NolaFunk Lagniappe

Meet The Radiators, Feel Their Energy…

This is an original New Orleans band. Like all New Orleans residents the band members went through Hurricane Katrina and the levy disaster that happened afterward, and the total damage and suffering it caused to their town. Although it has affected them all personally it has not slowed them down much. The Radiators have been producing original songs for over 30 years. Wow. The most amazing part of this phenom is that all of the original members are still playing together making this one of just a few long tenured bands. This New Orleans quintet has been together touring and writing songs long enough to have a cult following that fills venues everytime. They are an integral part of New Orleans and the re-vitalization of the town. They have had gigged at Tips and other New Orleans clubs for well over 20 years.

Homemade World: Quintron & Miss Pussycat

You don't expect to hear Mr. Quintron discuss a water pump. The world of Quintron and his wife/percussionist/puppeteer Miss Pussycat is rarely so mundane, but while in New York City for a show featuring his new album Too Thirsty 4 Love and an art show of Pussycat's puppets, the van broke down and had to be dealt with.

A more common context for Quintron and Miss Pussycat is theatrical, such as their performance in the Bingo! Parlour during this year's Voodoo Music Experience. Dressed in a blue, sparkled jumpsuit, Quintron settled in his console--a small bank of keyboards fronted with a car grill complete with headlights and a "Quintron" license plate, along with a mess of less obvious homemade instruments and Drum Buddy, his light-activated synthesizer with its signature inverted coffee can on top. When he sat down, a droning organ swell rose, part roller rink, part Phantom of the Opera. He nursed the drone along, then brought it under control and started to frame it into a song. When the rhythm kicked in, Miss Pussycat stood beside him shaking maracas dressed in red and white cozies that matched the puff on her head. The drone becomes "Waterfall," a ride-the-train dance party from the new album, and when it was over, it returned to the drone that spawned it and filled the space between songs.

Louis Armstrong - Basin Street Blues 1959
by Yedi

Drummer Herlin Riley comes home for the holidays

A big plus for the holiday season in New Orleans is that many of our musicians come in off the road and their names pop up on local club schedules. December listings blossom with those who we boast as local artists but who in reality are internationally renowned musicians.

Dr. John's 429 Records Debut "CITY THAT CARE FORGOT" Nominated for "Best Contemporary Blues" Grammy

Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack, Jr.), has secured a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Contemporary Blues Album" for his 2008 recording "CITY THAT CARE FORGOT." He recently signed to the Savoy Label Group's 429 Records which released the heartfelt homage to his hometown of New Orleans. Described by USA Today as "a rambunctious and furious post-Katrina polemic," "CITY THAT CARE FORGOT" is both an eloquent and an angry musical venting of emotions surrounding the devastation and lack of response to the Katrina disaster. This is Dr. John's 11th Grammy Award nomination overall having won the award in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 2000. The 51st Grammy Awards will be held on February 8th.

Louisiana Grammy Nominees Announced (from Weekly Beat)

This year Louisiana didn't have to rely on the jazz, blues and Cajun/zydeco categories to get a little love. Lil Wayne and Tha Carter III did the heavy lifting, garnering nominations for Album of the Year, Best Rap Solo Performance ( "A Milli" ), Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (he competes against himself here as he's on Jay-Z's "Swagga Like Us" and Jay-Z's on his "Mr. Carter" ), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ( "Got Money" ), Best Rap Song ("Lollipop" and "Swagga Like Us" ) and Best Rap Album.

But Weezy's not the whole story. Terence Blanchard is nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo for "Be-Bop" from Live at the 2007 Monterey Jazz Festival, and the Blind Boys of Alabama are up for Best Traditional Gospel Album for Down in New Orleans, which they recorded here at Preservation Hall with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Hot 8 Brass Band, Allen Toussaint and more. Louisiana and friends own the Best Contemporary Blues Album category, with three of the five nominees from the area: Marcia Ball (Peace, Love & BBQ), Dr. John and the Lower 911 (City That Care Forgot) and Irma Thomas (Simply Grand).

The Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album will be contested for the second time this year by BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet (Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival), Michael Doucet (From Now On), the Pine Leaf Boys (Homage Au Passé), Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys (Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival) and Cedric Watson (Cedric Watson). Once again, Harry Shearer is nominated for Best Comedy Album, this time for Songs of the Bushmen.

