Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Upcoming: Two Nights of George Porter Jr. & Special Guests @ Sullivan Hall


George Porter Jr. & The Runnin Pardners hit Sullivan Hall this weekend.


Friday night welcomes back Lo Faber & Aaron Maxwell of God Street Wine to open.


Saturday openers High & Mighty Brass Band and Ikebe Shakedown will be sure to set the funk party in full swing.


On both nights George Porter & The Runnin Pardners will hit the stage after the "Red Hot & New Orleans" shows at Brooklyn Academy of Music let out, making these shows the perfect second stop for full nights of New Orleans Funk. And with all these great NOLA artist in town at the same time, you never know what musicians may also be making the commute to Sullivan Hall for some very special sit-ins.


**Friday 12/3 with Lo Faber & Aaron Maxwell will be 8:00 doors/9:00 show. Tickets are $22 advance and $28 day of show. Presale tickets are available at http://tinyurl.com/26jdyh9


**Saturday 12/4 with High & Mighty Brass Band & Ikebe Shakedown will be 7:30 doors/8:30 show. Tickets are $22 advance and $28 day of show. Presale tickets are available at http://tinyurl.com/35qfmtf


"Hidden Track" Picture Show: The Radiators @ Sullivan Hall

By Jeremy Gordon

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Back in 1978, Ed Volker, Dave Malone and a few fellow musicians turned a few beers and five hour jam in his garage into a 33 year career together. As The Radiators they played with such luminaries as Gregg Allman, Maceo Parker, George Porter, Jr. and Bob Weir, to name a few, and in such long gone NYC venues as The Ritz, Tramps and Tobacco Road. Along the way, fellow musicians became brothers and fans became family as the Radiators became affectionately known as “The World’s Best Bar Band”. Playing two packed evenings at Sullivan Hall, fans from as far away as Boston and Washington, DC came to share in what was expected to be the final appearance for beloved keyboardist “Zeke” and this lineup in New York City.

[All photos by Jeremy Gordon]

Treated to a mix of covers from The Beatles and Van Morrison and personal favorites of their own, many of the songs including How Do You Feel, Funeral March and The End Is Not in Sight were filled with deeper meaning and tinged with both euphoria and sadness in a truly New Orleans way. Even the final song of the run, Train Kept A Rollin’, speaks to the future of the band and its remaining band members. Even if you’re not a member of the loyal Fishheads, we suggest you check out one of their New Year’s run shows in Ardmore, PA or as a real treat, their final appearance at the upcoming New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 8th.

Sullivan Hall
New York, NY
11/17/10

Set 1: Tuning – Intro, Sunglasses On, Between Two Fires, Oh La La, Domino > All The Good Ones Are Gone > Everybody’s Got Something Hide Except Me & My Monkey > Linin’ Track > Domino, Falling Through The Bottom Line, Danang, Daddy’s Coming Home, Grief Snafu, Good Things, Going Up To The Country, City Of Refuge, Outro

Set 2: Tuning – Intro, Down By The River, Circus Life, The Man Who Lost His Head, Honey Bee > Keep On Popping That Shine, Hide You Love Away (false start), Hide Your Love Away, Number Two Pencil, Fools Go First, Lovely You, Kenny’s Call Em’ Back, St. James Infirmary, Party Ain’t Over Till I Say It So > Whole Lotta Shakin’, Outro

Sullivan Hall
New York, NY
11/18/10

Set 1: Tuning, Young Neil Intro, Dreaming Out Loud, Texas Chainsaw Massacre > Willie & The Hand Jive > Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, How Do You Feel, Funeral March (riff), Automatic, One Eye Jack, JigSaw, Last Time, Sparkplug, You Can’t Always Get Want, Monkey In Her Heart > Screwloose, Outro

Set 2: Tuning – Intro, Brown Eye Girl *, March On Down To Valentine, Gimmie A Rainbow That’s For Real, I’ve Got A Feeling > Midnight Special > I’ve Got A Feeling, Empire Getaway, Where Is The Soul Of The World ?, Lila, The End Is Not In Sight, Soul Kitchen, Kenny’s Call Em Back, Ride Captain Ride, Train Kept A Rollin’

