NolaFunk Lagniappe

James Booker- "Witchcraft"

Because I can't get enough of James Booker, and because everytime I stumble upon something new, he never fails to take my breath away, and because not enough people really know James Booker, and because James Booker is arguably the greatest piano player who ever lived, here is a version of "Witchcraft," that SHOULD blow your mind.

Mardi Gras Indians are singing the Saints praises

The New Orleans Saints are exhibiting serious mojo so far this season. Might it be because they’ve got Indian energy on their side? A brand-new Mardi Gras Indian recording, with horn arrangements from the legendary Wardell Quezergue, is ready to meet the boys in black and gold on the battlefront.

Big Chief Howard Miller of the Creole Wild West collaborated on an album of New Orleans music, including the single 'Here Come the Saints.'The song, "Here Come the Saints," is the first single from a collaborative album between Quezergue and Big Chief Howard Miller of the Creole Wild West, produced by Loyola University music industry studies professor Jerry Goolsby. Members of the tribe perform on the record as the Uptown Warriors, as well as with a group of percussionists from several tribes who call themselves the I.R.S. – Indian Rhythm Section – for the purpose of the recording.

WWOZ (i.e. New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Station) iPhone App

New Orleans bumps NYC as top city

Looking for romance? Head to Honolulu. But if you are single, like live music, boutique hotels and want a wild weekend, new Orleans is the city to visit.

In its latest survey of america's favourite cities, travel and Leisure magazine asked readers to pick the best places for everything from the most attractive, intelligent, stylish and the friendliest people to where to find the best museums, restaurants, bars, museums and affordable hotels.

"The big news this year is that new Orleans received the most number one rankings over new York."

Crescent Blues and BBQ Fest / Day 1

In it’s fourth year, the Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival., a two-day event, hosted by the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation and held in Lafayette Square has grown into one of the city’s best and most enjoyable outings. This year’s lineup featured the likes of blues giant Buddy Guy, slide guitar gunslinger Sonny Landreth, Mississippi bluesman T Model Ford, and New Orleans legend Irma Thomas. When I arrived at the Square on Saturday, October 17th, I walked up to the smaller of the two stages where JD Hill and the Jammers were absolutely smoking. As I listened to Hill, a fixture on the local blues scene for the past three decades, wail on his harmonica, I realized that it had been a while since I had settled into the blues, and, boy, was I going to have a hell of a time this weekend getting back into ‘em! With a washboard hanging from his shoulders and a set of spoons in his hands, Hill and company delivered a thrilling version of Jimi Hendrix’s “May This Be Love,” which would remain one of my favorite performances of the festival.

Katrina Orphan: Jazz, funk singer, writer finds home and new life in N.C.

Leigh Harris left her native New Orleans four years ago, after Hurricane Katrina swept through.

The house she lived in suffered only minor damage, but the sight of her city and its people, so devastated by the storm, left her with deep emotional scars.

Harris had developed quite a following on the New Orleans music scene, most notably as lead singer of Little Queenie and The Percolators in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The group's signature song was "My Darling New Orleans." And she performed on stage with musical legends such as B.B. King, Sun Ra and Elvis Costello.

June Yamagishi Hits the Spot

Why Mojo?

You know, I was playing with Henry Butler every Tuesday at Tipitina’s in the French Quarter and somebody asked for me one night: “Where y’at?” Henry Butler said, “He’s around the coffee shop on Magazine and Race.” Some Japanese people came ask for me, where am I? So he said, “You go down to coffee shop on Magazine and Race and you can meet him.” I always hanging here. I was living in that building over there, on the corner. I started my new life here in 1995. Nobody knew me then. I’d just moved here from Japan.

Exclusive Interview with Sam of Big Sam's Funky Nation

I saw that you were playing trombone on stage. Have you always played that?

I started playing trombone in middle school, and it just took off from there. In Louisiana, band is the thing to do. Everyone's a part of something in school, and a lot of us were in band. It was cool because we performed and marched.

Musician 'sliding' around the world

It’s almost more fun to watch other fans watch slide-blues guitarist Landreth — a Breaux Bridge resident when he’s not on the road here in America and in Europe — than it is to watch Landreth.

As a mid-October Downtown Alive! attendee can attest, fans watch in wonder while Landreth plays his own version of glissando slide, in which he magically melds a Chet Atkins picking style with a Robert Johnson slide technique with, well, what seems like theremin-like hocus-pocus.

His between-the-notes technique leads to a “heavenly squall” of sonic beauty, as “Rolling Stone” magazine noted in the mid-1990s.