Sunday, March 7, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Galactic: A Long Time Coming
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These are epic times to be in New Orleans, and that may be the understatement of the young decade. Although Carnival season officially got under way in early January, the full-bore pandemonium that generally commences the last week leading up to Mardi Gras Day got a considerably early start this year as the Saints finally ascended to the pantheon of NFL glory, winning their first Super Bowl in the franchise's 43-year history."It's been a long time coming," says Galactic keyboard player Rich Vogel, a comment applying to his band's new album, Ya-Ka-May (released February 9 on Anti Records - stream it on JamBase), and the general feeling of a brighter tomorrow for New Orleans. "[The Saints have] had a lot of good seasons since Katrina and it's been almost like something's been building that's strong, and I think it's a great metaphor for the city."
Now, the time has come to celebrate that achievement and Ya-Ka-May is an excellent soundtrack for fans of the "overgrown rhythm section." With a colorful parade of very special guests like Allen Toussaint, Trombone Shorty, Rebirth Brass Band, Big Chief Bo Dollis, Walter 'Wolfman' Washington and Irma Thomas, the album picks up where 2007's rap-centric From the Corner to the Block left off, providing the rest of the world with insight into not just Galactic's ongoing progression but also the city's revitalized music scene as well.
JamBase: Looking at the track listing and the names of all the special guests, this album feels like it's been a long time coming for Galactic. How was this album finally conceptualized and eventually conceived?
Rich Vogel: It actually has been a long time coming. I think it's an album we've kind of wanted to make for a while. There were some tracks on the last record that kind of hinted at and pointed the way towards this record; I'm thinking of some of the instrumentals that have brass players. On From the Corner to the Block we had Soul Rebels Brass Band on a track, we had Monk Boudreaux [and the] Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs, and those tracks were kind of pointing the way towards this one. It was an album we've always wanted to make to get some of the NOLA artists we've loved and admired over the years like Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas. Having done this for many years, we've bumped into everyone and gotten to know them. We're at the stage in our career where we can say, "Let's call Allen Toussaint," and he might actually call us back [laughs]. So, we started doing that and one thing led to another and we were so pleased that he came over to our studio one day and listened to a few of our tracks and took them home and wrote some fantastic songs. With Irma Thomas, she came by and we had a tune in mind for her, and she went and learned it and came by and cut her vocals.
At the same time, we wanted to get some [artists] that some people don't know outside of New Orleans at all and kind of bring in some of the talent from the people just playing in the clubs; artists who are famous on the local level and are a part of the late night musical party, which is New Orleans on an almost nightly basis. We wanted to do that and mix it all up in a way that hopefully made sense. I don't know if we were really trying to make a specific point. This is all New Orleans music and we wanted to show the city the way we see it.
JamBase: It's an interesting cross-section of artists you guys were able to work with. Was there any kind of formula as far as crafting these songs with the artists, or did it just depend on the artists and what they arrived to the studio with?
Rich Vogel: Yeah, it was definitely a case-by-case basis, for sure. A guy like Allen Toussaint, who is the consummate songwriter, we'd have these little demo tracks we liked with a groove and a change and could form the basis for a verse and a chorus, but they were instrumental ditties essentially. We had a couple of these that made us think of him, so he came by and listened to them and was into it. He actually took them home and wrote songs in a more classic sense - wrote lyrics, sung harmonies. It was the kind of thing you would expect an experienced songwriter and arranger like Allen Toussaint to do. On the flip side, we'd have some of the rappers come by and just roll with a rhythm track we'd made and spit as much as they wanted to, sort of a stream-of-consciousness thing like they like to do in the clubs. Then, we'd mix it down, kind of distill it into something we thought was hook-y, find what we thought was the best verse material and sort of build the track up that way. The whole project was a very collaborative effort. It was just amazing to see the parade of people we saw go through our studio over the past year. It was covering a lot of ground, but to us it made sense because it was all New Orleans music with good energy and groove to it. Everybody, even the classic artists, go back to the same thing of playing the clubs, parties and entertaining the party people. It's really the common denominator that binds us as artists down here. Playing the clubs until the wee hours you gotta keep the party going.