Tulane offers Jazz Studies and New Orleans Music

Tulane University is expanding its graduate degree program in Musicology with a concentration in Jazz Studies and New Orleans Music.

The Department of Music is actively seeking applicants for the expanded program, which launches in Fall 2009 and includes funding for tuition waivers and stipends for up to five students. Applications are due February 1, 2009.

Interview: Jimmy of The Subdudes

New Orleans’ rockers and masters of harmony The Subdudes recently did something they’ve never done since getting together way back in 1987 - put out a live concert video. If almost to make up for lost time, the sweet sounding quintet have put out an inspired double DVD documentary and concert film displaying two completely different sides of the band’s music.

Filmed over the course of three days in Annapolis Maryland, The Subdudes Live at Ram’s Head and Unplugged at Pleasant Plains two-DVD set contains 15 song selections from two nights of concerts at The Ram’s Head on the first disc. The second disc features 70 minutes of interviews, an unplugged set and original studio footage shot while creating and recording the Street Symphony album with legendary producer George Massenberg in Nashville Tennessee. We recently spoke with ‘dudes’ bassist Jimmy Messa about the band’s first DVD…

Trumpeter Christian Scott fights for the future of jazz

"If I hear it a certain way, that's the way it's going to be," Christian Scott says.When asked about the state of jazz, Christian Scott's mood sours. "The [stuff] is garbage," said the New Orleans-born trumpeter, speaking by phone from San Francisco, his voice sharp, direct. "I mean, you want the truth?"

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A Marsalis who is drumming up the "life aspects" of music

Drummer Jason Marsalis credits a lunchtime conversation at Lil Dizzy's Café with fellow percussionists Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell for his greater appreciation of the "life aspects" of music. The three New Orleans drummers were at the Tremé restaurant to prepare for their tribute to the legendary Max Roach for an upcoming set at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. As it turned out, the performance became a highlight of the festival.

Threadhead Records: New Susan Cowsill Project Kicks Off in January

Threadhead Records, a recently launched fan-supported label organized by devotees of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (and NOLA music, in general), is now accepting contributions to fund the new CD from Susan Cowsill.

Singer-songwriter Cowsill, most recently of the Continental Drifters, and most famously the youngest member of late ’60s family band the Cowsills (inspiration for television’s “Partridge Family”), is headed to the studio in January to record her second solo album.

Her first solo release, Just Believe It, recorded shortly after Hurricane Katrina, is being remixed and remastered for a January release on Threadhead Records. That 2005 disc, featuring guest appearances by Lucinda Williams, Vicki Peterson, and Adam Duritz of Counting Crows, generated loads of critical acclaim.

The Meters - Hand Clapping Song (♫)

In their 25-year history, The Meters have grooved their way around the globe. They have toured with such talents as The Rolling Stones, and have been the rhythm for such diverse artists as Dr. John, Paul McCartney, Robert Palmer and Patti Labelle.

Considered by many to be the founding fathers of funk, The Meters created a unique sound that lasted through the sixties and seventies and was reborn in the late eighties. Their trademark sound blends funk, blues, and dance grooves with a New Orleans vibe.

New Orleans Music World Lacks Business Opportunities

New Orleans is internationally known for its rich musical culture as well as the birthplace of jazz music. Although the city still maintains its image for being a musical mecca, it has been facing a paradox between the music industry and its music. The music industry has been having a hard time matching with the overabundance of musical talent in New Orleans.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Royal Fingerbowl reunites for a live recording as frontman Alex McMurray plans another solo project

Royal Fingerbowl coalesced around the Frenchmen Street music scene in 1995 to showcase McMurray as a Tom Waits/Leon Redbone/"Ice Cream Man"-era David Lee Roth composite singing evocative tales of down-and-out life in New Orleans. Barely a year later, having rarely performed outside Orleans Parish, the band signed with TVT Records, the New York label that broke Nine Inch Nails.

The trio -- McMurray, drummer Kevin O'Day and bassist Andy Wolf -- released its TVT debut, "Happy Birthday, Sabo!," in August 1997. By the time "Greyhound Afternoons" came out three years later, Nuccio occupied the drum chair; Perrine would soon take over on bass.

