NolaFunk Lagniappe

Jazzfest "Cubes" Released















Jazzfest food list for 2008 released


See also: Anticipation is building for star-studded Jazzfest







Typical Midtown Lunch With Ralph Brennan

The owner of Bacco, Red Fish Grille and Ralph’s on the Park, and member of the famous Brennan family- who collectively own some of the best New Orleans food institutions (Commander’s Palace, Brennan’s), was in town and challenged the Midtown Lunch blogger to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown.

The Challange: HERE

The Wrap Up: HERE



The Keys to the City: A Profile of Tom McDermott

McDermott's playing is encyclopedic, referencing everything from 19th Century composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk through ragtime, early jazz, brass band, boogie woogie and the eclectic post-WWII R&B of Professor Longhair and James Booker.

Marsalis, Mayfield sparkle on "Love Songs, Ballads and Standards"

There is nothing deliberately avant-garde or self-indulgent here. This is not jazz engineered to impress, or even challenge. Instead, an old master and a brash student find common ground on an absolutely gorgeous and eminently listenable program.

Come on Down to Nawlins: A Photo Essay

In New Orleans brass bands are not just for football fight songs and halftime shows. Here the ensembles are a highlight of neighborhood parades organized by the city’s famous black social clubs. They also preside over jazz funerals, in which music accompanies the procession to and from the cemetery. Over the years, the city’s brass bands have molded young musicians, teaching them not only how to play but also about music’s powerful place in New Orleans culture. Old-timers like “Uncle” Lionel Batiste, 77, of the Tremé Brass Band, are making sure that this tradition of learning continues by mentoring children like seven-year-old Jaw Zansey Ramsey of the Young New Orleans Traditional Brass Band.

Q&A with Bonerama's Craig Klein

“The music we play takes a different shape every night, so it’s not the same show every night. Live shows are the best way to experience music from a band you really enjoy. That’s one thing that is very nice for us. And plus, for people to come out to dance and get down to the music we play is a lot of fun."

See also: Flesh & bones: New Orleans' Bonerama Gets Down to Brass Tactics"



Joey Williams: Down In New Orleans With The Blind Boys of Alabama

The use of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint and the Hot 8 Brass Band, was that an effect of recording in New Orleans?

JW: Our manager Charles Driebe is from New Orleans so that's right down his alley. He knew some of the people personally, and he knew his way around New Orleans. (laughs) So, he was able to get things done and get some people in the area. It got a little easier as it went along. And the people in New Orleans were so helpful. They were so willing to do what we needed to be done. So, it would be fitting so well.

R.I.P. Al Copeland: Founder of Popeyes Chicken

"Realizing that bland fried chicken was going nowhere, Mr. Copeland started using the spicy recipe. To show that he was operating a new enterprise, he decided to change its name. According to corporate lore, he was stumped until he saw "The French Connection," in which Gene Hackman won an Oscar for his portrayal of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a brusque, no-nonsense New York City policeman. At that point, Mr. Copeland knew the business had a name: Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken. There is no apostrophe in the name, Mr. Copeland often joked, because he was too poor to afford one."

funky Meters: A Blog Post



Another collection of Original Mardi Gras Indian Photos

See also: "Indians, Fish, & Clinton"

This Just In: Galactic @ BB King's / Tix Onsale Tomorrow

Galactic & Guests To Perform at Jammys Post-Party.

Following the Jammy Awards on the evening of May 7, Galactic will headline a post-event performance at the B.B. King Blues Club. Doors are scheduled to open at 11:30 for the show which is likely to draw in many of the performers from the Jammys show proper. The initial Jammys line-up is expected to be announced within the next two weeks, preceded by the list of nominees later this week.

PURCHASE TICKETS (ONSALE TOMORROW i.e. 3/28) HERE.

The five-man group started out over a decade ago as an instrumental act in the tradition of the Meters, the JB's, and Booker T. & the MG's - bands equally comfortable recording their own material or working with vocalists.

Originally formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic), the group was soon pared down to an instrumental sextet, later adding Theryl "Houseman" DeClouet on vocals. The group was started when childhood friends Jeff Raines and Rob Mercurio moved to New Orleans together to attend college and became enamored of the local funk scene, populated by such legendary acts as The Meters and Dirty Dozen Brass Band and inspired by such legends as Professor Longhair. There they teamed with noted New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist/harmonica (now producer) Ben Ellman, and Rich Vogel.

Over the years, the band's sound has evolved from organic New Orleans funk to a more modern style, incorporating elements of hip hop, electronica, fusion, and jazz. This change has been largely characterized by the increased use of electronic effects on guitar, bass, saxophone, and drums. In 2004, the band parted ways with vocalist DeClouet, and now continue as an instrumental group. They have been releasing ground breaking albums consistently since 1996. The latest album includes a who's who's of underground MC's called From the Corner to The Block.

Official website HERE.

MySpace page HERE.


Listen to music via Rhapsody HERE.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Chris Rose: A blessed night with the Mardi Gras Indians

"Whose idea was this? Nobody knows. Nobody cares. Nothing makes sense here. And that's probably why I like it. And that was all I could think about when I realized that Wednesday was St. Joseph's Day and that meant the Mardi Gras Indians were going to come out into the streets and I grabbed a jacket and a go-cup and went out to find them."

Kevin O'Day's Official Bio, written by Jay Mazza

"In a town filled with great drummers and renowned across the globe for percussive innovation beginning with the great trad jazz drummer Warren "Baby" Dodds, O'Day stands out as the go-to guy for gigs of any variety. He is regarded among his peers as a drummer's drummer with a passion that never wanes and a sympathetic ear that defines musical telepathy."

