May 2003

BackTalk

Backtalk: Irma Thomas
No other city can lay claim to as many unsung musical geniuses as New Orleans. It’s caused by the same combination… – Robert Fontenot

Bayou Boogie

That Butt Thing
– Herman Fuselier

Blues Hound

Festival Blues
– John Swenson

Bookmark

George Wein on the Front Lines
– Alex Rawls

Cover Story

Backtalk: Irma Thomas
No other city can lay claim to as many unsung musical geniuses as New Orleans. It’s caused by the same combination… – Robert Fontenot

Dis 'n' Dat

Uzi: A Deadly Rapper
– Bunny Matthews

Features

Fest Focus: Eric Lindell
“Who the hell is Eric Lindell?” There might have been a time, around a year ago, when this was not an… – James Bailey
Arts & Crafts Focus: Jimmy Descant-Deluxe Rocket Ships
If Buck Rogers was still around, he would have Jimmy Descant on his payroll and discuss the world as it is… – Jeff Hannusch
Fest Focus: Ben Harper
Ben Harper is a shape-shifter, moving through genres with uncanny ease. Starting out as a gospel blues folk hybrid, Harper has… – Christopher Blagg
Fest Focus: Anson Funderburgh
Anson Funderburgh has been twice lucky throughout his 25-year career. His first break came when he signed on with New Orleans’… – Kathleen Rippey
American Routes: Nick Spitzer's Highway of Sounds
One of the most interesting radio programs emanating from New Orleans is the weekly two-hour show American Routes, produced on Royal… – David Kunian
Fest Focus: Ivan Neville
“I love to play when my jaws are hurting on stage from smiling and laughing,” Ivan Neville said in an interview… – H. Andrew Schwartz
Ponderosa Stomp Focus: Phil Phillips
There’s hardly a person in the so-called civilized world that hasn’t heard Phil Phillips’ dreamy, ethereal “Sea Of Love.” Cresting on… – Michael Hurtt
Fest Focus: Tyronne Foster & the Arc Singers
If Tyrone Foster and the Arc Singers replaced the choir of your church, I’d wager attendance would triple. Based out of… – Christopher Blagg
Jazz Fest 2003 A to Z
Compiled by Bunny Matthews, Geraldine Wyckoff, Christopher Blagg and James Bailey. If being outside in the fresh air with thousands… – OffBeat Staff
Fest Focus: Mavis Staples
Imagine a young Bob Dylan and an equally young Mavis Staples—married. It could have happened, according to Mavis. She recently told… – John Radanovich
Fest Focus: Big Chief Little Walter Cook
When Big Chief Little Walter Cook of the Creole Wild West Mardi Gras Indian gang takes to the street on Carnival… – Geraldine Wyckoff
Fest Focus: Holmes Brothers
Not all the gospel music at Jazz Fest takes place in the Gospel Tent, a fact that will be brought home… – John Swenson
Fest Focus: Garage A Trois
Some of you may remember that during Jazz Fest 2000, Superfly Presents put together a little show at the Orpheum Theater… – James Bailey
Club Crawl: Buckethead with Rob Wasserman, Mike Clark, Ben Ellman & Special Guests
– David Kunian
Fest Focus: Dave Holland
Dave Holland has been considered one of modern jazz’s stellar bassists since arriving on the scene in 1968 with trumpet legend… – Geraldine Wyckoff
The Ponderosa Stomp: Better Than Dick Clark on His Best Day
– Michael Hurtt
Fest Focus: Lynn Drury & Bad Mayo
It’s not easy being a singer-songwriter in the land of the secondline. That demand for the syncopated step creeps its way… – Christopher Blagg
Club Crawl: G. Love and Special Sauce
– Cree McCree
Fest Focus: Tom McDermott & Evan Christopher Quartet
It’s no secret that traditional jazz is an amalgam of musics from Europe, Africa, and the Americas fused into a distinctive… – Mel Minter
Fest Focus: John Fohl
On Time Ain’t Waitin’, John Fohl adapts James Booker’s arrangement of “Sunny Side of the Street” to the acoustic guitar. If… – Alex Rawls
Fest Focus: Theresa Andersson
“The Jazz Festival is the biggest marketing opportunity musicians have in New Orleans,” says Swedish-born vocalist/violinist Theresa Andersson. “You have so… – Bunny Matthews
Ponderosa Stomp Focus: Jay Chevalier
“I’m the last of the red hot rockers,” exclaims Jay Chevalier, paraphrasing the handle that was memorably tagged on his old… – Michael Hurtt
Fest Focus: Herbie Mann Reunion Band
Herbie Mann has been called many things in his 50 plus years as a musician—virtuoso, sex symbol, musical ambassador, and on… – James Bailey
Fest Focus: The Hackberry Ramblers
“Oh no, we never gave that a thought,” says the Hackberry Ramblers’ Luderin Darbone about whether 70 years later the Lake… – Dan Willging
Fest Focus: Clarence "Frogman" Henry
When asked if he’d been performing much of late, the affable Clarence Henry—who is one of the few artists performing at… – Jeff Hannusch
Fest Focus: Goldman Thibodeaux
In an age when zydeco is dominated by boys only a few years removed from their first shave and senior prom,… – Herman Fuselier
Fest Focus: Los Lobos
Los Lobos have been around awhile, but you won’t be finding their name on the Carnival Cruise and Bally’s Casino oldies… – Christopher Blagg
Masters of Louisiana Music: Mahalia Jackson
Born: October 26, 1911, New Orleans, Louisiana Died: January 27, 1972, Evergreen Park, Illinois The Mississippi River at the foot… – Geraldine Wyckoff
Clubhouse: Rock 'n' Bowl
– OffBeat Staff
Fest Focus: Cedryl Ballou
The way Cedryl Ballou sees it, he had no choice but to pick up the accordion and make his mark in… – Michael Hurtt

Feed Me Something, Mister

Jazz Feast
– Ian McNulty

Food For Thought

Jazzin'

The Influence of Ornette Coleman
The knockout punch for jazz fans at this year’s Jazz Fest is the arrival of saxophone giant Ornette Coleman. A huge… – Geraldine Wyckoff

Letters

Letters May 2003
– OffBeat Readers

Live Wire

Granny's Got Blues
– Christopher Blagg

Mojo Mouth

Year of the Woman
– Jan Ramsey

Obituaries

Obituary: Placide Adams and Frank Uddo
– OffBeat Staff

St. Rock

St. Rock: La Vida Jeff & Vida
Vida Wakeman grew up bohemian, with parents that traveled Europe until they settled in Munich. Jeff Burke grew up “as American… – Alex Rawls

Talkin' 'bout New Orleans

My House - A Movie Star, Part One
– Jeff Hannusch

BackTalk

Bayou Boogie

Blues Hound

Bookmark

Cover Story

Dis 'n' Dat

Features

Feed Me Something, Mister

Food For Thought

Jazzin'

Letters

Live Wire

Mojo Mouth

Obituaries

St. Rock

Talkin' 'bout New Orleans

Reviews