OffBeat Magazine January 2018 by OffBeat Magazine

All the nominees!

Here dey come!

STof t

Big Chief

Monk Boudreaux LOUISIANA MUSIC, FOOD & CULTURE—JANUARY 2018 Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

Lifetime Achievement in Music

+ Top 50 Albums of the Year,

Anders Osborne and more!

PHoto: elsa hahne

Lifetime Achievement in Music:

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Monk Boudreaux

"OffBeat’s Best of the Best Music Awards" By Jan Ramsey February 1996

The Poet Laureate of Mardi Gras Indians. Page 32

LETTERS

(Culture Bearer): Clarence Johnson III

MOJO MOUTH

FRESH

Lifetime Achievement in Music Education: Michael Pellera

Lifetime Achievement in Music Business: Steve and Cézanne Nails

IN THE SPIRIT

Five Questions with Kathleen McCulla about the King Cake Festival; Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival; New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness; Celebrating 30 Years: Dr. John; My Music with Cliff Hines; Introducing 300 Songs for 300 Years and more.

Carlos Quinonez mixes up a Mississippi Kiss for Leon Bridges.

SIMPLY THE BEST

OFFBEAT EATS

The 50 best albums of 2017.

NOM, NOM!

The complete list of nominees for the Best of the Beat Awards.

BON VOYAGE

Music on the high seas.

BEST OF THE BEAT Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Musician): Anders Osborne Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award www.OFFBEAT.com

Chef Daniel Esses dishes on Three Muses' pork belly sliders and Peter Thriffiley reviews The Daily Beet.

REVIEWS

John Fohl, Jason Marsalis and the 21st Century Trad Band, Revival!, Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band, Lloyd Price, Germaine Bazzle, Jon Hebert, Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys, Rockie Charles, Louie Fontaine and more.

LISTINGS

BACKTALK with Johnny Mathis

The first Best of the Beat was called The Best of the Best. “Ever since we started publishing OffBeat in 1988, we’ve wanted to do something special to honor the great musicians and music industry people here in New Orleans ... celebrate their accomplishments.” To read more, this issue can be purchased at www.offbeat.com/issues/ february-1996/. JAN U A RY 2018

Letters

“When I think about Fats and New Orleans, I recall what for me was the golden era for New Orleans music, which I first experienced live at 1981’s Jazz Fest.” —Gordon R. Hodas, MD, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fats Domino Circle I’ve got nothing against the Revivalists but do they compare with Fats, a true world treasure? Didn’t he deserve a full-page cover of OffBeat? And if you still need to rename Lee Circle, I think that Fats Domino Circle would sound great. —Jean-Pierre Bruneau, Montreuil Sous Bois, France I see great visions of how the now-empty circle—formally known as Lee—can be transformed. Using the existing tower it can be done in a couple of ways. Dedicate it to all the keyboard players, like Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint and the others that I can’t think of right now. Have piano keys winding up the tower and then silhouettes—busts—in metal works of the players set out from keys and that winds up the tower too—dimensional, depth. Around the tower, on the sidewalk, will be names and dates. Either like what Tipitina’s does outside their business or raised stone (like grave stone markers) with a plaque on it. The new name of the circle? It needs to be something funky. —Cathy Dee Reed, Ocean Springs, Mississippi

More Fats Thankfully, my gratitude for the wonderful music and extreme joy that Fats Domino gave us for so many years overrides my sadness over his passing. But I am genuinely sad about Fats’ death, despite my awareness that his performing days ended some time ago. Whether he performed at a particular Jazz Fest or no, Fats for me was the embodiment of the best of New Orleans music, and just knowing that he was around was reassuring. Unlike the also-revered Buddy Holly, Fats was not a teenager at the time that he emerged as a rock ’n’ roll artist in the mid-1950s. In this respect, Fats was similar to Chuck Berry, two years older, and Little Richard, four years younger. Yet Fats, with the stellar guidance of Dave Bartholomew, recorded high quality, timeless music that greatly appealed to youth. In so doing, he conveyed a warmth and optimism that was evident on his

recordings and live performances. At the tender age of eight, I was already following Fats Domino and loved “Ain’t That a Shame” (1955) and then “Blue Monday,” “Blueberry Hill,” and all the rest. My high regard for Fats’ music never wavered as I entered adulthood. My wife and I took advantage of every opportunity to see him live, and we were never disappointed. I also came to recognize the virtuosity of Dave Bartholomew’s “house band,” enjoying the unique contributions of Lee Allen, Herb Hardesty, and others. In time, I discovered Fats’ earlier rhythm and blues recordings that preceded his rock ’n’ roll hits, starting with 1949s “The Fat Man,” up until the mid-’50s, when he successfully crossed over into what we knew as rock ’n’ roll. The brilliance of the early songs—including “Goin’ Home” and “Goin’ to the River”—became apparent to me. Through good fortune, the ubiquitous Cosimo Matassa became a friend and a source of history. On one occasion I asked Cosimo why Fats would have recorded “Goin’ to the River,” given its pessimistic, suicidal theme. With a smile, Cosimo cogently set my mind at ease: “If you sing about it, then you don’t have to do it.” This made eminent sense to me, as a child and adolescent psychiatrist already committed to the healing power of music. When I think about Fats and New Orleans, I recall what for me was the golden era for New Orleans music, which I first experienced live at 1981’s Jazz Fest and then later at many others. I was entertained by Ernie K-Doe, Jessie Hill, and Clarence “Frogman” Henry (thankfully still with us), plus Bobby Mitchell, Tommy Ridgley, Johnny Adams, Frankie Ford, Bobby Marchan, and of course Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas, all classic New Orleans R&B artists. At the head of the line was the singular Fats Domino. My immediate response upon learning of Fats’ death was that, with Fats now gone, I must abandon my lingering belief that, chronological age notwithstanding, I am still a “kid.” Upon further reflection, however, I realize that Fats is still truly with us. So I will maintain my pleasant delusion of youthfulness a while longer. —Gordon R. Hodas, MD, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

OffBeat welcomes letters from its readers—both comments and criticisms. To be considered for publication, all letters must be signed and contain the current address and phone number of the writer. Letters to the editor are subject to editing for length or content deemed objectionable to OffBeat readers. Please send letters to Editor, OffBeat Publications, 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116.

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Louisiana Music, Food & Culture

January 2018 Volume 31, Number 1 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com Managing Editor Joseph L. Irrera, josephirrera@offbeat.com Consulting Editor John Swenson Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Listings Editor Katie Walenter, listings@offbeat.com Contributors Nick Benoit, Stacey Leigh Bridewell, Sam D’Arcangelo, Alex Galbraith, Elsa Hahne, Ivory Jones, Amanda Mester, Brett Milano, John Swenson, Peter Thriffiley, Christopher Weddle, Dan Willging, John Wirt, Geraldine Wyckoff Cover Elsa Hahne (Monk Boudreaux was photographed in the lobby at the Ace Hotel) Art Director/Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Web Editor Amanda Mester, amanda@offbeat.com Copy Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, theo@offbeat.com Advertising Sales/Promotions Coordinator Camille A. Ramsey, camille@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Emily Carmichael, Anne Elise Hastings, Raphael Helfand, Ivory Jones Distribution Patti Carrigan, Doug Jackson OffBeat (ISSN# 1090-0810) is published monthly in New Orleans by OffBeat, Inc., 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116 (504) 944-4300 • fax (504) 944-4306 e-mail: offbeat@offbeat.com, web site: www.offbeat.com

/offbeatmagazine Copyright © 2018, OffBeat, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. OffBeat is a registered trademark of OffBeat, Inc. First class subscriptions to OffBeat in the U.S. are available for $45 per year ($52 Canada, $105 foreign airmail). Back issues are available for $10, except for the May issue for $16 (for foreign delivery add $6, except for the May issue add $4). Submission of photos and articles on Louisiana artists are welcomed, but unfortunately material cannot be returned.

MOJO MOUTH

Why We Do It

’m hoping that you are able to come to OffBeat’s 23rd annual Best of the Beat Awards on January 25 at Generations Hall. It’s the time when we celebrate our local musicians and give them the accolades they deserve. In fact, I wish we could do it more often, but then it wouldn’t be special, would it? By the way, by the time this issue of OffBeat hits the street, you’ll still have time to vote for the bands and recordings that should be honored this year (voting officially ends on Friday, January 12), and you’ll be able to purchase tickets for the party event. Both voting and ticket sales can be found at OffBeat.com. We’re also honoring Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement Award

www.OFFBEAT.com

recipients at a smaller event on January 18 at the Orpheum Theater, where we’ll give Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Steve and Cézanne Nails, and Michael Pellera awards for their contributions to our vibrant music scene, and the Positive Vibrations Foundation will honor Anders Osborne and Clarence Johnson III for their contributions as well. The Best of the Beat Awards (and OffBeat, for that matter) were created because music and musicians were taken for granted in their own home town. This is pretty common in other cities with a decent music scene, but I thought it was egregious that locals and businesses didn’t understand or honor music as the foundation of

By Jan Ramsey New Orleans’ unique culture. That’s what we are all about. The Best of the Beat is a project of the non-profit OffBeat Music & Cultural Arts Foundation, which was organized to keep the Best of the Beat Awards alive and to continue to support local music. OffBeat presents the awards, and we we couldn't do it without our partners who include the Positive Vibrations Foundation, Generations Hall, the Orpheum Theater, WWLTV, the New Orleans Advocate, Ace Hotel, WWNO, WYES, WWOZ and WHIV-FM and the many restaurants and volunteers who help us celebrate local music. I truly want all musicians to be involved in this event; we want to

showcase all music and musicians, and give them the opportunity to shine in the public eye. In a world that’s dominated by social media, I find that many up-andcoming musicians and bands don’t get as involved as they should in promoting themselves. OffBeat—and the Best of the Beat Awards—want to help sustain our music scene. We’re not just about “classic” New Orleans musicians: We’re supporting young bands, singer-songwriters, hip-hop—the whole spectrum of New Orleans and Louisiana music. So if you feel slighted, for any reason, try to stop by and let us know about you and your music. You’re always welcome. O

JAN U A RY 2018

FRESH

Five Questions with Kathleen McCulla, Director of Special Events at Ochsner Health System—King Cake Festival

