Upcoming: Eric Lindell @ Sullivan Hall

ERIC LINDELL

Thursday May 28th

Eric Lindell Official Website Youtube California-born, New Orleans-schooled singer/songwriter/vocalist Eric Lindell is a roots rocker with dozens of original songs that combine soul-shaking rhythm & blues, reggae grooves, swamp pop and blues. Lindell is a fan favorite in his northern California turf and his adopted home of New Orleans (where he was featured on the cover of OffBeat magazine and performed on the main stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival). He is accomplished on guitar, harmonica, keyboards and bass, and has performed with some of the Crescent City's top musicians as well as some of the jam band community's biggest names (including members of Galactic). The winner of the 1999 John Lennon Songwriting Competition for his song Kelly Ann, Lindell is now ready to bring his rough-hewn voice and memorable original songs to the rest of the music-loving world with the release of his Alligator Records debut, CHANGE IN THE WEATHER. Jamie McLean American Heartache's 12 blistering tracks feature special guests from The Black Crowes, North Mississippi Allstars, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Shannon McNally. Backed by a powerful band, McLean and company tear through rowdy rock anthems, funky soul tracks and emotional ballads. Supplementing his twangy, southern rock infused guitar passages is a commanding voice packed with New Orleans soul and New York City swagger. It is Jamie McLean's most recent and strongest work to date.

Webcast: The Radiators :: Bayou Restaurant :: 05.26.2009

Radio Johnson will be Webcasting the Rads show Tuesday night.

Tune in HERE.

NY Times Review of Allen Toussaint @ Village Vanguard

Note by Note, Manhattan Acquires a New Orleans Bounce

Chad Batka for The New York Times

Check out a bunch more pictures HERE.

By JON PARELES

Published: May 20, 2009

The New Orleans pianist Allen Toussaint hinted at the scope of his musical lore in a whimsical solo montage halfway through his early set at the Village Vanguard on Tuesday night. Fragments of old New Orleans songs (like “Big Chief”), classical pieces, boogie-woogie, “The Sound of Music” and other tunes interrupted one another and gradually mingled, giving barrelhouse flourishes to a Chopin prelude. After a few more segues Mr. Toussaint called Elvis Costello out of the audience to sing “Ascension Day,” a song from the 2006 album they made together, “The River in Reverse.”

No matter what the source, the rendition was poised and light-fingered, without an unconsidered note. And somehow New Orleans was in every phrase, with hints of swing, of humor, of sly sensuality.

In Mr. Toussaint’s long career as songwriter, arranger and producer he has honed a piano style that’s supportive and allusive; a little trill or tremolo sums up all the splashy joys of New Orleans patriarchs like Professor Longhair and James Booker, and a syncopated chord under right-hand octaves summons gospel. Mr. Toussaint has the two-fisted, rippling vocabulary of the city’s piano legacy, but he uses it in dapper ways.

He’s at the Village Vanguard through Sunday primarily as an instrumentalist; he sang only two songs in the set. Mr. Toussaint is following through on his new album, “The Bright Mississippi” (Nonesuch). It applies the Toussaint touch to old songs like “St. James Infirmary” (which was sung on Tuesday night by the album’s producer, Joe Henry), “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” and Duke Ellington’s “Solitude.”

His band echoes a New Orleans trad-jazz lineup — clarinet (Don Byron), trumpet (Christian Scott), acoustic guitar (Marc Ribot), bass (David Piltch) and drums (Jay Bellerose) — and reaches back without being fussy about it. When Mr. Toussaint played and sang his own “Southern Nights,” he turned it into a blend of gospel and Orientalism, with harplike glissandos. But for most of the set blues, slow-drag beats, parade struts and New Orleans-ized tangos and hymns were the foundations, with a touch of rhythm and blues. And melody always took precedence.

Mr. Scott, who has been a sideman on hip-hop albums, reached back to old New Orleans, playing the tunes with puckish pauses and smears; Mr. Byron, sometimes switching to tenor saxophone from his usual clarinet, had the scurrying, ornamental role, sometimes hinting at modernist harmony in his runs. Mr. Ribot’s guitar solos were spiky, down-home epigrams. And Mr. Piltch and Mr. Bellerose savored the vintage New Orleans beats, with rustling cymbals and ballooning snare-drum rolls.

It wasn’t a re-creation of old New Orleans music but a reverie on a New Orleans heritage: a lifetime of memories refined by a genteel sensibility that finds the elegance in the blues.

Performances continue through Sunday at the Village Vanguard, 178 Seventh Avenue South, West Village, (212) 255-4037, villagevanguard.com.

