In Pictures: Irvin Mayfield @ The Blue Note

Here's a few pictures from Tuesday night's show, care of Dino Perucci...

Irvin Mayfield - Blue Note, NYC 4/8/08


Jazz Sawyer - Blue Note, NYC 4/8/08


Irvin Mayfield - Blue Note, NYC 4/8/08

Related: Mayfield hears calm in storm when playing trumpet

"The effect of Katrina is a multi-dimensional question and specific to every individual," Mayfield explained. "I'm constantly checking the temperature of how people are feeling. I've found that if you were a well-known musician before the storm, the storm gave you some highlights to a certain extent. For other musicians it hasn't been like that at all -- someone like Nicholas Payton, he had more visibility before the storm. If you were a well-known artist there was the benefit of going somewhere else for new opportunities and some things got to happen for you. For [the more popular than ever] Irma Thomas, I think her tipping point was coming anyway. For all our national treasures like Fats Domino and Ray Charles, at some point they are going to get their just due."

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Jazz it up in 'Nawlins

"Spring in New Orleans is something like nirvana for music lovers, as several eclectic festivals - one arguably among the country's biggest and best - offer untold hours' worth of great performances by artists from the Crescent City and beyond. Not to mention opportunities to savor the exotic cuisine, historic sites and unique culture that's home to the region..."

See also: New Orleans Gears Up for Jazzfest

Pete Fountain to open French Quarter Festival

"I'm tootin' as much as I can, and enjoying it," he said. "I'm tryin' like hell."

The Here And Now Of George Porter Jr.

“Few bass players in the history of modern New Orleans music are as storied as George Porter Jr. During the course of a career spanning four decades, Porter has not only made a deep impression with his work in the Meters, but he’s notched sessions with artists as diverse as Paul McCartney, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, Patti LaBelle, Robbie Robertson and Tori Amos. Early in his career, Porter worked with seminal New Orleans artists like Allen Toussaint, Earl King, Lee Dorsey, and Johnny Adams. Back in 1965, Porter joined on with the Meters, considered by many to be the ultimate fusion of rock, funk and R&B, and gained recognition as one of the scene’s elite bass players.”

Home of the Groove's: "Larry Hamilton: On Record (And In Parenthesis)"

"HOG's ongoing saga about the music from the Malaco/New Orleans nexus focuses on one of the songwriters who Quezergue used, Larry Hamilton. Also an impressive vocalist, he got an early start, joining the locally popular late 1960s soul-funk outfit, David Batiste and the Gladiators, as lead singer while still in high school.."

"Aaron Neville moving back to New Orleans area"

"With Aaron's return, two of the four Neville Brothers will reside in or near New Orleans. Aaron's oldest brother, Art Neville, is back in the family's old Uptown neighborhood. Cyril Neville moved to Austin, Texas, after Katrina. Saxophonist Charles Neville has lived in rural Massachusetts for more than a decade."

From the film "Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together": Tuts Washington (front), Professor Longhair (rear) and Allen Toussaint





The Kids Are Badass: Quintron and Miss Pussycat at the Bowery Ballroom

"The genius of Quintron is his adeptness at conducting his one-man band. Throughout the show his hands were constantly moving, his left foot keeping the beat on a hi-hat while his right foot was used at one point to turn off the Drum Buddy. Even his mouth had a small microphone shoved into it for added sound distortion. Miss Pussycat is an essential part of the band, providing vocals, percussion, and cheerleading, but where she really shines is through her puppetry."

Band keeps New Orleans jazz traditions alive

"Rather than focusing on specific repertoire, what I wanted to do is focus on the experience of coming to hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. That's something as New Orleaneans that is so important to us. It's so connected to our life here. It's connected to our culture."

Also see THIS article &
Preservation Hall Jazz Band keeps magic of New Orleans alive

Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk uncorks nasty, nasty funk

"Our take on funk is very, very funky," the singer-keyboardist says, "and very nasty compared to most of the other funk bands now, and the ones that have come before us. We know that we're pretty funky. So I was just thinking of what's nasty and what's dirty, and there's nothing too much nastier and dirtier than a Dumpster."

Somewhere in sculpture heaven, John T. Scott is smiling

"The turnout of Mardi Gras Indians on Bayou St. John Sunday, April 6, was thin, but the costumes were nonetheless fabulous."

This Just In: DR. JOHN -w- Rebirth Brass Band - $20 Tickets Available

DR. JOHN

With Special Guests

Rebirth Brass Band

Blender Theater At Gramercy

127 East 23rd Street

FRIDAY, APRIL 11^th

PURCHASE TIX HERE.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12^th

6PM Doors / 6:45PM Show

PURCHASE TIX HERE

LATE SHOW JUST ADDED- SATURDAY, APRIL 12th At 11PM

PURCHASE TIX HERE

Beginning Tuesday, April 8^th at 8am

Purchase Tickets For Just $20

While Supplies Lasts

Update: Here's some pix from the Friday show, care of Dino Perrucci:

Rebirth Brass Band - Blender Theater, NYC 4/11/08


Dr, John - Blender Theater, NYC 4/11/08


Dr. John - Blender Theater, NYC 4/11/08

In Pictures: Big Sam's Funky Nation @ Sullivan Hall

I didn't have a chance to feature this show beforehand, but here's a couple pictures from Friday night, care of Dino Perucci...