Photo: Anne Elise Hastings

Algiers Folk Art Festival

SOUNDCHECK

OffBeat.com

SWEET TWEETS

ow has the King Cake Festival evolved since that first edition in 2013? I think it’s become part of the Mardi Gras culture in both a foodie and family friendly way. There’s the general table argument of “this is the best king cake” and “no, that’s the best king cake.” You know, there’s people sitting around having that argument, and the festival has become a great place to kind of settle it. So that’s the foodie part of it. As for being family friendly, we have music, a kids zone, a family fun run, and a lot of good food. It’s a nice, safe environment for families to come and enjoy Mardi Gras without the craziness that you sometimes experience at the parades. Can you tell me where the proceeds go? Every year we work to raise money for our Patients Assistance Program, which provides help for families that are struggling when their child is in the hospital. Maybe a kid is having surgery and mom and dad are out of work at the time, or maybe they have to take off of work while their child is in the hospital and they can’t pay for travel expenses or utilities. Maybe they can’t afford the little extra during the holidays. The Patients Assistance Program is there to help take care of that. How does this festival stand out in New Orleans’ growing food festival scene? Well the king cake itself is so unique to New Orleans culture! That’s a highlight in its own right. We have so many unique bakeries from this area providing the king cake. A lot of these bakeries are local businesses and the chefs are homegrown. Some of them are highly trained too, so it’s nice to see the mix that comes out. What activities are you most excited about? The kids zone is growing and I’m excited about that. It looks like we’ll have a partnership with the Insectarium, so I’m also excited to see where that goes. But we’re really kind of sticking with the tried and true—26 bakeries and our guests voting for their favorite king cakes. In your opinion, what makes a truly great king cake? That’s a tough one. I love to see what’s new and different. It’s really interesting to see the things that people from other countries have done and what they’ve brought to this melting pot and to our city. —Sam D’Arcangelo

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@jeffalbert My Intro to Music Tech class makes podcasts for their final projects. I love these projects. Some of these students make such cool stuff!!! @SoulRebels Proud to be nominated once again for Best Brass Band from @OffBeatMagazine Best of the Beat Awards!! And, we’ll be performing at the awards Thursday 1/25. Go and vote now!! @UnderDogCentral (Alfred Banks) Getting in the studio next week. Finalizing my first EP/single release of 2018 ... So, I’m up early this AM doing it. I’m excited. Anxious. Nervous and such. Can’t wait to share all this... @mpatrickwelch Been thinking today about all the people who have survived mental and physical trauma and it has shaped them into gruff assholes that no one feels sorry for. People really only care about your mental health as long as it doesn’t offend their sensibilities. @davidlharrismus What a special show tonight at the #DewDropInn in #Mandeville!

www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

DANNY BARKER BANJO AND GUITAR FESTIVAL

Barking All Over

ith a career spanning more than seven decades, banjo virtuoso Danny Barker mentored generations of New Orleans musicians and is the namesake for the fourth annual Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival. Taking place January 9 through 14, the 2018 installment aims to celebrate Barker’s life’s work with performances, educational clinics, panel discussions, interviews and more in an impressive collection of venues across the city. This year, live music will be provided by revered Haitian guitarist and educator Claude Carré and Senegalese kora master Morikeba Kouyate. January 9’s kick-off concert will set the tone, as Ellis Marsalis performs solo on piano. Other artists rounding out the evening include the allstar quartet of drummer Herlin Riley, bassist Mitchell Player, guitarist/ banjoist Detroit Brooks and trumpeter Will Smith. Their performances will be joined by a screening of video segments featuring Barker and Blue

photo: elsa hahne

Detroit Brooks

Lu Barker created by filmmaker Matt Martinez. Music journalist Gwen Thompkins will deliver a short presentation about Barker’s revised 2016 autobiography, A Life in Jazz, all of which will be rounded out by a very special appearance by the Ellis Marsalis Kids. The kick-off concert takes place at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music (1901 Bartholomew St.). Other notable inclusions are the Danny Barker Birthday Bash on January 11 at Snug Harbor, featuring Gregg Stafford, Freddie Lonzo, Detroit Brooks, Mari Watanabe, Kerry Lewis, Jerry Anderson and Topsy Chapman. Kermit’s Treme Mother-in-Law Lounge will host the Danny Barker Traditional Jam, starring James Andrews, Glenn David Andrews, Gregg Stafford, Donald Harrison, Freddy Lonzo, Wendell Brunious and more. On January 13, the official Second Line for Danny kicks off from the New Orleans Jazz Museum and ends at Bullet’s Sports Bar, led by the Hot 8 Brass Band and Sons of Jazz Brass Band. It all culminates with the Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival Grand Finale on January 14. At the New Orleans Jazz Museum, indoor and outdoor stages will house performances, screenings and more, including sets from John Boutté, the UNO Jazz Ensemble with Steve Masakowski, Charmaine Neville, Kermit Ruffins, Leroy Jones Quartet and others. By week’s end, attendees will be treated to a series of remarkable events including a panel discussion with Gregg Stafford, Fred Johnson, Herlin Riley, Ellis Marsalis and others about Barker’s profound contributions on January 10 at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and a performance from the Harry Sterling Quartet accompanied by storytelling about Danny and Blue Lu Barker from Jon Pult, Jan Ramsey, Chris Sylvain and more on January 11 at Rhodes Family Services. Full event schedule and tickets are at dannybarkerfestival.com. —Amanda Mester www.OFFBEAT.com

JAN U A RY 2018

CELEBRATING

FRESH

August 1992

Giving Today for Tomorrow

hile the great Allen Toussaint sadly left us on November 18, 2015, his musical and philanthropic legacy lives on. Fittingly, the renowned composer, arranger, pianist and vocalist’s birthday celebration, Sunday, January 14, will benefit the New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness, an organization he co-founded with vocalist Aaron Neville in 1985. The event takes place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Rock ‘n’ Bowl with music by two exceptional talents, pianist/ vocalist Marcia Ball and guitarist/vocalist Deacon John & the Ivories. The seed of the idea to form NOAAHH started with a song, or actually several songs. In 1985, the supergroup, USA for Africa, recorded and released a single, “We Are the World,” the profits of which were aimed to help relieve famine in Africa. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, it featured a who’s who of artists including stars such as Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Billy Joel and many, many more. That enterprise inspired two of New Orleans’ own superstars, Toussaint and vocalist Aaron Neville, to come up with a similar endeavor to benefit those less fortunate in the city. With the help of social activist Sister Jane Ransom, they began organizing what would become the New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness. Their first step was to gather a select core of New Orleans’ finest artists at Toussaint’s Sea-Saint Studios to record “Give Today for Tomorrow,” a tune specially written by Toussaint, Sid Berger and Alan Huard. Deftly and with his usual charm, Toussaint led the session that included a very impressive group of this city’s musicians—our own who’s who—including Irma Thomas, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, Pete Fountain, the Aubry Twins, Leigh “Lil’ Queenie” Harris, Allen Toussaint Raymond Myles, Tommy Ridgley and more. Irma Thomas, who also performed at NOAAHH’s first benefit concert and others through the years, once remembered the scene in the studio. “There were a lot of people there, but there were no ego problems going on. A lot of the people who participated in that [session] are no longer with us. Life goes on and we’re still trying to help feed the hungry.” Thomas’ words still ring true in relationship to the generous nature of New Orleans musicians and the continued work of the New Orleans Artists Against Hunger and Homelessness. Through its history, the organization has distributed more than three million dollars in grants to over 50 nonprofits and charities that provide food and shelter to those in need. Allen Toussaint would certainly have approved of celebrating what would have been his seventy-ninth birthday as a benefit for NOAAHH. As declared by the city of New Orleans, January 14 is also Allen Toussaint Day. For ticket information go to www.noaahh.org. —Geraldine Wyckoff

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“Dr. John Comes Home”

1988-2018

ffBeat Magazine is celebrating 30 years and reached that milestone with our November 2017 issue. To mark the anniversary, over the next 12 months OffBeat will re-publish excerpts from features and interviews from the past 30 years. In our third installment, from our August 1992 issue, Keith Spera interviews songwriter Dr. John. You were one of the people who were taken advantage of as far as royalties and songwriting credits. The one that always comes up is the Lloyd Price tune, “Lady Luck.”

“My parents signed the contract ’cause I was like 15, and it said, in real big print on the contract, which I recently saw, 'Rate of royalty: nothing.'” —Dr. John

Besides “Lady Luck,” there’s a lot of songs that I wrote by myself. In a lot of instances that I know from later trying to find out where all my songs and money went, a lot of these songs were given to disc jockeys to play records. I never met these people, but their names are on the records with mine. That’s just how things was when I was first writin’ songs. Like the thing with “Lady Luck,” I had written a song, had a contract on it with Venice Music, but what I never knew was they didn’t copyright the songs until they recorded ’em. When Lloyd Price, I guess, heard the song when he was at Specialty Records, when he left to go to ABC/Paramount, he took songs that he copyrighted. So you lost out on that one. I lost out on a lot of deals early on. I mean, I had a deal with Aladdin Records for a lot of songs. My parents signed the contract ’cause I was like 15, and it said, in real big print on the contract, which I recently saw, “Rate of royalty: nothing.” They only paid like three-and-a-half cents for sheet music. If you didn’t read it carefully, it looked like I was paid three-and-a-half cents royalty, but that was for sheet music. For royalties for the songs, they owed me nothin’. You didn’t have any attorney look at it? Well, I had an attorney for the Lloyd Price thing, but he happened to be Lloyd Price’s attorney too, and nobody in my family thought about that being a conflict of interest. That’s just the way things went. www.OFFBEAT.com

photo on left: golden g. richard, iiI

NEW ORLEANS ARTISTS AGAINST HUNGER AND HOMELESSNESS

FRESH

MY MUSIC

photo: noe cugny

Cliff Hines

“I

never thought I would become a musician, but my mother was very musically oriented, and from a young age she would always have me listen to cool music from her childhood and have me try out new instruments. I tried a bunch of instruments like violin, piano, drums—I played drums for a year and I was terrible. Finally, when I was 13, she put a guitar in my hands. I don’t know if it was the earlier music experience that helped me out, but I took to guitar really quickly. Before I knew it, I was in the middle school band, which led me to apply to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. I got into NOCCA and went there for four years, which introduced me to jazz. Then I continued that education at the University of New Orleans and got further into jazz, but also further away from it. The Cliff Hines Quintet evolved out of that mindset of moving away from jazz, and melding it with fusion, world and rock elements. As it got further and further away from jazz, it morphed into Cliff & Sasha [Masakowski], which then morphed into what is now Hildegard. And Hildegard is fully electronic art rock—the only thing jazz about it is improvisation. Except instead of improvising solos, we’re improvising sound design and going into experimental territory. I also have my own solo project called KL¥PH that focuses on my own sound design in Ableton computer world, with Khris Royal, John Maestas, Nathan Lambertson and Alfred Jordan rounding out the live band. I’m also working on my solo DJ techniques and going even further into that world by learning modular synths. I do a lot of work as a sideman as well. In 2012 I started touring with the Mike Dillon Band. Then after that I started playing with Christian Scott a little bit and got to be on his last four records. Now I’m touring with Rickie Lee Jones. Conceptually, I don’t think of myself as a guitar player anymore. My mind is more set on the effects and the ways I transform the guitar. I often joke, in synthesizer terms, that a guitar is just an oscillator. When you have a synthesizer, you have an oscillator, and you put it through all these effects that create the synth tone. The guitar is just the starting signal for me. It’s just the thing I understand. But in terms of the tones I’m hearing, I’ve never really liked the tone of the guitar, and I’ve especially never liked my tone. Luckily, I’ve come to terms with that recently and have learned to appreciate what the guitar can do on its own, mostly so that I can get employed. But I’m definitely more into sound design, and the guitar is just my method of getting the ball rolling.” —Sam D’Arcangelo www.OFFBEAT.com

