August 2006
BackTalk
- Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy
Linda Ronstadt says of Ann Savoy, “One time she came to visit me in Tucson and she brought me a box…
Cover Story
- On The Road Again
“Hey, you’re back!” is a greeting repeatedly heard around New Orleans these days. “Well, not really,” is too often the reply,…
Features
- Classic Songs of Louisiana: "Barefootin'" by Robert Parker
One of the biggest hit records New Orleans ever produced, Robert Parker's "Barefootin'" was on everybody's turntable back in 1966. Parker… - The Road Report
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, everybody is acknowledging New Orleans’ musical importance, even Bonnaroo. There were high profile events such… - From The Mountains to the Lowlands
It’s good to be back at the Bodensee, or Lake of Constance. It’s a beautiful place, and I’ve had friends here…
Fresh
- Grant Street Lives
Music fans in Lafayette were in rock ’n’ roll heaven June 30. Not only was Jerry Lee Lewis in town performing… - It Doesn't Look a Day Over 18
Abita Beer is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the release of Abita’s 20th Anniversary Pilsner Beer, and on August 12 at… - One Year Later
Wynton Marsalis and chef Emeril Lagasse will team up as part of a three-day New Orleans Cultural Tribute observing Katrina’s one-year… - Proud to Play On
With an aftermath so immense and far-reaching that affected locals still consider it recent, it’s hard to believe that a whole… - Do The Dew Drop Inn
Post-Katrina New Orleans presents a host of practical challenges for clubs and live venues, a central part of Louisiana’s music economy.… - Overdue Recognition
The National Endowment for the Arts recently unveiled the eleven recipients of the 2006 National Heritage Fellowships, the highest honor that… - Returning the Favor
New Orleans musicians have been the beneficiaries of a benefit concerts around the world in the months since Katrina. Recently, New… - Unreleased Armstrong at Satchmo Summerfest
Fifty years ago Louis Armstrong was at the peak of his popularity. On May 25, 1956, Armstrong played to a crowd…
Letters
- August 2006 Letters
MUSICIAN’S VILLAGE Thank you for the extensive coverage on the Musicians’ Village which appeared in the July 2006 issue (“They Got…
Mojo Mouth
- Will Our Musical Culture Survive?
For years, OffBeat has fought the good fight. Our whole raison d’etre was the promotion and preservation of our musical culture,…
Reviews
- Phonotone Maestro 4.1, MagicScore (DG Software)
Late last month, Denver-based DG Software unveiled the newest addition to their line of music notation software. The MagicScore Maestro 4.1… - Van Hunt, On The Jungle Floor (Capitol)
Hunt’s debut was a smart throwback R&B album with Hunt serving as a spy in the house of lust. On… - Various Artists, Eccentric Soul (Numero)
Few albums have funnier liner notes than those for Eccentric Soul: the Big Mack Label. They’re not supposed to be… - Gram Parsons, Fallen Angel (Rhino DVD)
Gram Parsons almost single-handedly invented Americana music. He had a missionary’s passion for classic country music, leading the Byrds to… - Idgy Vaughn, Origin Story (idgyvaughn.com)
“If I’d have treated you like crap, you’d have probably stayed,” muses Idgy Vaughn at the start of her arresting debut… - James Hunter, People Gonna Talk (Rounder)
Being a fairly established music writer/critic, I can pretty much get a review copy of most any CD. However, after hearing… - Various Artists, Rockin' Bones (Rhino)
This box set from Rhino Records can be thought of as the counterpart to One Kiss Can Lead to Another,… - Jimmy Thackery and the Cate Brothers, In The Natural State (Rykodisk)
Usually when an artist goes back to his rustic point of origin—in this case, the Ozarks—and records with locals, it’s a… - The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics (Warner Bros.)