* Young Neil On Vocals

[Setlist via Kevin Cawley]









Upcoming: Red Hot & New Orleans @ BAM feat. Trombone Shorty

Red Hot + New Orleans

Part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival

Dec 3 & 4 at 8pm

World Premiere

Produced by BAM & Paul Heck / Red Hot Organization

Musical director Trombone Shorty

Featuring:
Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue
Dr. John
Irma Thomas
Kermit Ruffins
Ledisi
Marc Broussard
Ivan Neville
Partners-N-Crime
Mannie Fresh
Roger Lewis (Dirty Dozen Brass Band)
Phil and Keith Frazier (Rebirth Brass Band)
Video Design - Yuki Nakajima
Stage Design - Alex Delaunay


The Red Hot series returns to the Next Wave Festival (Red Hot + Riot, 2006; Red Hot + Rio 2, 2008) with Red Hot + New Orleans, saluting the music of the Crescent City.


From its deep traditions of jazz, blues, funk, and “second line” sounds to the more raucous “bounce” music scene, an exceptional group of emerging artists and established legends assembles to celebrate the resurgent and resilient sound of New Orleans, a city whose spirit has influenced countless artists and styles. Join music director Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews (one of the many NO musicians featured in the new HBO series Treme), as he brings a little piece of The Big Easy to Brooklyn.


This program is produced by BAM in association with The Red Hot Organization in recognition of World AIDS Day (Dec 1). Part of the proceeds will benefit New Orleans’ NO/AIDS Task Force.


BAM Howard Gilman Opera House
120min, no intermission
Tickets: $25, 45, 55, 65

Monday, November 29, 2010

Download: Nicholas Payton's new "Bitches" Mixtape

Payton’s voice, not his trumpet, dominates Bitches, which also features guest vocalists Esperanza Spalding, N’dambi, Saunders Sermons and Chinah Blac. It’s in the mode of Sonic Trance partially in its borrowings from the fusion musical vocabulary, and in its break from what is expected of Payton.

Payton had Davis’ album in mind while making “Bitches,” he said, “because this is such a departure for me. Like ‘Bitches Brew’ was for Miles. It’s a similar sharp turn in my musical career.” (As for the provocative nature of the title, Payton says, “I figure if Miles can do ‘Bitches Brew,’ then 40 years later I can do just ‘Bitches.’”)

Payton posted a download link to the album this weekend.

NPR's "Irma Thomas: She Sings The Songs"

When New Orleans R&B singer Irma Thomas arrived for her studio session with KPLU, we knew she was ready for any song request we might throw at her. We knew this, because she brought her Book with her.


Hear The Full Session From Jazz24


Irma Thomas

The Book is something Thomas takes to every performance, and it contains the lyrics to all the songs she's recorded in her 50-year career. She uses it when her fans call out requests for songs she might have forgotten, or songs she recorded years ago but never included in her ongoing live repertoire. Thomas wants to give her fans what they want, and if that means that she and her band have to do an impromptu arrangement of a song she hasn't sung in years, so be it. Thomas will give it a try. And the amazing thing is, she always pulls it off.


As it turned out, she didn't need her Book during her time with us. She started with one of her classics, which she wrote and recorded in 1964: "I Wish Someone Would Care." That was followed by "Let It Be Me" from her latest release, The Soul Queen of New Orleans — 50th Anniversary Celebration. And, after a little conversation about her lifelong connection with New Orleans and the great musicians she's worked with in that city (including Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and Eddie Bo), she closed her set with a song she's never recorded: a terrific version of Bill Withers' "The Same Love That Made Me Laugh."


Saturday, November 27, 2010

Village Voice: Dining with Dr. John

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Not long ago several friends and I enjoyed the most recent of a series of meals with Mac Rebennack, more commonly known by his stage name of Dr. John. One of his earliest incarnations was as The Night Tripper, a psychedelic-era character who wore African-inspired duds and melded the popular music of New Orleans with that of San Francisco. A student of the legendary pianist Professor Longhair, Mac is a multi-instrumentalist whose guitar playing career was cut short early on by a gunshot wound to the hand received while defending a friend in a bar brawl.