Galactic :: 02.07.10 :: Brooklyn, NY by Dino Perrucci It had to be surreal to send a guy like Allen Toussaint home with one of your tracks. It seems to play in really well with the collaborating you guys do out on the road and especially at festivals.
Absolutely, we've always liked to collaborate, because Galactic is, in a sense an overgrown rhythm section. We love collaborating with people we think are special songwriters or people we think have an interesting vocal element.
What is Ya-Ka-May?
We hyphenated to make it kind of look like "Look-Ka Py Py," the old Meters song, which is just an old Mardi Gras Indian term. "Ya-Ka-May" is kind of an alternate pronunciation of a noodle dish we have in New Orleans called Ya Ka Mein that they serve at the corner store or at the second-line. Somehow that led us to Ya-Ka-May, which we thought was cool.
How is it different to tour in support of an album than to just be out there in the grind?
It's more fun and exciting because we have to challenge ourselves. We make a record like this and we haven't really performed this material. All we're doing this week is meeting in the studio, hashing it out and figuring out how we're gonna play this [material]. We're lucky we're gonna have Cyril Neville with us, and he can sing just about anything you ask him to. So, we're gonna work some of the tunes up with him, and we can kind of cover the brass-y stuff because we'll have Corey Henry. I can play some of the horns stuff on the keys and cover that angle of it on tracks like "Boe Money" and "Cineramascope." It's great when you have a new thing to present, new music to play. Sometimes the challenge is good and intimidating when you realize, "I overdubbed four keyboards here," and you have to figure out how to play it.
I feel very blessed having just moved to New Orleans in late July. It seems like such an exceptional time to be here now with Mardi Gras season under way, the Saints having their best season ever, and each day getting further away from the mess of Katrina. How would you describe the energy of the city right now compared to the last few years?
It was an album we've always wanted to make to get some of the NOLA artists we've loved and admired over the years like Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas. Having done this for many years, we've bumped into everyone and gotten to know them. We're at the stage in our career where we can say, 'Let's call Allen Toussaint,' and he might actually call us back [laughs]." -Rich Vogel
It's definitely at a high point, we had a couple of shitty years there; there's no two ways about it. I think that's why people are particularly enjoying things and are fired up and getting pumped about the Saints. Now we're moving into Carnival season and with each passing year getting further from the past, things slowly do get better, things get rebuilt. It's felt like a slow crawl at times. I live in Mid-City, an area that was pretty devastated, and I think about what it was like in '06 and I just think, "Man, life is good." You just got to appreciate the little things, things you used to take for granted.
Galactic Give me a few artists outside of the jazz, funk and New Orleans style that you guys listen to out on the road.
Ben [Ellman - sax] has us listen to a lot more Balkan and Eastern European music than I would have otherwise. He loves blending that stuff with New Orleans music. I listen to a good deal of classical music when I'm home. It gives me a complete departure into a different world. I've always had an interest [in it] on and off. I studied it a little before all my road days.
What have been a few of your favorite moments performing over the last several years as a band here in New Orleans?
Any Jazz Fest; I love that one! First of all, I live near the Fairgrounds, so I get up, have breakfast, walk over, get to play in front of 60,000 people, look out over the Fairgrounds on a beautiful day, go get a soft-shell crab po-boy and walk home.
So, that almost resembles a normal job for you on a day like that?
Yeah [laughs]. When you have a moment like that, you're kind of like, "My job is kinda cool and conveniently located." I kind of miss some of those theatre shows at some of the places that didn't come back because of Katrina, places like The Saenger or The State. I remember the circus [show] we did when we played Bolero, with acrobats performing on and above the stage with trapeze artists. That was a memorable one. There have been so many really.
Try to explain Mardi Gras to people who've never been a part of it. How is music incorporated into the whole celebration?
