Showing posts with label deacon john. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deacon john. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Friday, May 15, 2009
In Pictures: A Great Night In Harlem
A Great Night in Harlem - Apollo Theater, NYC 5/14/09
Davell Crawford remembers Snooks Eaglin - Apollo Theater, NYC 5/14/09
Dr. John, Irma Thomas & Deacon John - Apollo Theater, NYC 5/14/09
Deacon John - Apollo Theater, NYC 5/14/09
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
NolaFunk Lagniappe
New Orleans Jazzfest Giveaway
Enter to win 2 tickets to a wonderful day at the 40th Anniversary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell. Visit www.nojazzfest.com for the daily lineup and more information.
Deacon John lived New Orleans history
Deacon John Moore hasn’t just seen five decades of New Orleans music history, he’s lived them. A singer-guitarist, band leader, session musician, solo recording artist and occasional TV star, Moore continues to be a prominent player in his hometown’s music scene. Recent accomplishments include his 2006 election as the first African-American president of the local musicians union and a starring role in the music documentary, Going Back To New Orleans. Three days before the national broadcast of Going Back To New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2007, Hurricane Katrina’s second anniversary, Moore drew news coverage when he and other New Orleans musicians marched in a silent second line from Louis Armstrong Park to the French Quarter.
One Track Mind: Benny Spellman, "Fortune Teller" (1962)
NICK DERISO: Benny Spellman's "Fortune Teller," a witty early-1960s story song, is one of my touchstone party records. Everything about it is perfectly New Orleans, from the pounding piano to this sizzling island-tinged percussion, from a group of yelping, mesmerizingly groovy R&B backup singers to its not one but two gotcha lyrics. Spellman, see, goes to a fortune teller only to be stunned with the news that he's fallen for someone. Problem: Spellman's not seeing anybody. She counters: "When the next sun rises, you'll be looking in her eyes." Morning comes, and nothing. Spellman rushes back to the fortune teller, "mad as I could be. ... Why'd she make a fool of me?" When he gets there, though, the truth blooms before his very eyes: "While looking at the fortune teller, I fell in love!"
John Scofield - Piety Street (2009)
Scofield wanted to make a blues album, but that idea soon evolved into making a gospel record. It evolved further into making a gospel record with a New Orleans flavor. Named after the famed NOLA studio it was recorded in, Piety Street, released last week, marks another surprisingly successful sharp directional change for this most malleable of guitarists.
![[scofield1.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg282P-mAI_2x6S2bU6xS1F5Ln3rmM50B3viXQA4I5Wk8sbJ-Vr516pwffDZqhz9WQVFor27AN21jQLNDwJ61PGQuNtmY4f8M2GPDKy9sC0aK5sDvsXSa9JROXdW6Xe4KfmecFPYmk9E5Q/s1600/scofield1.jpg)
For this project, Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart just weren't going to do, as good as they are. Scofield assembled a whole new band perfectly suited for this kind of music: legendary ex-Meters bassist George Porter, Jr., the British-born Bonnie Raitt keyboardist Jon Cleary, Raitt's longtime drummer Ricky Fataar, New Orleans vocalist John Boutté (vocals), and another New Orleans musician, drummer/percussionist Shannon Powell from Harry Connick, Jr.'s band. Neither gospel nor New Orleans R&B is new to Scofield's repertoire; "Heaven Hill" is a church-inspired number he wrote for Blue Matter way back in 1986, and he did a great cover of the Meters' "Sissy Strut" on Flat Out two years later. For Piety Street, though, the plunge is with both feet in. This ain't no "gospel-tinged" music, folks, it's gospel.
Post-K-Ville
New Orleans could get a proper prime-time spotlight with David Simon's TremÉ, whose pilot shoot wrapped earlier this month. Now all HBO needs to say is 'go.'
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As March in New Orleans was coming to a close, another march in Central City was just getting started. Two children snaked through the ranks of the Treme Brass Band, whose second line trumpeted a horse-drawn hearse. With fans and umbrellas held high, moving to the half-speed strains of "Just a Closer Walk With Thee," the group half-stepped past the Payne Memorial Church on Liberty Street, taking a wide left turn onto Toledano Street. And as the song neared its apex, a cry rang out from behind Uncle Lionel Batiste's thumping bass drum.
"Cut!"
Except they didn't. The parade, now halfway down the block, continued on toward LaSalle Street. "Someone stop them," said director Agnieszka Holland. Slowly, like an old phonograph winding down, the music petered out as the players caught on, gradually reversing course and shuffling back to their original spots for a second take.