Though he was once a heroin addict - a defect he readily admits - he has been clean for many, many years, and now won't touch drugs of any sort or even a drop of alcohol. Nevertheless, many of his stories from the psychedelic era revolve around drugs and his many contacts with other musicians of that period. In fact, there's almost no figure you can't ask him about that he didn't know, and can't come up with a story about.

Bearded, still dressed in dandified outfits, old in years but still keen in intelligence, he is a master storyteller, and his tales are capable of distracting an audience from the world's best-tasting food.

Here, then, are some tales told during a meal at the Upper East Side's Szechuan Chalet, followed by some early videos and a few shots of the food we ate that evening. Apart from some occasional questions on my part, the rest of the prose is Dr. John's, just as he uttered it in his gravely New Orleans drawl.


Tuesday, November 23, 2010

RIP: Albert "June" Gardner

Acclaimed drummer Albert 'June' Gardner dies


"I'm the man on the boom boom" was how the always affable drummer June Gardner would introduce himself from a bandstand. Gardner was onboard many a stage jumping directly from high school into a professional music career that spanned some six decades. One of New Orleans most-beloved musicians, Gard­ner, a native of New Orleans, died on Friday, November 19, 2010, at the age of 79.
"He played the whole scope," says fellow drummer Bob French. "Bebop, R&B, traditional jazz. He could play with everyone plus he was one of the nicest human beings. He was always the same person - always jolly."


Like so many of this city's musicians, Gardner studied with the influential Professor Valmont Victor and first hit the road with vocalist Lil Green. When he returned to New Orleans he became a regular at the now-infamous Dew Drop Inn playing with Edgar Blanchard & the Gondoliers with whom he also recorded. In his younger days, Gardner was heavily on the rhythm and blues scene both in the studio and on tour. He played and recorded with the greats including spending nine years with Roy "Good Rockin' Tonight" Brown and hitting the drums behind the legendary Sam Cooke from 1960 until the vocalist's death in 1964. It's Gardner laying down the essential rhythm on Lee Dorsey's smash hit "Working in a Coal Mine" and he also performed regularly with Dave Bartho­lomew's band.


Beyond rhythm and blues, Gardner was most often recognize as a traditional jazz player, leading his own group, June Gardner & the Fellas. For seven years, he and the "Fellas" played a mix bag of material at South Claiborne Avenue's Maison's Las Vegas Strip. After that, Gardner headed to Bourbon Street to perform at the Famous Door, La Strada and the Maison Bourbon plus he joined trumpeter Wallace Davenport at the Paddock. Gardner was also heard on more modern stylings working with artists like saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and jazz/soul vocalist Lou Rawls.


A good taste of Gardner's versatility can be heard on his 2000 album 99 Plus One, a disc that resurrects his early recording on the Hot Line label and finds him behind the drums with a big band directed by Wardell Quezergue that was produced for the NOLA label.


This year, June Gardner & the Fellas opened up the Economy Hall Tent at Jazz Fest, an event he's played "since the beginning," with flair.


As usual, Gardner put together an ace band that for listeners meant hearing the real deal history of the music.


"He was right on the ball," says drummer Smokey Johnson, who had been friends with Gardner since he was 17 years old. "If he couldn't do it right, he wouldn't do it at all. He was a special dude and just like his record says, he was 'Gentlemen June Gardner.'"


In many ways June Gardner's approach to his drums matched his personality - straight-up and full of warmth and caring. He made the rhythm and people dance and smile.



Monday, November 22, 2010

In Pictures: Bonerama @ Sullivan Hall

By Dino Perrucci Photography




Bonerama - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/19/10


Mark Mullins & Jon Batiste - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/19/10


Bonerama w/Steve Kimock - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/19/10


Bonerama w/Maurice Brown - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/19/10

Thursday, November 18, 2010

NY Times Popcast: Aaron Neville Sings in the Studio

For this week’s Popcast, The Times’s music podcast, we were happy to have the one and only Aaron Neville visit our studio, where he sang two songs from his new gospel album, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” and discussed his faith and the making of the record.


