Thursday, December 22, 2011

Upcoming: Mardi Gras Ball feat. Kermit & Bonerama (discount below)



w/ special guests
Mardi Gras. The mere mention of these two words convey thoughts of wild celebrations, beads flying through the air, feathered hats, free-spirited dancing and a lot of booze and smiles. Nolafunk.com will help create this scene with your help. We’ll provide you with masks, hats, white cloths and beads. Lots and lots of BEADS! So bring your Mardi Gras outfits and your will to dance. The 6th Annual Mardi Gras Ball might be the best yet.

BONERAMA
Even in a city that doesn’t play by the rules, New Orleans’ Bonerama is something different. They can evoke vintage funk, classic rock and free improvisation in the same set; maybe even the same song. Bonerama has been repeatedly recognized by Rolling Stone, hailed as “the ultimate in brass balls” and praised for their “…crushing ensemble riffing, human-feedback shrieks and wah-wah growls.”
 
KERMIT RUFFINS
New Orleans is the only place on the planet that could have produced native son Kermit Ruffins. Whether he's blowing trumpet on a Louis Armstrong classic or one of his own hot numbers, Ruffins embraces the tune with the true spirit of the city. Ruffins' music, like New Orleans itself, swings hard with a big heart as it remembers tradition and the importance of good-timin” fun.


As our holiday gift to you for being a wonderful Nolafunk.com supporter, we're offering tickets for the 2/19 Mardi Gras Ball for 50% off!
Just enter NolaHoliday into the "Access Code" box on TicketWeb
This offer will be good through January 1st
We hope you and yours have a great holiday!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Upcoming: 4th Annual Export NoLa

Export NOLA flier



Big Sam's Funky NationBig 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 Amanda Shawwebsite
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 Mia Borderswebsite
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 BandStooges 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 UnderdawgsShamarr Allen 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 IguanasIguanas 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.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Upcoming: New Orleans Suspects @ Brooklyn Bowl


Hiro Ballroom: 88 9th Ave. | btw. 16th & 17th St | New York, NY Tix/Info


Brooklyn Bowl: 61 Wythe Ave. | btw. 11th & 12th St | Brooklyn, NY Tix/Info

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Rebirth Brass Band Snags Grammy Nomination

Rebirth Brass Band, Lil Wayne, Harry Connick Jr. among Grammy nominees with local ties


Keith Spera, The Times-Picayune
Rebirth Brass Band founder Phil Frazier once said he’d rather win a Grammy than be rich. He took a significant step toward the realization of that goal Wednesday night when Rebirth’s Basin Street Records release “Rebirth of New Orleans” was nominated for a Grammy.

Rebirth Brass Band New Orleans Jazz Fest Sunday May 8, 2011
 
The Rebirth Brass Band performs on the Congo Square Stage at the 2011 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The band received its first Grammy nomination on Wednesday, Nov. 30. 
The complete list of nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards were released Wednesday night following the Grammy nominations telecast, a sort of pre-awards awards show, on CBS. 

Rebirth will compete with two other Louisiana acts in the newly created best regional roots music album category. Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboy’s “Grand Isle” and C.J. Chenier’s “Can’t Sit Down” are nominated in the same category, along with perennial polka favorite Jimmy Sturr and Hawaiian music act George Kahumoku Jr. 

Regional roots music is a catch-all category created after several individual “roots music” categories, including Cajun/zydeco and Hawaiian music, were eliminated when the total number of categories was cut from 109 to 78. 

Several other nominees boast Louisiana ties.
New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne is up for five awards, including best rap album for “Tha Carter IV.”

Gospel duo Trin-i-tee 5:7’s “Angel & Chanelle Deluxe Edition” is up for best gospel album.
Grammy veteran Harry Connick Jr. is up for best traditional pop vocal album for his “In Concert on Broadway.”

Singer Ledisi Young, who was born in New Orleans but moved to Oakland, Calif., as a girl, received three nominations related to her well-received “Pieces of Me” CD, including best R&B album, song and performance.
Lucinda Williams, who spent some of formative years in New Orleans and south Louisiana, is up for best Americana album for “Blessed.”

The culminating performance of Wednesday night’s nomination telecast on CBS – a clever bit of hype-building that essentially milks two prime-time specials out of one awards show – featured Lady Gaga and Sugarland performing Gaga’s “You and I.”

The cameras focused always exclusively on Gaga and Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles. The band’s New Orleanian rhythm section of drummer Travis McNabb and bassist Annie Clements was glimpsed only briefly.
No doubt Phil Frazier and the rest of Rebirth hope they earn more air-time when the Grammy winners are presented Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.


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