June 2006
BackTalk
- Neil Portnow
At the end of this year’s Grammy Awards broadcast last February, Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts…
Cover Story
- Dinner Music : Favorite Restaurants of Local Musicians
New Orleans, in addition to its being a music mecca, is also dominated by food and the "dinner music" local musicians…
Features
- Classic Songs of Louisiana: "The Things That I Used to Do"
- The Scotch Guard
Pick the one that doesn’t belong with the rest of the group: 1) Per Se, Galatoire’s, Babbo, The Striped Bass,… - Back to the Fest
This year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival was probably the most anticipated in the event’s 36-year history. For months after…
Fresh
- Stompin' at the Savoy Faire
Tucked away in an old Acadian-style house standing in a picturesque field on the outskirts of Eunice lies Studio Savoy Faire,… - Twilight in New Orleans
Former Afghan Whigs front man and part-time New Orleanian Greg Dulli is one whose heyday shined so brightly that the rest… - Cooking with Mulate's
- Online Duets
When Jeff Albert released his latest album — a collaborative effort between himself on trombone and Ed Barrett on guitar entitled… - Do You Know...Jesse McBride?
Who: Pianist Jesse McBride, 27, moved from Houston, Texas to New Orleans in 1998 to study with Ellis Marsalis at the… - The White Stripes Minus One?
New Orleans has a rich history of one-man bands. But the ante has been upped considerably by transplant Dave Gregg —… - BeauSoleil Comes Alive...Again!
After 30 years together, live recordings are business as usual for BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet. This Grammy-winning Cajun band has done… - OffBeat Jazz Fest Louisiana Top 10
To compile our Jazz Fest Louisiana Top 10, OffBeat contacted the managers of three local record stores (Louisiana Music Factory, Tower…
Letters
- June 2006 Letters
CARS AND CHICKS Regarding Earl Stanley. Back in the early 1970s, I was also a drummer (having already been with John…
Mojo Mouth
- What's Important
Just a word to everyone we saw at our booth at the Fair Grounds during Jazz Fest: thank you for your…
Reviews
- Pilate, Caught By the River (Wrangled)
The Canadians played an unusually strong hand at this year’s SXSW, highlighted by several showcases from the dramatically hard rocking quartet… - Black 47, Bittersweet 16 (Gadfly)
If Larry Kirwan hadn’t been a rock ‘n’ roller, he’d probably be a great Irish American author. Wait a minute, he’s… - Donna Angelle & the Zydeco Posse, Workin' It (MTE)
Donna Angelle first caught the public’s eye in 1998 with “Old Man’s Sweetheart,” an ode to Boozoo Chavis that summarized the… - Harry Shearer, Now You See it (DVD), Dropping Anchors (Courgette)
Part-time New Orleanian Harry Shearer is a throwback to the great radio comedians Bob and Ray. Their comedy came from… - Jon Dee Graham, Full (Freedom)
- Alejandro Escovedo, The Boxing Mirror (Back Porch)
Austin, Texas’ Alejandro Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham were once bandmates in the True Believers, for many, the great American… - Elmore James, Blues After Hours (Ace)
An enhanced reissue of an old friend that’s been repackaged so many times over the years that I’ve lost count, this… - Various Artists, Still Standin': 25 Years of New Orleans Roots Music (Rabadash)
John Autin has quietly been putting out CDs on Rabadash Records for 25 years now, and he celebrates the anniversary with… - Duke Robillard, Guitar Groove-A-Rama (Stoney Plain)
To say this album is self-indulgent is an understatement. That’s not necessarily a fault, particular when you have impeccable taste in… - Thomas ""Big Hat"" Fields, Foot Stompin' Zydeco (Mardi Gras)
The zydeco ascendancy of Thomas Fields has to be one of the most amazing stories ever told. While most z-practitioners were… - Hamell On Trial, Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs (Righteous Babe
Songs For Parents Who Enjoy Drugs is exactly what it says on the tin. Whether or not it is a good… - Various Artists, Atlas Blues Explosion (Empire Musicwerks)
Like many baby boomer blues buffs, my early music collection was culled from the discount 45 rpm bins of department stores,… - Shawn Mullins, 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor (Vanguard
