Wednesday, January 13, 2010

WWOZ Show Hosts Pick Best CDs of '09


Best New Orleans CDs of 2009


Here are the Best CD releases of 2009, handpicked by WWOZ show hosts. Many of the discs are by local New Orleans artists, while others are from national and international acts, and all of them make great gifts for yourself or loved ones.

Click on the Buy Now buttons next to each disc to purchase it from Louisiana Music Factory, iTunes, or Amazon, and give the gift of music!


Suzanne Corley [view show host profile]

Tudo Bem (Brazilian), Saturday 2-4pm
World Journey, Saturday 4-6pm

Brazil:
Carlos Careqa - Tudo Que Respira Quer Comer buy now button
Clara Moreno - Miss Balanço buy now button
Eliane Elias - Bossa Nova Stories buy now button
Marcio Local - Don Day Don Dre Don Don buy now button
Mart'nália - Minha Cara buy now button
Milton Nascimento & Jobim Trio - Novas Bossas buy now button
Rosalia de Souza - D'Improvviso buy now button
Teresa Cristina, Jussara Silveira & Rita Ribeiro - Três Meninas do Brasil buy now button

Iberia:
Buika & Chucho Valdés - El Último Trago buy now button
MadreDeus & A Banda Cósmica - A Nova Aurora buy now button
Rua da Saudade - Canções de Ary dos Santos buy now button
Tereza Salgueiro & Lusitânia Ensemble - Tereza Salgueiro & Lusitânia Ensemble

Africa:
Ablaye Cissoko & Volker Goetze - Sira buy now button
Baaba Maal (with the Brazilian Girls) - Television buy now button
Béla Fleck - Thrown Down Your Heart: Africa Sessions buy now button
Lura - Eclipse buy now button




George Ingmire [view show host profile]


New Orleans Music Show, Wednesday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
New Orleans All the Way Live, Saturday 7-8 a.m.

Alex McMurray - How To Be a Cannonball buy now button
Alex is a songwriting fool. His musical maneuvers are dangerously brilliant and edgy. Hand him a whiskey and put it on my tab.

Luther Kent - The Bobby Bland Songbook buy now button
A pleasant surprise of beautiful, soulful singing with the orchestrations of Wardell Quezergue to boot. Luther's story is worth checking into — blue-eyed soul at its finest.

Garage à Trois - Power Patriot buy now button
Don't leave this CD alone with anyone who's afraid of change, calico cats, or the big bad wolf.

Barbara Lynn - Here Is Barbara Lynn (re-issue) buy now button
This woman's singing and guitar work could charm snakes into doing your garden chores.

Neighborhood Story Project: 4 New Books
Not a CD, but a glance into the very heart of New Orleans nonetheless. These books, along with any of the prior releases are worth their weight in gold (eat your heart out, Glenn Beck). More info at www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org.




David Kunian [view show host profile]


Kitchen Sink, Tuesday 10 p.m. - midnight
Jazz Lunatique, Thursday 12-3 a.m.

Vijay Iyer - Historicity buy now button
Terence Blanchard - Choices buy now button
Fred Anderson - 80th Birthday Live At the Velvet Lounge buy now button
Steve Lehman - Travail, Transformation, and Flow buy now button
Alex McMurray - How To Be a Cannonball buy now button
Todd Snider - The Excitement Plan buy now button
Fast and Bulbous - Waxed Oop buy now button
Shane Theriot - Dirty Power buy now button
Steve Gardner/Washboard Chaz/Jake Leg Stompers - Walkin' the Dog buy now button
Allen Toussaint - Bright Mississippi buy now button
Ramblin' Jack Elliot - A Stranger Here



buy now button


Tom Morgan [view show host profile]


New Orleans Music Show, Tuesday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Jazz Roots, Wednesday 9 - 11 a.m.

My top 11 CDs by 2009 New Orleans artists listed alphabetically.

Jimmy Carpenter - Toiling in Obscurity buy now button
Topsy Chapman - 3 in 1 buy now button
Luther Kent - Bobby Bland Songbook buy now button
Los Po-Boy-Citos - New Orleans Latin Soul buy now button
Ingrid Lucia - St. Valentine's Day Massacre buy now button
Tom McDermott - New Orleans Duets buy now button
New Orleans Nightcrawlers - Slither Slice buy now button
Palmetto Bug Stompers - Live @ d.b.a. buy now button
Vic Shepherd - Crescent City Serenade buy now button
Allen Toussaint - Bright Mississippi (Nonesuch) buy now button
Luke Winslow-King - Old/New Baby (Fox On a Hill) buy now button




Charles Burchell [view show host profile]


Jazz from the Market with Charles Burchell
Monday 4-7pm

It's always hard to do this; I omitted just as many as I included. If you felt that I missed something, you're probably right. Anyway, here goes:

Donald Harrison-The Chosen (Nagel Heyer)buy now button
Terence Blanchard-Choices (Blue Note)buy now button
Jackie Ryan-Doozy (Open Art Productions)buy now button
Stefon Harris & Blackout-Urbanus (Concord Music Group)buy now button
Gerald Wilson Orchestra-Detroit (Mack Avenue)buy now button
Roy Hargrove Big Band-Emergence (Groovin' High)buy now button
Jesse Boyd-True Stories (Contrabass)buy now button
Clayton Brothers-Brother To Brother (Artist Share) buy now button
Dr. Lonnie Smith-Rise Up! (Palmetto)buy now button
Louis Hayes-The Timekeeper (18th & Vine)buy now button
James Moody-4A (IPO Recording)buy now button
Joe Lovano US Five-Folk Art (Blue Note)buy now button
Robert Glasper-Double Booked (Blue Note)buy now button
Jeremy Davenport-We'll Dance 'Til Dawn (Basin Street)buy now button




Black Mold [view show host profile]


New Orleans Music Show with Black Mold or Bill DeTurk
Friday 11am-2pm

Unlike some of my fellow DJs, I patiently waited until the year was OVER so I could include those CDs that didn't materialize until late December. Some of these CDs I haven't even played on the air yet. Disclaimer: Inclusion on, or exclusion from this list may, or may not be attributed to excessive use of drugs, alcohol, or the DEVIL. So here they are, locals and far-away-ers, in no particular order...

