May 2001
BackTalk
- Jimmy Scott
Jimmy Scott is the most overlooked ballad singer in jazz, a veteran whose comeback from hard times inspires as much as…
Bluesworthy
- Got Rice?
In the multi-cultural gumbo that is Jazz Fest, the blues are like rice; it’s never the main dish, but it’s present…
Chassez De Faim
- Fine Festival Dining 2001
We remember a visit, 22 years ago, to friends of friends who lived in Cut Off, Louisiana. When asked of their…
Cover Story
- Henry Roeland Byrd a.k.a. Professor Longhair
Born: December 19, 1918, Bogalusa, LA Died: January 30, 1980, New Orleans, LA Professor Longhair is no longer physically present, but his spirit…
Dis 'n' Dat
- Gumbolia
If asked whether he’s a “flute player” or a “flautist,” Eluard Burt is emphatic: “That’s like, ‘You live Uptown or you…
Features
- Ones to Watch
The New Orleans jazz tradition is as strong as ever, but many of today’s rising jazz stars are not as traditional… - Fest Focus: Gospel Tent
- Fest Focus: Jam Bands
Local music buffs love to bash the “jam band” phenomenon as a collection of unsophisticated hippie Deadheads who couldn’t give up… - Fest Focus: Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs
- Fest Focus: Keith Frank
- Fest Focus: North Mississippi Allstars
- Jazz Fest
- Fest Focus: Bob French
- The Zeitgeist Creative Music Festival
- Fest Focus: Max Roach & Elvin Jones
- Fest Focus: Lucinda Williams
- Fest Focus: Big Jack Johnson
- We'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascals, You! A Guided Tour of the Final Resting Places of New Orleans' Greatest Musicians
- Fest Focus: Buckwheat Zydeco
- Fest Focus: Spencer Bohren
- Fest Focus: Femi Kuti
- Michael P. Smith: Capturing New Orleans Culture
- Fest Focus: Classic New Orleans R&B
- Fest Focus: Celia Cruz
- The Wrong Road with… The Radiators
Heat lightning screamed down from the sky. The mid-day August sun blasted Magazine Street in shimmering waves that seemed to ooze… - Fest Focus: Satchmo is Everywhere
Kickin' It Live
Know What It Means
Letters
- Letters May 2001
MISPLACED CAJUN PRIDE? With regard to the epithet “coonass” used in the recent article [OffBeat, February 2001] “Coonass Mardi Gras,” we…
Mojo Mouth
- The Longhair and Short of It
It’s pretty late as I write this: I’ve been working since eight this morning (it’s almost 10 p.m. now) on OffBeat’s…
St. Rock
- St. Rock: Half-Naked Veloka
You would expect a band to be flat playing the same set twice in a day, but when Veloka appeared at…
Straight, No Chaser
- Die Like a Dog at JazzFest 2002
Forget about sleep. Say goodbye to that nightcap. Tell those sheep to stop jumping the fence. It’s Jazz Fest time. If…
Reviews
- Nicholas Payton, Dear Louis (Verve)
“He’s the closest to Louis Armstrong that I’ve ever heard,” Doc Cheatham used to say of Nicholas Payton, and anyone who’s… - Dario Galante, Brasileiro (Independent)
- Chiko Queiroga & Antonio Rogerio, Ao Viva (Independent)
- Selma do Coco, Cultura Viva (Independent)
- Step Rideau and the Zydeco Outlaws, Don't Ask Why (Bridge Entertainment)
- Damon Troy and Louisiana Beat, Blowin' Like a Hurricane (MTE Records)
- Big Bill Morganfield, Ramblin' Mind (Blind Pig)
- Nozmo, Ones to Fall (Independent)
- Various Artists, The Ebb Records Story Volume 2: Blues 'n' Rhythm & Rock 'n' Roll 1957-1959 (Specialty/Fantasy)
- Various Artists, The Ebb Records Story Volume 1: The Group Era 1957-1959 (Specialty/Fantasy)
- Delbert McClinton, Nothing Personal (New West)
- Marc Adams, Adams Rides Again (Independent)
Marc Adams just may be the hardest working keyboard man in New Orleans and he rides hard on this solo outing.… - A.J. Loria "King Nino," Louisiana Lounge Lizard (Independent)
A.J. Loria is as homegrown as they get. To quote from his bio—born in the Crescent City in 1947; began piano… - The Fabulous Fantoms, Just Having a Party (Tuff City Records)
- Phil deGruy, Hello Dali (Otter Print Records)