In Pictures: Nicholas Payton Quintet @ Birdland

By greg aiello

Nicholas Payton Quintet @ Birdland 5/20/09

Nicholas Payton Quintet


Nicholas Payton


Robert Glasper


Nicholas Payton

NolaFunk Lagniappe

WWOZ Highlights from Jazzfest






In Pursuit Of Bo-Consciousness - Part 3

WORKING WELL WITH OTHERS ON RIC & RON

As an arranger, songwriter and backing musician, Eddie Bo assisted a number of artists who were beginning or continuing their recording careers at Ric & Ron in the early 1960s, several of whom would go on to become big names in New Orleans R&B. Around this time last year, I featured one of Bo's early productions in a multi-song post. It was Robert Parker's first Ron single,"All Nite Long", a rockin', quirky two-parter from 1959. For additonal documentation, this time I’m featuring tracks byIrma Thomas,Johnny Adams, andTommy Ridgley, three of the greatest R&B/soul vocalists the city has engendered, plus notable sides by two lesser known artists, Warren Lee and Martha Carter. There may be nothing musically groundbreaking about any of these tunes; but, Bo’s work for Joe Ruffino’s labels was an opportunity for him to learn the ropes of studio arranging and production on his own projects as well as on those of other fine young talents. While there were hits and misses in that process, even the lesser tunes are enjoyable, and, I hope, provide some context in terms of his career. Oddly, one of his earliest collaborations as an arranger for another artist proved to be the most commercially successful.

IRMA THOMAS



"Don't Mess With My Man" (D. Labostrie)

Brass Band Blowout: Soul Rebels, Hot 8 and Rebirth at the Howlin' Wolf

As many of you know, the festival portion of Jazzfest is only part of the splendor of this yearly phenomenon. The other piece of the puzzle is the late night scene. Every bit as exciting as the Fest itself – just not quite as hot depending on how you see it – these nightly showcases are nothing short of epic. All around the city, the concerts begin around 10:00pm and proceed until sunup; it isn’t uncommon for the final act on a bill to kickoff after 2:00am. So without any further explanation, I’m going to begin unfolding my Late Night Jazzfest 2009 experience. For me, there’s no better way to ring in Jazzfest than with a brass band. So, on Thursday, April 23rd, I headed to the Howlin’ Wolf for the Brass Band Blowout which featured Crescent City favorites the Soul Rebels Brass Band, the Hot 8 Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band.

Mac Daddy

Since Hurricane Katrina, Dr. John has experienced a renaissance of sorts. He got artists including Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, Ani DiFranco and Terence Blanchard to contribute to City That Care Forgot (429 Records) and it won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues in 2008, his fifth Grammy. He also used the record to rail against the federal government's response to Katrina and to raise awareness of issues such as the continuing depletion of the Louisiana wetlands. USA Today said songs like "Land Grab" and "Time For a Change" made the album a "rambunctious and furious post-Katrina polemic that addresses government indifference, the diaspora and [Dr. John's] unwavering love for the Crescent City."

Galactic and The Wild Magnolias Reunion at Tipitina's

After an excellent first day of Jazzfest, I headed to Tipitina’s around 9:30pm (April 24, 2009) to partake in the second night of Fess Jazztival. My initials plans were to catch bluesman Eric Lindell and the reunion of the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians featuring Big Chief Bo Dollis and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, but due to some scheduling confusion, by the time that had I arrived Eric Lindell had already played. Disappointed but not daunted, I used this opportunity to hang around and slip into Galactic’s [2:00am to] sunrise set.

Allen Toussaint shines on elegant new CD "The Bright Mississippi"

Allen Toussaint's post-Katrina renaissance rolls on.

Ever since his 1958 debut "The Wild Sound of New Orleans" -- released under the name Tousan -- he has recorded only sporadically. He earned his place in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame by writing and producing hits for other artists.

But his national profile as a performer in his own right has never been higher, thanks in large part to "The River in Reverse." The acclaimed 2006 collaboration with Elvis Costello revived Toussaint's touring career and reintroduced him as a contemporary recording artist. His new, genteel "The Bright Mississippi" (Nonesuch Records), while much different, should only enhance that reputation

Anders Osborne and Friends at Le Bon Temps

After a monster few days at Jazzfest, I was pretty worn out. The crowd, the scope, the bustle, it had all started to wear on me a bit. I needed to find a laidback gig to set me right. So, on Saturday, April 25th, I decided to take in a late night show in my neighborhood. I set out for Le Bon Temps Roulé where guitar slinger Anders Osborne held court. To my surprise, joining Anders this night were wildman Simon Lott on drums, maniac Marco Benevento on keys and a saxophone player whom I didn’t recognize, couldn’t understand when announced but brought some serious heat – what above all, Le Bon Temps is all about. It is without a doubt the hottest place in New Orleans. There’s no stage here; rather, the musicians set up shop in the far corner of an unventilated back room. It’s certainly an [suffocating] experience to be had. Fans come and go, immersing themselves in the music until they can no longer take the temperature. Then, after a quick breather, they jump right back into the fire. The musicians, on the other hand, wail away, wholly enmeshed in the scene unfolding before them.