Also on Popcast this week, we review “Loud,” the latest album by Rihanna. After last year’s tough, angry and highly personal “Rated R,” “Loud” is Rihanna’s “back to business as usual album,” Jon Pareles says. “She’s resuming her persona as the party girl with the glint of danger.”


Audio Aaron Neville performs (mp3)


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Video: Bonerama feat. Jonathan Batiste @ Sullivan Hall


Henry Butler featured in HBO Documentary about Blind Photographers

Tonight on HBO 2 at 8pm


HBO's Dark Light Documentary w/ Henry Butler

Location: HBO 2 at 8pm

Wednesday, November 17th

Relix Revisited:The Radiators: On the Road from New Orleans

The Radiators have maintained the same line-up ever since the group was founded in 1977. Last week, however, the band announced that keyboard player and principal songwriter Ed Volcker will be leaving the band in 2011. With this in mind, we look back to this account of the Rads, which ran in the December 1986 issue of Relix.



On East Thirteenth Street, just before 9 p.m., a well dressed couple approaches the t-shirt crowd waiting to get into the Lone Star CafĂ© and asks no one in particular the inevitable question: “Who’s playing tonight?” “The Radiators,” someone answers. “Who are they?” “They’re good.” “Where do they come from?”


That seems like a good question to put to Radiator Ed Volcker a few minutes later in the Radiators’ dressing room. “Love,” says Volcker, “pain, the wilderness, horses, birds, fish, barbeque, water, tequila, closing down the paraphernalia establishments…”—wait a minute. An easier, if somewhat less thorough answer might be New Orleans. That’s where the Radiators came together in 1977, after years playing in other local bands and backing up the likes of Jimmy McCracklin, Charles Brown, David Bromberg, Catfish Hodge, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Earl King, Ernie K-Doe, and Professor Longhair. Originally, there was a group called the Dogs, which gradually metamorphosed into the then five-member Radiators, with Volcker as he described it, starting as janitor and working his way down to keyboards (and vocals), Dave Malone on guitar and vocals, Camile Baudoin, also on guitar and vocals, Reggie Scanlan on bass, and Franklin Bua on drums. Percussionist Glenn Sears was formally added to the band in 1983, after endless sit-ins.



“It’s just a lot of old friendships,” says Volcker. “We have fun, we’re starting to make a little money, we’re starting to change clothes every day, it’s great.” To elaborate a little on that, the Radiators spent years playing in the New Orleans area, becoming a favorite at Tulane University as well as at club like Tipitina’s, but not attracting much attention from the world at large or the record companies in particular. Three years on, they formed their own record label, Croacker Records, and issued the single that started “fish head music,” a crawfish tribute called, “Such the Head, Squeeze the Tip.” They also released a double live album recorded at Tipitina’s Work Done On Premises.


The album revealed a tight band that had taken its New Orleans influences and infiltrated them through a rock ‘n’ roll sensibility formed by listening to bands like the Grateful Dead, the Band, the Allman Brothers, and Little Feat. Volcker and Malone traded lead vocals, Malone and Baudoin played twin and alternating leads, and with titles like “Cannibal Girls,” “Lord You Light Up My Pipe,” “Bad Taste Of Your Stuff,” and “Low Life,” songwriter Volcker defined the lives and times of the common man. Or, as he succinctly put it, “There’s no life/ Like that low life/ And that low life/ It’s a wild life.” In 1981, they followed with another single, “My Whole World Flies Apart,” and another album, Heat Generation. (All this vinyl is available from Croaker Records, New Orleans, LA.)