Home of the Groove's "Chuck Carbo: Good Things Come To Those Who Wait"


The Spiders. L-R: Chick Carbo, Joe Maxon, Oliver Howard, Chuck Carbo, Matthew West

New Orleans funk fans and collectors are probably most familiar with Chuck Carbo from the one-off 45 sides he made for and with Eddie Bo in 1969 that have appeared on several compilations; but, as seriously funky as it was, that record really didn't provide a great showcase for someone who is considered by many, including me, to be one of the city's best and most under-appreciated R&B vocalists. Although Carbo's career spanned over five decades, he put his talent on the side for many years to support his family with day jobs and did not have much of a solo singing career until late in his life. I have had this post simmering since Chuck's death at 82 this past July. My perpetual state of project overload often keeps me from getting to HOTG posting in a timely manner; but, things do eventually come around for those who wait. If you're still with me, let's take a listen to some Chuck Carbo cuts with good grooves as well as vocals, and give some props to another great one who's now gone.

Live: Quintron and Miss Pussycat are Swamp Buggy Badasses at Santos

Quintron and Miss Pussycat
Santos Party House

Monday's main attraction was sexy cartoon lady Miss Pussycat, the hands behind VBS's puppet “soap-opera” Trixie and the Tree Trunks, and her organ-taming, jam-skating life-partner Quintron. Two nights before, Pussycat opened an art show at Live With Animals in Williamsburg; Monday was the official release party for Too Thirsty 4 Love, Quintron's month-old, 11-song bogland bonanza that features him on the cover with fangs, a python, and a grinning older woman in a see-through top. He and Andrew W.K. are apparently old pals—this was the New Orleans couple's first local headlining performance in years—and neither one gave a shit that tomorrow the rest of us had to work. “Do you realize how many people around the world would give anything to be in Manhattan?” screamed Andrew, who these days uses shampoo and wears a wedding ring. “Let's enjoy this moment!”

Fats Domino Documentary To Air On PBS

When Katrina swamped his Lower 9th Ward neighborhood and 80 percent of his hometown with floodwater, Domino lost his home, three pianos, dozens of gold and platinum records and other memorabilia. So, when the 80-year-old singer took the stage at a popular New Orleans club for the first time after the 2005 storm, fans cheered and cried as he bopped the upbeat strains of "I'm Walkin"' and crooned "Ain't That a Shame," along with a host of other hits. Footage from that appearance in May 2007, his first and last since Katrina, is the basis of a new documentary, "Fats Domino: Walkin' Back to New Orleans," that will air on public broadcasting stations over the next few years.

see also: R&B music legend Fats Domino documentary has special meaning to local filmmakers



ON THE ROAD WITH PHJB #7: Charlie Gabriel & Clint Maedgen duet backstage





Voodoo Experience 2008 (The Hidden Voodoo)


Paul Sanchez and The Rolling Road Show

Voodoo Experience: The Tenth Ritual

Bonerama is a brass band of a completely different sort. They carry no trumpets or saxophones, but they do feature trombones, sousaphones, one electric guitar and drums. They not only have updated the sound, but they have redefined it. On Saturday, their version of "When The Levee Breaks" was done as if Led Zeppelin arranged it. Since the festival was at the edge of Bayou St. John in New Orleans (an area that experienced flooding after Hurricane Katrina), the presentation was completely surreal.

Immediately following Bonerama on the WWOZ Stage was Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk. Yes, he's one of those Nevilles. His band, moreover, is quite simply the best jazz/funk/rock fusion outfit to emerge from New Orleans since the Meters. Taking the stage at dusk, the band delivered a blistering set which included "Stinky," "Livin' In A World Gone Mad" and "Turn This Thing Around."

Movie role hardly a stretch for jazz musician

"Rachel getting married . . . ," Donald Harrison Jr. muses before the friends and family assembled at a fictional wedding. The setting is director Jonathan Demme's latest critically acclaimed work, starring Anne Hathaway; Harrison's opening line is the film's title.

Harrison's character, a jazz musician and close friend of the bride's father who is a music industry executive, isn't a stretch. Yet Harrison inhabits it with the same arresting blend of charisma and humility that he brings to the various roles he plays in his native New Orleans. They include jazz saxophonist and bandleader, with a new album, "The Chosen"; mentor to young players through a weekly nonprofit workshop; and Big Chief of Congo Nation, extending the Mardi Gras Indian tradition he inherited from his late father.

Po'Boy Preservation Festival This Weekend in New Orleans

It's good to know a po'boy preservation society exists. These dedicated folks organized the second annual Po'Boy Preservation Festival, happening this Sunday on five blocks of Oak Street in New Orleans. We were at last year's inaugural fest, and this year the same po'boy fanaticism is expected—panelists on the sandwich's history, a taste-test from local vendors, and even some love for the po'boy's Italian cousin, the muffuletta.