Wow, that's a good question. There are books upon books about that. Mardi Gras comes out of the Carnival tradition and is celebrated in the Catholic traditions and a lot in the Latin American world, and serves as a sort of blowout before the Lenten season when you're supposed to live this life of sacrifice. Of course, Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras Day and ends the season. Mardi Gras goes way back and New Orleans has a lot of ties to the French and Spanish culture and has those Catholic ties that you don't see in a lot of the more Anglo-Protestant areas of the country. So, that's kind of why it's celebrated here.
Galactic The thing about Mardi Gras that I try to explain to people is that there are many Mardi Gras depending on who you're with and where you go. A lot of people think Mardi Gras is just Bourbon Street and people flashing, and that's definitely one part of it. That's something when you're in college and you come down here that you tend to gravitate towards. But, there are a lot of rich, local traditions with the Krewes [and] debutante balls. Then there are the Mardi Gras Indians who go out and parade early on Mardi Gras Day. You're talking about guys that make these incredibly elaborate, beautiful headdresses getting ready for this day. You think about New Orleans and partying late night for the most part, but on Mardi Gras Day it's really about the daytime celebration. It's an incredible party to see if you end up at the right place at the right time. Everybody's out in the streets from Uptown to Downtown. There's an Uptown vibe that's a little more family-oriented and Downtown it's a little grittier, with people partying very hard and less children. It's a huge day of celebration with people everywhere making the most of the day and getting their yee-haws out, if you're a good Catholic, which I'm not... but I pretend that I am.
What has the Saints' success meant to the overall morale of this city?
It's just thrilling for the team to go to the Super Bowl. It's been a lot of fun for a lot of people. It's been fun to watch it build and progress. We've all been working hard and it's nice for everyone to see something built [in New Orleans] that is very successful. Also, the lifelong fans have grown quite cynical through the years from their days wearing bags over their heads.
I'm not from here and I root for the enemy, but it's hard not to take a liking to a team with such a blue-collar feel with stars like Marques Colston, who seemingly came out of nowhere to help lead the team to the Promised Land.
Yeah, guys like Drew Brees, who's not just a great QB but also a great citizen in the way he's embraced the town and given back, and his story of coming here to play and adopting the city as his home [has] been really special. Brees is gonna be the King of Bacchus, he's kind of god in this city and he can do no wrong.
Galactic Tour Dates :: Galactic News :: Galactic Concert Reviews
Mardi Gras | 2.12-2.16 | New Orleans
Mardi Gras :: 02.12-02.16 | :: New Orleans, LA
 By Dino Perrucci |
Descending on New Orleans five days after the Saints' enormous Super Bowl victory, we encountered a city boiling with elation. Despite the frigid temperatures, this city was as hot as ever, with deafening chants of "Who Dat?" reverberating night and day, bouncing off walls of venues, up and down parade routes, at dinner tables and tailgates. I have literally never seen a city so jacked up, and it was as infectious as 'twas intoxicating.By day we walked various parade routes, first the Krewe of Morpheus and Krewe of Muses, enjoying the Cameltoe Steppers and Miss Karina's Bearded Oysters, amongst others. For most parades we rolled uptown to watch on St. Charles and Napoleon Streets, though Saturday we started in Lakeview, rolling with Krewe of Endymion and feting Saints owner/Grand Marshall Tom Benson and Head Coach Sean Payton like Crescent monarchs, with Trombone Shorty the Grand Marshall's personal guest.
Carnival is truly a cultural and family event. Generations of kin and friends of all races come together and celebrate in magnificent unity; the likes of which I have never seen before. The only moment I ever feared for my own safety was during the Krewe of Bacchus' parade when Drew Brees, Saints quarterback, Super Bowl MVP, and 2010's King Bacchus, turned the corner of St. Charles on a parade float. It was as if Touchdown Jesus had arrived, setting off complete pandemonium.
"WHO DAT! New Orleans is rolling! The City is alive!" cried Brandon Tarricone of Brotherhood of Groove.
