NolaFunk Lagniappe

Burning Wood's: Snooks

Prostate cancer and a loss of blood during a recent hospital stay have slowed down the great New Orleans legend, Snooks Eaglin. I've read that he is making a peaceful recovery, but I can't be sure. With the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival approaching, I start to think about these great musicians with even more enthusiasm than usual.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE.

Here's Snooks and a very dapper George Porter Jr. on bass, (not sure who the drummer is) from a late 80s performance at NYC's Lone Star Roadhouse. I love the video, but I think I like the commentary below the video even more.

see also: Thinking about Snooks



Dumpstaphunk: Massive Tour

"Dumpstaphunk is the best funk band from New Orleans right now." -New York Times

Dumpstaphunk

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk will spend the rest of the year (and many more to come) doing what they do best - making music, both on the stage and in the studio. The band (Ivan Neville, Tony Hall, Raymond Weber, Nick Daniels, and Ian Neville) will spend February celebrating Mardi Gras on the road, bringing their unique monster of a groove to familiar haunts like The Independent in San Francisco and The Bottling Company in Hattiesburg as well as their first trips to Reno and Houston. This first leg of the tour, which also includes a rare appearance at The Mint in Los Angeles, will culminate with a hometown pre-Mardi Gras show at New Orleans' Howlin' Wolf.

After putting the finishing touches on their first full-length record which will be released later this year, Dumpstaphunk will hit the road again for another month including shows at Martyr's Chicago, the band's debut performance in Philadelphia, and a return to The Orange Peel in Asheville, NC, a city where they recently delivered a standout performance in front of 7200 music lovers as part of Warren Haynes' 20th Annual Christmas Jam. Anchoring this run will be two special Post-Allman Brothers Band shows at the Highline Ballroom in New York City.

Dr. John's "Pine Top Boogie"






Best of the Beat Awards included a surprise piano giveaway

Those who left Saturday's Best of the Beat Awards immediately following the award ceremony missed an entertaining and eclectic night of New Orleans music -- and a surprise piano giveaway.

VIEW SLIDESHOW HERE

Empire State Building - Purple Green and Gold for Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras 2009

Louisiana Cuisine: Jacques Imo's feeds Papa Grows Funk @ Maple Leaf

Displaced Soul Rebels Help Jazz Up The Big Easy

Three years later, with homes still shuttered in New Orleans and having determined that Houston is economically better-suited for their families, Leblanc and Hubbard continue their ritual: the 350-mile desert drive every Thursday morning, Hubbard’s shave and neighborhood gossip session with the old hometown barber down in the Seventh Ward and a quick car nap before heating up Le Bon Temps till 3 a.m. Over a standard weekend, the Rebels will then play gigs at Café Brasil, the Dragon’s Den, a private event and maybe a street parade. When Sunday morning arrives, Leblanc offers gratitude at St. Maria Goretti Church, then journeys with Hubbard back to Houston, where they have four days of family time before the road calls again.

New Wynton Marsalis album “He and She” to be released in March



Irvin Mayfield Leads New Orleans Jazz Orchestra



New music from Leo Nocentelli



NPR:Danza Quartet Welcomes 2009, Bayou Style

New Year's Eve in New Orleans was an affair to remember. The moon waxed over the Crescent City like a sliver over the Mississippi River, a cradle in the sky over the cradle of jazz. The lighted entrance of Louis Armstrong Park was shining on Rampart Street for the first time since Hurricane Katrina dimmed the neighborhood, and historic Congo Square was just a heartbeat away from us.