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FRESH

300 SONGS FOR 300 YEARS

Celebrating the City’s 300th in Song

ffBeat magazine, now celebrating 30 years, has always been dedicated to the music of Louisiana. We will celebrate the city’s 300th in song—300 songs chosen from all 300 years of New Orleans’ history. Selections from the earliest African and Caribbean rhythms of Congo Square along with the classical compositions of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Edmund Dédé and others will be included, as will the ragtime and early piano jazz of Storyville, including New Orleans’ own Tony Jackson. We will explore the rhythm and blues of Ernie K-Doe, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, the Dixie Cups and others. We will go from Louis Armstrong to Big Freedia—any genre, any performer or band, any composer. Composers do not have to be from New Orleans—these are the songs that are emblematic of New Orleans; songs that will always remind you of (or make you miss) New Orleans, or songs that will forever be associated with New Orleans. Ernie K-Doe once said, “I’m not sure but I’m almost positive that all music came from New Orleans.” From the earliest sounds of jazz to the rock ’n’ roll recorded at J&M Music Shop to our homegrown geniuses, Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, New Orleans music is the heartbeat of America. It’s clear that the city of New Orleans’ is intertwined with its music. Music is what tells the story of New Orleans. Ellen DeGeneres once asked: What’s New Orleans without music? We’ll get suggestions from our readers, writers and others, and vet the suggestions until we’ve culled it down to 300 “essential” New Orleans songs. We’ll publish the songs in the magazine, and also compile them online, with links to great performances of each one and brief histories of the tunes. Sponsored by the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, we’ll also be partnering with local radio and television stations, the New Orleans Jazz Museum and more to publish in print and throughout the year 2018. —Joseph Irrera To make a suggestion, go to www.offbeat.com/300-songs-300-years/

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TOP 50 ALBUMS

Simply the Best The 50 best albums of 2017.

e’ve polled our writers and editorial staff and have gathered 50 of our most recommended albums of the year. We didn’t include reissues and only included releases reviewed in 2017. Some titles released in December 2016 will be considered in the 2018 “Best of” list.

1. Stanton Moore: With You In Mind: The Songs of Allen Toussaint (Mascot Records) All in all, it’s a fine performance by Stanton in his continuing evolution from funkateer to allaround drum eminence, with great sidemen and material. —reviewed September 2017 by Tom McDermott

2. Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So it Is (Legacy Recordings)

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5. Lost Bayou Ramblers: Kalenda (Rice Pump) Not since Dr. John’s storied debut—which coincidentally also included a piece based on the Kalenda legend—have Louisiana traditions been so thoroughly psychedelicized. —reviewed October 2017 by Brett Milano

Under Ben Jaffe’s leadership, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has spent much of the past decade redrawing the boundaries of traditional New Orleans jazz. —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Jennifer Odell

6. Nicholas Payton: AfroCaribbean Mixtape (Ropeadope) Payton takes on this obviously joyful task by bringing together acoustic instruments, electronic samplings, a string section and elements of spoken word ... so one can realize the roots and resemblances. —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff

3. Trombone Shorty: Parking

7. Naughty Professor:

Lot Symphony (Blue Note) Trombone Shorty’s personal tradition of stunningly good musicianship, crowd-pleasing good material and just plain good fun. —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff

Identity (Independent) Identity is a scene record, a perfect amalgamation of all the good things that have been happening to New Orleans music in the past decade. —reviewed August 2017 by Robert Fontenot

4. Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: The Centennial Trilogy

8. Hurray for the Riff Raff:

(Ropeadope) Adjuah’s powerful, though often mournful horn, takes center stage… —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 (Rule Rebel); August 2017 (Diaspora); December 2017 (The Emancipation Procrastination) by Geraldine Wyckoff

We understand the difficulties in ranking and we only rank the Top 10. We hope that the readers use this list merely as a guide to the best music that Louisiana has to offer. There’s a lot of great music out there!

The Navigator (ATO) The Navigator, a coming-ofage statement that immediately places her high in the pantheon of singer-songwriters from her generation. —reviewed March 2017 by John Swenson

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9. Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers: Top of the Mountain (Crew Records) Top of the Mountain musically expresses just why Dwayne Dopsie stands at the peak of zydeco today. —reviewed October 2017 by Geraldine Wyckof

10. The Monocle: KindHumanKind (Independent) With KindHumanKind, Aurora Nealand, a centrifugal force on New Orleans’ traditional jazz, modern jazz and rock scenes, incorporates more elements from her vast artistic arsenal than on any recording to date. The results are electrifying. —reviewed July 2017 by Jennifer Odell

The Next

(in alphabetical order)

Alfred Banks: The Beautiful (Underdogcentral Media) —reviewed May 2017 by Frank Etheridge Chris Belleau: Swamp Fever (Proud Dog) —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Dan Willging Bonerama: Hot Like Fire (Basin Street Records) —reviewed November 2017 by John Swenson and Geraldine Wyckoff Bonsoir, Catin: L’Aurore (Valcour Records) —reviewed June 2017 by Nick Pittman Benjamin Booker: Witness (ATO Records) —reviewed July 2017 by Rory Callais John Michael Bradford: Something Old, Something New (AFO) —reviewed June 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff Brass-A-Holics: Word on the Street (Independent) —reviewed December 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff Jon Cleary: Live at Chickie Wah Wah (FHQ Records) —reviewed May 2017 by Tom McDermott Lynn Drury: Rise of the Fall (Independent) —reviewed July 2017 by John Swenson Erica Falls: HomeGrown (Vintage Soul) —reviewed August 2017 by John Swenson Chloe Feoranzo and Tom McDermott: Zeppelins Built to Order (Rabadash Records)—reviewed April 2017 by John Swenson Feufollet: Baby’s on Fire (Valcour Records) —reviewed November 2017 by Dan Willging Flow Tribe: Boss (Independent) —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Frank Etheridge David Greely: Shadows-on-the-Teche (Give and Go Records) —reviewed March 2017 by Dan Willging www.OFFBEAT.com

P TO

S BUM L A 50

David L. Harris: Blues I Felt (Independent) —reviewed March 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff High Performance: Cajun Cool (Swallow) —reviewed August 2017 by Dan Willging Hot 8 Brass Band: On the Spot (Tru Thoughts Records) —reviewed July 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff Kyle Huval and the Dixie Club Ramblers: Straight Allons (Valcour Records) —reviewed September 2017 by Dan Willging Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes: sketch (Full Frontal Records) —reviewed July 2017 by Robert Fontenot Mykia Jovan: Elliyahu (Independent) —reviewed December 2017 by Stacey Leigh Bridewell Chris Thomas King: Hotel Voodoo (21st Century Blues) —reviewed December 2017 by John Wirt King James & the Special Men: Act Like You Know (Independent) —reviewed July 2017 by Brett Milano Sonny Landreth: Recorded Live in Lafayette (Provogue) —reviewed July 2017 by John Wirt Tim Laughlin: The Trio Sessions, Vol. 2 (Gentilly Records) —reviewed April 2017 by Tom McDermott Darcy Malone & the Tangle: Make Me Over (Independent) —reviewed July 2017 by Brett Milano PJ Morton: Gumbo (Morton Records) —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by John Wirt The New Orleans Jazz Vipers: Live & Viperizin’ (Independent) —reviewed August 2017 by Brett Milano Margie Perez: Love Is All (Threadhead Records) —reviewed February 2017 by Brett Milano Sam Price & the True Believers: Sam Price and the True Believers (Indep.) —reviewed Jazz Fest Bible 2017 by Brett Milano Kermit Ruffins and Irvin Mayfield: A Beautiful Word (Basin Street) —reviewed October 2017 by Geradline Wyckoff Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show: Life is a Ride (Independent) —reviewed May 2017 by John Swenson Greg Schatz: Small Piece of Mind (Independent) —reviewed June 2017 by Brett Milano Shake ’Em Up Jazz Band: Le Donne Mangiano Zucchero (Independent) —reviewed October 2017 by Stacey Leigh Bridewell Shotgun Jazz Band: Steppin’ on the Gas (Independent) —reviewed August 2017 by Tom McDermott Smoking Time Jazz Club: Take Your Time and Fly (Independent) —reviewed November 2017 by Stacey Leigh Bridewell Sweet Cecilia: Sing Me a Story (Independent) —reviewed October 2017 by Dan Willging Sweet Crude: Creatures (Rhymes & Reason) —reviewed July 2017 by Brett Milano Seva Venet: New Orleans Banjo Vol 1: “Musieu Bainjo” (Independent) —reviewed April 2017 by Geraldine Wyckoff Vox and the Hound: Aloha Shores (Independent) —reviewed August 2017 by Brett Milano Water Seed: We Are Stars (Independent) —reviewed July 2017 by Robert Fontenot JA N U A RY 2 018

BEST OF THE BEAT

Nom, Nom! The complete list of nominees for Best of the Beat.

Artist of the Year Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Lost Bayou Ramblers Preservation Hall Jazz Band Stanton Moore Tank and the Bangas

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PHoto: willow haley

he OffBeat Music and Cultural Arts Foundation’s Best of the Beat Nominations are in. We solicited nominations from musicians and others in the music community. We then gave the results to our writers and editors and with input from both, determined the nominations in each category. The public started voting on the resulting ballot on December 13. Voting ends on January 12, so if you haven’t voted, you need to before voting closes. Winners will be announced at the Best of the Beat, which returns to Generations Hall on Thursday, January 25. Many of the city’s fine restaurants will be serving food that night at Generations Hall; last year, more than 20 restaurants served our guests, and we expect a similar number this year. The 2017 Best of The Beat Awards and Party will feature performances by the Soul Rebels, Jamaican Me Breakfast Club, Alfred Banks with Cool Nasty, Muevelo, Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers, the Lost Bayou Ramblers and a Tribute to Monk Boudreaux curated by Johnny Sansone with Anders Osborne and many others. Sponsors for this year’s Best of the Beat Awards include OffBeat Media, Positive Vibrations Foundation, Generations Hall, The Orpheum Theater, WWNO, WYES, The New Orleans Advocate and WHIV-FM 102.3. Tickets for the Best of the Beat are on sale now at Eventbrite.com.

