Upcoming: 4th Annual Export NoLa

Big Sam's Funky Nation  website HILL COUNTRY Jan 6th: 11:20pm- 12:30am As the former trombone player of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Big Sam always entertains audiences with his exhilarating brand of high-voltage funk, rock, jazz, and hip-hop, termed "Noladelic Powerfunk." The San Francisco Chronicle asserts "[Big Sam is] the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz." Big Sam's Funky Nation engages and delights audiences across the country with their high energy performance and showmanship. Big Sam's Funky Nation has wowed crowds at major festivals/events, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Antibes Jazz Festival, Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Berlin Jazz Festival, SXSW, Jam Cruise and countless others. BSFN has also been featured in HBO's original series, "Treme,". Big Sam plays himself in multiple episodes, including scenes with Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint as they recorded the acclaimed Grammy-nominated album, River in Reverse.  Amanda Shaw website HILL COUNTRY Jan 6th: 10:05-11pm BROOKLYN BOWL Jan 7th: 8-9pm  When Amanda Shaw takes the stage, the petite fiddler commands the attention of the audience with a poignant and rhythmic sound that only a Louisiana prodigy could deliver. Amanda Shaw is a powerful performer, composer, and arranger who has been touring nationally and internationally since she was eight years old. She has recorded three critically-acclaimed albums, won a Big Easy Award for Best Female Entertainer and has even had two feature roles in Disney movies. The New Orleans native is a pioneer of the new breed of young, roots-based musicians who have embraced both the traditional sounds of Louisiana and the pop sounds of the mainstream. Mia Borders website HILL COUNTRY Jan 6th: 9-9:50pm HILL COUNTRY Jan 8th: 8-9pm  As a native of New Orleans, Mia Borders is an artist that represents the calliope of sounds that influence contemporary New Orleans' music. With a sound which may best be described as bayou flavored, funky, rhythm and blues with a sprinkling of rock n' roll, Mia is a dynamo on stage delivering songs that come with a sense of urgency. Mia has won over audiences at such festivals as New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, San Jose Jazz, Santa Cruz Blues, Bay Bridge, Houston iFest, Taos Mountain Music, and Telluride Cajun Fest. Chris Gray of the Houston Press wrote "Artists like Mia Borders are what makes festivals like iFest worth going to - walk up to the stage with no idea who this person is and walk away a fan." Mia will release her third CD early in 2012. Stooges Brass Band   website HILL COUNTRY Jan 6th (technically Jan 7th): 12:45-2am BROOKLYN BOWL Jan 7th: 10:45-Midnight Stooges Brass Band has been a premier New Orleans Brass Band since 1996. While appealing to the emotions of traditional jazz, the brass band fuses urban, pop and hip-hop influences to create a performance that speaks to the diversity of their audience. The band takes you on a musical journey with brass band arrangements of jazz classics like "Spain" by Chick Corea, a tribute to Michael Jackson, New Orleans secondline favorites and original compositions. The Stooges have developed an extraordinary history performing with Jessica Simpson, Jadakiss, Questlove, Black Star, Trombone Shorty, Galactic and Black Joe Lewis. The Stooges have toured nationally and internationally in Asia, Europe, and South America. In October, the Stooges Brass Band were crowned Red Bull Street Kings, besting the other New Orleans Brass Band competitors for the title. Stooges Brass Band will release a new CD in early 2012. Shamarr Allen and the Underdawgs website BROOKLYN BOWL Jan 7th: 9:20-10:20pm HILL COUNTRY Jan 8th: 10:45-12am Music has been a part of Shamarr Allen's life for as long as he can remember. A native son of the Crescent City, Shamarr is a former member of Rebirth Brass Band and Hot 8 Brass Band. After honing his skills in the brass band tradition Shamarr formed his own band, The Underdawgs, and forged a new sound layering elements of hip hop, rock, soul and pop over New Orleans roots. The band delivers a powerful wallop of fun, good music and genre bending blends producing an original sound which Shamarr has dubbed "hip-rock". Shamarr has shared the stage with Lenny Kravitz, Harry Connick Jr., Branford Marsalis, Willie Nelson, and R.E.M and performed at the White House for President Obama. The band toured Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as cultural ambassadors for the U.S. State Department. The Iguanas website HILL COUNTRY Jan 8th: 9:20-10:20pm  The pan cultural rhythms of New Orleans' musical heritage course through the heart of The Iguanas and their music. Latin shuffles, gritty funk, dark cinematic jazz and Basin Street horns all join hands to create world music in the true sense of the term. New Orleans is the singularity of the universe that is American Music and The Iguanas are some of its most skilled ambassadors. The Iguanas have released seven albums including a live recording from their performance at Wolf Trap. In 2008 The Iguanas received two Best of the Beat Awards for Best Country/Folk/Roots Rock Band or Performer and Best Country/Folk/Roots Rock Album for "The Iguanas: If You Should Ever Fall on Hard Times". The Iguanas will release and tour in support of a new full length CD in 2012.

