Jazzfest Second Weekend Just Kicked Off!

I'm back from Jazzfest and lots of recaps to follow. In the meantime, here's Groovescape's second weekend preview...

Here we go again… The second weekend of Jazzfest 2009 kicks off tomorrow. Are you ready for the home stretch? You know we are! Between the hours of 11:00am and 7:00pm each day, roughly 60 artists will be letting it all hang out at the Fair Grounds. Among them are: Theresa Andersson, the Meter Men, Emmylou Harris, John Scofield & the Piety Street Band, Beau Soleil avec Michael Doucet, Zachary Richard, Dr. John, John Mayhall, Allen Toussaint, Neil Young, Buddy Guy, the Neville Brothers and many, many more. While it may me impossible to catch every set, there’s certainly more than enough talent going around to fill your soul. Just as we did last week, we’ve compiled a list of our top 10 picks for each day of the Fest. Continue reading for information on the artists, stages, dates and times…

Click HERE for the rest.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Home of the Groove's "Three To Get Ready For Mardi Gras"
(a little late, but still good listening)

Mardi Gras' coming and it won't be long. . .so let's get further in the mood right now with some more Mardi Gras Indian-related music. . . .

101 Runners ft Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Maple Leaf, 2/18/09

Indian Funk – a sound rooted in tribal rhythms, call-and-response chants, and New Orleans funk. Initially developed by The Wild Magnolias in the early 70s, today, the 101 Runners uphold and enrich this authentic and invigorating tradition. This night joined by another seminal pioneer of the Mardi Gras Indian sound (former member of The Wild Magnolias and current member of the Golden Eagles) Big Chief Monk Boudreax (who also played a significant role in The Wild Magnolias’ recordings), the 101 Runners kicked off the biggest celebration in the United States at the Maple Leaf.

George Porter Jr., Neil Young, Jazzfest, and What It Means to Miss New Orleans

Jazzfest 2005 was another tuning point for me… the moment I really understood what it meant to miss New Orleans: I found it in the music. The Meters Reunion really drove things home. Soon, I found myself venturing to New Orleans regularly to absorb myself in the scene. Local bands, touring bands – practically went out the window. At any random moment, without hesitation, I’d be up for heading down to the Big Easy. Johnny Vidacovich is playing at the Maple Leaf; Bloc Party is coming to One-Eyed Jacks; it’s Wednesday; I’m going to New Orleans. I had also figured out how I was going to see Neil Young: Farm Aid. So I bought tickets to the 20th Anniversary Farm Aid slated for September 18th in Chicago. Then Hurricane Katrina hit. removed myself from the medical field and revived my faith in music.

Groovescape's Slideshow of Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Roadmasters @ Maple Leaf



Trumpeter Leroy Jones adds strings to his lush, romantic jazz

Appropriately, Jones is releasing "Sweeter Than a Summer Breeze" with a Valentine's Day show Saturday, Feb. 14 at Donna's Bar & Grill. Among the musicians joining him onstage is his wife, Katja Toivola, a trombonist. A native of Finland, she met Jones while in New Orleans researching her ethnomusicology master's thesis on brass band jazz. They've been together for 12 years, and married for three.

Jones knows brass band history -- he's part of it. In the early 1970s, he cut his teeth as the 12-year-old leader of the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band. The late banjoist and raconteur Danny Barker organized the ensemble to rekindle interest in traditional brass band music among young musicians. The Fairview unit evolved into the Hurricane Brass Band, with Jones out front.

The Meters — Jackson, MS (10/5/1975)

DOWNLOAD HERE.

01 7:35 Wildflower
02 11:51 Thank You Falettin Me Be Mice Elf
03 8:46 Lively Up Yourself
04 13:58 Middle Of The Road%
05 5:35 People Say
06 19:54 It Ain’t No Use
07 6:35 E: Hey Pocky Way

Doucet, BeauSoleil take home Grammy



MC Trachiotomy and His Creepy Abode

MC Trachiotomy is the king of New Orleans, sitting on a throne in a ramshackle palace full of huge mechanical puppets, 18th century antique instruments, a defunct (fully stocked) wallpaper store, a warehouse full of weird artifacts, and plus there’s a 24-hour taco truck in the backyard. It's called the Pearl Lounge, and it hosts a crazy live rock and hip-hop party every Sunday night from midnight to 6 AM in the upper Ninth Ward. He got his start in the screamo pyromaniac band Crash Worship, then in 1995 disappeared into the purple smoke of lo-fi percolation in a voice that sounds like the reason for which he named himself. He's toured the world repeatedly, loves the tropics and Greece, and played with the Butthole Surfers at their reunion shows last year. So hey, let's find out more about this guy.

His longtime buddy Quintron says he once "painted himself green and cradled an empty coke bottle like a baby as a stunt to ward off City clean up-crews. And he trained his dog Pablo to bark at smoke machines."

The Roots of New Orleans Funeral Music

Today’s YouTube masterpiece is a morbid bluesy number with a Spanish tinge that was published in 1857. I discovered it because Jelly Roll Morton quotes it in “Dead Man Blues.” This song is still around in the New Orleans funeral style that Jelly Roll was riffing on — you hear this tune as the gothic minor snippet before things get happy.

NolaGrammy Nominees (c/o Weekly Beat)

MICHAEL DOUCET VS. MICHAEL DOUCET

On Sunday night, the 51st annual Grammy telecast will air and for the second time, the Best Cajun or Zydeco Album award will be given. The nominees this year are all from Louisiana:

BeauSoleil ave Michael Doucet: Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Michael Doucet: From Now On
Pine Leaf Boys: Homage Au Passé
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys: Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Cedric Watson: Cedric Watson

With the inclusion of the MunckMix CDs live from Jazz Fest, that means BeauSoleil's Michael Doucet is competing against himself. Or, for those with betting interests, he has a two out of five chance of taking home a trophy. This year's Best Contemporary Blues Album is also dominated by Louisianans - real and honorary - as Irma Thomas' Simply Grand, Dr. John's City That Care Forgot and Marcia Ball's Peace, Love & BBQ are all nominated. Of course, Lil Wayne leads all nominees, contending in eight categories, but we have connections to numerous nominated artists and recordings. Drummer Doug Belote wrote to remind us that one track on Best Country Instrumental nominee Jerry Douglas' Glide was cut in New Orleans with New Orleans musicians. Songwriter Jim McCormick similarly corrected Alex Rawls' list of Louisiana connections to the Grammy. We knew he had a track on Randy Travis' Best Country Album nominee Around the Bend, but we neglected to mention his track on nominee Trisha Yearwood's Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love. Good luck to everyone up for Grammy or a small piece of one.