As we thawed from the Morpheus/Muses parades Friday night, we strolled to Tipitina's Uptown for the first of four visits to the hallowed room. Thriving in this celebratory atmosphere, George Porter Jr., Leo Nocentelli, Ivan Neville and Raymond Weber (Dumpstaphunk) took the stage to cheers. Henry Butler was then led stage right to a thunderous ovation as the band took their spots, with Butler seated at a keyboard facing Ivan, who was buried beneath an array of keys. They immediately congratulated the Super Bowl Champions to more screaming decibels. Ivan and Leo repeated the salutations throughout the show, a harbinger of "Who Dats?" to come.
Weber and Porter's instant lockstep unveiled opener "Everything is Everything," a crawfish jamboree of distinct NOLA styles, their collaborative spirit evidenced immediately. "Everything" had everything, passing around the jam, with driving Weber funk and George laying down his patented, joyful, nasty bass runs. This song encapsulated their entire performance - equal parts jubilant NOLA sing-along and vicious, loose, powerful funk - serving songs that resonated with joy, pain and the road to redemption. "Cabbage Alley" was a joyful romp through the Professor Longhair classic, with Fess grinning "Hey Now Baby" from the top of the house he built.
Henry Butler :: Mardi Gras/Tip's
By Dino PerrucciHenry Butler asked if he could take us to church, and that he did, with glorious bright piano and charming verve. Butler was distinguished royalty, and that's amongst Porter, Leo, and Ivan, all stalwarts in their own right. The blind man stoked several raging Nocentelli screaming solos drenched in tubed-out distortion and Gibsonics. Porter and Weber responded with tight riddims and big wrap around fills swollen with laughter.
Ivan Neville's charged "Fortunate Son" oozed Bayou and sparked some fantastic interplay between Ivan and Porter, plus more ragin' Leo licks. This exhilaration was a theme for two full sets of huge smiles, jams and Crescent City spirit. "Talkin' 'Bout New Orleans" was just that - the pulse of a city ablaze. It's Carnival Time!
For three consecutive nights we stumbled out of Tip's and made our way down to the Blue Nile for the Backbeat Foundation's 4th Annual Mardi Gras Funkstravaganza, a series of Royal Family hosted hoedowns lasting well into the wee hours, in true Quarter style. New York and NOLA are sister cities, and the likes of Adam Deitch, Eric Krasno and Nigel Hall would make their presence known at this Lombardi Gras, and of course, be joined by their NOLA forefathers all weekend long.
Friday late night, Dr. Claw featured a malevolent conglomerate of Deitch, Kraz, Nigel, and locals Ian Neville on guitar and the inimitable Nick Daniels on bass and vocals. "God Made Me Funky" was an aggressive jolt of stutter-step bounce and friendly one-upmanship. A reading of R&B staple "Leave Me Alone" displayed soothing vocals from Hall and Daniels, while Kraz wailed away on a gold guitar emblazoned with the Saints' fleur de lis. A Daniels propelled cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" was a bludgeoning stomp of lead-bass, wailing Kraz, and sordid drumming; this colossal rendition most displayed the group's shared kinetic energy. Ivan Neville hustled down from Tip's to join the aural fracas, with Raymond Weber and Papa Mali checking it out from the crowd.
Khris Royal, Kraz, Deitch, Hall :: Royal Family
By Amanda BarryOn Saturday, the Nigel Hall Band (featuring George Porter Jr.) was geared to a more R&B feel. Krasno played bass before George's arrival as Hall crooned with joie de vivre. A deep Rhodes take on James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend" punctuated the early part of the set until Deitch commandeered the ship, directing Porter into murderous funk grooves. This was "Meters take Manhattan" on some crunk shit. Sheer delight shone on the faces of the elder statesman and boy wonder, as they played puppet-master to one another's nastiness amidst carnival sights and sounds.