Shawn Mullins who is best known for his 1998 top ten hit, “Lullaby” from his independent record Soul’s Core, returns with… - Junior Brown, The Austin Experience (Telarc)
If you’ve never seen Junior Brown live, this might be the next best thing. Recorded at his home base, Austin’s Continental… - Gregg Martinez, Big Bad Daddy (Seaul)
Gregg Martinez flirted with a career as a rock ’n’ roll singer in the 1980s, but he ended up with… - Quamon Fowler, The Vision (Continuum)
Texas native Quamon Fowler landed in Louisiana to study (like so many others) with Alvin Batiste at Southern University. The tenor… - Alexandra Scott, Spring (Independent)
One of the highlights of Theresa Andersson’s 2004 album Shine was “Good Girl,” written by Alexandra Scott. Sadly, Scott left town… - Theresa Anderson, Theresa Anderson (Basin Street)
Theresa Andersson has worn a lot of musical suits in New Orleans, and her gift and curse has been to… - The Derek Trucks Band, Songlines (Columbia)
Rock history is decorated with the eviscerated careers of once promising young guitarists who crashed into the cul de sac of… - Disco Biscuits, The Wind at Four to Fly (Dig)
Culled from some of drummer Sam Altman’s last performances before leaving the group, The Wind at Four to Fly seems like… - L'Angelus, Ca C'est Bon! (Cajun)
Thank God for brutal North Dakota winters. Because of them, Linda Rees taught her bayou-transplanted progeny, Paige, Katie, John and Stephen… - Various Artists, I am the Resurrection: a Tribute to John Fahey (Vanguard)
It is a small joy to get a tribute album that has at least three covers worth sharing The Repeated Listen… - Rhythm & Groove Club, Groove Approved (Asend Music)
Allen Toussaint indeed has six degrees of separation (or less) from many of the giants still alive and working it in… - Richard Thompson, RT: The Life and Music of Richard Thompson (Free Reed)
Richard Thompson fans can get religious about the British songwriter and guitarist, and nothing illustrates this better than Nigel Schofield’s… - Leslie Smith, Feel Me (Rough Cut)
Feel Me is Leslie Smith’s homecoming record after the singer/songwriter evacuated New Orleans last August. Parts of it are a shockingly… - Van Morrison, Pay the Devil (Lost Highway)
There’s a reason why Robbie Robertson dubbed Van Morrison “The Belfast Cowboy.” For four decades, the Irish soul balladeer has drunk… - Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Brotherman in the Fatherland (Live in Germany 1972) (Hyena)
Roland Kirk is a tough one to pigeonhole for those who subscribe to the linear-progressive model of jazz history — that… - Various Artists, Feeder Bands on the Run (Independent)
This compilation of Hurricane Katrina-themed songs emerges from Carrollton Station’s singer/songwriter scene, and it is a good reflection of the… - Cedric Watson and Corey Ledet, Goin' Down to Louisiana (Valcour)
Of all of the musicians to have crossed the Sabine from Texas into our great state in recent times, possibly the… - BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Live in Louisiana (Way Down in Louisiana)
It’s hard to believe that 2006 marks BeauSoleil’s 30th year as worldwide ambassadors of Cajun music. What’s even harder to fathom… - Morning 40 Federation, Ticonderoga (M80)
I know a good 40 in the morning story myself — true too. A couple of ultra-lefty Swedish ex-colleagues (and still… - Wess "Warmdaddy" Anderson, Space (Independent)
Some of the names of the cuts like “What Is This Thang?” and “I’ll Forget May” sound like titles that guitarist… - The Radiators, Dreaming Out Loud (Croaker)
“In the future, live recordings will make attending a concert a matter of personal scholarship.” —Marshall McLuhan Law of the… - Elvis Costello, My Flame Burns Blue (Deustche Grammophon)
Earlier this year, the musically restless Costello also released My Flame Burns Blue with the Metropole Orkest. The album was… - Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse (Verve Forecast)
If nothing else, Elvis Costello deserves thanks for doing what many Allen Toussaint fans have wanted to do for years. For…