Damon Fowler – Sugar Shack - A real picker. Straddles bluz and country. buy now button

Eric Lindell – Gulf Coast Highway – His best yet (In my humble opinion). buy now button

Tom McDermott – New Orleans Duets buy now button

Commander Cody – Dopers, Drunks, and Everyday Losers – great stuff from an Old Master buy now button

Alex McMurray – How to be a Cannonball – DUH – one on New Orleans' finest songwriters. buy now button

Honey Island Swamp Band – Wishing Well – Great songwriting, well executed. buy now button

Little Joe Washington – Texas Fire Line – A fixture on the Houston blues scene in the 50's, homeless in the 70's, and on yer CD player in the 00's. His angst and desperation pour out past his last three teeth (but who needs teeth to sing the bluz?) buy now button

Rick Estrin and the Nightcats – Twisted – Fun stuff. Play it at yer next BBQ. buy now button

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux – Rising Sun buy now button

Shane Theriot – Dirty Power – killer guitar buy now button

John Boutte – with Doug Cox/ Salil Bhatt – Slide to Freedom 2 – John Boutte's soulful voice coupled with some Indian instrument with a whole lotta strings and some slide guitar. Plus they cover an Earl King song. And do 'Amazing Grace'. buy now button

Michael Juan Nunez – The American Electric – the Erath, LA quintuple threat – he writes the songs, he sings, he play guitar, he produces the CD, and he tap dances (just kidding about the tap dancing part). The guy does it all, and it all ROCKS. buy now button

Bonerama – It's their 1st studio CD; PLUS they do 'When the Levee Breaks'. Need I say more? buy now button

Rosanne Cash – The List – Yeah, it's the CD that everyone's talking about.buy now button


Radiators – The Lost Southlake Sessions – uncovered gems from the past buy now button

Brother Tyrone – Mindbender – A fine CD overall, but 'When It's Gone, It's Gone' is one my favorite 'Katrina' songs. A beautiful blend of humor and pathos. buy now button

Shannon McNally – Coldwater buy now button

Charlie Miller – And I don't even like Chrimmus CDs, but this one is simply beautiful. Just Charlie's trumpet (and occasionally his flute) putting his spin on the standards. buy now button

James McMurtry – Live in Europe, Disc 1 (Don't ask me about Disc 2 – it didn't make it to the 'OZ library) Yer basic live CD, which translates into 'Greatest Hitz'. I love this guy, he's the poet laureate of the underbelly of Middle America (Yeah, his dad's the famous author). And although it's not on this CD, if you want the definitive song about the Crystal Meth trade along the Texas/Oklahoma state line, get his song 'Choctaw Bingo'. Play it for yer in-laws, it'll make quite an impression. buy now button

Tom Russel – Blood and Candle Smoke - Old West mysticism, if yer into that sorta thing. buy now button

M for Mississippi – the soundtrack to the “Winner of the 2009 Blues Music Award for DVD of the Year”. Great raw jukin' bluz by a bunch of people you & I never heard of. It'll make you wanna get in a good bar fight. Google it, or call Andrew Grafe (Mondays 2 – 4 pm). buy now button

Things About Comin' My Way – A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks buy now button

Note to local musicians: If you wanna get some airplay on 'OZ, don't just drop off a SINGLE CD to the station. Those are the CDs that fall into the Black Hole and are never heard from again. You gotta bring a WHOLE LOTTA CDs to the station and put one in the mailbox of every DJ who you even THINK will play your stuff. Don't be cheap! (Mr. Toussaint, you're never gonna get anywhere in the music biz if you don't heed my advice. I'm just sayin'...)




A.J. Rodrigue (Boudin Man) [view show host profile]


Kitchen Sink 10 to 12 with A.J. Rodrigue and A.A.
Wednesday 10pm-Thursday 12am

Alex McMurray - How to Be a Cannonball buy now button
Clint Maedgan – Open Restraints buy now button
Preservation Hall Jazz Band – New Orleans Preservation Vol. 1 buy now button
Allen Toussaint - Bright Mississippi buy now button
Hart McNee – Bywater Blues buy now button
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life buy now button
Tom Waits - Glitter and Doom Live buy now button
Booker T w/Drive by Truckers and Neil Young – Potato Hole buy now button
Lil’ Band O’ Gold – Music From The film The Promised Land
Pine Leaf Boys – Homage Au Passe buy now button
Odoms – Let Me Atom buy now button
Forgotten Souls Bras Band – Big Chief / Indian Red (45) buy now button
Los Po-boy Citos – Brand New Dance / Trinidad (45) buy now button
Guitar Lightnin’ Lee and his Thunder Band featuring Antoine Domino III – Call up the Band buy now button
Cale Pellick – In the Loop buy now button


2009 Top Reissue

Snooks Eaglin – Baby, You Can Get Your Gun buy now button

It appears that Hepcat Records has the Black Top Catalog and is starting to rerelease some of the great recordings of Hammond and Nauman Scott! I see a couple of other Snooks releases are re-issued as well as Anson Funderburgh, Sam Myers and Ronnie Earl. Black Top released over 100 records in the 80's and 90's. Hope to see more in 2010!



No comments: