January 2000

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BackTalk

Backtalk: Idris Muhammad
It’s not an overstatement: New Orleans drummers have profoundly influenced the world’s groove. They are an elite breed of musical samurai,… – Jonathan Tabak

Bluesworthy

Bluesworthy: Play Muddy For Me: Gentilly Jr. is the Wonderful Wizard of WWOZ
The American disc jockey is fast going the way of the cowboy: he may be needed in some places, but his… – Robert Fontenot

Bookmark

"Oh, Mister Jelly" A Jelly Roll Morton Scrapbook - Compiled by William Russell (Jazz Media)
RICHARD WAGNER OF THE JAZZ AGE? When it comes to books and almost everything else, I’m on the cheap side. But… – Tom McDermott
Bookmark: Literary Louis
There comes a point in the careers of a few artists when they become Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloons in our culture.… – Alex Rawls

Chassez De Faim

Chassez de Faim: Makin' Gourmet Groceries
Whether one has to feed a ravenous Super Bowl audience or finds that the beginning of the Carnival season means less… – John Ross

Cover Story

Nicholas Payton: Reinventing the Tradition
Steeped in the legacy of New Orleans music, Nicholas Payton comes of age with a new generation’s vision for the future.… – Roger Hahn

Dis 'n' Dat

Dreamland
The Dream Palace, New Orleans' most cosmic music club, has been sold by owners Alan and Deborah Langhoff and under the… – Bunny Matthews

Features

10 Years Ago in OffBeat: January
– Bunny Matthews
In Clyde Kerr's Living Room
My whole history begins with the fact that I was born into a musical family. My father was a musician and… – Jon Pult
A Conversation with Ellis & Jason Marsalis, Part One
The last time I saw Ellis & Jason Marsalis was about fifteen years ago. Ellis and I were co-leaders of a… – Bunny Matthews

Feedback

Feedback: Supagroup Digs Rock, Chicks and Whiskey
Supagroup loves rock and roll. Loves it so much in fact that the noun “rock” (or alternately the verb “to rock”)… – Mark Miester

Know What It Means

Know What it Means: Oh, Danny Boy!
Writing about George Buck in this issue brought back fond memories of Danny Barker and those heady days a decade ago… – Jon Pult

Letters

Letters January 2000
IDENTICAL TASTES Thanks for taking the time and effort to publish such a great magazine and fighting the powers to be… – OffBeat Readers

Mojo Mouth

IAJE and a New Century of Jazz...Putumayo and Louisiana World Music
In 1989, when this magazine was in its infant (and struggling) years, I heard of an organization called the International Association… – Jan Ramsey

Rhythm Method

Rhythm Method: Darryl White
Drummer Darryl White is Mr. Versatility. About the only music that he doesn’t regularly play is classical. He plays the blues… – Bunny Matthews

Sauce Piquante

Sauce Piquante: Collateral Cajuns and Creoles
With a new year upon us, I cannot help but become reflective about the past year and what it has meant… – Danielle Bias

Straight, No Chaser

Straight No Chaser: Marcus Roberts Trio & IAJE Conference
“You know, it’s really a very hip thing that with these younger people from a whole different generation I can find… – Jonathan Tabak

