August 2008
BackTalk
- Dr. John
The night they were to play on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote their new album City That Care…
Cover Story
- Dr. Michael White: Out of the Woods
Dr. Michael White is haunted. Everywhere he goes he encounters spirits. White isn’t particularly superstitious, nor is he charismatic in either…
Features
- I Write the Songs
For Jim McCormick, becoming a Nashville songwriter has been a four-year journey from crashing on a friend’s couch for weeks at… - Satchmo on YouTube
- New Orleans Trumpeters: Choice of Kings
Fresh
- Simply the Best?
Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III was one of the most anticipated albums of the year and has proven to be the… - A Little Bit of Myself in Japan
Myself is big in Japan. Before Alphaville recorded the song by that name, the phrase “Big in Japan” connoted a niche… - Swenson Wins Press Club Award
Saturday, July 19, the Press Club of New Orleans honored excellence in journalism in the Crescent City. In a ceremony at… - Nights in White Linen
- Toussaint Guests on new Hunter CD
Previous to UK soul superstar James Hunter’s latest release, The Hard Way, his connections to New Orleans were 1) A YouTube… - Fat Tuesday in a Parallel Universe
- Get Happy
- Moving Time
Post-Katrina New Orleans has seen a consistent flux of musicians—some leaving for a fresh start, but some are moving here to…
Letters
- August 2008 Letters
FAN FOR LIFE I think Alex Rawls missed the point of Sonny Landreth´s excellent new CD, From the Reach. After releasing…
Live Wire
- Tom Waits, Saenger Theatre, Mobile, Alabama, July 2, 2008
Two hours down the road in our sister city of Mobile, Alabama, Tom Waits stomped into his first number, “Lucinda.” Dust… - Good Enough for Good Times, Tipitina's, June 27, 2008
Good Enough for Good Times played their brand of groove oriented jazz/funk music to a packed house at Tipitina’s. Galactic’s bassist…
Mojo Mouth
- Random Thoughts on a Hot Summer Day
I just got back from my family vacation overseas, an occasion that gave me the opportunity to read a lot, one…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Hayward "Chuck" Carbo (1926 - 2008)
Hayward "Chuck" Carbo, one of the last connections to the classic era of New Orleans rhythm and blues died, July 11,…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Stop 9 Refueling Station
Once upon a time, the average American lunch menu featured BLTs, patty melts, tuna salad sandwiches and burgers. In these eclectic… - The Brews News
Kirk Coco is building a little brewery on Tchoupitoulas. Along with his partner Peter Caddoo, a former brewer at Dixie, the…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Stop 9 Refueling Station
Once upon a time, the average American lunch menu featured BLTs, patty melts, tuna salad sandwiches and burgers. In these eclectic…
Reviews
- Brass Bed, Midnight Matinee (Independent)
If you were told that Lafayette’s Brass Bed mixed country, psychedelia, and pop-rock classicism, you might get one impression of them.… - The Baseball Project, Vol.1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails (Yep Roc)
Last night, I went to Zephyr Field, and if you think about what you’re watching, it’s easy to get romantic… - Bun B, II Trill (Rap-a-Lot)
With the demise of his long-time rapping partner, Pimp C, II Trill appeared to be a platform for Bun B as… - Love Psychedelico, This is Love Psychedelico (Hacktone)
This is Love Psychedelico dares you to sing along. The melodies are immediate and catchy. Phrases jump out, and the murky… - The Diplomats of Sound, The Diplomats of Sound featuring the Diplomettes (Pravda)
No one expects southern soul from Iowa City, Iowa, but the Diplomats of Solid Sound follow in the footsteps of the… - Hacienda Brothers, Arizona Motel (Proper)
Earlier this year, the Hacienda Brothers’ singer Chris Gaffney passed away after a bout with liver cancer. His voice and guitarist… - Various Artists, Eccentric Soul: The Tragar and Note Labels (Numero Group)
Sometimes archaeologists dig and find dinosaur bones; other times, the find the rounded arrowheads of a forgotten tribe that starved… - Dennis Wilson, Pacific Ocean Blue (Sony/Legacy)
Boy, Metacritic.com’s scorecard suggests there is some seriously overheated love in the critical world for the reissue of Dennis Wilson’s… - Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal (Back Porch/EMI)
On Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo looks at growing up punk, but he doesn’t necessarily romanticize those days. More accurately, the… - Amanda Henkel, Amanda Henkel (Desire Street)
There are two kinds of relationships with country music. You either love it or you hate it. I have tended… - Lil Malcolm and the House Rockers, He's Back (MTE)
Nine years between releases can be a death sentence to any zydeco band engaged in its unending battle to retain,… - George Long, Katrina Days: Life in New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina (Xlibris)/Yoshio and Keiko Toyama, The Holy Land: New Orleans, The Saint: Louis Armstrong (Touseisha)
Not surprisingly, Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath was irresistible for photographers. How often does the landscape you’ve known all your life become… - Andre Williams and the New Orleans Hellhounds, Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot)
On first blush—and there’s plenty of blush-raising material here—you’da thought that the man behind “Shake a Tail Feather,” “Bacon Fat” and… - Liese's Living Room, Hope So…(Independent)
The strength of Hope So… is its vibe, an amiable New Orleans rock groove that is influenced by R&B, soul, island… - Johnny J & the Hitmen, Louisiana Rockabilly (Blue Viper)
The title of this one pretty much says it all as Johnny J tackles 12 classic rockabilly songs written or performed… - The Radiators, Wild & Free (Radz)
The concept of linear time just doesn’t exist when it comes to the Radiators. Their live shows always felt like slices… - Charles Lloyd Quartet, Rabo de Nube (ECM)
The melodic playing of saxophonist Charles Lloyd often drifts lightly from one measure to the next. His ability to make popular… - Willie Nelson/Wynton Marsalis, Two Men with the Blues (Blue Note)
Some effort has been made to compare the match-up of Wynton Marsalis and Willie Nelson to the historic 1930 collaboration between… - Seva Venet, Mens Working (Jazzology)
Seva Venet has been an active side man on the New Orleans trad scene for about five years now with a… - Charmer, The Perfect Café (Stevenson Productions)
Baton Rouge TV personality Scott Rodgers once remarked that you can’t acknowledge Smithfield Fair without giving a nod to Charmer, the… - Red Beans and Rice Revue, Wanna Dance? (MTE)
In the late ’70s, the top three draws at Jay’s Lounge in Cankton, Louisiana were zydeco king Clifton Chenier, Cajun rockers… - 007, You Only Drop Once (Independent)
The new release from 007, You Only Drop Once, is a more serious recording than their previous effort, Studied Rudeness, but… - Astral Project, Blue Streak (Astral Project)
Like much of New Orleans, Astral Project has the blues. Blue Streak is its first studio album since Katrina, and the… - Jon Cleary, Mo Hippa (FHQ)
You know exactly what to expect whenever anyone strikes up the opening riff to Professor Longhair’s “Go to the Mardi Gras,”… - Sarah Jayde, Cajun and Texas Swing (Sharecropper)
Though this marks the debut of 18-year-old Sarah Jayde Williams, it’s hard to argue that this recording wasn’t destined. The granddaughter… - Chris Kenner, Land of 1,000 Dances (Collectors Choice)
According to legendary New Orleans booking agent, Percy Stovall, Chris Kenner, “couldn’t sing, couldn’t dance, drank too much and dressed sloppy,”… - Irma Thomas, Simply Grand (Rounder)
On After the Rain, producer Scott Billington surrounded Irma Thomas with a smaller band than usual, and the results earned her…