It was the final hours of filming for Tremé, the pilot episode of David Simon's prospective HBO drama, and already the show had run up against questions of realism — i.e., it was due to wrap almost on schedule. Despite threats of rain and hail, the planned 17-day shoot finished on April 2 with a scene at The Times-Picayune's Howard Street offices.
"THE JAZZFEST COMPANION" : The Weekend Mix
French Quarter Fest Recap: April 17, 2009
April 17th, 2009 marked the kickoff of the 26th annual French Quarter Fest. As the workweek wound down, I listed along with WWOZ’s live broadcast, anxiously racing down to the French Quarter, hoping to catch the tail end of the Honey Island Swamp Band’s set. That unfortunately didn’t happen, but I did arrive in time to hear the powerhouse wail of Irene Sage rip through a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On." It’s always a treat to see Sage, whose presence in the scene has declined over the years. Her husky, unhinged vocals always bring about a good time. She’s the closest thing the Big Easy has to Ann Wilson, and her thunderous closer at FQF, “Soul to Soul,” certainly solidified that comparison.
French Quarter Fest Recap: April 18, 2009
Made to the second day of French Quarter Fest (April 18, 2009) right as Ingrid Lucia began her set at the Esplanade in the Shade stage. Joining the bubbly jazz vocalists were trombonist Mark Mullins (Bonerama), guitarist John Fohl (Dr. John) and drummer Simon Lott – quite the allstar cast! This staggering gang certainly did not disappoint. Mullins’ trombone bellowed along with Lott’s jazzabilly rumble, and Fohl’s dangling guitar rides swept up Lucia’s delicious vocals. Enchanting and indelible, Lucia is one brightest talents in the Big Easy. And nothing compares to spending a sunny day with her sweet croon.
Hot Club of New Orleans lives up to its name at French Quarter FestAbout the only person not moving as the Hot Club of New Orleans swung out Saturday afternoon on a spry set of hot jazz on the steps of the Louisiana Supreme Court building was Chief Justice Edward Douglas White. But he had an excuse: He's a bronze statue.
Wild Magnolias Big Chief Bo Dollis is battling back from serious illness and a bitter dispute
Bo Dollis, leader of the Wild Magnolias, is fighting his way back.
Through grave illness. A rupture with a manager he once trusted. A years-long professional estrangement from Monk Boudreaux, his childhood friend and partner in the Wild Magnolias.
Through it all, his pride remains undiminished, his voice -- one of the most potent in all of New Orleans music -- strong.
Rock 'n Bowl felt like home, even in a shiny new space
All the essential elements were in place when the new Mid-City Lanes Rock 'n Bowl opened for business the evening of Wednesday, April 15.
Live music. Cold beer.
And owner John Blancher atop the bar, gyrating in a hula-hoop alongside his wife Deborah and two bartenders in short skirts.
Congo Squared The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary
Photo by Cheryl Gerber |
I
t's been four decades since the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival kicked off in Congo Square in Armstrong Park. The festival has grown exponentially since then, now filling 12 stages and two long weekends at the Fair Grounds. Every day features hundreds of musicians, some traveling from faraway spots around the globe.
One of the featured performances this weekend highlights the heritage of New Orleans music. Wynton Marsalis returns to his hometown with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Ghanian musician Yacub Addy and his Odadaa! band to perform Congo Square, a modern jazz suite uniting musicians from two continents to celebrate common musical roots.
JAZZ FEST 2009 1st Weekend Picks
| Walter “Wolfman” Washington Keepin’ It Funky, Keepin’ It Real |
Take a guitar player from the rhythm and blues pinnacle of the 1950s, sprinkle in the styles of a smattering of influential blues guitarists, overlay funk rhythms, and a uniquely soulful vocal style, and the sum total is Walter “Wolfman” Washington – a staple musician of the New Orleans scene for more than a half of a century.
Frenchy: NOLA’s Artist 
If you live in New Orleans, you should probably know Frenchy by now. He’s a performance painter and while most nights he is found at the Maple Leaf, he also paints at Tipitina’s, Saints and Hornets games, most local festivals, and anywhere he can find excitement and inspiration. Most of his paintings are done in bold, vibrant colors and they are so full of energy that they seem to have a life of their own.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
NolaFunk Lagniappe
Radiators Rock the Troops - New Orleans Band Donates CDs to Soldiers' Angels
Based in New Orleans, The Radiators have been rocking fans across America for decades. Now they are spreading their music around the world with a donation of nearly 3,000 CDs to the troops. Soldiers' Angels will be receiving the donation and including CDs in some of the thousands of care packages it ships overseas each month.