Johnny Vidacovich, last year's Lifetime Achievement in Music honoree

Album of the Year

Best Emerging Artist

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: The Centennial Trilogy (Ropeadope) Naughty Professor: Identity (Independent) PJ Morton: Gumbo (Morton Records) Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So it Is (Legacy Recordings) Stanton Moore: With You In Mind: The Songs of Allen Toussaint (Mascot Records) Trombone Shorty: Parking Lot Symphony (Blue Note)

Alfred Banks Mykia Jovan Pell Quiana Lynell Trumpet Mafia

Song of the Year “Allen Toussaint” by Kermit Ruffins, Irvin Mayfield & Cyril Neville “First Began” by PJ Morton “Leave It All Behind” by Greg Schatz “Mon Esprit” by Sweet Crude

“Song to the River” by Margie Perez “Waiting to Dance with a Partner” by Paul Sanchez

Best Blues Artist Little Freddie King Marc Stone Samantha Fish Sonny Landreth Walter “Wolfman” Washington

Best Blues Album Chris Thomas King: Hotel Voodoo (21st Century Blues) www.OFFBEAT.com

T EA HE B T F O ST BE

Henry Gray and the Creole Cats: 92 (Independent) Marc Stone Band: Live in Europe (Independent) Samantha Fish: Belle of the West (Ruf Records) Sonny Landreth: Recorded Live in Lafayette (Provogue)

Dee-1 Don Flamingo Pell

Best Rap/Hip-Hop Album/ Mixtape

Bonerama Erica Falls Jon Cleary Naughty Professor Tank and the Bangas Water Seed

3D Na’Tee: Songs That Didn’t Make the Tape, Vol. 1 (CD Baby) Alfred Banks: The Beautiful (Underdogcentral Media) Dee-1: Slingshot David (Essential Sound) Don Flamingo: Race to Power (EP) (Apple Music) Pell: Girasoul (EP) (Payday Records)

Best R&B/Funk Album

Best Traditional Jazz Artist

Bonerama: Hot Like Fire (Basin Street Records) Erica Falls: HomeGrown (Vintage Soul) PJ Morton: Gumbo (Morton Records) Naughty Professor: Identity (Independent) Trombone Shorty: Parking Lot Symphony (Blue Note) Water Seed: We Are Stars (Independent)

New Orleans Jazz Vipers New Orleans Swamp Donkeys Preservation Hall Jazz Band Seva Venet Tuba Skinny

Best R&B/Funk Artist

Best Rock Artist Darcy Malone & the Tangle Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes Sweet Crude The Revivalists Vox and the Hound

Best Rock Album Bantam Foxes: Pinball (Independent) Darcy Malone & the Tangle: Make Me Over (Independent) Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes: sketch (Full Frontal Records) Sweet Crude: Creatures (Rhymes & Reason) Vox and the Hound: Aloha Shores (Independent)

Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist/ Bounce Artist 3D Na’Tee Alfred Banks www.OFFBEAT.com

Best Traditional Jazz Album Kermit Ruffins and Irvin Mayfield: A Beautiful Word (Basin Street) Preservation Hall Jazz Band: So it Is (Legacy Recordings) Seva Venet: New Orleans Banjo Vol 1: “Musieu Bainjo” (Independent) Shake ’Em Up Jazz Band: Le Donne Mangiano Zucchero (Independent) The New Orleans Jazz Vipers: Live & Viperizin’ (Independent)

Best Contemporary Jazz Artist Billie Davies Charlie Halloran Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah James Singleton Nicholas Payton Stanton Moore

Best Contemporary Jazz Album Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: The Centennial Trilogy (Ropeadope)

David L. Harris: Blues I Felt (Independent) John Michael Bradford: Something Old, Something New (AFO) Nicholas Payton: Afro-Caribbean Mixtape (Ropeadope) Stanton Moore: With You In Mind: The Songs of Allen Toussaint (Mascot Records)

Best Brass Band Brass-A-Holics Hot 8 Brass Band New Breed Brass Band The Original Pinettes Brass Band The Soul Rebels

Best Cajun Artist Bonsoir, Catin Feufollet High Performance Lost Bayou Ramblers Roddie Romero & the Hub City All Stars

Best Cajun Album Bonsoir, Catin: L’Aurore (Valcour Records) Feufollet: Baby’s on Fire (Valcour Records) High Performance: Cajun Cool (Swallow Records) Kyle Huval and the Dixie Club Ramblers: Straight Allons (Valcour Records) Lost Bayou Ramblers: Kalenda (Rice Pump)

Best Zydeco Artist Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers Leroy Thomas & the Zydeco Roadrunners Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas

Best Zydeco Album Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band: Standing on Faith (CPL Records)

Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers: Top of the Mountain (Crew Records) J.J. Caillier & the Zydeco Knockouts: Bad As I Wanna Be (Caillier Records) Keith Frank: One Night At Cowboy’s (Soulwood Records) Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys: Allons Zydeco (Lockdowne Records)

Best Roots Rock Artist Honey Island Swamp Band King James & the Special Men Margie Perez Sam Price & the True Believers The Deslondes

Best Roots Rock Album Chris Belleau: Swamp Fever (Proud Dog) King James & the Special Men: Act Like You Know (Independent) Margie Perez: Love is All (Threadhead Records) Sam Price & the True Believers: Sam Price and the True Believers (Independent)

Best Country/Folk/SingerSongwriter Artist Greg Schatz Hurray for the Riff Raff Lynn Drury Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show Sweet Cecilia

Best Country/Folk/SingerSongwriter Album Greg Schatz: Small Piece of Mind (Independent) Hurray for the Riff Raff: The Navigator (ATO) Lynn Drury: Rise of the Fall (Independent) Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show: Life is a Ride (Independent) Sweet Cecilia: Sing Me a Story (Independent) JA N U A RY 2 018

BE ST OF T HE B EA T

Best Female Vocalist

Best Drummer

Best Trombonist

Cole Williams Erica Falls Quiana Lynell Robin Barnes Tarriona “Tank” Ball

Herlin Riley Joe Lastie, Jr. Johnny Vidacovich Shannon Powell Stanton Moore

Carly Meyers Craig Klein Delfeayo Marsalis Mark Mullins Troy Andrews

Best Male Vocalist

Best Saxophonist

Best Tuba/Sousaphonist

Cyril Neville Gregg Martinez Jamison Ross John Boutte PJ Morton

Donald Harrison, Jr. Rex Gregory Roderick Paulin Roger Lewis Tony Dagradi

Benny Pete Jon Gross Kirk Joseph Matt Perrine Phil Frazier

Best Cover Band

Best Bass Player

Best Clarinetist

Best Piano/Keyboardist

Bag Of Donuts Bucktown All-Stars Jamaican Me Breakfast Club Top Cats Where Y’acht

Charlie Wooton George Porter, Jr. James Singleton Peter Harris Sam Price

Doreen Ketchens Dr. Michael White Evan Christopher Gregory Agid Tim Laughlin

David Torkanowsky Jason A. Butler Jon Cleary Larry Sieberth Tom McDermott

Songwriter of the Year

Best Guitarist

Best Trumpeter

Best Accordionist

Dayna Kurtz Greg Schatz Kelcy Mae Mia Borders Paul Sanchez

Alex McMurray Anders Osborne Jonathon “Boogie” Long Sonny Landreth Steve Masakowski

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Eric Benny Bloom Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown Leroy Jones Nicholas Payton

Andre Michot Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes Bruce Daigrepont Dwayne Dopsie Roddie Romero

Best Gospel Franklin Avenue Church Choir Greater St. Stephens Baptist Church Leo Jackson & the Melody Clouds McDonough 35 High School Gospel Choir Rocks of Harmony The Electrifying Crownseekers

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BEST OF THE BEAT

Best Violin/Fiddle Player Amanda Shaw David Greely Joel Savoy Louis Michot Matt Rhody

Best DJ DJ Soul Sister EF Cuttin Mannie Fresh Pretty Lights Quickie Mart

Best Other Instrument Alexey Marti (percussion) Don Vappie (banjo) Jason Marsalis (vibes) Johnny Sansone (harmonica) Mike Dillon (vibes) Washboard Chaz (washboard)

Best Music Video “Fly” by ROAR!, directed by ROAR! and Rob Davis. youtube. com/watch?v=VMd6NRUURE4 “Mirrors” by Naughty Professor featuring Cole DeGenova, mixed by Qmillion, filmed & edited by ABIS Productions. youtube.com/watch?v=6QPc2n8cyc “Mon Esprit” by Sweet Crude, directed by Zac Manuel. youtube.com/ watch?v=SeZF88iEhlA “Open Sesame” by Water Seed, MobileRecordingLa.com, edited by Mike Holderbeast. youtube. com/watch?v=wKb3kg4oq7M “Quick” by Tank and the Bangas, directed by FosterBear Films. youtube.com/ watch?v=1ySjHNZfacc “The Devil That You Know” by Greg Schatz, cinematographer Greg Tilton. youtube.com/ watch?v=yYA4PhBy-ho “We Believe” by Sam Price and the True Believers, directed and edited by Sam Radutzky Cinematography. youtube.com/ watch?v=eRQ3XF9sjzQ www.OFFBEAT.com

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MUSIC CRUISES

Bon Voyage! Music on the high seas.

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PHoto: jeffrey dupuis

he coming months will find a few local favorites taking to the high seas. Concert cruises have become a big deal in recent years, one of the ultimate indulgences for hardcore music fans with some new-year money to blow. Since they’re always built around a particular musical style, you can usually count on a full slate of bands you’re interested in seeing. No surprise that New Orleans artists have often been part of the mix—four years ago the old-school band Zebra even turned up on a prog/AOR cruise headlined by Yes. The most New Orleans–friendly cruise has traditionally been the Jam Cruise, now in its sixteenth year and this year including veterans Galactic and Dumpstaphunk, plus relative newcomers Naughty Professor and the Russ Liquid Test. Meanwhile Dash Rip Rock has signed onto the Outlaw Country Cruise, and Susan Cowsill is joining her musical family on the ’60s-themed Flower Power Cruise. True to its theme, the Jam Cruise encourages a lot of jamming; musicians come on board knowing they’ll be doing a lot of impromptu throwing down with other bands. “That’s what we’re looking forward to most,” says drummer Sam Shahin of Naughty Professor, which is cruising for the first time this year. “You hear so much about those late-night jam rooms where all these different cats get an opportunity to play together and to learn from each other. I personally can’t wait to share a stage with the guys from Con Brio or Galactic—and to do it with people around who care so much about the music.” Naughty Professor are booked for two formal sets over the five days, but

hope to be hitting the stages in other configurations as well. Aside from the musical opportunities, playing the cruise is undeniably a good career move. “It’s kind of an insider’s South by Southwest,” Shahin says. “There’s a lot of people on board who just love the jam scene, but we also meet a lot of industry cats who put heavy emphasis on the jam cruise. It really feels to me like the jam family’s Mardi Gras—I can’t count the number of times I’ve had people tell me they just did the best one yet, and they say that five years in a row.” So learning to play drums at sea will be a small matter for Shahin—who says he’s never been on a cruise ship before, much less played drums on one. “I’m pretty intrigued to find out whether I get my sea legs or not.” The Sirius-sponsored Outlaw Country Cruise is heading into its third year, with Steve Earle By Brett Milano

and Lucinda Williams as the perennial headliners—but this year’s inclusion of Dash Rip Rock, Jason & the Scorchers and the Supersuckers shows that they’re letting things get a little wilder. “We’re the thorn in the side of Americana,” says Dash leader Bill Davis. “I think this is the first time they’ve let in the red-headed stepchildren, and I’ve always dreamed there’d be a cruise where all these people could play.” Davis has led a new Dash lineup for the past year, with bassist Chance Casteel and drummer Wade Hymel, both of whom can switch to guitars. “It’s a switch for me to finally get a chance to stretch out and experiment. We’re scheduled to play three shows through the cruise, and one of the caveats is that each has to be different. That means we get to dig really deep and find things in the Dash catalogue that are going to fit a certain setting.” Which means they may do a more countrified set and a wilder rock

one. “Our first show is on the pool deck with the Supersuckers. They have walls of Marshall stacks, so we’ll fit in for sure. But I have so many friends on there’s bound to be a lot of interband jamming.” Another big plus for Dash is that while many music cruises depart from Florida, the outlaw country one sails right from New Orleans. “Most bands have to fly in for it, we just get to park our cars and walk.” OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey recently took the Legendary R&B Cruise, which included Louisiana artists Cyril Neville, Chubby Carrier and Buddy Guy. “It was a revelation. It had none of the downsides: casual, everyone was into the music, the food was firstrate, and it was very comfortable. “It’s literally a festival on a ship. As festival freaks of a certain age are aware, a music festival, while soul-satisfying music-wise, can be an extremely exhausting experience. The cruise was like going to a great music festival www.OFFBEAT.com

