NolaFunk Lagniappe

Ernie K-Doe's "Here Come the Girls" resurrection

Against all odds, Ernie K-Doe is burning once again. During the 2007 Christmas season, the British drugstore chain Boots featured K-Doe's 1970 recording "Here Come the Girls" in a prominent TV ad campaign. In a popular commercial, dozens of female office workers start primping at their desks, then strut out en masse to K-Doe's chorus.

Thanks to the Boots exposure, "Here Come the Girls" rocketed to No. 3 on the United Kingdom single charts. "That's amazing, " said K-Doe's widow, Antoinette, "because Ernie's dead and the song came from the grave."

see also: Rocking In His Grave

see also: British commercial gives song new life




HBO plans TV drama about N.O. musicians

In a move that could boost the city's psyche and pump millions into its economy, cable giant HBO is developing a new TV drama to be set in the New Orleans music community. "Treme," named after the iconic New Orleans neighborhood where many musicians live, will marry one of television's most prestigious networks with creator David Simon, one of television's hottest series masterminds.

Simon, a frequent visitor to the city and a longtime New Orleans music fan, said this week that the stories told in "Treme" would reach beyond the music scene to explore political corruption, the public housing controversy, the crippled criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians, and the struggle to regain the tourism industry after the storm.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

I recently got in touch with the Wire's music supervisor after hearing a number of New Orleans tracks playing in the final season of that show. Here's what he had to say...

David Simon (the creator of The Wire) and I are both long-time N'awlins music fans. After Katrina we made a conscious effort to use the music when appropriate as a small way of giving back to musicians down there. There are quite a few pieces of New Orleans music used in Season 4. My sister and mom lived in New Orleans for most of the 1990's and I spent a lot of time down there, and have been to Jazz Fest a bunch of times, most recently in 2007. My sister is an artist; she painted Uncle Lionel's drum in the Treme Brass Band, and the sign at Donna's Bar and Grill, among many other things. The Wire is finished, but David is developing a new series which will hopefully get approved for production sometime this year, which would take place entirely in New Orleans, in which the main characters are musicians. I hope that happens!

see also: More on David Simon's 'Treme'

"To research the script for the pilot, a prospective first episode of a drama based in the New Orleans music community, Simon consulted with Donald Harrison Jr., Kermit Ruffins & Davis Rogan."

Music Of My Mind: One Man Machine

You might not get Bernard Pearce’s sound — the narcotized haze of psychedelic textures, brass-band exuberance and unbridled funk/rock fun does take a spin or 10 — but it will hit you in a little while. The one man in One Man Machine, Pearce is the perfect mascot for this new age of New Orleans music: He’s both challenging and rewarding, gregarious and scarily intense.

Old-school bounce inspires rapper/comedian Ballzack's new CD

Jubilee "is definitely the inspiration, " Sharkey said. "This is my New Orleans record, an electronic-sounding, sparkly, synthetic record, our version of what we love. We grew up with and love bounce music. This is the record we've always intended to make."

The Meters - Doodle Up

In their 25-year history, The Meters have grooved their way around the globe. They have toured with such talents as The Rolling Stones, and have been the rhythm for such diverse artists as Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer and Patti Labelle. Considered by many to be the founding fathers of funk. Their trademark sound blends funk, blues, and dance grooves with a New Orleans vibe.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band/Blind Boys of Alabama in Montreal

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band is as fine a concert group as a parade band and the audience at the Theatre Maisonneuve treated the front four of trumpeter Efram Towns, tenor saxophonist Kevin Harris, trombonist Keith "Wolf" Anderson and baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis like the jazz lions they've become. Lewis in particular was at the height of his power, blowing deep, carved wood notes as a striking counterweight in the brass arrangements. This is a different version of "Saints" that we've been hearing elsewhere. In the hands of the Dozen it's a musical corrolary to "Egalite" and the audience went from reverence to ecstasy, delivering one of several standing ovations.

Wonderful New Orleans R&B in spotlight

Modeled upon Smokey Joe’s Café, Joint’s Jumpin’, a new revue composed of dozens of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues favorites from the 1950s and ’60s, aspires to be a showcase for the city and its music.

Joint’s Jumpin’, featuring the music of Fats Domino, Shirley and Lee, Huey “Piano” Smith, Professor Longhair, Lloyd Price, Chris Kenner, the Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas and many more, begins a three-night run tonight at Harrah’s New Orleans.

Equal Opportunity Employment (E.O.E) Hits The Road

The band left on their first national tour the same week Hurricane Katrina struck their native New Orleans, and in the ensuing two years logged over 60,000 miles of touring despite residing in separate parts of the country. E.O.E officially moved back to New Orleans in the fall of 2007, announcing their return with a msgical homecoming show at the historic New Orleans nightclub Tipitina's. Since that time the band has been touted continuously in the Crescent City 's press

9th Ward - Weather The Storm

Unless you’ve sold 50,000 mixtapes out of the trunk of your car and have a huge fan base the chances of getting a record deal in today’s music industry are slim to none. Every once in a while though and when I say once in a while, I mean just that an artist comes a long and gets signed like it was 1995 again, with just a demo and a dream. New Orleans rapper 9th Ward is one of the chosen few. A series of events whether you want to call them fate, destiny, or just plain old luck led to him being Island/Def Jam’s latest signee.

Letters from New Orleans

Tom McDermott & Connie Jones Creole Nocturne (Arbors Records)
Tom McDermott All the Keys & Then Some (Parnassus Records)

New Orleans pianist Tom McDermott has to rank among the most fluid, inventive and technically robust pianists radiating the 88s today in the traditional syncopated musics of the Americas—from ragtime to choro to tango, from Jelly Roll Morton to James Booker—and he’s a beguiling composer besides.