Home of the Groove's: Deacon John: The Show Goes On
Called 'Deacon' by a member of his first band, not for his religious lifestyle, but because of his clean-cut, straight and narrow look, Moore first recorded as a featured artist in 1962, waxing "I Can't Wait" b/w "When I'm With You" for Rip Records in New Orleans. He had already been playing guitar on various sessions for the Minit and Alon labels produced by Allen Toussaint, who recruited the guitarist after seeing him at the Dew Drop Inn, where Deacon John and the Ivories became the house band in 1960. Three years earlier, the teenaged Moore had formed the group with his friend, Roger Lewis, a saxophonist who would help found the monumental Dirty Dozen Bass Band some two decades later. From the beginning, the Ivories were a hot, in-demand group of rotating sidemen with Moore at the lead, playing the hits of the day at clubs, high school dances, and fraternity parties in and around New Orleans.
Interview with the Hot 8's Benny Pete
The Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame celebrates 10th anniversaryThe Crystal Feather award, the Hall of Fame's highest honor, is given to Mardi Gras Indians noted for their outstanding achievements and dedication to the culture. This year's honorees include Big Chief Thomas Landry of the Geronimo Hunters, Spyboy Steve Solomon of the White Eagles and two queens, the late Big Queen Mabel Veal of the Yellow Jackets and Tribal Queen Littdell Banister of the Creole Wild West.
Bingo! Parlour Profile #2: THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ VIPERSFor the past eight years, Vipers have been delighting tourists and locals alike with their twice weekly live shows at Frenchmen Street's Spotted Cat. A seven-piece acoustic swing band with an infectious love for the hot jazz of the 1920s-1940s, the Vipers love it when you dance. Featuring a deep repertoire of danceable tunes from the songbooks of such artists as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Dicky Wells, Benny Carter, Count Basie and more, The New Orleans Jazz Vipers breathe life and energy into this material. Old songs sound young once more, vibrant and alive as ever.
Music Review: Grayson Capps' "Rott 'n Roll"
When I think back over the music that I'm familiar with from the last 30 to 40 years, the rock and roll that I've liked the best has had roots running back to a certain community or region. It doesn't matter whether the community has been the slums of Brixton in London England or the streets of Spanish Harlem in New York City the music has grown out of something and has a connection of some sort to a people's voice. Now I don't know if it's because I tend to gravitate to this music over others or not, but it seems like I'm hearing more and more regional music these days. One guy who recently came to my attention playing music along those lines is Grayson Capps.
Treme Brass Band lets listeners know about true New Orleans Music! on second CD
Treme Brass Band has done it again--they've managed to make fun, upbeat remakes of old popular tunes and add a uniquely Treme flare to the mix.
Always being inspired by the "culture of music" and the jazz funerals his father drummed in when he was a young boy growing up in the Treme neighborhood, snare drum player, Benny Jones has always wanted to make music that was distinctively New Orleans.
Professor: Katrina Boosted New Orleans Musicians' Productivity, CreativityNew Orleans artists are reluctant to credit Hurricane Katrina as a source of inspiration. But after the disaster -- which marks its third anniversary Aug. 29 -- many New Orleans musicians experienced their most productive months in decades and scaled new creative peaks, a University of Iowa professor asserts.see also: Flood Water Gives as it Takes Away
Calling All Children to the Mardi Gras!
Calling All Children rises to the top because of one reason: even the youngest kids can sing along with these tunes without the band having to compromise the spirit and quality of the music. Plus, the songs are played by a real band, and the whole thing is ridiculously catchy! Man, you can't help but march along, drum along, shake along with these ditties, especially songs like "Here Comes the Big Parade," "Chicka Wah Wah," and "Mardi Gras Elementary." And "Up on the Ladder" is just a great song, no matter what genre it falls under.
For Sno-Ball videos, click HERE.
Amanda Shaw's birthday bash a big hit
More than 800 people attended the Cajun-pop singer and fiddler's Aug. 1 birthday party at the Mid-City Lanes. The venue reached its maximum capacity at various points throughout the night; new arrivals had to wait for people to leave before being admitted. "We were expecting a Jazzfest-size crowd," said one of the Lanes' bartenders, "and that's what it was."see also: Amanda Shaw turns 18 with a bayou benefit
Tipitina's Foundation to celebrate 5th anniversaryThe Tipitina's Foundation, the philanthropic non-profit affiliated with the famed nightclub, plans to celebrate its fifth anniversary with fundraisers in Aspen, Colo., and Jackson Hole, Wyo. The "New Orleans All-Star Mountain Jam-balaya" is slated for Aspen on Aug. 27 and Jackson Hole on Aug. 29, the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Satchmo Summerfest salutes Armstrong
Pops would be proud.
Louis Armstrong, the most important figure in jazz and New Orleans' most famous son, would likely approve of the medley of music, food and scholarship that is the Satchmo Summerfest Aug. 1-3.
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