Watch: Wild Tchoupitoulas (taken from "Always for Pleasure" documentary)

Watch: TV Premiere of "Bury The Hatchet"

Bury the Hatchet, an acclaimed portrait of three Mardi Gras Indian Big Chiefs — Alfred Doucette, Monk Boudreaux and Victor Harris –premieres at 8 p.m. February 2 on the Documentary Channel, with additional broadcasts scheduled throughout the month. Peep a preview below.

Eric Overmyer’s Music Crypt – Part 1

When I asked Eric Overmyer for a list of songs deserving of wider recognition, I expected a mere list. What I received was a dissertation. We’ll break the list into a few smaller posts. But, taken together, it brings to mind a radio program hosted by Billy Delle on WWOZ called, Records from the Crypt. Every now and then Billy will talk about how he has gone way back in to the annals of the crypt to retrieve some particularly special sonic gem. Most folks don’t have music crypts as deep as Billy’s and Eric’s. The quest for these obscure gems may send you searching online and through stores specializing in old vinyl. Consider Jim Russell’s Records in New Orleans for your rare record needs.
--Lolis

My list of semi-obscure/not-quite forgotten New Orleans/South Louisiana albums/songs/performers/artists. Off the top:
Let's start with the oldest. Danny Barker and The Baby Dodds Trio recorded (possibly) the first versions of Mardi Gras Indian songs, and set what had been plain percussion and chant to instrumentation. Danny was a seminal figure. He was born in the French Quarter, a member of the Barbarin family, founder of the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, which nurtured several generations of musicians, including Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Leroy Jones, Dr. Michael White, Joseph Torregano and many others, and gave birth to the Dirty Brass Band and thus the whole modern brass band movement. Barker's version of "Indian Red" was heard in Season 1. My favorite tune from those sessions is "Tootie Ma Was A Big Fine Thing," which will also certainly appear on my list of Favorite Carnival and Indian Songs. The current incarnation of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band does a monster version of "Tootie Ma," with Clint Maedgen and Charlie Gabriel honking dueling tenors -- a perfect example of how New Orleans music is transmitted and transmuted down the decades.
As long as we're talking Indian music, how about Champion Jack Dupree and his version of "Yella Pocahontas," which was heard over a car radio in Season 1's Mardi Gras episode. Dupree was orphaned at an early age, his parents killed in a house fire -- which according to local lore was set by the Klan. He was sent to the Colored Waif's Home (Louis Armstrong's alma mater), was a Spy Boy for the Yellow Pocahontas Mardi Gras Indians, and left New Orleans for good in 1930 at the age of 20, for Chicago, and later Europe, becoming like many black musicians an ex-pat refugee from racism. There are a number of versions of "Yella Pocahontas" -- my favorite is the Rounder Records version on ‘The Mardi Gras Indians Super Sunday Showdown’ anthology, which features John Mooney on slide guitar, Walter Payton on bass, and Lil Crip and Bo Dollis of the Wild Magnolias on backing vocals.
And speaking of the Wild Magnolias, their ground-breaking records from the Seventies, ‘The Wild Magnolias’ and ‘They Call Us Wild,’ done with Willie Tee and his brother Earl Turbinton, which married nasty New Orleans funk and Mardi Gras Indian songs, sound as fresh as ever. We tried to get "New Suit" from ‘They Call Us Wild’ into Season 1's Mardi Gras episode but it was recorded on a French label, Barclay, and we couldn't get the rights -- the French never responded. Check it out -- it'll knock your feathers off.
--Eric Overmyer

WWLTV: Mardi Gras Indian Chief Bo Dollis receives major national honor

Credit: J. Nash Porter / NEA

Dominic Massa / Eyewitness News

NEW ORLEANS -- It isn’t very often that a Mardi Gras Indian travels from the streets of Central City to the Library of Congress, but Chief Bo Dollis will do just that in September. That’s when he’ll receive one of the nation’s highest honors for folk arts – a National Heritage Fellowship and $25,000 award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

The award, to be announced Friday, is the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. Dollis is one of nine recipients this year. Another Mardi Gras Indian icon - Big Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana, who died in 2005 - was honored with the same award in 1987.

Dollis, 67, is leader of the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indian tribe. He has masked as an Indian for more than 45 years and become known even more for his musical talents, performing signature songs such as “Handa Wanda” with the Wild Magnolias.

In its citation honoring him, the National Endowment for the Arts praises Dollis for taking “the music and traditions of New Orleans from community gatherings to festivals and concert halls in cities all over the world.”

A native of Central City, Dollis became chief of the Wild Magnolias, named for the neighborhood’s Magnolia St., in 1964. As a young man, he first became exposed to the Indian traditions through the White Eagles tribe and later masked for the first time with the Golden Arrows.

Dollis and the Wild Magnolias performed at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and have since performed with New Orleans music greats such as Allen Toussaint, Earl King and Snooks Eaglin.