Reviews

Kid Ramos, Kid Ramos (Evidence)
By their company, so the saying goes, ye shall know them. Well, Kid Ramos’ career has had him playing with and/or… – Robert Fontenot
Step Rideau and the Zydeco Outlaws, I'm So Glad (Bridge Entertainment)
This is the fourth release by this Lebeau, Louisiana native who currently resides in the Houston area. Rideau is a favorite… – Danielle Bias
The Meters, The Meters/Look-ka Py Py/Struttin' (Sundazed)
METEORIC METERS Time has a way of eliminating the flash from the pan, but in the Meters’ case, time has only… – OffBeat Staff
Teri Thornton, I'll Be Easy to Find (Verve)
Teri Thornton is a great jazz singer that you probably never heard of. She has recorded before, but that was back… – Michael Dominici
Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, It's Party Time! (Right Click Records)
You record for all of ’em before it’s over, a local bluesman once said, referring to the endless shuffle between record… – Dan Willging
Dolly Parton, The Grass is Blue (Sugar Hill)
Forget everything you ever thought about Dolly Parton the Hollywood star with pneumatic mammary glands and a busload of wigs. Herewith,… – Bunny Matthews
Johnny Nocturne Band with Kim Nalley, Million Dollar Secret (Bullseye)
The cover of the new Johnny Nocturne CD is enough to break your heart, and that’s purely due to chanteuse Kim… – Robert Fontenot
Desire Boys, Trying to Survive Vol. 1 (Independent)
The Desire Boys, from New Orleans’ Desire Projects, have a novel approach to rap. They don’t humiliate women, they don’t glorify… – Bunny Matthews
Rudy and the Caribbean Funk Band, Cultures Diversas (Empowerment Music)
The recent re-discovery of the Buena Vista Social Club has once again brought Afro-Caribbean music into the forefront of the American… – Eduardo E. Young
Andy J. Forest, Live at the Rainbow (Independent)
How to judge a book by its cover, or a CD, anyway: Andy J. Forest’s harmonica is as wild as his… – Robert Fontenot
Various Artists, The Songs of Willie Dixon (Telarc)
Willie Dixon’s astonishing catalog of songs filled all corners of the blues—spiritual, secular, pensive, scared, and drunk—which is what makes him… – Robert Fontenot
B.B. King, Let the Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan (MCA)
The influence of Louis Jordan on American music has often been overlooked, but it cannot be underestimated. From the 1930s until… – David Kunian
Dirk Powell, Hand Me Down (Rounder Select)
Inside the Pelican State, Dirk Powell is best known as the multi-instrumentalist with Cajun traditionalists Balfa Toujours and occasionally as Sean… – Dan Willging
Back Porch Rockers, By the Water (Independent)
South meets north! Legendary New Orleans musicians Camile Baudoin and Reggie Scanlan (of the Radiators) team up with Twin Cities blues… – Cristina Diettinger
Marcus Roberts, In Honor of Duke (Columbia)
This is not nostalgic Duke Ellington music like so much that has been released in the last year. In fact, this… – Jonathan Tabak
Ellis Marsalis, Duke In Blue (Columbia)
Some of the finest jazz pianists in the world have been issuing all-Ellington albums the past few years. A list of… – Tom McDermott
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra featuring Mahalia Jackson, Black, Brown and Beige (Columbia)
In 1958 when the first recording of Black, Brown and Beige was released by Columbia Records, producer Irving Townsend wrote. “It… – Danielle Bias
Larry Garner, Baton Rouge (Evidence Music)
Evidence Music’s release of Larry Garner’s 1995 Baton Rouge makes the hard-to-find import available for the first time domestically. Though the… – Dan Willging
The Cold, Cold Sweat (Top Pop)
Listening to these ancient (nearly 20 years old!) live recordings of the Cold, captured at St. Christopher’s gym, Jimmy’s and aboard… – Bunny Matthews
Tim Laughlin and Hank Mackie, Great Ballads...Past and Present (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
Putting out an album of clarinet and guitar duets is a formidable task. Making it an all-ballad album is audacious. No… – Tom McDermott
Tom's House, re.wired (Amerging Star Records)
Tom’s House emerged two years ago and in blazingly quick fashion established itself as one of the city’s hottest new alternative… – Mark Miester
Dick Hyman, Dick Hyman's Century of Jazz Piano (JSS Music)
Both students of jazz piano and jazz enthusiasts will get a kick out Dick Hyman’s Century of Jazz Piano CD-ROM. Available… – Danielle Bias
George Buck Celebrates 50 Years with 50 New Releases
A DISC FOR EVERY YEAR AND EAR: George Buck celebrates 50 years with 50 new releases Art Hodes’ All Star… – Jon Pult