In true "only in New Orleans" fashion, long after the band had left the stage there were still 25 or so fans hanging around the Nile. As Jill Scott's "Is it the Way" pumped through the PA, one by one the musicians returned to the stage, first Hall on bass with Krasno soon taking it from him. Hall shifted to keys as Deitch got behind the kit, and they moved from playing along to the record to some live improv. An elongated vamp morphed to a full-band version of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man," a boundless crunk-a-thon with seven different musicians rotating around the stage, including sax and keys maven Khris Royal, guitarist Andrew Block and local sax man Clarence "Trixzey" Slaughter. The half-hour workout was NOLA indulgence, almost a private show for the Royal Family Frenchman Street faithful.
Porter & Krasno by Dino Perrucci Sunday evening at the Nile was billed as Eric Krasno & Chapter 2, the Soulive guitarist's red-hot side project; which this time featured Porter in the mix. Several cuts from Kraz's forthcoming solo album - "76," "Be Alright" and "Too Sweet" - joined stormy covers including a rare-groove styled rendition of The Beatles' "Get Back" and an aggressive take on Jimi's "Manic Depression."
Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers may have opened the 4th Annual Bacchus Blowout, but this was no warm-up act. Fellow Treme second-line prodigal son Ruffins absolutely owned this packed-to-the-gills room from jump. "How 'bout them New Or-lee-anz Saints!!" he greeted the roaring post-parade massive and led everyone into a jubilant "All Mardi Gras Day." The audience upped the ante, as the obligatory "Saints Come Marching In" gave way to a bedlam-inducing take on the omnipresent Saints anthem by local rapper K. Gates, "Black N Gold New Orleans," which was the theme song to the entire city - you couldn't go three blocks without hearing a brass band, car stereo or house party system blaring it. When Kermit and Co. dropped it, the frontman's lazy, gruff Treme drawl steeped in bliss, Tip's fucking exploded.
Ever the showman, after a few healthy pulls from a Bud Light and some humorous banter, Ruffins quickly reminded us that it was Valentine's Day as he delivered maybe The evening's finest performance, a surreal take on the Isley Brothers' "Between the Sheets." The swanky love-fest gave way to an appearance by Corey "Boe Money" Henry, a run through The Roots' "U Got Me," Frankie Beverly and MAZE's "Joy and Pain" and more NOLA-fried second-line flavor.
Kermit Ruffins :: Bacchus Blowout
By Dino PerrucciAfter a lengthy changeover, the legendary Rebirth Brass Band delivered an enjoyable set of Crescent City ecstasy; cramped audience skanking and brass n' drums thumping along. "Boe Money," Derek Shezbie (trumpet) and Vincent Broussard (sax) led the troupe through an hour of bulbous brass anthems.
However, when headliner Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue took the stage just after 1 a.m., the energy levels in the room rose to even more raucous levels. Troy Andrews' meteoric rise from child trombone prodigy and member of Rebirth to feted second-liner and member of Lenny Kravitz's touring band to leading his own band is a true American dream. Hailing from the Treme, he has a long awaited album dropping soon and a reputation for superior showmanship. Leading a crack-band of childhood friends, including "Freaky" Pete Murano on guitar and Joey "In and Out" Peebles on drums, Shorty displayed a pomp 'n' verve that kept the room at full attention.
Andrews gave Kravitz a "le bon temps" lesson in crunkadelic rock with his reworking of The Guess Who's "American Woman," a pulsating banger with crunchy guitars and clobbering funk percussion. "Get Down" and "Orleans & Claiborne" were enigmatic doses of ridiculous second-line melodies and festive beats. "St. James Orleans Avenue" really took it to the Treme, and the new vibes took the crowd to "Backatown." He led the boys through a medley that mixed hometown rapper Mystikal, the Black Eyed Peas, Sly Stone and the Violent Femmes. Crooning for the ladies, Shorty channeled Al Green and Marvin Gaye, and blew surreal trumpet runs between patented trombone romps that mesmerized the cuties.
Galactic hosted two shows at Tipitina's Uptown, the first on Saturday and then Monday night's traditional Lundi Gras sunrise throw-down, each with Karl Denson's Tiny Universe supporting.
