out in a crowd. The affable, laid-back pianist could be a bit character from Mark Twain’s…
Features
- Classic Songs of Louisiana: "Lawdy Miss Clawdy"
“Well now lawdy, lawdy, lawdy, Miss Clawdy, girl, you sure look good to me. You just wheeling and rocking, baby, You’re… - Frederick "Shep" Sheppard: A Great Voice
- Down by the Riverside: French Quarter Festival 2008
Every year, we return to the banks of the Mississippi River for the French Quarter Festival. This year’s festival takes place… - Native Tongues
Here’s a statistic courtesy of National Geographic: Of the 7,000 languages spoken on Earth, nearly half are facing extinction. Consider the…
Fresh
- What's in a Name?
- New Tools for Zydeco
What does zydeco musician Travis Matte have in common with Kanye West, Usher, The Beastie Boys, Bruce Springsteen and John Mayer?… - Look Back with Decoupage
For much of the 1990s, folk artist Suzie Millions set up shop in New Orleans, going to see music at the… - Hampton Flying South
Rightly or wrongly, horn players loom over the history of jazz, yet anyone who knows jazz knows Lionel Hampton. As a… - Kids' Stuff
Children’s music isn’t just about children anymore. Today’s kids music records are also made with adults in mind, and not just… - Independent's Day
Sometimes a record deal is more of a handicap than a security blanket. Major acts such as Radiohead and Nine Inch… - Seven Days of Blues
The 2008 Baton Rouge Blues Week kicks off its 13th year on Saturday, April 19. The week-long blues celebration will feature… - The Creole Rat Pack
In 2006, Paul Sanchez walked away from the rock group Cowboy Mouth, a band he helped form 16 years ago. He…
Letters
- April 2008 Letters
SUSAN COWSILL Gosh that was sweet (albeit bittersweet) to read Susan Cowsill’s cover story in March issue. I caught her for…
Mojo Mouth
- Privilege and Pleasure
I just got back from my travels: Los Angeles and Austin. Both are great places to visit, but I wouldn’t want…
Obituaries
- Obituary: John Brunious
Another one of America’s non-renewable resources disappeared when trumpeter John Brunious, leader of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band for more than…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Whole Hog Cafe
Can you find great gumbo outside this state? I imagine that many Louisiana exiles have located passable gumbo elsewhere. When they… - The New Farming Frontier
On a crisp Sunday afternoon, John Calhoun crouches down to tend rows of kale, carrots and collard greens. He fertilized the…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Whole Hog Cafe
Can you find great gumbo outside this state? I imagine that many Louisiana exiles have located passable gumbo elsewhere. When they…
Reviews
- Various Artists, Spirits in the Material World: A Reggae Tribute to the Police (Shanachie)
Maybe this seemed like an obvious idea, but perhaps it was too obvious. When reggae artists cover Police songs, whatever is… - Various Artists, A New Orleans Visit-Before Katrina (Arhoolie)
When source material turns out to be a bumper crop, one good project will often seed another. Arhoolie’s Chris Strachwitz realized… - Truckstop Honeymoon, Won't Let the Angels Take You Away DVD (Binky)
Truckstop Honeymoon’s Mike West and Katie Euliss have always kept their music as a scrapbook portal to their lives with their… - Helena, Fraise Vanille (Sunnyside)
French singer Helena Noguerra sings the songs of songwriter/painter/novelist Serge Rezvani on Fraise Vanille, and if none of that means much… - Jeff Kashiwa, Kim Waters, and Steve Cole, The Sax Pack (Shanachie)
Seriously, why would anyone make smooth jazz? What teenager dreamed of one day growing up to make a completely innocuous musical… - Dame Shirley Bassey, Get the Party Started (Decca)
Dame Shirley Bassey got a renewed lease on musical life when Propellerheads featured her voice on “History Repeating” in 1997, and… - The Doors, Live in Pittsburgh 1970 (DMC/Bright Midnight/Rhino)