MUSIC CRUISES

without the heat, without the schlepping from stage to stage, with no parking issues, fantastic sound, and great drinks and food. You don’t have to stand sardined in a crowd to hear and see great musicians. The musicians mingle with their fans during the cruise (it’s almost like having a backstage pass). Moreover, the musicians get a chance to relax, cruise, network with their peers, meet intense fans of their music, and actually even be exposed to new fans and possible future gigs. Very good vibes all around.” The Cowsills have been doing oldies-themed cruises for a few years; the lineup for the Flower Power Cruise includes a handful of groups (the Turtles, Mark Lindsay, Herman’s Hermits) that they’ve shared bills with—both on the revival circuit and the first time around. “We get a lot of boomers because we’re rulers of that universe, but there are a lot of college kids as well—maybe they’re being dragged along by their parents, but they wind up willing participants,” Susan said. The current Cowsills lineup— which includes brothers Bob and Paul, along with drummer Russ Broussard and bassist Mary Lasseigne, both from Susan’s musical world—usually adds in newer material when it’s their own show, but for the cruise they’ve got no problem going back in time. “It’s total déjà vu because we’re playing to thousands of people and it’s all about re-enacting those times. And it works because for all intents and purposes, I’m transported back there myself. We do ‘Hair’ and they’re all standing up and screaming, and I get confused about what era it is. So it’s not pretty fun—it’s enormous fun.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

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ANDERS OSBORNE

BEST OF THE BEAT

Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Musician):

PHoto: brandt vicknair

Anders Osborne

hen Anders Osborne started his Send Me a Friend foundation last year, he had a simple goal: He wanted musicians in recovery from substance addiction to continue working as musicians. Calling on his own experiences of returning to music clubs when he was newly sober, he began assembling a network where “friends” in different cities could look out for players who were returning to their old haunts or going back on the road. When Osborne went through that experience, he felt he was being forced to choose between his sobriety and his art, not to mention his source of income. “What they tell you is that you should take a year off as you get deeper into recovery,” he told OffBeat last year. “And I remember thinking, What does that mean? Do you tell doctors this? You’re telling someone to just change their job. There is still a little bit of a preconceived idea that this is almost like a hobby that you’re doing this because you’re playing around and having fun. To me it meant that I could go to a seven-dollaran-hour dishwashing gig, or I could continue to make decent money and take care of my family. And to do [the latter] I have to go back to music, which I’ve dedicated 30 years of my life to.” Over the past year, thousands of “friends” have registered nationwide—the main ground rule is that they’ve logged at least a year of sobriety—and Osborne says that a few dozen musicians have used the service. So the goal for the coming year is to take it further. At the moment, people in recovery (not just musicians but others in the music world)

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By Brett Milano

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can call a number (303-7104556) or text an address (info@ candaid.org) to get a referral. With Bill Taylor of the Trombone Shorty Foundation, he’s now working on a downloadable app to make the service more accessible. “We want to make it as painless as possible for people in need to reach out,” Osborne said. “The idea is to integrate it into management companies, promotion companies and festivals, so it’s part of the event’s initial setup. If you’re going on tour, we want you to have this outreach available to you.” The ultimate goal is that music clubs won’t feel like danger zones for those avoiding alcohol. “What we’d really like to see is a natural merging of people that drink and basically use when they’re out having a good time and listening to music, and people that choose not to. They don’t even have to be in recovery,

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I’d just like to see a different environment for people to just go out and relax. As a professional musician for 30 years, it just dawned on me how strange it is that it should still be so difficult for someone to go out and do this. I’d like to see clubs with great coffee stations, great juice bars— alternative things that you can partake in so that you can feel you can go out and forget your troubles without having to get intoxicated. A lot of people feel excluded because they can’t partake—and that’s been a big part of this, my battle to feel included. I’d love to be able to say ‘Sure, I’ll go with you to see your friends down the street play after midnight’— that would be the long-term vision.” Osborne’s worked a blue streak since his recovery, with the 2010 album American Patchwork ushering in some of his best work. After releasing

two albums in 2016 he told OffBeat that he planned to record the next two albums in the space of two days. This proved a little too ambitious to carry off, but the album he has finished—titled Deep Impression and set for late winter release— continues his tradition of soulbaring. “The idea was to make a whole record album about depression,” he says. “It gets pretty heavy but you know, sometimes the songs on a record will just choose themselves. It’s a moody record; I won’t say it’s all slow but it’s pretty introverted. There are some old soul stylings and some extended ambient improv stuff. I personally never felt that I was good enough to be a guitar hero, but I love expressing myself on guitar. And this time around I just wasn’t feeling any of those guitar-ridden, teenage angst songs; those all came out right after recovery. Lately

DE AN

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it comes more from the feeling of being middle-aged. You have to follow the lifeline of where you’re going, and if it leads you to writing something more quiet and peaceful, that’s where you have to be.” Writing about depression, he said, made for one of his more cathartic albums. “Some of it is painful, some more matter-offact. Some of it helps and some of it brings on more questions. I think by writing about it I got a chance to look at it, to talk about it with myself.” No doubt anyone who’s also been through those experiences will come away feeling like they’ve been sent a friend. O

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CLARENCE JOHNSON, III

BEST OF THE BEAT

Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer):

Clarence Johnson III PHoto: elsa hahne

“I

’m not necessarily just trying to play music, I’m using music to imitate life,” says the ever-soulful and spiritual saxophonist Clarence Johnson. “Guys like Wayne Shorter, they’ll go in the backyard and listen to the hummingbirds because everything around you is music. That holistic philosophy and thought is not just how I play music, it’s how I live my life.” A native of New Orleans, Johnson, 43, hit this city’s modern jazz scene as a teenager impressing listeners with his already individualistic sound. Actually, by that time, Johnson had been blowing sax for quite a while, beginning on alto in grade school, adding tenor while performing in the marching, concert and stage bands at Brother Martin High School and later taking up the soprano while attending Loyola University. It’s somewhat surprising to learn that Johnson was a drum major during his senior year in high school and also that he found holding that position to be significant in his development. “The main thing was that it gave me an opportunity to be a leader and be responsible for a large percentage of my peers’ musical product,” Johnson explains. “That kind of paved the way for me to lead my own bands and be a leader in other areas such as in big bands and musical productions.” Johnson, who earned his graduate degree at the University of New Orleans, has been very involved in academia and finds that he takes his cues from those teachers who guided him through the years. Presently he teaches at Lee High School in Baton Rouge and has worked at various locales in the New Orleans school system. While residing in Atlanta following Hurricane Katrina, he joined the faculty at the prestigious Morehouse and Spelman Colleges.

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By Geraldine Wyckoff

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I N, SO N H O CE J REN CLA

“I like teaching because when people worked with me, all of my teachers, like Marty Hurley [at Brother Martin] and Victor Goines [Sunday afternoons at Tipitina’s], it made me feel special in that they were sharing the gift of music, sharing their knowledge of music with me. They were making sure that what they were doing would last and continue on to our generation. It’s a sense of duty— passing it on, paying it forward— that I have to do the same thing.” “The other thing that comes from that,” Johnson continues, “is that the more open you are and the more engaging and genuine you become with your students, you’ll find that a lot of times, you’re learning from them. They’re dealing with their times and we’re coming from our different perspectives. You can learn a lot from them culturally that you can add to your repertoire. It’s really cool to see that bridge come together.” Johnson has also been expanding his own “repertoire” in

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the field of education by digging into the technical side of music making. At Lee High School he teaches music technology including instruction on music writing and recording software and sampling. “I really got a jump start on that when I was in the studio working on my album, Watch Him Work, that I produced,” he explains, adding that he also received training at LSU’s Digital Media Arts Department. In recent years, much of Johnson’s time has been spent in classrooms resulting in him having to put performing and recording on the back burner. His last album as leader was 2013’s Watch Him Work, which he released on his own label, Like Father, Like Son Records. Johnson, who can blow in any number of genres, steered into the smooth jazz realm for this outing, though in his capable hands, he put an edge on smooth and pushed its boundaries with his signature saxophone pops. Johnson says he didn’t necessarily plan to

go in that direction. “The way the material came inspired me so that’s the way it came out,” he explains. “That’s the creative process.” Beyond leading his own groups, Johnson has worked/recorded with a range of artists including bassist George Porter, pianist/vocalist Davell Crawford, pianists David Torkanowsky and Henry Butler, pianist/singer Bruce Hornsby, drummer Ricky Sebastian and more. He never stylistically restricted himself and eagerly blew imaginative lines on material including hard bop, avant-garde, straight-ahead jazz, spirituals, swing and rhythm and blues. Though the genres changed, the intuitive saxophonist could always be counted on to bring his inherent spirituality to the music. “I remember hanging out and having a discussion with [saxophonist] Alvin ‘Red’ Tyler and then two days later I’m sitting at the [Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong] Summer Jazz Camp with Kidd Jordan. I just soaked all of it up and took it and ran with it.” “I think the most important thing is to be yourself,” Johnson continues.