It’s reassuring that the Flaming Lips have become big. It’s nice to know that there is value in perseverance, personality… - Maryland, Crossing and Blending (STEMRA)
Maryland vocalist Maria Neckham can sound like Flora Purim to Franz von Chossy’s Chick Corea, but she’s working on many other… - Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, Blast Off (Shout! Factory)
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the blues flooded out of Texas. The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double… - Willie Nelson, The Complete Atlantic Sessions (Atlantic/Rhino)
This box documents Willie Nelson’s short stint on Atlantic Records-two albums, one in 1972 and one in 1974. The period… - Magic Slim and the Teardrops/ Joe Carter with Sunnyland Slim, That Ain't Right (Delmark)
At last count, there are as many Magic Slim CDs as FEMA trailers in Gentilly. But you know what? They all… - Dora and the Zydeco Badboyz, Finger Snappin' 2 Steppin' (Zydeco Gumbo)
It’s not easy tackling something later in life as Texas-bred Dora Jenkins did a few years back when she took to… - B.B. King, Singin' The Blues (Ace)
Originally released on the budget Crown label in 1957, this was B. B. King’s long play debut. Containing no less than… - The Junior League, Catchy (Greensleevs Sound)
Someone fucked Joe Adragna up but good. The lead singer (and everything else) of this local project literally spends nine-tenths of… - Dikku Du and the Zydeco Krewe, Sraighten it Out (Independent)
Just before Dikki Du’s last album, Make It Funky, hit the streets, the Florida-bound band experienced a fatal car wreck that… - Charlie Feathers/Mac Curtis, Rockabilly Kings (Ace)
Push back the furniture. This is what the cool cats and boppin’ chicks have demanded for 50 years. All of Charlie… - Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally, Southside Sessons (Back Porch)
This seven-song EP emerged from Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally’s tour last fall, when the two would play a few… - Shirley Bergeron, French Cajun Music! (Mardi Gras)
“Shirley Bergeron has written some beautiful songs that are good examples of modern Cajun poetry and sentiments,” Ann Savoy once wrote.… - The Palmetto Bug Stompers, Ol' New Orleans Home (Independent)
There’s a logic to reviewing these CDs together in that four out of seven of the musicians on each of them… - New Orleans Jazz Vipers, Hope Your Comin' Back (NOJV)
There’s a logic to reviewing these CDs together in that four out of seven of the musicians on each of them… - Glasgow!, One of Me (Saints Day Media)
“Progressive” and “experimental” are the first two words that come to mind hearing the instrumentation on One of Me, the new… - Aretha Franklin, Live at the Filmore West (Atlantic/ Rhino)
This is Aretha Franklin at her absolute peak fronting a supercharged band led by King Curtis and featuring the Memphis Horns… - King Curtis, Live at the Filmore West (Atlantic/Rhino)
This is Aretha Franklin at her absolute peak fronting a supercharged band led by King Curtis and featuring the Memphis Horns… - Ramblin' Jack Elliot, I Stand Alone (Anti)
Ramblin’ Jack Elliott has been singing folk songs for so long that his first records were released on 78s, and the… - Johnny J., Urban Soul Ballads (Blue Viper)
Johnny J. is best known for rockin’ blues and rockabilly, whether with Johnny J. and the Hitmen or, more recently,… - Elipsis, One Course Current (What Noise?)
Imagine Jeff Buckley fronting a hard-rocking, groove-oriented alternative band (perhaps Phish meets the Foo Fighters?), and you’ve got local rockers Ellipsis.… - Regina Spektor, Begin to Hope (Sire)
Try to define Regina Spektor, and she slips away. Born in Moscow and raised in the Bronx, Spektor still sings with… - Kidd Jordan, Palm of Soul (AUM Fidelity)
Kidd Jordan plays the saxophone like a master storyteller. With only a few notes, he makes it clear that he’s in… - The Zozo Sisters, Adieu False Heart (Vanguard)
When Ann Savoy served as producer of special Louisiana projects at Vanguard Records six years ago, she did so with no…