- Chief Smiley Ricks and the Indians of the Nation, Feathercraft (Independent)
The music of the Mardi Gras Indians relies heavily on the visual aspect of performance. The vibrant beadwork and brilliant feathers… - Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Take Me to the Zydeco (Swampadelic records)
- Something Like That, Louisiana Love (Independent)
- Les Jeunes Cajun, Notre Maniere (Acadiana Records)
- The String Cheese Incident, Outside Inside (SCI Fidelity Records)
I’m not aware of a happier sounding band in the world than the String Cheese Incident. They’re just so gosh darn… - The Hoodoo Kings, The Hoodoo Kings (Telarc)
It certainly looks like a good idea. Grab the cream of Louisiana blues music, one on each instrument—piano, guitar, and harp,… - Winds of Change, Fresh Air (Wind Sounds Productions)
Formed about a year ago, the Winds of Change saxophone quartet steps out for its first recording venture on this self-produced… - Various Artists, Dream Palace: Live Volume II (Frenchmen St. Records)
For such a small club, the degree of diversity on display nightly at the now-deceased Dream Palace was astounding. This second… - The Blind Boys of Alabama, Spirit of the Century (Real World Records)
While gospel music often can reach heights of spiritual and musical transcendence, it’s not often that it ever classifies as hip.… - Tom McDermott, The Crave: Piano Music from New Orleans and Beyond (STR Digital Records)
In New Orleans, the present is always haunted by the past, and nowhere more so than within the city’s great musical… - Irene Sage, Come On In (Independent)
I first saw Irene Sage in Irene and the Mikes, where once a week at Checkpoint Charlie’s she was a blues-rock… - Various Artists, Legendary Labels of Louisiana: The Best of Drew-Blan (Night Train International)
- Jerry Raines, Dangerous Redhead (Night Train International)
- Marcia Ball, Presumed Innocent (Alligator Records)
I was fascinated last summer, during an interview, listening to Marcia Ball recount the years-long process it required for her to… - Mahotella Queens, Sebai Bai (Indigo)
When “The Lion of Soweto,” Simon Nkabinde Mahlathini passed away in 1999, South Africa mourned the loss of the one of… - Maria Muldaur, Richland Woman Blues (Stony Plain Records)
On this, Maria Muldaur’s 25th recording in an under-recognized but vital career, she comes full circle by paying loving homage to… - Blue Runners, Le Grand Bleu (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
Though it may seem that way initially, rest assured that Lafayette’s Cajun/alt-country Blue Runners are no different than the kindred spirits… - Los Hombres Calientes, Vol. 3: New Congo Square (Basin Street)
- Brad Paul Frank, Walking to the Moon (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
- The Creole Connection, The Masked Band (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
- Papa Grows Funk, Doin' It (Independent)
It’s tough being a funk band in New Orleans. From a historical perspective you’re inevitably compared to the deified Meters, and… - Kim Carson, Calle de Orleans (Banks Street)
On October 19, 1952, Hank Williams married his second wife onstage at Municipal Auditorium, and the crowd at the matinee loved… - Tommy Malone, Soul Heavy (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
Tommy Malone, former member of the subdudes and Tiny Town and favorite subject of attention on the OffBeat message board, delivers… - Ricky Sebastian, The Spirit Within (STR Digital Records)
A quick roll of the snare sets the hot tempo for the departure of “Caravan,” the opening cut of drummer Ricky… - Bob French's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band & Friends, The Legacy Lives On (Royal Tuxedo Records)
Last year’s critical success Livin the Legacy cemented what was already known to most in the Crescent City, that Bob French… - Kermit Ruffins, 1533 St. Philip Street (Basin Street)