“I can’t go and be another John Coltrane because there was already a John Coltrane. I can’t be another Branford Marsalis, there’s already a Branford Marsalis and Branford is doing Branford much better than anybody else can.” Since Johnson’s appearance as a member of pianist/vocalist Ray Charles’ band in the outstanding biopic Ray, he still gets recognized. “It has a lot of mileage,” he adds, calling his involvement “a beautiful experience.” “I’m a firm believer that this gift comes from Him,” Johnson, a man of deep faith, humbly acknowledges of his talents and success. O

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MICHAEL PELLERA

BEST OF THE BEAT

Lifetime Achievement in Music Education:

Michael Pellera PHoto: elsa hahne

“I

always suspected I might have a talent for teaching because my mind always wanted answers to questions,” says pianist Michael Pellera, whose first serious jump into academia came at the rather late age of 34. “I was definitely winging it in those early years,” he remembers with a laugh. “My first group of students at Loyola included [drummer] Brian Blade, [pianist] Matt Lemmler and [pianist] Jon Cowherd. I kind of got thrown into the fire,” exclaims Pellera on facing such brilliant students. Pellera, 62, a native of Albany, New York, attended Boston’s Berklee College of Music where he fatefully met fellow pianist David Torkanowsky, who would ultimately become his connection to New Orleans. At the time, he says, Tork never really mentioned or played the music associated with the city. “We both were just trying to absorb what they were teaching us at Berklee,” he explains. “I didn’t know the culture or the community existed until I was here.” Once Pellera arrived, Torkanowsky gave him the Professor Longhair album New Orleans Piano, and told him, “If you want to play around here, you have to play this style too.” When Pellera first landed in the Crescent City in 1977, he went to the source and took private lessons at the home of pianist/educator Ellis Marsalis. These instructions were not only significant for a young musician but came in handy years later when Pellera stood in front of his own classrooms. “Ellis was a proponent of really learning the lead sheet version, the original published version, of a song and learning the lyrics,” Pellera says. “I wasn’t receptive to it at first because I was basically saying, ‘Look Ellis, I’m a kid of

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By Geraldine Wyckoff

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the ’60s and grew up with the Beatles and now you want me to learn the sheet music arrangement of “My Romance.”’ His response was, ‘How are you going to know how many times to repeat that note?’ So basically, I went from telling him that I knew probably a couple of hundred songs to that I knew no songs that perfectly. That was a big one.” “I do find myself saying that to my current students all of the time,” Pellera continues. “’How are you going to know what you’re changing if you don’t know what the original was?’” Pellera, who during the 1980s bounced between New Orleans and New York, currently holds the position of Jazz Chair of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. He says he was equally stunned by the talents in his classroom at NOCCA as he was when he’d arrived at Loyola. “When I started at NOCCA in 2002, I had [pianists] Jon Batiste

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and Sullivan Fortner. I was like what? Wait a minute, I was in college for 12 years and now two 16-year-old kids are playing at this level? Talk about flipping the roles of the master and the student. I’d just sit them at the piano and say, ‘What are you doing?’ That was challenging. Just to see them go through all these hurdles so quickly was pretty inspiring and then to see where they’re at now.” Pellera, however, found his own inspiration from the brilliantly intuitive Alvin Batiste who headed NOCCA’s jazz department at the time of his arrival. “Frankly, I was nervous around him—he was an icon. He told me, ‘You do your thing, I’ll do my thing.’ That was lesson number one—just don’t sweat things. Even to this day, I think, ‘Would Alvin really worry about this?’” Pellera explains that Batiste believed in the African-based oral traditions of teaching. “He would play something on his instrument

and would say, ‘You play if after me. Don’t write it down.’ You would have to learn things by ear and the kids would internalize it much quicker. I kind of adopted that and we adopted that at NOCCA.” Like most of this city’s music teachers, Pellera is a working musician, performing regularly with vocalists Leah Chase and Phillip Manuel as well as popping up with old friends like bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich. He’s also released several fine albums as leader: Cloud Nine, Son of Sky, Playin’ Piano and Piano Standard. The pianist is also quick to mention the insights he gained from noted educator Harold Danko, who taught him the importance of organization, and saxophonist Dave Liebman, who he calls a “mad scientist.” “Liebman told me what he’d like to hear from a pianist behind his solos,” Pellera appreciatively says. “I was surprised that I got as much gratification from teaching

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as I have,” Pellera offers. “I realized it was kind of a people thing. You have to like people. You try to figure out what’s right for that particular person at that particular time. A lot of it is mentorship.” Pellera is well aware that New Orleans and therefore NOCCA is a special place. “We [NOCCA] happen to be in this musical community and I do believe whatever the original gene pool is, it’s still kicking around. Obviously when you’re born into this living culture, you’re getting off to a different start than someone who’s grown up in Minnesota.” Or, Pellera acknowledges, coming up in Albany, New York. O

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DOCKSIDE STUDIO

BEST OF THE BEAT

Lifetime Achievement in Music Business:

Steve and Cézanne Nails PHoto: cheré dastugue coen

fter a car crash left musician Steve Nails paralyzed in 1984, he searched for a way to stay in music. Dockside Studio on the banks of the Vermilion River near Lafayette became his beyond-expectations plan B. During nearly 30 years of operation, the studio and its park-like setting has yielded eleven Grammy-winning projects. This year, Lost Bayou Ramblers’ made-atDockside Kalenda is nominated for Best Regional Roots Music Album. The studio’s client list includes Mavis Staples, Arcade Fire, actress and singer Scarlett Johansson, B.B. King, Shelby Lynne, Leon Russell, Ani DiFranco, Levon Helm, Taj Mahal, Keb’ Mo’, Mark Knopfler, James Cotton and Junior Wells. Louisiana artists who have made music at Dockside include Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Susan Cowsill, Jon Cleary, BeauSoleil, Buckwheat Zydeco, Terrance Simien, Sonny Landreth, Ivan and Cyril Neville, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Tab Benoit. Beyond North America, musicians from Germany, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Latvia, Australia, New Zealand, Haiti, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo have recorded at Dockside. Nigeria’s King Sunny Adé serenaded Nails with a seventeenminute birthday song-chant. In 1986, Nails opened his first studio in his home in Lafayette’s River Ranch community. It caught on, but having a studio and his home in the same building became unsustainable. “My house on Steiner Road was a beautiful estate, but when I’d go to bed at night, every room was full of musicians playing instruments,” Nails recalled. “I couldn’t sleep.” Nails and his wife, Cézanne, viewed more than 50 houses

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By John Wirt

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during their search for a new location. “I couldn’t find the vibe I was looking for,” Steve Nails remembered. Eventually, the couple found the studio’s present site in Maurice. Including a house and a barn that had been converted into a guest house with a trailer and pool—the property appeared to be abandoned. “Grass four feet high,” Steve Nails recalled. “But at the gates, I knew it. It had the vibe. I said, ‘This is it.’” The Nailses converted the barn’s downstairs into a recording studio. They opened the studio in 1989, when it wasn’t quite complete, Cézanne Nails recalled. Dama and D’Gary, a duo from Madagascar performing at Lafayette’s Festival International, were the first to book. “Since then it’s been one band after another,” she said. Dockside is more than a place to record. The Nailses’ renovations and expansion made ten bedrooms available in the studio building and the pool house. Musicians can live at Dockside for days or weeks. “The live-in is bigger than the music,” Steve Nails said. “That was the goldmine I wasn’t looking for.” Grammy-winning producer Scott Billington produced Irma Thomas’ Grammy-winning 2006 album, After the Rain, at Dockside. Six weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the Nailses’ studio became a place of refuge for the displaced Thomas and the project’s session musicians. “Most of the players were seeing one another for the first time after the storm,” Billington said. “It was like coming home for all of us.” Billington also produced the Holmes Brothers’ 1997 album, Promised Land, at the studio. “After you drive through the Dockside gate, you leave the rest of the world behind,” he said. “I had recorded www.OFFBEAT.com

several of the Holmes Brothers’ previous albums in New York. There were always distractions there. When we settled in at Dockside the creativity flowed like the Vermilion Bayou.” “The clients are relaxed and so themselves here,” Cézanne Nails said. “Everybody tells me that.” In addition to the homey atmosphere, Dockside imprints a sense of place on the music made there. “I’m the Louisiana sound,” Steve Nails said. “When a band wanted to record in Memphis, one producer—I won’t mention his name—he said, ‘Instead of the Memphis sound, I’d rather have the Louisiana sound. Go to Dockside.’ That made my decade.” In the beginning, keeping the studio booked two days a week was necessary to cover the overhead. “Now we’re booked every week and it’s all my friends,” Steve Nails said. But his clients are more than friends. The Nailses think of them as family. “By the time new clients get here,” Cézanne Nails said, “even if we don’t know them, they’re like family because we know everybody they know.” “Susan Cowsill is my sister,” Steve Nails said. “You can’t separate us. I’m a Cowsill. And I’m stuck in the ’60s. Happily stuck with the Grass Roots and the Cowsills.” A barefoot Susan Cowsill and her husband, drummer and bandmate Russ Broussard, staged their wedding at Dockside on the banks of the Vermilion River. The late B.B. King recorded his Grammy-winning 1998 release, Blues on the Bayou, at Dockside. “He was like my father,” Steve Nails said. “We were very close. He gave me his guitar. I have Lucille.” JA N U A RY 2 018

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“Mac’s my brother ... I speak Mac language. He calls doctors ‘crockers.’ Mac says you get ‘turkerized’ at Thanksgiving.”

King’s sessions in Maurice showed the advantage Dockside has in being a long way from New York and Los Angeles. “The presidents of record companies,” Nails said, “they have clients they want to isolate because of a problem or something. I’m the place to go. It was hard for B.B. to record in Los Angeles or New York because so many people would come ask him for money. They isolated him out here and he loved it.” King nicknamed Nails “the five o’clock man.” “Because I showed up in the studio every day at five o’clock,” the studio owner said. “No matter who played the instruments for B.B., when he sang and played his guitar over it, it sounded like platinum.” Dr. John, a.k.a. Mac Rebennack, recorded his Grammy-winning City That Care Forgot as well as 2010’s Grammy-nominated Tribal at Dockside. “Mac’s my brother,” Nails said. “I speak Mac language. He calls doctors ‘crockers.’ Mac says you get ‘turkerized’ at Thanksgiving.” When Rebennack’s longtime drummer, Herman “Roscoe” Ernest III, died in 2011, Nails said, “that just destroyed me and Mac for months. Herman Ernest was Dr. John—his producer, his drummer, his everything.” “Herman was always taking care of Mac,” Cézanne Nails agreed. “In the studio and everything else.” Rebennack begins his Dockside sessions with a ceremony beside the Vermilion River. “Everybody goes,” Cézanne Nails said. “Mac burns sage and blesses the record. Then he goes inside and burns candles. He really lives his life as Dr. John. He’s all in.” One of Rebennack’s candles set the studio’s grand piano on fire, Steve Nails recalled. “Mac asked on the talkback, ‘What do you do for a fire in the piano?’ We still have that spot on the piano where the fire was.”