Upcoming: Quintron and Miss Pussycat @ Santo's Party House (11/10)

ONLY QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT LIVE PERFORMANCE IN THE TRI-STATE AREA !!!


(courtesy of Bingo! Parlour)

Mr. Quintron is a very eccentric concert and nightclub organist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He plays music on a custom made Hammond / Rhodes combo synthesizer / organ (which he's got all built up to look like a car with real working headlights) backed by raw simple drum machine beats (think 808 boom chika boom through one BIG speaker with all the treble turned down) and his own patented invention THE DRUM BUDDY - a rotating, light-activated analog synthesizer which is played much in the same way that a DJ spins and scratches records. Of course let’s not forget about MISS PUSSYCAT who plays maracas and sings backup as well as entertaining all age groups with her highly amusing technicolor puppet shows. The Quintron / Miss Pussycat experience is one of barely controlled electronic chaos, "Swamp-Tech" beats, small explosions, incredible clothes, and entertaining puppet stories. You can see them perform regularly at the Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans, Louisiana or on one of their many tours around the world. This act somehow has equal relevance in sleazy nightclubs, pizza restaurants, and university lecture halls.

"What's This About A Drum Buddy?"


Wanna Know More?
Quintron On MySpace!
QuintronAndMissPussycat.com!

NolaFunk Lagniappe

The road goes on forever as Grayson Capps & the Stumpknockers peddle 'Rott-n-Roll' around the world

NOLA Radio: Here selected tracks from Grayson Capps' latest release now

Such a setting is conducive to "rott 'n 'roll, " the roadhouse-worthy blues-rock variation that is the Stumpknockers' speciality. "Rott-n-Roll" is also the title of the band's new CD.

Capps considers his ethnicity to be half Alabamian, half New Orleanian. He grew up in south Alabama, then lit out for New Orleans in the 1980s to attend Tulane University. He stuck around the Big Easy for another 16 years, fronting "thrash-folk" ensemble the House Levelers and blues-rock combo Stavin' Chain.

In 2002, he launched the Stumpknockers, his primary musical outlet ever since. His national profile received a boost when a novel by his father became the 2005 feature film "A Love Song for Bobby Long, " starring John Travolta and Scarlett Johansson. Capps appeared in the movie and wrote its theme, "Lorraine's Song (My Heart Is a Lonely Hunter), " which was briefly touted as a possible Oscar nominee for Best Original Song. His first-ever limousine ride deposited him at the red carpet for the movie's Hollywood premiere.

Burning Wood's "LET'S FLY DOWN" NOLA WEEKEND PLAYLIST

ZIP FILE IS HERE

TRACK LIST
Couchmal- C.C. Adcock
(at the) Maple Leaf - Stanton Moore
Time For The Sun To Rise- Earl King
Love, Honor and Obey- David Egan
Blue Crescent- Dr. Michael White
Door Poppin'- John Boutte
By The Water- Snooks Eaglin
I Give It All To You- The New Orleans Bingo! Show
Manic Depression- Bonerama
Everyday I Have The Blues- Germaine Bazzle
People Say- Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen
True -James Booker



Home of the Groove's "Earl Palmer's Up-To-Date Funky Thing"

He played on an enormous wealth of well-known music - R&B, rock 'n' roll, and pop – both in New Orleans and after he moved out to Los Angeles in 1957 into the big time session scene. There's no way to capture all that Palmer accomplished (although Dave’s WFMU show comes close!). So, I've picked these three songs from the mid-1950s, when he was still active in New Orleans, that never cease to amaze me. I hope they’ll at least give a glimpse of Palmer playing complex, yet highly danceable grooves that have origins deep in the culture of his hometown.

PopMatters: The Zydepunks - Finisterre

On this album, the Zydepunks play big, barnstorming dance songs—massive, stomping, thumping, sweaty things with a piratical accordion played by a woman in a miniskirt and black stockings who is known in the publicity as Eve: no surname. If the musicians were performing this music live, then the floorboards would be shaking under the feet of the dancers, every ant in the room would be shooting out of its crevice or crack and running for safer ground. Beverages would fly.