"You Know You Want It": Home of the Groove spotlights Chocolate Milk

"If you heard this group without knowing anything about them, you likely would not immediately suspect that Professor Longhair, Smokey Johnson, or Allen Toussaint, to shorten severely a long list of local influencers, were lurking in their collective woodshed, and, in the latter’s case, in the control room. Once I figured that one out, I started to dig them for what they had to offer rather than what my expectations were."

WWOZ wins honorable mention Esky Award for Best Internet Radio

WWOZ.org is listener-supported, volunteer-operated, Katrina-resilient miracle of FM radio that plays funk, jazz, blues, roots, Latin, soul, zydeco, R&B, and everything in between.

Trumpeter to Help New Orleans Libraries

"Mayfield said it's important to look at what has gone right since the storm. For one, at almost any school in the city _ no matter how dilapidated _ the students are playing music, he said. He says music is still in every part of the city, from the clubs, to the streets to the universities, and there's no reason why it shouldn't be part of the city's library system."


See also: Jazz trumpeter leads New Orleans' cultural rebirth

Jambase reviews "Funky Kidz"

"Not since Garcia and Grisman's Not for Kids Only (1993) has there been a kids collection likes this. Funky Kidz is a project that manages to capture a spirit that most children's music is sorely lacking – genuine funk."

SAMPLE THE FULL ALBUM HERE.

Marva Wright on turning 60 and more

When was the last time you worked on Bourbon Street?

At Storyville the Friday night before Hurricane Katrina.

What a way to end it.

Ain't that something?

Would you go back to Bourbon Street?

Surviving is surviving. But you know what? I love Bourbon Street. If it wasn't for Bourbon Street, I wouldn't be where I'm at now. You meet a lot of people from all over the world. After Katrina, they were good to the musicians of New Orleans, everywhere we went.

This Just In: Alex McMurray in NYC this week

Should've posted this a bit sooner, but still time to catch Alex twice with Bill Malchow's nolafunky band...

Subject: NYC shows‏
From:	Alex McMurray (info@alexmcmurray.com)

Hey Everyone, Heading up to New York to play some shows.

Here's Where-- Wed. March 19 Rockwood Music Hall 196 Allen St New York, NY 10002 (212) 477-4155 www.rockwoodmusichall.com 6:00-6:50 Thurs. March 20 W/Bill Malchow & Go Cup All-Stars Banjo Jim's Ave C and 9th Street New York, NY 10009 (212) 777-0869 www.banjojims.com 11 pm - 2am Fri. March 21 Bill Malchow Alex McMurray & the Go Cup All Stars The Rodeo Bar 375 3rd Avenue (27th Street) New York, NY (212) 683.6500 10 pm - 2 ish

Hope to see you there. If you can't make it send a friend. Yippee!!! Alex McMurray alexmcmurray.com

Alex McMurray's website HERE.

Myspace page HERE.

NolaFunGuide profile HERE.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Widow of R&B pioneer Ernie K-Doe directs the rebirth of legendary lounge in New Orleans

“People said, `Did you bring Ernie?’” Antoinette said. “I said, `No, I left him. They’re rescuing live bodies, not statues.’” Ernie still gets around—his statue, that is. He has been to football games and parties at his tomb every All Saints Day. Friend John Blanchard takes him along when he sings at weddings and bachelor parties, propping the statue up when he performs the Allen Toussaint-penned “Mother-In-Law.”

The New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council has announced the schedule for Super Sunday.


Festivities begin at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 16, at Taylor Park (Washington Ave. and S. Derbigny St.). The parade begins at 1 p.m. and proceeds onto Simon Bolivar, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and S. Galvez Avenue and circles back to the park. During the day, entertainment will be provided by the Hot 8 Brass Band, Big Al Carson, Stooges Brass Band and others. Mardi Gras Indians being honored this year are Big Chief “Lil” Charles Taylor of the White Cloud Hunters and Queen Barbara Wallace Sparks.






"Yet another tradition and celebration unique to our culture approaches"

"If you can’t come out to join in the festivities, then you can still be part of it since WWOZ will be video streaming live for the next few Sunday nights from the Handa Wanda Club for their weekly Mardi Gras Indian practice. Just because Mardi Gras is over doesn’t mean that the practices end. The suits have been sewn and displayed to the neighborhood people on Mardi Gras Day but now it is time to show off their hard work to the whole city and decide even informally, “who is the prettiest in 2008?”
The Mardi Gras Indians have often been the target of police harassment so often that ACLU legal observers have become part of the Super Sunday tradition. If you'd be interested in participating, HERE's some information about how you can help this Sunday, Super Sunday, March 16th.

Read more about Super Sunday HERE or read
"Indian Super Sunday - Hey! Hey! Hey Pocky-Way!
The Mardi Gras Indians Mask On St. Joseph’s Day"or
"For This Super Sunday, It's All About Mardi Gras Revelry"

"Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs Stand Spectacular, Tall, and Proud"





Various Artists: City of Dreams


"This collection spreads piano, blues, street beats, and slippery funk over four discs that are as joyous and imperfect as the Crescent City itself."

Huffington Post's "New Orleans: The Human Parts of the Equation" by OK Go's Damian Kulash

"What's at stake is more than the staggering sum of individual tragedies, it's a whole culture. We are in danger of losing one of America's last truly unique, bizarre, and wonderful engines of food, music, writing, people, and ideas."

"New Orleans is one of the last places in America where music is truly a fundamental part of everyday life," says OK Go singer Damian Kulash. "People get together on the weekends and parade through the streets just playing songs; 12-year-old-kids learn funk on the tuba; everyone dances. Life elsewhere in the world simply isn't as celebratory. If we allow the culture of New Orleans to die by leaving its musicians marooned around the country, America will have lost one of its great treasures."