NPR's Threadhead Records: A Musicians' Bank, Birthed On Message Boards

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Trumpeter Shamarr Allen, who has recorded both as a leader and sideman for Threadhead Records-funded projects, plays at the 2009 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

The Botanical Gardens in New Orleans City Park is a small jewel hidden behind a black iron fence. Statues of flutists and fauns stand beneath dripping Spanish moss, and walkways are lined with flowers in bloom.

On April 28, the doors to the Gardens were thrown open for Threadhead Thursday, a free concert on the night before this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The show featured some of Threadhead Records' top acts: Paul Sanchez, Shamarr Allen, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, Ensemble Fatien and Alex McMurray. The event marked the arrival of the four-year-old company as one of the top record labels for New Orleans music today.

That arrival is all the more remarkable for being driven by a non-profit group of volunteers. They started as fans, basically — fans from all over the world who shared a love for New Orleans music and who met in the message boards on www.nojazzfest.com. As they sustained long online comment threads, they began to call themselves Threadheads, and made arrangements to meet in person at New Orleans' annual Jazz Fest.

But these were unusually proactive fans.

They weren't content to accept the shows that local promoters put together; they wanted to put on their own concerts. So in 2005, they hired the bands they wanted to hear and ordered the food they wanted to eat for the first annual Threadheads Party. After Katrina, the private party morphed into a fundraiser for the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic.

Having solved the problem of getting the shows they wanted to see, the Threadheads turned their attention to making the records they wanted to buy. At the 2007 party, after a knock-out set by Sanchez, a singer-songwriter, and jazz vocalist John Boutte, Threadhead Chris Joseph asked when the duo was going to release these songs on an album.

"It was an innocent question," Joseph said, chuckling at his own naiveté then about the record business. "Paul said, 'We would if we had the money.' This light bulb went off in my head, and I said, 'How much would it take?' I expected him to say $100,000, but when he said $10,000, I told him, 'I could raise that.' I knew all the Threadheads had been touched by the show, and I figured if they had enough money to go to Jazz Fest, which is not a cheap vacation, they would kick in some money for this."

It worked. The Threadheads raised enough money to make possible Boutte's Good Neighbor and Sanchez's Exit to Mystery Street, both released in 2008. Three years later, Threadhead Records has released 40 albums, including titles by Susan Cowsill (of the Continental Drifters and Cowsills), Glen David Andrews (of Trombone Shorty's Andrews family) and the Honey Island Swamp Band.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

Vote for the next Threadhead Records project

Fan-funded New Orleans-based Threadhead Records is hosting a poll to help determine their next project. You do not have to register to vote. You just click on the link and can vote once per IP address per day through 10/18.


My favorites include: Midnite Disturbers (the all-star brass band, which has included Stanton Moore, Kevin O'Day, Skerik, Ben Ellman, Big Sam, Mark Mullins, Shamarr Allen, Troy Andrews, Kirk Joseph, Matt Perrine)

Tin Men feat. Alex McMurray, Matt Perrine (again) & Washboard Chaz

Injun Orchestra


Feel free to vote for your favorite.

Vote Here! Poll Closes at 12am est 10/18

One vote per IP address, per day. At the end of the week, the top 10 suggestions will be put up for a final vote. Final poll will be open for another week and at the end of that time, THR will choose a project from the top 3 most popular suggestions to pursue. Note: There is no guarantee that any project suggested will materialize into a THR project but THR will seriously investigate the possibility.

Who should we pursue for our next project?
	AfricanZydeco Revue
	RamaFest: Twangorama and Bonerama collaboration
	David Torkanowsky
	Kora Konnection
	Anders Osborne (?), Johnny Sansone and John Fohl
	VOW
	Germaine Bazzle
	groovesect and the soul project (soulsect)
	Threadhead Records All-Stars
	A childrens CD recording the music clinic kids
	All That
	Midnite Disturbers
	Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show
	Threadhead Records artists do the History of New Orleans music
	Wendell Brunious
	Christmas funk compilation
	Junko Pardners
	The Injun Orchestra
	Creole String Beans
	Brint Anderson
	Helen Gillet
	Joe Krown trio
	Bob Andrews
	(Big Fine) Ellen Smith
	John Gros
	Sasha Masakowski
	Tin Men
	Johnny Sansone
	Beatin Path

http://www.threadheadrecords.com

Watch: Shamarr Allen speaks out against oil crisis in new video

Shamarr Allen, Dee-1, Paul Sanchez and Bennie from the Hot 8 speak out on the Gulf Coast oil crisis with their new hit "Sorry Ain't Enough No More":

Check out the BP Oil Spillmeter HERE.