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Steve and Cézanne Nails with their son Dylan

Steve Nails considered one of Dr. John’s dear friends, the late Bobby Charles, to be his best friend. The reclusive singer-songwriter from Abbeville composed “See You Later, Alligator,” “Walking to New Orleans” and “(I Don’t Know Why) But I Do.” “Bobby and I watched the O.J. Simpson trial every day [in 1995],” Nails said. “When Judge Ito had a sidebar, we had a sidebar. The UPS man told Bobby that O.J. was innocent, so Bobby believed O.J was innocent.” Despite Nails’ contrary belief that Simpson killed his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ron Goldman, the friends’ divergence of opinion stirred no bad blood between them.

Singer and actress Scarlett Johansson recorded her 2008 album of Tom Waits songs, Anywhere I Lay My Head, at Dockside. After the death of Nails’ beloved black Labrador retriever, Buddy, Johansson and her then-husband, Ryan Reynolds, searched animal shelters in three states for a replacement. They found a brown mixed-breed puppy in Martinville and presented it to Nails. “We were going to name him Obama,” Nails said. “But that wouldn’t work in Louisiana. So, we named him Lincoln.” The Nailses’ home and their two studios on the sprawling Dockside site are Steve Nails’ customized domain. “What you don’t see is that the whole property is totally handicapped-accessible,” he

explained. “I can go through every door. This was a gold mine I wasn’t looking for. I wanted a place where I could go to work and not have to travel in a van. That’s all I was looking for. But this property takes ‘handicapped’ out of the equation. I’m not handicapped here.” In August 2016, local musicians manifested their affection for Dockside after the Vermilion River overflowed. More than two feet of water filled Dockside’s main studio. “Every day, 30 to 40 musicians working for free,” Steve Nails recalled. “It was inspiring.” While the floodwaters were still rising, Grammy-winning producer Trina Shoemaker, another Dockside fan, phoned the Nailses with urgent advice. She told them to pull the 150 modules from the facility’s pièce de résistance, an unmovable Neve 8058 recording console. Because the individual modules were too heavy for Cézanne Nails to lift, the Nailses’ then 16-year-old son, Dylan, unscrewed and lifted the modules from the console. His mother proclaimed him the hero of the Neve. “My wife, Dylan and Trina saved the day,” Steve Nails said. Despite extensive flood damage, the studio reopened in January 2017. Steve and Cézanne Nails most of all wanted to honor their bookings. “People I know,” Cézanne Nails recalled of that challenging time, “people on the street in Lafayette, they said, ‘Thank you for reopening Dockside. We need you. You’re something that we can’t do without.’” When Steve Nails speaks of the studio he envisioned in the 1980s, he gratefully says Dockside exceeds what he wished for. “I’m the guy behind the curtain who pulls the strings, like the wizard of Oz,” he said. “But I’m smart enough to know that this is bigger than me.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

PHoto: cheré dastugue coen

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COVER STORY

BEST OF THE BEAT

Monk Boudreaux Lifetime Achievement in Music: The Poet Laureate of Mardi Gras Indians. By John Swenson

Photography by Elsa Hahne

onk Boudreaux was born to be a Mardi Gras Indian. It is not a career, a craft or a profession, though one needs to go through an apprenticeship to become one. It’s a blood and spirit celebration of the bond between African people brought to the New World as slaves and the indigenous people who were here when they arrived. The interchange was not just cultural. Monk, like many Mardi Gras Indians, is part of the undocumented creolization that occurred when the arrivals to the New World interacted with its indigenous people. Emancipated blacks, like many other Americans, were reluctant to admit a native heritage at a time when the United States was in open warfare with the Indian nations. You don’t want to go from the plantation to the reservation. “Choctaw Indian, we Indians,” Monk explains. “Mardi Gras day we don’t just be doing this for masking. We be doing this for who we really are. It was a hidden thing. The older people hid this because they was hiding from the government because they didn’t want to be put on the reservation. That’s why they kept it low ’file and they never to talked to nobody ’bout it. Mardi Gras day was the day. “That’s what it really was. They never talked about it. Mardi Gras comes. That’s the day. They never talked about it. My grandmama she was on her dying bed she said ‘Tell him I’m on my way’ and that’s when she told me. They never told me that before. I was spending all this time and money being an Indian and I could have been anything for less money and less time. She told me why but I already knowed why. I knew there had to be a connection ’cause I knew how I felt and I was wonderin’ why I felt like that and then she told me. I know my daddy was masking. My granddaddy didn’t mask but he used to do secret talking. When the old people talk we had to go outside. One time a cousin of mine living in Baton Rouge did some research and found out we had people outside of Houma on a reservation. I go fishing there right now. Some things are left alone. I have people say ‘I’m Boudreaux too so I say ‘We may be kin you never know.’” Monk is a leader, a folklorist, a singer of songs, a storyteller, and a window into a unique corner of humanity. His trademark phrase, delivered with a tolerance that defines the infinite patience of a master of oral tradition, is “They don’t understand.” His mission is to make them understand. Accordingly, he learned the oldest traditional Mardi Gras Indian songs and added his own to the mix. He has been a mentor to countless Mardi Gras Indians himself, and has been www.OFFBEAT.com

generous in opening the secrets of that tradition to outsiders, not just in New Orleans but all over the world. He is the greatest of teachers in that he will share his message with anyone who will listen. We were fortunate to get a lesson from him on the eve of his 76th birthday. Joseph Pierre “Monk” Boudreaux was born on what the history books call the “Day of Infamy,” December 7, 1941, the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and pulled the U.S. into World War II. The day has no such significance for him, as his education took place outside the realm of a school system that had no use for him. “My family will be there on my birthday, but I’m not planning a party, because I’ve got to sew, got to get the suits ready for Mardi Gras day,” he says. Monk helps prepare the suits for his whole family. He says he expects “15 to 17” of his relatives to join him on his procession this year. We arrived in front of Monk’s Uptown house to pick him up. The house took on six feet of water in the Katrina flood and Monk used the carpentry skills handed down from his father and grandfather to rebuild it. “I put up all the sheet rock, did all the painting,” he says proudly. “They tell me the house is worth $250,000, but it’s worth more than that to me.” Monk’s story was used as part of the storyline of David Simon’s HBO series Treme. He was the inspiration for the character Albert Lambreaux. Simon also used Monk as himself for the drama in a powerful moment during the first episode. Monk’s return after the flood to find his Mardi Gras Indian suit in the safe place he stashed it before leaving town is documented in the 2010 film Bury the Hatchet. We took off to trace a route down to where Monk grew up, a block away from his Mardi Gras day destination, the Sportsman’s Bar at the corner of Second and Dryades. “We don’t have a set route,” he says. “We go whichever way seems best at the time. I signal the spy boy ahead which route to take.” Our route today takes us along until we get to Dryades Street, where we retrace Monk’s steps on Mardi Gras day along with the steps of his life. Monk’s father masked with the Wild Squatoolas. When Monk was a boy he was not allowed to be part of the rituals, especially on Mardi Gras day, when the children were under strict orders to stay on the porch and watch the Indians from there. Monk’s father left the gang before the boy started masking himself. He never told his son why he quit masking, but after Monk became chief his father started up again as second chief. “I was taught the Indian songs as a kid,” says Monk. “That’s where they come from. My dad was an Indian before I was, he masked Indian. He used to leave out at five o’clock in the morning so we had JA N U A RY 2 018

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“I knew Bo practically all my life. Because we come up in the same neighborhood, he was just a couple of blocks from me. I come up on First and Dryades and Bo came up around Jackson." to stay in until he got back, catch him later on in the daytime. I think I was 12 when I was allowed to participate. Now all my grandkids when they’s one years old we take ’em out. But during that time you had to do your own suit so I had to wait ’til I learned how to sew my own Indian suit. The practices was held in the back yards, in the chief’s backyard. It was like a hidden culture y’know. Later we started having the practices in local bars. “It’s not hard to learn the songs because if it’s in you, it’s in you, yeah, once it’s in you, it’s in you. I always talk about old black Johnny. He used to come into town every year and stay through Mardi Gras day. He never masked, but he knew the songs. He took me under his wing and he taught me the songs. He told me ‘They may not hear you now but you just keep on singing, they’re gonna hear you one day.’ “I never intended to be a chief but when it was handed down I accepted it. That was before my father passed because he masked second chief for me. It was handed down. I was the second spy boy for the White Eagles. The way it go, the first spy boy he’s in line to be the chief, so when he didn’t want it it got handed down to me, second spy boy. So I accepted. “The spy boy, he’s part of the game because he’s number one. The chief is last but the spy boy is first. People don’t know that. They don’t know. I know they don’t know. I get a lot of questions everywhere I go, people ask questions. “Before my time it was violent but to get involved in it deeply we stopped all the violence because we didn’t see where it make sense. Why would we fight amongst each other for what reason and why they were doin’ it I don’t know why. Still don’t know why. So we started going to all the different Indian practices. We invited the chiefs from downtown to come to our practice and they would invite us to their practice so we all pretty much got along together.” Monk arrived at Second and Dryades and was surrounded by a group of men eager to greet him. Inside, the affable barman Steve kindly turned down the TV so we could talk and took some snapshots of himself with Monk. This very block was where Monk grew up. “See that beige house down the corner?” he pointed to the corner of First and Dryades. “See that tree behind it? That’s where I lived. The house is gone there, but that’s where I lived. See this lot here? That was the H&R Bar, where I made my first record with the Golden Eagles.” Monk’s childhood haunts ranged all over the neighborhood. Though he was strictly forbidden from following the Indians downtown on Mardi Gras day, he had free rein the rest of the time. He got his nickname from climbing trees, making him witness to a lot of events, some of which he wasn’t supposed to see. But that curiosity led to a wisdom that has informed his storytelling to this day. Monk grew up with another local kid who would become a famous Mardi Gras Indian Chief, Bo Dollis. He was also tight with the Neville Brothers, especially Aaron, though he and Cyril played conga drums together at Indian practices. “We come up together, Jolly they uncle, big chief of the Wild Tchoupitoulas, we was all together. We used to have Indian practice, we’d go to his, he’d come to ours. Jolly got his name because he was

