Hot 8, New Orleans's finest purveyors of 'roof-raising, jazz-infused, funk and hip hop fuelled marching band music', invade the Guardian for a rousing rendition of the Specials' Ghost Town. Transposed to a post-Katrina New Orleans and infused with raw live energy, it features on their new album The Life And Times Of…
Injuns on the Jazz & Heritage Stage.
the funky Meters finishing up their set at the Acura Stage
WWOZ Highlights from JazzfestIn 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.
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 ParadeHopeful Dispatches From the 40th Jazz & Heritage Festival
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.
The first twenty years in retrospect
Last year, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival presented by Shell generated an estimated $300 million in economic impact for the city of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area. An estimated 400,000 people attended the event over seven days in 2009. It wasn't always so.
The festival did not even break even financially in the early days and anecdotal evidence suggests that there were more musicians than music lovers at the first event, held in Beauregard Square (now Congo Square), in 1970.
There were several aborted attempts to create a jazz festival in New Orleans in the late 1960s. The Newport Jazz Festival was the template, but there were also two other festivals of significance, one in Monterey, California in 1968 and the more famous event in Woodstock, New York in August of 1969, that helped define the concept of an outdoor music festival.
French Quarter Fest Recap: April 19, 2009
To finish the evening, I made my way back to the Louis-Louis pavilion to catch the full on brass fury of Bonerama. But to my surprise, Susan Cowsill had since enlisted the help of Bone’s Craig Klein and was busy throwing a party of her own. Before long Bonerama stepped to the sage, closing out FQF with a hard rocking, funky heavy set of balls out brass. Anchored by the trombone squalls of Mark Mullins, Craig Klein and Greg Hicks, the Bones have recently enlisted the services of organist Joe Ashlar to fill the void left in the wake of trombonist Steve Suter’s departure from the group. Though one trombone light, they still brought the heat, and with Ashlar’s churning keys stirring the mix, their jams flowed deep into the funky vortex as the sun set behind them. And that just about wraps it up for French Quarter Fest 2009 – Talkin’ bout New Orleans, ya head!
Scenes from the Ole & Nu Style Fellas Social & Pleasure Club Second Line ParadeA scientist friend of mine once told me about a study he came across on pedestrian power and who gives up the right of way on the sidewalk. He said in this study, no one moved out of the way of immigrants. Generally people moved over for little kids, black men, white men, disabled people. The one group EVERYBODY moved out of the way of...
Behrend rocks with the Hot 8We started playing around the city like [marching bands]. We didn’t have cars. We weren’t big. After a while, some guys from another brass band and two of us got together and formed what became Hot 8.” The band remained relatively unknown until after the events following Hurricane Katrina.
The Gospel According to John ScofieldRR: There’s so many textures and colors on Piety Street: gospel, New Orleans jazz, blues, funk, sublayers of American jazz, classic rock ‘n’ roll, and I’d love to talk about the musicians that you gathered together for this project. There is strong chemistry with these collaborators starting right off with George Porter, Jr. on bass.
JS: Well, you know, when I decided to go to New Orleans, and wanted to record with New Orleans musicians, and have my music reflect the New Orleans tradition, he was the first person that I thought of for electric bass, for sure, because he’s made so many great records, been on the Meters side, and, also, all of the Allen Toussaint productions, and music that I was a fan of music coming out of that city. He’s legendary, and he sure does a great job. Man, he’s totally a great musician, covers his stuff, and brings his groove to it, and we just had a wonderful time playing together.
RR: Jon Cleary sure matches up quite well with your guitar playing.JS: Oh, thanks. I’ve been a big fan of Cleary’s. I think I met him about 18 years ago. He blew me away then, and still does now. When I was thinking that we should do these gospel tunes, and really have vocals, I mean, I just love his vocal interpretations—the way he can phrase. He’s one of the great soul singers of our day, really. His piano playing is phenomenal. I knew he would be perfect for this. I was really lucky to get him. I feel like he’s the star of the album.
Isidore “Tuts” Washington“Tuts” was another New Orleans Piano legend. Born January 24, 1907 in New Orleans he started to teach himself how to play piano at age 10 and then studied with New Orleans jazz pianist Joseph Louis “Red” Cayou. He played with many jazz and Dixieland groups through the 20s and 30s. Hos keyboard style blended elements of ragtime, jazz, blues and boogie-woogie.
After living and playing in Saint Louis for many years he returned to New Orleans and in his later years he became a staple at the lounge of the Pontchartrain Hotel on the corner of St. Charles and Jackson Avenues on the edge of the Garden District.
Glen David Andrews & Friends
You walk around a corner and in a parking lot on a Sunday afternoon, you can stumble on more music than most cities produce in a year. Glen David Andrews hosts an open percussion jam session with friends.