Big Sam's Funky Nation - Sullivan Hall, NYC 4/4/08

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Jazzfest "Cubes" Released















Jazzfest food list for 2008 released


See also: Anticipation is building for star-studded Jazzfest







Typical Midtown Lunch With Ralph Brennan

The owner of Bacco, Red Fish Grille and Ralph’s on the Park, and member of the famous Brennan family- who collectively own some of the best New Orleans food institutions (Commander’s Palace, Brennan’s), was in town and challenged the Midtown Lunch blogger to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown.

The Challange: HERE

The Wrap Up: HERE



The Keys to the City: A Profile of Tom McDermott

McDermott's playing is encyclopedic, referencing everything from 19th Century composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk through ragtime, early jazz, brass band, boogie woogie and the eclectic post-WWII R&B of Professor Longhair and James Booker.

Marsalis, Mayfield sparkle on "Love Songs, Ballads and Standards"

There is nothing deliberately avant-garde or self-indulgent here. This is not jazz engineered to impress, or even challenge. Instead, an old master and a brash student find common ground on an absolutely gorgeous and eminently listenable program.

Come on Down to Nawlins: A Photo Essay

In New Orleans brass bands are not just for football fight songs and halftime shows. Here the ensembles are a highlight of neighborhood parades organized by the city’s famous black social clubs. They also preside over jazz funerals, in which music accompanies the procession to and from the cemetery. Over the years, the city’s brass bands have molded young musicians, teaching them not only how to play but also about music’s powerful place in New Orleans culture. Old-timers like “Uncle” Lionel Batiste, 77, of the Tremé Brass Band, are making sure that this tradition of learning continues by mentoring children like seven-year-old Jaw Zansey Ramsey of the Young New Orleans Traditional Brass Band.

Q&A with Bonerama's Craig Klein

“The music we play takes a different shape every night, so it’s not the same show every night. Live shows are the best way to experience music from a band you really enjoy. That’s one thing that is very nice for us. And plus, for people to come out to dance and get down to the music we play is a lot of fun."

See also: Flesh & bones: New Orleans' Bonerama Gets Down to Brass Tactics"



Joey Williams: Down In New Orleans With The Blind Boys of Alabama

The use of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Allen Toussaint and the Hot 8 Brass Band, was that an effect of recording in New Orleans?

JW: Our manager Charles Driebe is from New Orleans so that's right down his alley. He knew some of the people personally, and he knew his way around New Orleans. (laughs) So, he was able to get things done and get some people in the area. It got a little easier as it went along. And the people in New Orleans were so helpful. They were so willing to do what we needed to be done. So, it would be fitting so well.

R.I.P. Al Copeland: Founder of Popeyes Chicken

"Realizing that bland fried chicken was going nowhere, Mr. Copeland started using the spicy recipe. To show that he was operating a new enterprise, he decided to change its name. According to corporate lore, he was stumped until he saw "The French Connection," in which Gene Hackman won an Oscar for his portrayal of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a brusque, no-nonsense New York City policeman. At that point, Mr. Copeland knew the business had a name: Popeyes Mighty Good Fried Chicken. There is no apostrophe in the name, Mr. Copeland often joked, because he was too poor to afford one."

funky Meters: A Blog Post



Another collection of Original Mardi Gras Indian Photos

See also: "Indians, Fish, & Clinton"

This Just In: Galactic @ BB King's / Tix Onsale Tomorrow

Galactic & Guests To Perform at Jammys Post-Party.

Following the Jammy Awards on the evening of May 7, Galactic will headline a post-event performance at the B.B. King Blues Club. Doors are scheduled to open at 11:30 for the show which is likely to draw in many of the performers from the Jammys show proper. The initial Jammys line-up is expected to be announced within the next two weeks, preceded by the list of nominees later this week.

PURCHASE TICKETS (ONSALE TOMORROW i.e. 3/28) HERE.

The five-man group started out over a decade ago as an instrumental act in the tradition of the Meters, the JB's, and Booker T. & the MG's - bands equally comfortable recording their own material or working with vocalists.

Originally formed in 1994 as an octet (under the name Galactic Prophylactic), the group was soon pared down to an instrumental sextet, later adding Theryl "Houseman" DeClouet on vocals. The group was started when childhood friends Jeff Raines and Rob Mercurio moved to New Orleans together to attend college and became enamored of the local funk scene, populated by such legendary acts as The Meters and Dirty Dozen Brass Band and inspired by such legends as Professor Longhair. There they teamed with noted New Orleans drummer Stanton Moore, saxophonist/harmonica (now producer) Ben Ellman, and Rich Vogel.

Over the years, the band's sound has evolved from organic New Orleans funk to a more modern style, incorporating elements of hip hop, electronica, fusion, and jazz. This change has been largely characterized by the increased use of electronic effects on guitar, bass, saxophone, and drums. In 2004, the band parted ways with vocalist DeClouet, and now continue as an instrumental group. They have been releasing ground breaking albums consistently since 1996. The latest album includes a who's who's of underground MC's called From the Corner to The Block.

Official website HERE.

MySpace page HERE.


Listen to music via Rhapsody HERE.