Robert Mercurio - Galactic
Lundi Gras at Tip's by Bob Compton/CapturedLight.comThe first show saw a short set of primarily new material from KDTU, highlighted by an incredible collaboration ("Baker's Dozen") between Denson, KDTU guitarist (and birthday boy) Brian Jordan and Galactic. The headliners threw down a show heavy on material from their newest record, Ya-Ka-May (JamBase review).
The annual Lundi Gras show was one to remember. Beginning with a fierce 90-minute set of firing KDTU, Diesel & Co. delivered the seminal "Ruff, Tuff and Tumble" and sultry "The Answer," then closed with an ethereal version of "S&G," a funk barnstormer that segued into evocative R&B. Galactic then hijacked their stage back and proceeded to uncork a colossal, three-set performance that went until 7 a.m. Culling from their now-vast catalogue of genre-bending compositions, the funk got deep and dark as the crowd bathed in their patented crunk gumbo, with "Boe Money" ably assisting throughout. Mixing in covers from Rakim to Zeppelin and featuring cameos from John Gros, Denson, Trixzey Slaughter, Cyril Neville and more, this was a gluttonously N'awlinz rager. Stanton Moore's punishing drums stoked the patented swamp-funk rumble, and bassist Robert Mercurio, guitarist Jeff Raines and sax/harp man Ben Ellman channeled the "Who dat?" mayhem into feverish pitches. Staggering out of Tip's alongside the band, crew, staff and revelers bound for the 8 a.m. Zulu parade was a surreal experience, even for the Crescent City.
The musical portion of the Mardi Gras program is often overlooked by outsiders who see Carnival as a season of consumer excess with heaps of plastic beads, rivers of "Big Ass Beers" and boobs running the sleazy course of Bourbon Street. Beyond the celestial floats, bejeweled krewe members and mansion-lined avenues, a simpler Carnival culture flourishes in New Orleans' neighborhoods. Seeking some truer roots and humbler hometown carnival essence, we looked for those marching betwixt the pricey floats and royalty costumes, i.e. the public school marching bands that rounded the corner of St. Charles and Josephine with the Zulu Parade on Tuesday morning. New Orleans' uniformed youths marched beautifully through the route and it was clear this is ground zero, the place where the seeds of Jazz Fest, Jam Cruise and summer festivals are sewn. This is the path that the likes of Big Sam, Trombone Shorty and all the Rebirth Brass Band took during their school years in this city.
Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs by Jessica Dore The spirit of New Orleans' carnival music is caught not with a $30 ticket to Tip's or Howlin' Wolf, but for free out in front Handa Wanda's bar room at 2nd and Dryades Streets on Mardi Gras Day. Tucked within Central City, this is the Mardi Gras of legends like Professor Longhair, James Booker and the Nevilles.
Post-Zulu, around 1 p.m., we went to check and pay respect to the Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs, strutting in their suits to drum circle beats with family, friends and plates of barbeque. This year, as they do each year, the Indians donned the fruits of each year's labor: Hand sewn suits and headdresses, some weighing more than fifty pounds with feathers, fabrics and intricate beadwork illustrations. There, in a crowd of mostly city locals, we enjoyed the peak of the day - some no-frills booty shaking among neighborhood royalty.
Additional reporting by Jessica Dore
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Galactic On Jimmy Kimmel Tonight (March 4th)
The great city of New Orleans is on its way back. The Saints recently won the Super Bowl and people filled the city’s historic streets, the euphoric celebration stretching for days into a joyous music fueled Mardi Gras. For those who couldn’t make the historic party or just didn’t get enough, acclaimed New Orleans band Galactic is bringing the vital new sounds of the Crescent City to Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 4th.