Stream: New Orleans Saints Tribute Songs

With the Jets season coming to a close, it's time to focus the excitement squarely on the Saints...

LAUNCH THE STREAM HERE.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Blind Blues Daddy's terrific new release

Whether you call Bryan Lee The Blind Giant of the Blues or Braille Blues Daddy, it does not matter. Lee, a New Orleans institution since 1982 had a long-time residency at the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street with his Jump Street Five. This writer saw Lee there in the eighties and was impressed by his Albert King influenced style and husky straight-forward singing to get the vinyl album they had for sale. When the Old Absinthe House stopped being a bar with entertainment, he moved on to other Crescent City venues as well as toured throughout the US and Europe. Since 1991 he has recorded for the Canadian Justin Time label which previously issued 11 albums (one being a compilation) by Lee has just issued “My Lady Don’t Love My Lady,” the third Lee recording that Duke Robillard has produced and it is a typically strong recording. Robillard put together the studio band of some of his long-time associates including bassist Marty Ballou, pianist Dave Maxwell, and saxophonists Gordon Beadle and Doug James with guest appearances by Buddy Guy and Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

2009 VOODOO Experience: REDUX!






In Pursuit of Bo-Consciousness - Part 7

Although the two would never exactly bond professionally, Joe Banashak hired Eddie Bo not only as a producer, arranger, and writer, but also as a recording artist. Starting in 1966, Bo worked primarily on projects for the Seven B label, including his own releases, and also did writing and production duties for Instant, Alon, Tune-Kel and Busy-B (busy he was). His impressive catalog for Seven B has been discussed and featured by Larry Grogan at hisFunky 16 Cornersweb-zine and blog, and, of course, by Martin Lawrie'sEddie Bo Discography; and I encourage you to look into those sources, if you haven't already. There was so much good Seven B material of Bo's to get into that I will have to come back to it at a (much) later date. I'll be focusing here on just a few of the other interesting records Eddie oversaw for Banashak at the time.

Dee-1 ft Shamarr Allen: Bring 'Em to the Dome






HBO's 'Treme' starts production on regular-season episodes

The first scenes captured for HBO’s “Treme” were sanctified by the smoke of Kermit Ruffins’ mobile barbecue rig, so no wonder it got a green light.

Ruffins plays himself in the pilot episode of the series, which was shot in March and April in New Orleans.

Set immediately post-Katrina, the drama intends to tell the city’s recovery story through fictional characters drawn from some of the real characters who were here then -- men and women who live and work in and around the peculiar vernacular culture known mostly to locals: second-line musicians, Mardi Gras Indians, cooks and chefs, music fiends, Kermit Ruffins.

The trumpeter showed up for his first day of work on “Treme” with his grill in tow – a gig is a gig, after all – and by mid-afternoon on the first day of shooting, the barbecue smoke drifting into the streets around the location set could’ve been the work of special-effects artists. In a way, it was.

Dr. John's weird New Orleans psych music

Years ago, I got turned on to the psychedelic New Orleans "voodoo" vibe of Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack, Jr.). His 1968 debut Gris-Gris is a fantastically weird amalgam of R&B, dark psych rock, and NOLA culture. I'd never seen footage of the Night Tripper, as Dr. John is also known, until today. Quite a spectacle.

The Maple Leaf Bar: Dive In

They’re up there in ‘shrine’ status, places to be venerated, get plastered in, danced to within inches of your life in, become besotted with great music in, rub elbows with as wide a mix of America as you’ll find at a really good dive in. Which is what Zagat, for god’s sake, lists the Maple Leaf Bar as in its section about New Orleans - not the other stuff, but the ‘top dive’ part.

ChazFest 2009: Jeremy Lyons & Deltabilly Boys

A Brand New “Who Dat”

OffBeat Staff

This year’s Saints have prompted a number of artists to record their own Saints song, so Carlo Nuccio – who wrote and recorded the original “Who Dat” more than 25 years ago – has returned with “Glory Bound,” an update of the song. The song features the return of Aaron Neville, who sang the song the first time around, and Theresa Andersson, along with Ivan Neville, Jon Cleary, Matt Perrine, Barry Foulon, Shamarr Allen, Joe Cabral, Ben Schenck, Jimi Burtchaell, Alex McMurray, Paul Sanchez, Derrick Freeman and Rob Schafer. The song will be available soon on iTunes, but here’s a preview in honor of tonight’s game.