By 1982, the Radiators had started to spread fish head music beyond the borders of New Orleans. “Starting about three years ago,” says Volcker, “we spend about three months out of the year on the road, and usually in two-week increments. Increments—sounds like something dirty, but it’s not.” By now, those increments have taken the band throughout the South and Midwest, and on the present tour, they’d taken in Eastern seaboard dates starting in Washington, D.C., and soon to head up to Boston. “Marco Polo is our hero,” explains Volcker, “and the Earl of Sandwich is our guiding spirit.”


One place they can be heard is on Epic Records’ 1985 sampler, Epic Presents The Unsigned, where they have a track called, “This Wagon’s Gonna Roll.” But probably the best place to see them is in a packed bar like the Lone Star. Volcker, while dispensing information, is also writing out three set lists for the band, lists that make it look like this’ll be a long night.


Downstairs, the obvious comparisons, to the Allmans and Little Feat, only work because the Radiators suggest the quality of those bands. If Baudoin is capable of mixing parts of Duane Allman with Robbie Robertson and much of his own style, it’s only because of years of playing that give him an encyclopedic style. Volcker’s swampy vocals recall Lowell George, but they reach back to George’s own influences in New Orleans music. This is a hybrid band, steeped in much of the best music in America has made in the last forty years. In other words, they do sound like a lot like the Radiators.


They start with the “Boomerang,” a highly danceable song whose inventive slide work recalls the best of the Allmans, while the melody and rhythm pure Radiators. “Like Dreams Do” follows with a lovely riff carried by synthesizers and percussion, and proves just as moving to the capacity crowd. Then it’s on to an oldie, “One-Eyed Jack,” from the first album, a tale of gambling set to a reggaeish beat mixed with second line rhythms and infused with the spirit of Pigpen McKernan circa “Operator.” “Low Life” is introduced as “the Louisiana state song.” The lyrics appear in their entirety above, but it’s the music that counts, as the song is turned into an extended, steamy showcase for the guitar work of Malone and Baudoin.


Here is a bar band that has convinced its audience completely playing all original material. Now they turn to covers, starting with the Beatles “I’ve Got a Feeling,” which turns out to be a perfect vehicle for a two-guitar band, and leads into a medley with “Slow Down,” Perkins by way of Beatles by way of Radiators. Having established their pop credentials, they turn to R&B and soul, combining Bobby Blue Bland’s “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” with the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” before closing with Johnny Cash’s “Cocaine Blues.” Did you ever go to see a band and figure they had the same record collection that you do?


It’s hard to imagine, given the cheering in the bar, that the Radiators will be able to avoid wider exposure, but they’ve been around enough to be skeptical. “There’s a big old world out there,” Volcker had said just before they went on, “and hopefully we can keep away from it as much as possible.”


Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Upcoming: 2 Nights of the (soon-retiring) Radiators @ Sullivan Hall

Event Image


Wednesday: An Evening with The Radiators

Receive a $5 discount on tickets by going to the link below and entering the code "tulanealum". Tickets must be purchased by tonight:
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=3206395&pl


Thursday: Krewe of Empire Zeke presents The Radiators


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.



Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré comes to NYC

The Wooster Group Sets NYC Dates for Vieux Carre

The Wooster Group will present the New York premiere of its latest multimedia stage work, Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carré at the Baryshnikov Arts Center from February 2-27. As previously reported, it will play the REDCAT Theatre in Los Angeles in December.

The production, to be directed by Elizabeth LeCompte, will feature actors Kate Valk, Scott Shepherd, Ari Fliakos, Kaneza Schaal, and Daniel Pettrow.

The autobiographical play is set in the boarding house where Williams lived in the New Orleans French Quarter during the Depression and centers on a young writer struggling with literary ambitions, loneliness and homosexuality.

For more information, click here.

Upcoming: New Orleans Nights feat. Allen Toussaint, Nicholas Payton & Joe Krown Trio w/ Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Russell Batiste Jr.