The band has just released their stunning new album YA-KA-MAY which entered the Billboard charts at #142 and The Washington Post called: “The most thoroughly current overview of the Crescent City’s musical landscape since Katrina.” On the Kimmel show Galactic will perform the song “Bacchus” with NOLA soul legend Allen Toussaint as well as “Heart of Steel” with Cyril Neville of the famed Neville Brothers on vocals.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Papa Mali's Supernatural Ball | 02.10 | NOLA
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Living in a place like New Orleans, the past is not really the past. The musical influence of people like Louis Armstrong and Professor Longhair is as palpable as the humidity. People talk about 'Fess as if he just played last week; The Meters aren't seen as an historical reference in NOLA funk, but as one of the building blocks of the NOLA vibe. For better or worse, the present is just an extension of our past that happens to be going on today. I get very excited when something reaches out from someone else's past to resonate strongly in the now. This was one of those nights when musical history reached out and smacked me on the back of the head, as if to say, "You need to know about this, sucka."For his annual "Supernatural Ball" Papa Mali (guitar, vocals) tapped George Porter Jr. (bass, vocals), Nigel Hall (keys, vocals) and Adam Deitch (drums) to be the house band (Eric Krasno was snowed-in). I cannot say enough about the energy and excitement that Deitch and Hall have been bringing into their collaborations with NOLA musicians. The night was billed as a musical exploration of Donny Hathaway's Live and Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys.
Walking into Tipitina's is like walking into a small neighborhood bar where you know everyone, only it's not that small and happens to be one of the most revered music clubs in the world - with good reason. I like to tell people that I got my education in college but my real schooling occurred at Tip's.
On this night I was greeted by the sounds of solo piano pouring off the stage. With no billing, I inquired as to who was playing and found out that it was Josh Charles, a New York pianist, who held his own through original material as well as great covers of Professor Longhair, whose visage hangs in tribute over the stage. DJ and sax mash up Jermaine Quiz Entourage kept the party rolling through set change. The Soul Rebels Brass Band followed and were able to work the light crowd into a heated dance party, though more and more people joined as the night progressed. The band is in rare form these days, following the recording of a new album that seems to have energized them.
Moving on to the main event, I will publicly admit my ignorance of Hathaway's influence, so when I started digging I was amazed at the connections. Like being brought to bluegrass many years ago through Garcia's Old & In The Way, the band's musical journey pushed me to dig deeper into Hathaway after the show. And isn't that the point in some ways? Throughout the first set, Nigel Hall's soulful voice led the exploration though selections from Hathaway's Live album. Joined at times by the Dirty Dozen's Efrem Towns on trumpet, highlights included a wonderful version of "The Ghetto," a crowd-riling "You've Got a Friend" and a beautiful duet with George Porter Jr. on "Jealous Guy." A funkified "Everything Is Everything" closed the set.
Papa Mali's Supernatural Ball :: 02.10 :: New Orleans Drinking my way through college as a guitarist, I was well aware of Hendrix's Band of Gypsys and was curious how the band would handle the material. Papa Mali's soulful guitar playing would be more-than-able to carry the lead lines, but that would have been too easy. Rather than make the second set a single-guitar fest, the band rotated in guest guitarists from NOLA, with Billy Iuso, Andrew Block and Matt Grondin each providing a different voice to the mix. In addition, a powerful horn section drove the tunes into new directions. The horn filled interpretations pushed boundaries and visited new spaces I never imagined with Hendrix.
Following the Hendrix selections, the band slipped into a few NOLA standards, including "Welcome to New Orleans," to round out the evening. Filled with both local and traveling music fanatics from all corners in for Mardi Gras, the Supernatural Ball will most likely be judged as one of the best sleeper shows of this Mardi Gras season.
 Deitch, Hall, Porter Jr., Mali | |
 Adam Deitch | |
 Adam Deitch | |
 Nigel Hall | |
 Nigel Hall | |
 Nigel Hall & George Porter Jr. | |
 Ed Lee - Soul Rebels Brass Band | |
 Maurice Brown | |
 Marcus Hubbard - Soul Rebels Brass Band | |
 George Porter Jr. | |
 George Porter Jr. | |
 Soul Rebels Brass Band | |
 Soul Rebels Brass Band | |
 Papa Mali |
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Nicholas Payton on WBGO’s Live at the Village Vanguard
Nicholas Patyon (photo by Michael Wilson)
Tune in, log on or drop by the Village Vanguard on Wednesday, March 10 to hear the Nicholas Payton Quintet on WBGO’s Live at the Village Vanguard.
