June 2008
BackTalk
- Harold Battiste
Harold Battiste is concerned about the future, and particularly what will survive. The saxophone player has spent a lifetime in music…
Cover Story
- Little Freddie King: A King's Life
Few musical genres have suffered as much bastardization, misinterpretation and just plain abuse as the blues. Once reserved almost exclusively for…
Features
- Jazz Fest 101
“Dirt plus water equals mud. Okay, I already knew that. But now I really know it,” OffBeat contributor Brett Milano wrote.… - The Figs: Homemade Music
- Modern World Two-Step
Fresh
- IAJE Goes Broke
The International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), formally the National Jazz Association, filed for bankruptcy April 28. IAJE functioned as a… - New Orleans on the iRadio
WWOZ has some competition on the Internet. The station is streamed around the world on through the station’s Web site (WWOZ.org),… - A Conference by Any Other Name
In 2004 and 2005, TapeOpCon took place at the Fairmont Hotel and the Orpheum. The conference for recorders, engineers, producers and… - Top Ten Jazz Fest CDs
Here are the top sellers at Borders’ Retail Tent at Jazz Fest and at the Louisiana Music Factory: Borders Jazz Fest… - Heard, But Not Seen
Matt Miller’s documentary, Ya Heard Me, provides a historical and cultural view of New Orleans bounce music, complete with sensual shaking… - Festival Times Three
This time last year, two new festivals joined the same weekend as the French Market Creole Tomato Festival to build the… - We Got the Blues
Irma Thomas and Tab Benoit were among the New Orleanians recognized at the 2008 Blues Awards, presented May 8 in Tunica,… - Somethin' Else at Bonnaroo
OffBeat will be at Bonnaroo June 12 to the 15. The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee has often…
Letters
- June 2008 Letters
OFFBEAT MATTERS One of the most special moments of my earliest trips to New Orleans (they began in late '70s) was…
Mojo Mouth
- It's All About the Fest(s)
Going back to work after Jazz Fest is always hard. Jazz Fest has sort of been the "cap" of the festival…
OffBeat Eats
- Dining Out: Sammy's Deli
Before the storm, I'm not sure I'd seen a car without scratches and dents in New Orleans. Afterwards, the streets were… - The Right Bait
Keilen Williams perches on the tailgate of his truck, leans into the traffic streaming down Claiborne Avenue and dangles a massive…
Dining Out
- Dining Out: Sammy's Deli
Before the storm, I'm not sure I'd seen a car without scratches and dents in New Orleans. Afterwards, the streets were…
Reviews
- Antenna Inn, Do Work (Independent)
In theory, Antenna Inn should not be good. The local band is a nine-piece indie fusion project that is as heavily… - Michael Doucet, From Now On (Smithsonian Folkways)
Solo records from a band frontman are usually interesting propositions since they often have something to say beyond their normal band… - Ronnie Hawkins, Mojo Man/Arkansas Rockpile (Collector's Choice)
The albums included on this two-for-one reissue of Ronnie Hawkins’ albums from the 1960s were recorded with members of the Band,… - Tony Joe White, Deep Cuts (Swamp)
Whether he is playing with a full band or as a duo with drummer Swamp Man Loose—Jeff Hale—Tony Joe White has… - Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal (Back Porch)
On Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo looks at growing up punk, but he doesn’t necessarily romanticize those days. More accurately, the album’s… - The Last Straws, Time Marches On: Fifty Years Going and Blowing (Independent DVD)
This self-made documentary on the traditional jazz band the Last Straws has much of the same charm as a Peggy Scott… - Adam Green, Sixes & Sevens (Rough Trade)
The general rule is that any album has to have a theme. Even if that theme is something as simple as… - The Brakes, The Tale of Two Cities (Hyena)
If you Google the Brakes, you will learn that the Brakes are a “jam band.” Jam band? I don’t like jam… - Carl LeBlanc, Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall)
These new releases from Preservation Hall share the same appeal: They reflect real people being real. The Lastie Family Gospel is… - Joseph Lastie, Jr., The Lastie Gospel Family (Preservation Hall)
These new releases from Preservation Hall share the same appeal: They reflect real people being real. The Lastie Family Gospel is… - Drew Landry Band, Bandry Land (Palehorse Music)
Albums recorded for a C-note and cheap beer aren’t supposed to sound this good. But give it up for Lafayette singer-songwriter… - Duke Robillard, A Swingin' Session With (Stoney Plain)
A more appropriate title for this one might well be A Lugubrious Session With, as this sounds pretty much stuck in… - Seun Kuti and Egypt 80, Think Africa (Disorient)
Poor Ziggy Marley, poor Femi Kuti. The two chosen sons of the world music industry spent their youth dutifully catering to… - James Hunter, The Hard Way (Fantasy)
After listening to this CD a couple of times, I couldn’t get Sam Cooke’s “Just for You” to stop playing on… - Kenny Neal, Let Life Flow (Blind Pig)
Let Life Flow sounds like Kenny Neal is trying to make a blues album, but he keeps getting interrupted by life.… - Paula and the Pontiacs, Louisiana Bride (Independent)
When Paula and the Pontiacs get it right, they get it very right. “Everything I Need” plays to all the band’s… - Robert Walter, Cure All (Palmetto)
The news on Cure All is how different it is from the Stanton Moore Trio, which prominently features soul-jazz organ player… - John Ellis and Double-Wide, Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Hyena)
Friends whose taste I respect came away from John Ellis’ Jazz Fest set pretty buzzed by it. I passed because I… - Lil' Doogie, The Thoughts of My Mind (Independent)
The next great white rapper is a puppet. Well, at least when it comes to the Dirty South, where local native… - Liz McComb, The Spirit of New Orleans (GVE)
On the eighth track of her third record, ex-blues singer Liz McComb joins in the company of stomping piano chords and… - Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys, Call It What You Want (Swallow)
On his eighth overall and sixth in a series of quality releases, Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys aren’t about to… - John Rankin, Last in April First in May (Independent)
Less is often more. I know, that’s not profound, but it’s still true, as John Rankin’s Last in April First in… - Warren Storm-Willie Tee and Cypress, Warren Storm-Willie Tee and Cypress (Jin)
Like many contemporary swamp pop releases, this self-titled album primarily consists of classic rock ’n’ roll. That’s not to say that… - Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Mix It Up (Independent)
Mix it Up, the new album from the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, is a bittersweet affair. The CD is guitarist Roberto… - Chris Thomas King, Live on Beale Street (21st Century Blues)
Most of this short live album from 1997 presents Chris Thomas King on his most solid ground. He’s a funky blues… - Travis Matte, Hip Hop Zyde-Rock (Mhat)
Paul Marx, owner founder of KBON-FM out of Eunice Louisiana, said it best when he said, “Travis Matte’s music is the… - Dr. John, City That Care Forgot (429/Savoy)
Dr. John has always been a superior songwriter. A master conceptualist, he envisions lyrics and music as part of an overall…
