Music
Ruthie Foster, Healing Time (Blue Corn Music)
If Healing Time, Ruthie Foster’s first studio album since 2017’s triumphant Joy Comes Back, were a musical, the title song would be the buoyant, raucous, gospel-stomp show-stopper—the moment at which our heroine not only realizes that living in joy is a choice, but emphatically makes that choice.
Sonia Tetlow, Better Days (Independent)
The post-COVID landscape should be a fertile one for a thoughtful singer-songwriter, but it still seems that few have been willing to jump in. When Sonia Tetlow writes a song called “Kicked the Covid”—and includes the line, “But it’s true, it kicked me the first”—she proves to be the perfect one for the job.
Mike Clement, Unfinished Business (Independent)
Organ trios, the combination of organ, guitar and drums, have long been a popular means of expression in jazz, perhaps best exemplified by the master of the Hammond B3 Jimmy Smith. On Unfinished Business, guitarist Mike Clement makes good use of the format’s stylistic versatility as he teams up with like-minded musician’s organist Joe Ashlar and drummer Shannon Powell.
Craig Cortello, Dog Tales (Independent)
Craig Cortello is a cheerful alt-rock guy who called himself the “Canine Crooner” and does indeed fill this CD with songs about dogs. And if that sounds like a cue for a novelty album, guess again: Though mostly lighthearted, this set celebrates the good hearts and nobility of dogs. In other words, it’s an album of love songs.
Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, Boots and Boujee (Maison de Soul)
Considering that Jeffery Broussard’s last album, Return of the Creole, dropped 11 years ago, the gap between releases is unusual for an artist of his stature, given his pivotal role in zydeco.
Wayne Maureau, At The Water’s Edge (Independent)
Versatile drummer and composer Wayne Maureau knows a thing or two about water. He appreciates the significant ups, downs and everyday impact it has on New Orleans throughout its history. Compositions inspired by water itself, or places bordering water, are the focus of this recording featuring Maureau in two different trio settings.
VJ Boulet, Lil’ Bit O’ Dis Lil’ Bit O’Dat (Jin Records)
When you got 67 years in the music biz, chances are you pretty much done it all. VJ Boulet, a.k.a. “Boo” to his circle of buddies and associates, can certainly make that claim. He’s been a piano-pounding sideman and an esteemed songwriter whose songs have been recorded by Jim Olivier, Jimmy C. Newman, Clarence “Frogman Henry,” Freddie Fender, and Jamie Bergeron, not to mention featured in an occasional movie or two.
Ari Teitel, I Got My Thing (Independent)
Detroit native Ari Teitel burst on the scene in New Orleans with scorching guitar work, sharing stages with some of the best funk musicians in town. Besides his work playing live, he has earned two Grammy nominations as the musical director of Cha Wa. At the beginning of 2022, he left the group along with other core members and formed another Black Indian ensemble, the Rumble with chief Joseph Boudreaux, Jr. He also fronts his own band, the Get Together.
Smithfield Fair, A Place In Your Heart – 50th Anniversary Celebration Collection (Stevenson Productions)
Move over, Ray Benson. Asleep at the Wheel isn’t the only band celebrating half a hundred years. East of the Sabine, Baton Rouge’s Smithfield Fair also reached the semi-centurion mark recently. To commemorate this special occasion, the longstanding folk-rock group boiled its 35-album discography to 14 songs core to its repertoire and reprised them to show how they sound today.
Garth Alper, Spider’s Web (Independent)
Pianist and composer Garth Alper focuses on all-original material here, with some superb help from his friends, on Spider’s Web, his fifth recording as a leader. The blues and bluesy feelings course through the project, which is a strong follow up to his 2017 release, Stratus.