NolaFunk Lagniappe

New Orleans jazz trumpet icon Kermit Ruffins on barbecuing

Where did the name “Barbecue Swingers” come from?


Kermit Ruffins: From tailgating. I started tailgating at Vaughn’s during break-time so the guys could have something to eat. So one morning I woke up and said “Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Kings,” but by the middle of the evening I had changed it to “Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers.” I was having so much fun barbecuing during the show that it just hit me: “Barbecue Swingers”.

Huge second-line honors King of Pop Michael Jackson

VIDEO: Huge second-line honors Pop King Michael Jackson

'Preserving' and promoting our treasured musicians

Even on a sultry, drizzling June night in New Orleans, Preservation Hall packs them in. Fortunately, the tourists who come searching for the traditional jazz that was born in this city are served up the real music that locals might take for granted. What makes it different from some tourist destinations is that the history of jazz lives within its chipped cement walls as well as in the musicians that play within its environs. Those of us who live in New Orleans know these guys such as bassist Walter Payton, who taught many a youngster who attended McDonogh 15 in the Quarter and have gone on to enjoy professional careers themselves. Musicians who have jazz running through their veins-like trumpeter Mark Braud of the legendary Brunious family and Joe Lastie whose Ninth Ward clan helped to create and carry on New Orleans music-remain regulars here.

Concert Review: Allen Toussaint at Metrotech Park, Brooklyn NY 6/11/09

Right off the bat, his chops were in full force. Toussaint isn’t flashy, never was – like many songwriters from his genre and his era, he doesn’t waste notes getting to the point, with a warmly chordal, staccato, even percussive attack. Nor is he a flashy singer, which was especially noticeable as the sound engineer fiddled with his vocals in the mix, but did a capable job nonetheless. He played the old stuff first: There’s a Party Going On, Here Comes the Girl and a long, tasty, fluidly soulful version of the minor-key We Got Love, which he wrote for Dorsey well over forty years ago. Then he did a medley including A Certain Girl, Mother-in-Law, Fortune Teller and Working in a Coal Mine. The Pointer Sisters’ hit Yes We Can Can was reinvented and vastly improved as yet another soul/funk number, as was another unfamiliar tune (at least to anyone who knows nothing about lite FM) apparently made famous by Bonnie Raitt.

There's no such thing as "too much" of New Orleans music and its musicians

Terrance Simien embraces and reveals the cultural connections throughout the African diaspora in his Zydeco music and his educational performances/CD, Creole for Kidz and the History of Zydeco. While traveling around the world, the Grammy-winning accordionist and vocalist, who closes the French Market Stage at the New Orleans Vieux To Do on Sunday, June 14, continues to discover the aspects that tie his Creole heritage to people in faraway lands. In the Seychelles - islands off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean - he was surprised by the many things he shared with the residents.

Joe Krown Q&A Podcast
Joe Krown is a New Orleans-based keyboard, piano, and organ master.

Russell Batiste Jr. Q&A Podcast

Russell Batiste Jr. is the drummer for the Funky Meters, PBS, the Joe Krown Trio Russell Batiste and Friends, and Orkestra from da Hood.

Andre Bohren Q&A Podcast
Andre Bohren is the drummer for rock group Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes.



Christian Scott riding superlative horn wave

Like a lot of creative types, trumpeter Christian Scott is hard to stuff into a genre box. First, there's the clear sound of his horn, the one with the oddly angled bell. It's unmistakably part of a grand New Orleans tradition that reaches back to Louis Armstrong: a lone, expressive voice that projects its own personality as much as it does virtuosity. He could easily be playing gigs in the style of traditional New Orleans music or in the post- bop style practiced by another Crescent City hero, Wynton Marsalis.

Quick bits of Louisiana Gospel

So I've been sorta hinting at how I want to break into Gospel a bit. I haven't really ever considered myself Christian except by birth as it clashed with my preteen love of dinosaurs, but I find it hard to take issue with the passionate hollerin' that comes out of (black) gospel music.

So for a class I decided to a do a presentation on it for my final project. I'm not exactly an expert now, but I found some pretty stomp-worthy stuff. And I'm about to give you a real quick tour. Most of this stuff is actually pretty basic and blogged about in plenty of places, but I'm willing to guess that a lot of y'all are just as dumb as I was about this stuff. I'm not attempting a full-on history lesson here, just sharing some stuff that y'all might like.