The band will include Taylor Eigsti on piano, Vicente Archer on bass, Marcus Gilmore on drums and Daniel Sadownick on percucssion.
Born into a musical family (he remembers sitting under the piano while his father rehearsed with his band) and mentored by two Crescent City jazz masters (Clyde Kerr Jr. at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and Ellis Marsalis at the University of New Orleans), Payton was well-prepared to leap into the jazz fray when he emerged on the New York in the early 1990s. He impressed fellow New Orleans native and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis and was a regular in the early years of programming at the institution.
Payton went on to put his own spin on Louis Armstrong-associated music on his sophomore CD, the appropriately-titled 1995 disc Gumbo Nouveau. While over the next several years, Payton continued to hone his craft working with such jazz legends as Doc Cheatham (on their Grammy Award-winning 1997 eponymous duo), Hank Jones, Elvin Jones, and Ray Brown, in 2003 he boldly moved beyond the straight-ahead. He shocked the jazz world with his adventurous CD Sonic Trance, an exhilarating plugged-in outing infused with elements of hip-hop, electronica, and effects-driven trumpeting.
Don’t miss this exciting edition of Live from the Village Vanguard with the Nicolas Payton Quintet on March 10, 2010 at 9pm.
Monday, March 1, 2010
NPR's Bonerama: A Brass-Band Force Of Nature
"When the Levee Breaks" was first recorded by Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song originally referred to the great Mississippi Flood of 1927 — a natural disaster that destroyed communities up and down the banks of the river, but mostly spared the city of New Orleans. Of course, Hurricane Katrina created a whole different image of what can happen when the barriers between humans and the elements come down, so it makes sense that the New Orleans band Bonerama would bring the song forcefully into the present.
Mark Mullins and Craig Klein met while playing in the trombone section of Harry Connick Jr.'s Big Band, and together they created the core sound of Bonerama — reminiscent of street-tromping brass bands, avenues of jazz clubs and heavy-pulsing rock. Naturally, "When the Levee Breaks" pulls from the famous version on Led Zeppelin IV, complete with sly re-renderings of harmonica solos on swaying trombone. It moves with a heavy groove, dominated by the pounding wave of sound created by the slides of the trombone. The effect is edgier and more mournful than Led Zeppelin's lightly bluesy version — not only for its rich brass and darker, harder strung arrangement, but also because every bit of the performance comes from deep in the chest cavity, from a time and place when "Cryin' won't help you, and prayin' won't do no good." It feels like a force of nature, and as such, it threatens to sweep away everything in its path.
Ernest “Doc” Watson R.I.P.
On Saturday morning, February 27, 2010, the New Orleans traditional jazz community laid to rest one of the icons, the saxophonist Ernest “Doc” Watson. The funeral was held at St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church on Louisiana Avenue in uptown New Orleans. Over 25 musicians came out to pay respect to the legendary musician who performed with the Young Tuxedo and Olympia Brass Bands as well as with the Preservation Hall band over the course of his long career. Most of the musicians were inside the church when the service ended. They paraded outside preceeding the casket of the deceased.
The procession heads up the aisle led by two Grand Marshals
William Smith, trumpet and Roger Lewis, baritone saxophone, lead the band out of the church.
Dr. Michael White, clarinet, and Julius “Jap” McKee, sousaphone, were among the many musicians paying respect to “Doc.”
As the up tempo second line portion of the jazz funeral got under way both musicians and mourners had their exuberance on display for a life well lived.
After several blocks of spirited blowing, drumming and dancing, the music slowed and the crowded paused for the ritual of “cutting loose of the body.” The musicians split in half as the funeral cortege passed between the assembled.
The final song of the funeral was the mournful, “Lead Me Savior,” as all in attendance contemplated our earthly bonds. Here trumpeters Wendell Brunious and Greggory Stafford hit just the right notes.
All photos by Kim Welsh