Stephen Davis’ Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend got me interested in the Doors. It didn’t make me like the Doors, but… - James McMurtry, Just Us Kids (Lightning Rod)
I’ve been living with folkie James McMurtry’s Just Us Kids for the last few weeks deciding how I feel about it.… - Outformation, Traveler's Rest (Outerprise)
If you can’t tell by the old west images on the front cover, Outformtion is a country rock band that leans… - Maceo Parker, Roots & Grooves (Heads Up)
If you’d downloaded this double CD from your favorite illicit site, you’d probably think it was the best 64 cents (for… - Lamarque Street, Favorite Waste of Time (Lost Car)
If it is possible to sum up an album in a single phrase, Lamarque Street’s Favorite Waste of Time would be… - French Preservation New Orleans Jazz Band with Sammy Rimington and Fred Vigorito, Memories of Kid Thomas (Jazzology)
It is nearly as much of a challenge to review a recording like this as it is for George Buck to… - Cyrus Chestnut, Cyrus Plays Elvis (Koch)
“Is this just yet another entry into the marketing war? Or better yet, IS HE SERIOUS???? [sic]” Cyrus’ liner notes wax… - The Vettes, T.V. (ThroBack)
Five songs may be all we need to fall in love with the Vettes. Like the Ramones and the Donnas before… - Laura Reed & Deep Pocket, soul:music (Independent)
Laura Reed & Deep Pocket’s soul:music is so recognizable and so effortless that it’s hard to imagine it’s the Asheville, North… - Rufus Thibodeaux, A Tribute to Harry Choates (Kajun)
“When I first heard Harry Choates, that was it,” Hadley Castille explains about how his lifelong vocation as a Cajun fiddler… - Rock City Morgue, The Cat's Meow (Independent)
I admire bands that have a clear vision of what’s happening in their careers because I run into so many that… - Michael Pellera, Playin' Piano (PawMaw Music)
Were it not for his innate modesty, pianist Michael Pellera would be much more acclaimed on the New Orleans music scene.… - North Mississippi Allstars, Hernando (Songs of the South)
For much of their career, the North Mississippi Allstars have strived to avoid doing the obvious blooze-rock thing. They’ve chased after… - Danny Marks, Introducing the Solars (Damngood!)
Danny Marks is a man who wears his hometowns on his sleeve. He was born in Chicago, musically trained in New… - Bipolaroid, E(I)ther Or (Surreal but Kind)
A quick Google search of the word “Bipolaroid” reveals at least one thing; reviewers love comparing Ben Glover to Syd Barrett.… - Wynton Marsalis, Standards & Ballads (Columbia/Legacy)
Given the makeup of the new Wynton Marsalis compilation, Standards and Ballads, its no surprise that the music contained therein lives… - Jesse McBride, Jesse McBride presents the Next Generation (AFO)
I've been spending a lot of time recently ruminating on the nature of traditional New Orleans jazz and the extremely subtle… - Jeremy Lyons and the Deltabilly Boys, Death of a Street Singer (Five Eighths)
The title of Jeremy Lyons’ new album is appropriate, not because it’s about death—thought getting busted figures prominently—but because the street… - Kyle Huval and the Dixie Club Ramblers, The Corner Post (Swallow)
If you blinked, you might have missed it. Cajun music just sprouted another branch, and this time it’s Kyle Huval and… - Clive Wilson's New Orleans Serenaders, Heart Full of Rhythm (GHB)
Most of the musicians on this latest Serenaders disc have been practicing and playing New Orleans jazz for 45 years. Pianist… - Irvin Mayfield and Ellis Marsalis, Love Songs, Ballads and Standards (Basin Street)
The standards album has become, well, a standard itself. It’s a well-known, time-honored thing, and each artist’s challenge is to put… - Little Freddie King, Messin' Around tha House (Made Wright)
The latest CD from New Orleans resident country blues legend is very much a mixed bag. The bulk of Messin’ Around… - Henry Butler, PiaNOLA Live (Basin Street)
Henry Butler’s new album is exactly what the title promises, a pure, uncut blast of New Orleans piano. Solo piano albums…
