Monday, February 2, 2009

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Radiators rock Tipitina's

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Every Rads anniversary run has its own contours, but few have been as satisfying as last weekend's two night stand at Tipitina's in celebration of the band's 31st year together. It's simply amazing that a rock band can still sound this fresh and inspired 31 years into its existence. The key to that sense of constant discovery is that the band pulls material from more sources than any other rock group in history, ranging across the entire history of New Orleans music from Jelly Roll Morton on out, referencing a variety of blues, country and classic rock source material from their own experience, and dipping into mastermind Ed Volker's catalog of thousands of original songs, some of which he makes up on the spot.

Home of the Groove's "When The Junkyard Dog Broke Out"

As I mentioned in my recent CD reviews, or as you may have otherwise learned by now, one of New Orleans best drummers,Wilbert 'Junkyard Dog' Arnold, passed away the day after Christmas. A long-time member of Walter 'Wolfman' Washington's Roadmasters and one of the founding members of the New Orleans Rhythm Conspiracy, he was only 53 and will be missed, not just by those who knew and loved him, but by all who were moved by his exemplary musicianship.




One of many uniquely endowed New Orleans drummers, the Junkyard Dog's grooves were infectious, his technique remarkable. He deftly balanced the seeming contradiction in great funk drum work, exercising the creative freedom to spontaneously and continually recalibrate the beats in the free-flowing moment while still maintaining precise time management, expressing the essential feel of the music and putting it all in the perfect pocket for the other instrumental and vocal rhythmic elements to lock into.





40th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Preview



Seven days, two weekends, forty years. No matter how you measure it, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell is a musical and cultural rite of spring for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. From its humble beginnings at Congo Square, to this the 40th anniversary, Jazz Fest always provides enough musical variety to satisfy even the most diverse musical appetites.



the gospel according to glen david

When trombonist Glen David Andrews sang "I'll Fly Away" during a memorial procession to honor tuba player Kerwin James in late 2007, on North Robertson Street in New Orleans's Tremé neighborhood, he ended up in handcuffs along with his brother, snare drummer Derrick Tabb. The charges, eventually dropped, included parading without a permit and "disturbing the peace in tumultuous manner," and the incident fit part of a larger pattern of intimidation and stepped-up regulation of time-honored black street-culture traditions in that city since Katrina.


Krewe Of Zulu Announces Details Of Lundi Gras

The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club will celebrate on Monday, February 23, 2009, the 17th year of the "Lundi Gras Festival."

This will be the 17th year for Krewe Of Zulu's Lundi Gras festivities, featuring local and world-renowned entertainers performing on two main stages an additional highlight to the Kids stage including Kermit Ruffins, Amanda Shaw, the Rebirth Brass Band and many more.


The Pine Leaf Boys' digital Grammy bid puts a fresh spin on vintage music

The Pine Leaf Boys travel to Los Angeles in two weeks to attend the Grammy Awards. The young southwest Louisiana band's "Homage au Passe" is nominated as best Cajun/zydeco album.

Nothing unusual there, except that, in the traditional sense, the album isn't even out yet.



Soul singer Brother Tyrone returns, headlines Mid-City's Chickie Wah Wah

As excitable as Al Green in the pulpit, blues and soul singer Tyrone Pollard, known professionally as Brother Tyrone, declares his new "Mindbender" CD to be "slap ya mama-type soul."

As his high-pitched exhortation dissolves into a rasp of a laugh, he further pronounces the song "If You Ain't Cheating" to be "First and Danneel Street-type soul. It's not just salt and pepper soul. It's the real deal.


Buckwheat Zydeco signs a new record deal with Alligator Records


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