Home of the Groove's "Percy Mayfield Declines Presidency"

Tongue firmly in cheek, Percy Mayfield teamed up with producer Johnny "Guitar' Watson back in 1974 for this musical declaration of non-service to his country as Commander-In-Chief - something about it limiting his ability to "frolic". The record was made some 20 years before Bill Clinton's unfortunate dalliance with an intern. So, besides being a great songwriter, Mayfield was a quite the political prognosticator. More likely, he just understood human nature. And, were Percy still with us, I am sure he would add a few more good reasons to the list about now. Anyway, I've always enjoyed this song, since hearing it years ago on the compilation LP, Atlantic Blues: Vocalists; and I chanced upon the 45 not too long ago, just in time for the run-up to Election Day.

Nolaphile's "Puppets, Music and General Weirdness- Quintron and Miss Pussycat and their Dark, Underground Art"

Feeling nostalgic for those Mister Rodgers days? Want to relax with some felt-covered friends? This Halloween, put on your best outfit and join DJ Quintron and Miss Pussycat for their latest psychedelic installment of outsider art – a collaboration of electronic music, odd outfits, and puppets, of course!

Bingo! pulls out the stops in the Bingo! Parlour

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Somehow, it isn't surprising that The New Orleans Bingo! Show, after only several years of putting on their part-carnival, part-rock cabaret act, have a stage named after them at Voodoo X.

After all, the group's blend of good music, punky spirit, multi-media entertainment and good old-fashioned weirdness is an apt symbol for the festival as a whole.

Review: Bonerama and George Porter Jr.

In a legendary square in the heart of New Orleans where over a century ago countless men fell in duels under the live oaks that still stand, last Thursday night’s show with Bonerama (BNR) and special guest George Porter Jr. was nothing about dueling and everything about two musical forces of today’s New Orleans coming together for an amazing night of musical celebration in a city that appreciates life just a bit more these days.

Keith Spera's picks for most memorable moments from the first nine years of Voodoo





Bingo! Parlour Profile: Snuff Sugar

One year ago Snuff Sugar was formed in New Orleans when guitarist Alex Price and drummer Dustin DiSalvo decided to bring their passion for music together to form a band. Writing songs and getting a feel for each other’s styles they decided to add bass. They didn’t have to go far because Dustin’s brother is a local artist known as DJMC Microphone. Having done a two-year educational stint in Lafayette after Katrina, DJMC Microphone was eager to work with his brother on the promising project.

One Track Mind: Tab Benoit "Fever For The Bayou"

As audacious as the claim might sound, Baton Rouge, Louisiana's own Tab Benoit is the Bayou State's answer to Stevie Ray Vaughan. It's a feeling I've had from the time I discovered his well-received debut Nice And Warm from 1992 and haven't wavered on that after about an album a year since then. He's got all the right traits for righteous swamp blues: a gritty, country-boy voice; a lean and funky blues approach; and a stinging, angular, soul-wrenching guitar attack.

Just as Vaughan had come to epitomize Texas blues, Benoit has done the same for Louisiana (even as his guitar licks borrow as much from Texas as it does a little further east). Moreover, Benoit likes to stress his Cajun roots, and often does so in the lyrics of his own songs, whether it be longing for the or reveling in the laissez les bon temps roulez attitude of the South Louisiana region.

That's just what he does for the title track from his superior 2005 release Fever For The Bayou. Benoit is one of the most consistently solid blues guys around and hadn't let success affect his music one iota, but "Fever For The Bayou" is where he goes even further than usual to blend the blues with zydeco. Since zydeco is really a Creole offshoot of the blues, Benoit isn't really inventing anything by doing that, just reminding us of the shared heritage of the two styles. The joyful chords he plays with his three piece band are full and are the kind of chords you'd hear out of an accordion.

Voodoo Podcast: The Funky & Freaky

One of the most refreshing things about Voodoo is the extent of locally based booking - the Bingo Parlour and the Noomoon Stage both promise eclectic billing straight out of New Orleans, with acts culled from Crescent City cult favorites, local legends, bohemian celebrities and just plain weirdoes. This podcast introduces a few. Thanks to Ben Jaffe and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the New Orleans Bingo! Show, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Alex McMurray and the Valparaiso Men’s Chorus, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Luke Allen and the Happy Talk Band, Hurray For The Riff Raff, the Zydepunks, the Bad Off, the Morning 40 Federation, and Andre Williams (pictured) and the New Orleans Hellhounds