Victor Manuelle

Sunday, November 14, 2010 – 6pm

NEW ORLEANS NIGHTS
Featuring Allen Toussaint, Nicholas Payton, and
The Joe Krown Trio

Brilliance on Every Note

1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and recipient of the 2009 prestigious Grammy Trustees Award, ALLEN TOUSSAINT is heralded as a seminal influence on the music of New Orleans. The Rock and Roll Hall of fame describes him as “producer, bandleader, arranger, songwriter, session musician and all-around musical eminence,” and his songs are timeless hits, including “Working in the Coal Mine,” “Mother-in-Law,” “I Like It Like That,” “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Southern Nights.”

Tickets: $35, $30, $25



Called “abundantly gifted” and “a high-wire soloist” by The New York Times, NICHOLAS PAYTON is a composer, a bandleader, and an extraordinarily talented trumpet wizard. His recordings have consistently charted in the Billboard Top 20 Jazz albums, from his first recording, From This Moment (no. 15) to his current release Into the Blue (no. 11).

The combination of the soulful vocals of Walter with the big sound of the Hammond B-3 and the masterful drumming of Russell Batiste Jr. has developed a loyal following of New Orleans Jazz aficionados of The JOE KROWN TRIO. The trio’s 2008 CD, Live at the Maple Leaf, has garnered rave reviews: "A killer collaboration between three of New Orleans greatest players!" Jan Ramsey, offBEAT Magazine


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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Nightmare on the Misery Train: The Radiators to Break Up in June

Radiators Break Up June 11. Photo by Aaron Lafont.

O

ne of New Orleans’ most beloved bands of the last third-of-a-century, the Radiators will be no more come June of 2011. According to an email from guitarist Dave Malone, the Rads will be finishing off all of the dates currently on their schedule, including the time-honored traditions of their New Years, Mardi Gras MOMs Ball and Jazz Fest shows. Their legions of fans are known affectionately as Fisheads, after the Grateful Dead followers, the Deadheads.

Guitarists Camile Baudoin and Dave Malone, keyboardist Ed Volker, bassist Reggie Scanlan, and drummer Frank Bua first began playing in 1978, becoming a popular draw first on the Tulane campus and then at clubs around town, like Jimmy’s and Tipitina’s, gradually building an audience throughout the South with consistent touring. They put out records independently until being signed to Epic Records in 1987, recording the album Law of the Fish during a wave of major label releases of New Orleans music in the late ’80s. Their combination of rock with classic New Orleans R&B and funk remained one of the most popular local draws for the next two decades, recording a dozen albums and playing over 4500 concerts. They closed the Gentilly Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival annually, and their MOMs Ball performances are the stuff of legend.

The email stated, “The guys want to whole-heartedly thank their long time fans for making this ride as amazing as it has been. They truly feel that their fans are the best and most dedicated in the world and have kept their traveling circus alive.” There’s no word yet on a reason for the impending break-up, but the individual members plan to make announcements soon about their next moves.

Monday, November 8, 2010

In Pictures: Bonerama @ Sullivan Hall

By Dino Perrucci Photography


Bonerama - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/5/10


Bonerama - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/5/10


Terence Higgins - Sullivan Hall, NYC 11/5/10

Friday, November 5, 2010

In Pictures: Preservation Hall Jazz Band @ City Winery & Houndstooth Pub

By Dino Perrucci Photography


Preservation Hall Jazz Band - City Winery, NYC 11/3/10



Preservation Hall Jazz Band - City Winery, NYC 11/3/10


Preservation Hall Jazz Band - City Winery, NYC 11/3/10


Mark Braud - Houndstooth Pub, NYC 11/3/10


Danny Clinch & Ben Jaffe - Houndstooth Pub, NYC 11/3/10

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Upcoming: Bonerama 2nd Annual Residency @ Sullivan Hall

Bonerama on Tour

After a whirlwind month-long Northeast residency last October, Bonerama is at it again this year. The venerable trombone-based powerhouse will return to some familiar markets, while expanding the parameters to visit a few new cities and venues as well. The good ship Bonerama is prepared for blast-off with several high profile guests aboard, stowed away for deployment.


Friday nights, Bonerama will hold court once again at Sullivan Hall in the Village in New York City.