Antoinette K-Doe's funeral was an appropriately colorful farewell
Antoinette K-Doe's funeral procession on Saturday included the mannequin of her late husband, Ernie K-Doe, which rode in a mule-drawn carriage.In her final appearance, Antoinette K-Doe sold out St. James Methodist Church.
By the start of Mrs. K-Doe's funeral service Saturday morning, the neighborhood church on Ursulines Avenue had exceeded its standing-room-only capacity. A police officer turned away late arrivals, who pooled on the sidewalk to await the subsequent second-line.
Mrs. K-Doe, the widow of New Orleans rhythm & blues singer Ernie K-Doe and his equal in the annals of eccentricity, died of a heart attack early Mardi Gras morning.
Antoinette K-Doe, RIP. Remembering a great New Orleanian.Rally of the Dolls: Separated by a generation — and now, by 2,000 miles — friends Antoinette K-Doe and Miriam Batiste Reed have teamed Up to bring the Baby Doll tradition back to Mardi Gras.
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Even by New Orleans standards, the jazz funeral for Lloyd Washington was a singular event. First, there was the date: Oct. 24, 2004, or four months after Washington, a singer and member of the final Ink Spots lineup, succumbed to cancer at 83. (Unable to provide a proper burial for her husband, Hazel Washington had kept his ashes safe in a small urn enshrined at the Ernie K-Doe Mother-in-Law Lounge on Claiborne Avenue.)
Second, there was the setting: the Musicians' Tomb at St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, a space in the Barbarin family mausoleum specially designated for local artists and their spouses. In a colorful procession that included two comrades' vehicles, Antoinette K-Doe's pink limousine and Geannie Thomas' red pickup truck, one of the last survivors of the legendary R&B group became the first musician laid to rest in the historic tomb.
NPR's Chronicling Black New Orleans' Untold Story The streets of Faubourg Treme were once home to an untold history of New Orleans — a story that has now been rekindled in a new documentary.
Tony Cox talks with resident and journalist Lolis Eric Elie about Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans
Video: Bonerama - Big Fine Woman Here's the video debut of New Orleans funksters Bonerama. This video for Big Fine Woman comes from PartyGras2009.com - a site anchored by PBS and Bonerama that will feature new music in the form of live shows, a single of a brand new song, or an archival release from back in the day every Tuesday in 2009…
Free Hot 8 Brass Band Download
Exclusive track – available from Tues 24th Feb for one week only!
Tuesday 24th February 2009 is Mardi Gras, and to celebrate, we’ve got an exclusive cut from Hot 8 Brass Band to give away absolutely FREE. Appropriately entitled “Steamin’ Blues”, this track is only available for one week, so click here to download this amazing joint from New Orleans’ finest, and get into the Mardi Gras spirit.
As Mardi Gras Rages, New Orleans' Music Scene Struggles to Recover
The history of musicians dealing with the storm's aftermath has been a mixed one. In the year after Katrina, benefits around the country helped musicians get home, get instruments, and get back to work. Then again, at Voodoo 2006, Duran Duran's Simon LeBon fretted from the stage over the devastation he saw on the drive from the airport — a corridor that looked more or less as it had pre-storm — and Wayne Coyne stopped the Flaming Lips' set to instruct New Orleanians on the importance of helping each other, perhaps mowing each others' lawns. Then and now, unmown lawns have been the least of the city's worries.
The VOODOO EXPERIENCE will return to Halloween weekend this October 30, 31 and November 1 in New Orleans’ City Park. This marks the third VOODOO EXPERIENCE that will coincide exactly with the Halloween weekend in a city that is as known for its magic as much as it is for its music.
"Every Mardi Gras is the Best Mardi Gras Ever"(A quote from Pete Fountain years ago in an interview with New Orleans journalist Rosemary James.)
And so it has always been, with every Mardi Gras being the one that is the favorite in your mind, tops in your memory. And so it is this year. Some impressions;
Mardi Gras in The Treme
Many years ago I lived in Brazil. And no matter how much acai or cafezinhos or palm oil I consumed, I could never ever keep up with my Brazilian friends and their partying - and I didn't even have a job during that time. I came to the realization at that point that to live in Brazil, one must develop Brazilian party muscles. This means learning how to survive on little to no sleep in pursuit of the party, knowing all hangover cures and at what point to activate which one, and attending each and every important celebratory function because, God forbid, folks raise the subject of 'that parade' or 'that party' and you can't add to the conversation because you weren't there.
Groovesape's photos from Blue Nile features the Andrews Family Band, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, James "12" Andrews, Revert "Peanut" Andrews, Glen Andrews, Glen David Andrews, Theresa Andersson, and My Name is John Michael.Groovescape's photos from the Maple Leaf features the 101 Runners, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, and Billy Iuso.