Dollis and the other NEA honorees will be invited to travel to Washington, D.C. in September for an awards presentation and banquet at the Library of Congress, as well as a concert.

“These artists represent the highest level of artistic mastery and we are proud to recognize their achievements,” said NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman in a news release. “Through their contributions, we have been challenged, enlightened, and charmed, and we thank them for devoting their careers to expanding and supporting their art forms.”

Dollis joins previous Louisiana honorees including the Treme Brass Band, New Orleans jazzman Dr. Michael White and Cajun artists Michael Doucet, Dewey Balfa and “Boozoo” Chavis, as well as the co-founders of the Louisiana favorites, the Hackberry Ramblers: Luderin Darbone and Edwin Duhon.

Nationally-known honorees in the past have included bluesman B.B. King, bluegrass icon Bill Monroe and gospel greats Shirley Caesar and Mavis Staples.

Village Voice: Beyond Jazzfest, Ruffled Feathers in New Orleans

Cultural growing pains in a rebuilt city

By Larry Blumenfeld

Near the end of Donald Harrison Jr.’s Congo Square Stage set on the opening Friday of this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, after the saxophonist segued from groove-jazz to bebop to something too rhythmically slippery to name, he walked quietly offstage. Minutes later, announced by tambourines and shrouded by red feathers with black highlights, he was back; only now he was Big Chief of the Congo Nation, enacting a tradition inherited from his father, who, during his life, was Big Chief of four different Mardi Gras Indian tribes. Harrison led his band through “Hey Pocky Way,” a modest 1974 hit for the Meters (and later for the Neville Brothers) with a title adapted from the Indians’ inscrutable language.

The Mardi Gras Indians are the most mysterious and essential of the indigenous cultures that define New Orleans; together with traditional jazz musicians, brass bands, and the Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs who mount Sunday-afternoon second-line parades, they’ve infused all strands of locally bred music since at least Jelly Roll Morton’s day. Beyond that, they’ve helped revive a city nearly left for dead in 2005. When Harrison fronts “A Night in Treme” at Brooklyn’s MetroTech Commons and Manhattan’s Jazz Standard this week, he’ll reference his ongoing roles—in cameo, as the basis for fictional characters, and as a script adviser—in HBO’s Treme, which showcases the primacy and power of New Orleans culture.

READ THE REST OF THE STORY HERE.

NPR: Tom Waits Sings Mardi Gras Music

This song and that rasp were made for each other.

Waits is singing here with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the tune is "Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing." It first appeared on the early 2010 compilation Preservation, a benefit album for Preservation Hall featuring tons of special guests (Del McCoury, Andrew Bird, Ani DiFranco, Dr. John, Merle Haggard, Steve Earle, etc.). It's also available, as you can see, on a limited edition 78 rpm record along with the B-side "Corrine Died On The Battlefield." That disc comes out this Friday, Nov. 19 (in New Orleans) and Saturday, Nov. 20 (online). Those not in Louisiana can visit the band website for more info.

Wait, a 78 rpm single? You mean those heavy suckers from before 1950? Yup. If you don't have a turntable capable of playing 78s, you can buy one of 100 custom record players from Preservation Hall's deluxe bundle. All I'm saying is that you New Orleaneans better not shut me and my AT-LP120 out on Friday.

Both songs are old Mardi Gras Indian tunes. For source recordings, see the Baby Dodds album Jazz A La Creole, referenced a number of times on HBO's Treme. (It's Danny Barker's group who plays them, but Dodds' name is on the jacket.) You might also know "Tootie Ma" from the Medeski Martin & Wood version with John Scofield.

Tulane Students Are Helping Mardi Gras Indians Gain Copyright Protection

In Pictures: Wild Magnolias @ BB King's

By Dino Perrucci Photography

Wild Magnolias w/Davell Crawford - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10



Davell Crawford & Benny Turner - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10


Wild Magnolias - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10


Wild Magnolias - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10


Wild Magnolias w/Tami Lynn - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10


Jamal Batiste - BB King's, NYC 9/26/10

50% Off Bo Dollis & Wild Magnolias @ BB King's

Bo Dollis' & the Wild Magnolias Celebrate the Traditions of the Mardi Gras Indians

B.B. King Blues Club (New York City, NY)

Discount Price: $12.50

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Bo Dollis' name is virtually synonymous with the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indian Tribe. Bo has been a legend almost from the beginning, because he could improvise well and sing with a voice as sweet as Sam Cooke, but rough and streetwise, with an edge that comes from barroom jam sessions and leading hundreds of second-lining dancers through the streets at Carnival time.

NPR: Post-Katrina, Music Still Thrives In New Orleans

Support the Clinic, Support the New Orleans Traditions...