Bonerama is pleased to welcome Adam "Shmeeans" Smirnoff (Lettuce, Robert Randolph) to the stage on the first weekend residency stops. Members of Morphine and Jeremy Lyons aka (Ever Expanding) Elastic Waste Band will open the New York City show on November 5th, as an added attraction.

Kyle Hollingsworth Steve Kimock and Mark MullinsThe band also deploys some secret weapons in the form of two jam band superstars. Keyboardist Kyle Hollingsworth (String Cheese Incident) and guitarist Steve Kimock (Crazy Engine, Zero, PRAANG, Steve Kimock Band and KVHW) lend their talents to Bonerama's wall of sound. Steve and Kyle are good friends after touring together in 2008 with the Mickey Hart Band, and Everyone Orchestra and Holy Kimoto in 2010. Anticipate fireworks when they unite again to take everyone in Bonerama-land into the stratosphere.

To open the final four dates of the tour, Bonerama welcomes their Boston-based friends and co-conspirators Nate Wilson Group. This up and coming super-group features members of Assembly of Dust and Percy Hill.


Fans are encouraged to "Bone Up" and pick up their tickets in advance for this special run of shows. For those that don't know, the Boner Donor program is designed to provide the ultimate Bonerama fan experience.


November 5
Friday
Sullivan Hall
w/ Adam Smirnoff & Members of Morphine and Jeremy Lyons
New York, NY


November 12
Friday
Sullivan Hall
w/ Jonathan Batiste
New York, NY


Sullivan Hall
w/ Nate Wilson Group, Kyle Hollingsworth & Steve Kimock
New York, NY

Upcoming: 1/2 Price Red Hot Holiday Stomp: Top New Orleans Musicians @ Lincoln Center






Let's face it, even Santa Claus, miracle man that he is, can't do it all alone. So, in what has become a great contemporary holiday tradition, the man in the red suit recruits the help of his Christmas-loving musical friends at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Join Wycliffe Gordon and an all-star band as they jazz up the great Christmas songs with a Crescent City twist, and, at the same time, infuse jazz with the ho-ho-ho holiday spirit. Featuring Victor Goines, Sherman Irby, Joe Temperley on saxophones, Marcus Printup on trumpet, vocalist Niki Harris, Don Vappie on banjo, bassist Reginald Veal, pianist Aaron Diehl and drummer Herlin Riley.

Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center (New York City, NY)
Thursday, Dec. 9 @ 8:00pm
Saturday, Dec. 11 @ 8:00pm


Jazz at Lincoln Center presents Red Hot Holiday Stomp. Trombone master Wycliffe Gordon leads an array of top New Orleans jazz musicians in Crescent City-style renditions of beloved Christmas

Monday, November 1, 2010

NPR: Double Shot of Dr. John

Dr. John: The Old Soul Of New Orleans

New: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130719937


From the Archives:



Dr. John

Singer, songwriter and pianist Mac "Dr. John" Rebennack has been at the heart of New Orleans funk and R&B since the 1950s, so when he paid a visit to the KPLU/Jazz24 studio for a solo performance, we were sure we'd get a good dose of the Crescent City.


We certainly did. He began by treating us to two songs from his most recent CD, Tribal. "Potnah" and "Change Of Heart" were written by Dr. John and southwest Louisiana singer-songwriter Bobby Charles (writer of such classics as "See You Later Alligator" and "Walkin' To New Orleans").


As Dr. John tells interviewer Kevin Kniested, Tribal was initially meant to be a collaboration between Rebennack and Charles. Unfortunately, in the early stages of the project, Charles passed away, so Dr. John finished it himself as a tribute to his old friend.


Dr. John also talked about the ongoing plight of the residents and refugees of southern Louisiana, five years after Hurricane Katrina and in the aftermath of the BP oil spill. He concluded by performing one more song, "Dorothy," a touching piano piece written for his mother.


By the end of the session it was clear Dr. John is a man with a mission. Wherever he goes, he takes the musical pleasures and emotional pain of New Orleans with him. He wants us to enjoy the music while never forgetting that his beloved hometown is a long way from being healed.