Booker records = hot: It was mostly a one-man operation, started out as rhythm and blues but went gospel after just a few. I've got a pretty good 45 of normal semi-musical sermoning off there but the real hot thing is Rev. Charlie Jackson. Think male Sister Rosetta Tharpe. I know, that's no more appealing than female SRT, but more Tharpe in any form is welcome in my book.

God's Got It
Wrapped Up And Tangled Up In Jesus

Five Questions with Shamarr Allen

3. You have hinted that you are have considered moving out of town- how seriously have you thought about it?

I’ve been doing a lot of research on true New Orleanians, that are very successful. I’m not talking big fish in little pond success. Everyone that was ever super successful eventually had to leave. Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Sidney Bechet, Branford Marsalis, Terrence Blanchard, and plenty more. I can’t find any that actually lived here and were as successful as anyone of these guys. There’s a long list of them too. They’re just not coming to mind right off hand. So yes its a serious thought and I love this place I just don’t think it loves me back sometimes.

Antoinette K-Doe's daughter and friend officially reopen the Mother-In-Law Lounge with a really big show

On Feb. 28, Antoinette K-Doe presided over her last party at the Mother-In-Law Lounge, lying in state next to the stage. As patrons paid their last respects to Ernie K-Doe's colorful widow, who had served as den mother to an eclectic community of musicians and fans for nearly two decades, many couldn't help but wonder if this would be their last drink at the legendary Treme night spot.

Five Questions with Billy Iuso

4. Why did you decide to record your live album at the Sandpiper- a club that doesn’t usually feature live music?

Several reasons, I live in the neighborhood, the neon sign alone is great, and so much of New Orleans music was born in the 12th Ward including clubs such the Nitecap and the Dew Drop Inn. I am trying to bring it back.

In Pictures/Review: Galactic @ Irving Plaza

Here's a quick review from Burning Wood:

The New Orleans-based jazz-funk ensemble Galactic continues it's never-ending tour with a run of shows being dubbed as the "Brass Tacks Tour." For this string of shows, New Orleans treasure and monster of the skins Stanton Moore and friends, have added the exciting young trumpet player Shamarr Allen and trombonist Corey Henry of the Rebirth Brass Band to the ensemble. I caught Friday's show at The Fillmore At Irving Plaza At The Copa At The Latin Quarter In NYC On Earth (or whatever my least favorite venue in NYC is now called) and it was definitely a New Orleans party. Galactic's non-songs are propelled into a musical earthquake by Stanton Moore. His drumming never fails to boggle the mind.

With the intensity and piston-pumping throbs of John Bonham and the laid back subtlety and in-the-pocket grooves of NOLA greats Zigaboo Modeliste and John Vidacovich, Moore's magic carries this band, whose extended jams on simple riffs would become quite monotonous without his creativity and what seems like impossible moves on the drums. Shamarr Allen was a joyful addition. Allen is a tasty player and master showman. His presence and playful solos were a highlight on just about every song.

Pictures by Dino Perrucci Photography

Corey Henry - Irving Plaza, NYC 10/18/08


Galactic- Irving Plaza, NYC 10/18/08




Ben Ellman - Irving Plaza, NYC 10/17/08


Galactic - Irving Plaza, NYC 10/17/08

Upcoming: Galactic feat. Shamarr Allen & Corey Henry @ Irving Plaza

The tour stops off in NYC for two nights at Plaza on October 17th and 18th

For Galactic's 'Brass Tacks Tour', the band will beef up their arsenal by enlisting two heavyweight New Orleans horn players, Shamarr Allen (trumpet) and Corey Henry (trombone). This will mark the first time the band has ever toured with a dedicated brass section, treating fans to a full on audio assault.

Shamarr Allen
Shamarr Allen was born and raised in New Orleans and became immersed in music at the early age of 7. He began his professional career as a street musician in the French Quarter playing with Tuba Fats. Playing with street musicians for tourists, lead to his involvement with New Orleans brass bands -- the Hot 8 Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Lil¹ Rascals, Treme and others. Expanding his horizons, Shamarr's mastery now encompasses a wide variety of music styles.

Corey Henry As the longtime trombone player for Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers and the leader of his own Lil Rascals brass band, Corey Henry is the quintessential New Orleans horn player. His is a unique style steeped in New Orleans tradition and soul. As described by Kermit Ruffins, "He plays what we in New Orleans call 'tailgate style' -- laidback and swinging out".

Crown City Rockers
Crown City Rockers is a genre-blending collective whose music is all together original, powerful and provocative. With an organic blend of lush, funk-drenched grooves, riveting classic soul samples, sharp live instrumentation and old-school rhymes, Crown City Rockers is a welcome breath of fresh air in today¹s commercially cluttered musical cosmos.