Tradition bearers in New Orleans

The New Orleans Musicians Clinic describes the community it serves the following way:

“New Orleans musicians, tradition bearers, and their families.”

What are “tradition bearers?”

If you know New Orleans, you know that in addition to the city’s unique musical culture, the city also has social traditions – Mardi Indian tribes, social aid and pleasure clubs, and other groups – that are not found anywhere else in America.

In this video, Chuck Perkins, the New Orleans-born poet whose work is featured at the end of the video on the SavetheClinic.org home page, pays a visit on one of the city’s key tradition bearers: Mr. Ronald Lewis.

Are these traditions, worth supporting?

Of course they are.

Support the Clinic, support the traditions.

You can help New Orleans greatly by helping the New Orleans Musicians Clinic.

Every year, the Clinic provides free and low cost occupation-specific medical care to over 2,000 New Orleans musicians, tradition bearers, and their families.

Please share this page with your friends – and if you’re able, give.

http:/www.SavetheClinic.org

Thanks.

American Routes: Listen to Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indian chief, Bo Dollis

			From The Show: Carnival From the show "Carnival" originally aired on February 26th, 2003 Listen

In Pictures: Comanche Hunters Mardi Gras Indians @ Jazzfest

c/o Karl

CNN: Jazzfest Wrap Up

My Pictures from Jazzfest 2010

Here are a few of my favorites...



First Cochon de Lait Po Boys of the weekend. Purchased right before the rain came down.


Injuns on the Jazz & Heritage Stage.



the funky Meters finishing up their set at the Acura Stage





the Midnite Disturbers - back at the Jazz & Heritage Stage



James Andrews leading a second line in the Blues Tent



Great crowd getting down to the Hot 8 Brass Band to wrap up the weekend.

In Pictures: Mardi Gras Indian Super Sunday

Photos by John Doheny

SEE MORE PICS HERE

NY Times Slideshow: In New Orleans, Getting Serious Over Suits

NOPD vs. Mardi Gras Indians

By Chris Rose (click on pic for article)

NolaFunky A/V Lagniappe

Home of the Groove: "Mardi Gras Indian Variation

Well, it's way past time for more Carnival tunage up in here. TheHOTG webcastis streaming music of the season 24/7 through Mardi Gras Day, too. So, hit that anytime for more fun. But, right here, right now, I'm posting a track each from the Wild Magnolias and the Wild Tchoupitoulas for our holiday festivities; and, in between, we'll have intense, live Mardi Gras Indian-influenced funkitude from Professor Longhair, plus a pretty obscure seasonal groove offering that owes an obvious debt to Fess. So, prepare to loose that Who Dat! booty. It's Mardi Gras comin', y'all.

American Routes ~ Second Lines and Black Pots: American Routes Live in Louisiana

February 10th, 2010 ~ Come stir the pot with American Routes as we bring you a sampling of great live music from our home state: Louisiana. First we'll stop by the soon to be legendary BlackPot Festival in Lafayette for some new flavors of Cajun and Creole tunes, as well as some old favorites by special guests. Then we'll walk through the streets of New Orleans with the Prince of Wales Social Aid and Pleasure Club during their annual second line parade.

Groovescapes: "The OG Vol. 6: The Rebirth Brass Band"

S

uffice it to say that the city of New Orleans is caught up in an unprecedented state of merriment. Tuesday, an estimated 800,000 people showed up at the Saints’ Super Bowl parade – a glorious occasion, if I might say so myself. Now, what can only be predicted to be the largest Mardi Gras celebration in history is just about to kick off. In keeping with the spirit of the season – and the brass band theme – I’ve got an OG lined up for today that’s sure set the weekend off right. My subject for this week’s column is Crescent City favorite, the Rebrith Brass Band.

MP3: Rebirth Brass Band – When the Saints Go Marching In / Who Dat

MP3: Rebirth Brass Band – My Song

Formative Power of New Orleans' Marching Bands

“If you’re in here you’ve got to be willing to work,” he said. “One slip of the tongue, that’s one less person. One slip of the hand, that’s one less person. We need everybody.”

In the cramped band room of the West Bank charter school, that “everybody” is more than 100 students strong. It includes novices who only recently picked up an instrument and students with so much musical experience their horns feel like extensions of their hands.

Such large, ambitious marching bands have become a relative anomaly in a city famous for its second-lines, brass bands and musical luminaries, however. More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, band leaders say they are fighting to ensure the tradition thrives in a dramatically altered public school landscape.

The decline of that tradition, they fear, would mark the loss of an activity — a passion — that, over the decades, has kept scores of the city’s teenagers connected to school. The best band directors realize that strong marching bands can bolster strong academic programs in the long run, particularly if the music and academic classes are well integrated. And in some cases, “if you keep an instrument in a kid’s hand, it will keep a kid from picking up a gun,” said Elijah Brimmer, a longtime band director in the city.

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.