January 2009
BackTalk
Cover Story
- Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music: Bo Dollis
Theodore Emile “Bo” Dollis was born on January 14, 1944 with an extraordinary gift that eventually made him a sacred figure…
Features
- Best of the Beat Music Education Award: Donald Harrison and Cherice Harrison-Nelson
The holiday gift-giving season may be over for the general population, but for Donald Harrison and Cherice Harrison-Nelson, the gift of… - Best of the Beat Music Business Award: Maggie Warwick
The 2008 OffBeat Lifetime Achievement in Music Business is being awarded this year to Shreveport legend and the Chairman of the… - Best of the Beat Heartbeat Award: Antoinette K-Doe
On a recent Tuesday morning, OffBeat’s Elsa Hahne visited Antoinette K-Doe at the Mother-in-Law Lounge as she cooked gumbo, red beans,… - Best of the Beat Posthumous Lifetime Achievement in Music: James Carroll Booker III
He had the character (or some might say “characters”) and the sheer virtuosity befitting his full name, James Carroll Booker III.… - Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music: Harold Battiste
There are some people we can’t love enough, and one is Harold Battiste. This year marks the first time that we… - Grammy Nominees Announced
On December 3, the nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Awards were announced, and once again, Louisiana and friends own the… - Top 50 CDs: A Very Good Year
What Katrina? It’s not that Louisiana musicians have forgotten about Hurricane Katrina—certainly not Dr. John, for instance—but looking at OffBeat’s selections… - Jazz Fest 2009 Schedule: Turning 40
For the first time, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has announced it schedule not just before Mardi Gras, but… - Nominees: Back to the Beat
Once again, OffBeat will take over the House of Blues for our Best of the Beat, which this year takes place…
Fresh
- 31 and Counting
Tipitina’s has its 31st anniversary celebration starting Wednesday January 14 with the Midnight Disturbers, Stanton Moore’s big brass band, with the… - More Meat
Donald Link won a James Beard Award for Best Southern Chef for his work at Herbsaint and Cochon, the latter putting… - A Grand Reopening
New Orleans lost its theaters to Hurricane Katrina, with the Orpheum, the Saenger and the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing… - Still Stomping
- Doucet vs. Doucet?
Cheating! Well, the charge has come with a qualified “sort of,” so we’re not talking about steroids, term paper plagiarism or…
Letters
- January 2009 Letters
“How many times have I awakened to cravings of Mandina’s turtle soup or a po-boy. East Tennessee has good BBQ and…
Mojo Mouth
- Immigrants
I'll bet your ancestors came from somewhere else. If you’re an American, and you’re not a Native American, I can guarantee…
Obituaries
- Obituary: Luderin Darbone (1913-2008)
[The Lost Bayou Ramblers performed a number of tributes to the Hackberry Ramblers including one at this year’s Jazz Fest. These… - Obituary: Senator Jones (1934-2008)
One of the last New Orleans independent R&B producers/record label owners, Senator Jones, died at his home in Raymond, Mississippi on…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: St. James Cheese Company
At St. James, cheese receives a level of attention that should be given to levees. Cheeses are kept at a cheese… - A Sense of Place
Dining Out
- Dining Out: St. James Cheese Company
At St. James, cheese receives a level of attention that should be given to levees. Cheeses are kept at a cheese… - More Meat
Donald Link won a James Beard Award for Best Southern Chef for his work at Herbsaint and Cochon, the latter putting… - Nominees: Back to the Beat
Once again, OffBeat will take over the House of Blues for our Best of the Beat, which this year takes place…
Reviews
- Reunion 69, Leaving it All Behind (Evergreen)
On their third outing, Leaving It all Behind, Reunion 69 emerges from the swamp to unearth an album seething with murky… - Magic Slim, Midnight Blues (Blind Pig)
A buddy thought Midnight Blues was just another blues release. My reaction to his reaction was, he might be right, or… - Gumbeaux Rouge, Stirrin' It Up (Jin)
Swamp pop usually basks in the past, not only in its ’50s ambience but in song selection as well. Overplayed covers… - The Tomatoes, Divisionism (Independent)
A lot has built up inside of Will Burdette, principal singer and songwriter for indie outfit, the Tomatoes, since the release… - the subdudes, Live and Acoustic (Biographica DVD)
This two-DVD set presents the subdudes in conversation and playing around the living room (disc one); and in concert at the… - Lil Wayne and DJ Drama, Dedication 3 (Mixtape)
Hearing former Hot Boys side by side is instructive. On Life in the Concrete Jungle, B.G. and the Chopper City Boyz… - B.G. and the Chopper City Boyz, Life in the Concrete Jungle (Chopper City)
Hearing former Hot Boys side by side is instructive. On Life in the Concrete Jungle, B.G. and the Chopper City Boyz… - Jimmy Carpenter, Toiling in Obscurity (Independent)
These musicians have spent most of their careers as sidemen in New Orleans bands, and all of them have released solo… - Brint Anderson, Brint Anderson (Brinttunes)
These musicians have spent most of their careers as sidemen in New Orleans bands, and all of them have released solo… - Vic Shepherd, Crescent City Serenade (Independent)
These musicians have spent most of their careers as sidemen in New Orleans bands, and all of them have released solo… - Mavis Staples, Live: Hope at the Hideout (Anti-)
Under normal circumstances I’d cite Mavis as rusty on pipes, and nevertheless imbuing more history, more life, into one knowing “heh!”,… - Brother Tyrone, Mindbender (Guitar Joe's House of Blues)
Brother Tyrone, a powerful vocalist in the classic R&B tradition, has come up with an absolute gem in Mindbender. The recording… - Shirley and Lee, Rock (Bear Family)
This release is a condensed version of Bear Family’s four-CD box set that was issued earlier in the decade. Shirley and… - Truckstop Honeymoon, Great Big Family (Squirrel)
If you want to know what’s been happening with Truckstop Honeymoon since their Katrina-induced Kansas relocation, it’s all right here. The… - Pine Leaf Boys, Homage au Passe (Lionsgate)
The Pine Leaf Boys have gone through a few changes since last year’s Grammy-nominated Blues De Musicien. Fiddler Cedric Watson left… - Christian Scott, Live at Newport (Concord)
Neither raw talent nor highly polished technique is enough by itself to distinguish a jazz trumpeter roughly a century after the…