Scenes From The Original Big 7 Parade






Hopeful Dispatches From the 40th Jazz & Heritage Festival

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New Orleans inspires even inveterate Twitterers and Facebook correspondents to release their thumbs and touch real life. Except the guy at the bar of a club called DBA one recent Monday, who just leaned harder into his BlackBerry, typing feverishly as Glen David Andrews—trombone in one hand, mic in the other—upped the tempo of "It's All Over Now." Some people just don't get it.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which celebrated its 40th year through two long weekends from April 24 to May 3, is the grandest showcase, the tourism calling card, for a culture that defies the virtual. At the festival's Gospel Tent five days later, Andrews stirred fervor with hymns from his new CD, Walking Through Heaven's Gate. Monday, secular. Friday, sacred. Same effect. These are the two sides of New Orleans' musical coin, and nowhere is that truer than Andrews's old neighborhood, Tremé: He recorded his album at Zion Hill Baptist Church there, where he was baptized 30 years ago.

Upcoming (in NoLa): The Domino Effect, a Star-Studded Tribute to Fats Domino

see also: Revel With a Cause

An extravagant tribute concert to honor Fats Domino doubles as a fundraising boon for the Brees Dream Foundation — and the final push to fulfill a two-year-old promise.

The Domino Effect: May 30 at New Orleans Arena
New Orleans Benefit Concert to feature B.B. King, Chuck Berry
Little Richard, Wyclef Jean, Keb' Mo', Taj Mahal & Junior Brown

B.B. KING For more than half a century, Riley "B.B." King has defined the blues for audiences the world over. In that time, King has developed one of the world's most identifiable guitar sounds with the aid of his beloved guitar, Lucille and entranced millions with his deep and expressive voice. CHUCK BERRY Chuck Berry's music, lyrics, and devil-may-care spirit have made an indelible impression on millions of people, including such legends as the Beatles and Rolling Stones. He celebrated the birth of rock and roll in 1955 and remains, to this day, one of its most electrifying performers. LITTLE RICHARD Little Richard is the originator, the emancipator, and the architect of rock and roll. Exploding into the American consciousness in the mid-'50s...awop-bop-a-loo-mop-alop-bam-boom.... he helped lay the foundation and establish the rules for a new musical form that would come to be known as rock and roll. OZOMATLI The music of culture-mashers, Ozomatli is a notorious urban-Latino-and-beyond collision of hip hop and salsa, samba and funk, merengue and comparsa, East LA R&B and New Orleans second line, Jamaican reggae and Indian raga. Ozomatli has the unique ability to take you around the world without leaving your seat. WYCLEF JEAN Haitian-born Wyclef Jean is a Grammy Award-winning musician/producer, social activist, Goodwill Ambassador, and diplomat for positive cultural evolution. Wyclef is a founding member of hip-hop sensation the Fugees as well as a prolific solo artist. JUNIOR BROWN Junior Brown is an American country guitarist and singer whose work is a mix of traditional and alternative country with accents of blues and Hawaiian steel with surf-style instrumentation. He is well known for his stringed creations, such as his "guit-steel," a double-necked guitar that marries a traditional six-string on top with a full lap steel on the bottom. TAJ MAHAL Taj Mahal is an internationally recognized blues musician who folds the worldly sounds of the Caribbean, Africa, and the South Pacific into his personal style. He is a self-taught singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose mediums include the guitar, banjo, harmonica and more. KEB' MO' Keb' Mo' is an American musician known for his songwriting and vocal stylings as well as his proficiency with the guitar, banjo, and keyboard. Though primarily a blues artist, his wide-ranging talents have lead him to venture into genres as varied as gospel and calypso in his long and rich career.

About The Domino Effect The Domino Effect is a star-studded tribute concert celebrating the life and influence of rock and roll legend Fats Domino. Musical legends from far and wide are gathering in New Orleans for one historic night to pay tribute to Fats and his feats throughout his lifetime. A portion of the proceeds from this music extravaganza will benefit the Brees Dream Foundation bettering local playgrounds and outdoor recreation sites for the children of New Orleans. About The Brees Dream Foundation Since 2007, The Brees Dream Foundation has contributed more than $1.65 million to the New Orleans community as part of its partnership with Operation Kids. Drew and Brittany Brees are committed philanthropists to the city of New Orleans and are a vital part of the rebirth and revitalization of the city's youth. About The Producers Illuminated Entertainment LLC (IEG) and its partner Rozone Productions LLC (RPI) managed by David E. Rosen promotes elite music events at a wide range of venues across the country. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, "The Live Music Capital of the World", the company is firmly positioned within the epicenter of cutting edge, traditional and talented live musicians and artists. Often partnering with 501(c)(3) philanthropic organizations, IEG and RPI work to create awareness of a community's needs, whether in a city, a region, or an entire country, IEG and RPI support these 501(c)(3) by donating portions of the proceeds from their scheduled events. One of the primary missions of IEG / RPI is to provide the patrons, business colleagues, and artists it collaborates with an experience that is substantially more rewarding than that of our competitors. This uncompromising approach is the bedrock and soul of our success.