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a jolly fella, laughing all the time. He was a good person. He masked with the Wild Magnolias one time. “Nevilles was a presence. I was close to Cyril. Art is older than me about three years. Charles is the oldest. Aaron, I really knew Aaron, we were friends, still is. He was born with that voice. Bo knew him. New Orleans ain’t a big city, you got Uptown you got Downtown; you got back o’ town you got front o’ town; that’s it. Cyril started coming to practices but he wasn’t singing then, he was beatin’ the drum. “I knew Bo practically all my life. Because we come up in the same neighborhood, he was just a couple of blocks from me. I come up on First and Dryades and Bo came up around Jackson. I met him through a friend. I always did know Bo’s brother ’cause we around the same age, and then one day a friend brought Bo around our neighborhood and that’s how I met him. “You know when you’re good people you meet people and you come to be friends. Like I said I knew his brother and all and he was younger so I met him later on. I think I was already masking with the White Eagles when I met him. Bo started young. I started I think two years before him. Bo and I had practice together when we first started going into the bar when I was with the White Eagles and Bo wasn’t masking yet. It was different because we had the practice in the Big Chief’s back yard. But when we got to be friends we started to have practice in the bar so him and I practiced together. ’Cause we were in the same neighborhood.” By this time Monk had built an encyclopedic knowledge of traditional Mardi Gras Indian songs and was embellishing them with his own stories. “Each tribe from different parts of town, they may sing the same song but they got different lyrics, the same background but different lyrics,” he explains. “Right now today if you will come to Uptown practice and you were hearing somebody singing in there that really know how to sing then you go Downtown you’ll hear that same song but it will have different lyrics to it. We was singing about what we do and they was singing about what they do.” Monk and Bo were at the forefront of the young Mardi Gras Indians in the late 1960s, introducing new ideas into the old traditions. By this time the White Eagles had broken up and Monk was leading the Golden Eagles. Bo was Chief of the Wild Magnolias. “Our practices would start about 8 might break up about 12 because a lot of people would come and we’d let them all sing and they could go as long as they want to. Bo and I was together. He would sing, then I would take over, then he would come back in. We was doing it traditionally and everybody was singing the same song so then I started chanting my own lyrics,” says Monk. “When we was in our teens we met Quint Davis. He was about 17 years old. He came to one of our Indian practices and he went on and on and on. When he graduated from school he said ‘Y’all are making music that nobody else is making all over the world and I would like to make a record.’ And so we did ‘Handa Wanda,’ it was four Wild Magnolias and four Golden Eagles we joined hands because Bo and I was two powerful young Indians in the city. Bo had the loud voice and I had the mind, I was www.OFFBEAT.com

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taught, we put that together and we came up with some music that people are trying to recapture right now today.” In 1970 Davis brought them into the studio with keyboardist Willie Tee, bassist George French and drummer Joseph “Zigaboo” Modeliste backing up the Indians to make a 45 rpm recording of “Handa Wanda” and the rest is history. “We didn’t have any idea about recording,” says Monk. “We didn’t do anything different. They followed us; we didn’t follow them. Like I said we all come up together in New Orleans and Willie Tee had a band. Quint thought it would be a good idea to get Willie Tee with us because he come up in the neighborhood. He knew about the Indians. At the time he was doing a different type of music but we know that he could back us. Ain’t too many people even today that can back the Indians. It’s gotta come from your heart. It’s a new music to them where nobody else teaches this type of music. It’s the music they wanna play because it’s got a lot of fire to it, it’s a religion thing. They say gumbo, well that’s what Indian music is about, gumbo, it’s got all kinds of music, jazz, blues everything goes into it. “Willie Tee was from the neighborhood. One time he say he live on Third and I think Dryades, and he also lived on LaSalle Street, that’s when I was knowing him because we went to school together. He was big but to us it didn’t matter because we had our own music. We wasn’t into that recording thing, so as far as we knew he was joining us. “We went in with the percussion thing that we do and he listened to it and then he started playing it. Like I say he came up in the neighborhood so he knew about it. He was playing different kinds of music but he knew what we were doing.” “Handa Wanda” was in jukeboxes all across the city and remains a cornerstone piece of local music every Mardi Gras. But the real moment Monk and Bo brought their music to the outside world came at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, when festival organizer Quint Davis asked them to lead a Mardi Gras Indian parade to the festival. The Indians became a regular feature of the festival. “When we went to the Jazz Fest they didn’t have a lot of people there,” Monk recalls. “So Quint says ‘Let’s go through the Quarter.’ So we put our suits on and went through the French Quarter and brought the people back to the festival. They followed… they had to follow, we put down some bad sounds. Me and Bo. We did ‘Handa Wanda,’ ‘Meet the Boys…,’ ‘Shallow Water,’ we did all the old traditional songs.” Davis got the band a contract with the French Polydor label and they made a record, then toured to promote it. “We did the first record for Polydor. We went on tour with it, but they kind of pushed that to the side. They said we were before our time.” Monk was glad to return to the neighborhood and his regular Indian practices because he wasn’t sold on the electric band concept. “During that time I was only doing percussion because that was the way I was taught and I didn’t like the idea of an electric band. I came out with my own record, made at a practice at the H&R Bar, which was Lightning and Thunder and that’s the way I felt it. Bo and I was together. He wasn’t on Lightning and Thunder because this www.OFFBEAT.com

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Quint Davis put Monk in charge of assembling the returning Indians to perform at Jazz Fest, a role Monk has performed to this day. was like a percussion thing but he was there. We hung out together all the time, every day. I went on with my percussion thing, played a lot of folk festivals, even when I didn’t have a record out. I went all over the world even without a record because people were seeing what I did as folk music. “Rounder Records put out Lightning and Thunder. People saw me at Jazz Fest with my percussion band the Golden Eagles and they started booking me all over the world. That was under Rounder. After that I introduced Bo to Rounder and we did another record with Bo and then we started traveling together again. We got back together and we got this band the Bayou Renegades with June Victory to back us.” Bo and Monk made several records as the Wild Magnolias and toured under that name even as they kept their traditional gangs. They were powerful live as Bo, a natural R&B singer and entertainer, relished the role of the frontman as the more spirit-oriented Monk was edged into a role as backing vocalist. “When they tell me I got to go into the studio I know what I got to go in there for,” says Monk. “But they didn’t let me do a lot of recording. Bo had the voice and that’s what the people wanted to hear. But I was always there in the background somewhere and like old black Johnny told me ‘You just keep on singing, they’re gonna hear you one day, people are gonna come from miles around just to hear you get down.’ “At first Bo would come on and do his version of a song and then I would come in and do my version. We had it so down pat ’til it just locks right in. They never let me sing too much on the records and then we met this stranger and I wasn’t sure how he was gonna act with us and what he was gonna do for us so I didn’t wanna do more lyrics.” The stranger Monk was referring to was a manager who represented the Wild Magnolias, trademarked the name and concentrated on promoting Bo Dollis. Monk knew it was time to move off on his own. He made a series of records beginning with a terrific collaboration on Shanachie Records with Anders Osborne, producing one of his most powerful albums, Mr. Stranger Man. Monk by this point had warmed to the idea of blending his percussion band with electric guitars. “I didn’t feel it back then,” he admits, “but as the years go on I say, well, everything changes.”

home. They all thought they was coming to a repast ’cause word got out that I had drowned in the flood. Somebody put the word out that I was dead. I was up in Colorado working. I heard ‘Everybody in Texas think you dead!’ Well, now they come back, even if they still in Texas they come back to mask on Mardi Gras day.” Quint Davis put Monk in charge of assembling the returning Indians to perform at Jazz Fest, a role Monk has performed to this day. He has played and recorded with various bands around town, including a reunion with Bo Dollis in the Wild Magnolias before his death and gigs with Bo Dollis Jr. since then. As a featured vocalist with the 101 Runners Monk finally put the story of old black Johnny down on record, and he has recorded several other projects, including the reggae-influenced Rising Sun and Won’t Bow Down, which includes a revealing story about his childhood, “Education.” Under Monk’s curatorial watch the Mardi Gras Indian presence at Jazz Fest has flourished. Not only has the culture revived, it has been refreshed with a lot of new blood and some of the gangs are introducing bold new elements into the traditional mix. “It’s gonna continue,” Monk promises. “It’ll never die. They gotta lotta young people comin’ out, they learnin’. They need somebody to teach them. You gotta sit down and listen. It was like we was doing a video shoot from the Treme and one of the producers come out and ask me ‘Monk, what are you sayin?’ Ha ha ha. I said that’s Indian talk you might not understand it but I was saying ‘Hold him Joe your donkey want water.’ I’m telling my spy boy to hold his donkey if he wants some water. He didn’t want no coconut water, that’s all they had. The way I do it they can’t understand when I talk that Indian talk ’cause it’s a secret language. “Some of what I know may pass with me but whatever the new people do will be right ’cause it’s their story. Indian music has got all kind of music into it. It’s spiritual ’cause it’s got a lot of power in it. It reaches people right inside. Once they hear it they got to get up. You got people dancing that don’t dance. I played in theaters where they didn’t get up but they was trying. One time we was in London in this theater where they don’t dance I was doing a song and everybody got up, everybody was going up and down, coming on stage. Yeah it’s a religious thing, it’s a spiritual thing. When I be going into it the spirit guide me.”

Monk was a founding member of the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars, a group dedicated to raising public awareness of the disappearing Gulf Coast. Then came Katrina, and everyone in New Orleans was forced to evacuate the devastated city. The black communities were pretty much wiped out and there was a sense that they might never return. The Mardi Gras Indian culture seemed in particular jeopardy. But Monk never wavered in his belief that it would return, and since 2005 he has been one of the most important leaders of that culture. “I was one of the first ones back,” Monk says. “I gave an Indian practice at Tipitina’s. Right after they let everybody start coming back we had a practice at Tipitina’s. It was packed out. I told Quint all you gotta do is put the word out. Indians they got to come back, this is

On the way back to his house, on Freret Street approaching Louisiana, Monk recalled a rough moment on a recent Mardi Gras day. “We was moving along, singing, and this guy come running up with a rifle, all wild. Johnny Vidacovich was there, children was with us, we had all the Baby Dolls along. I grabbed the guy and hugged him. He was all wild, saying they had killed his friend across the river. So I told him ‘Then that’s where you should be, take this across the river.’ He hit me. But it turned out the rifle was only a BB gun.” Monk can defuse that kind of madness with his power. And now he’s concentrating that power, every day, into sewing those Mardi Gras suits. “I have to do it,” he chuckles, “because it’s in me. This is not a costume. It’s who I am. I’m an Indian. Sometimes I think most everyone in New Orleans has some Indian in them.” O

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EATS

photos: Elsa Hahne

Carlos Quinonez/Coquette

“I

f someone asks me for something special, this is what I make for them. It’s basically a weird take on a Negroni. Both of these spirits are from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Hoodoo chicory liqueur is amaroish, sort of like a southern amaro with a nice, smoky quality, and this is their gin—it’s made by the same company that makes Cathead vodka. And on top, I’m putting a dehydrated satsuma slice, which enhances the citrusy quality to the cocktail. We use special equipment to do this here at Coquette, but you can probably put it in a regular oven, too, on very low heat. This is like a Negroni, but not with equal parts. Normally it would be vermouth, Campari and gin—both bitter and sweet. This version is only slightly sweet and what I like to drink myself.

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Negronis, bitters, Boulevardiers... Sometimes I’ll go for a Paloma. I originally worked for Ancora for five years. I worked for Adolfo Garcia for seven, actually. I started bartending at 20 at Ancora—I wasn’t legally old enough to drink, or taste the drinks I made, but I could still serve. What drew me to bartending was making liqueurs, shrubs and syrups. Love doing that! I guess I really wanted to cook, but my parents were like ‘No. You should be in the front of the house.’ Bartending was like a beautiful medium. I actually went to school for restaurant and tourism management at UNO, so my parents don’t mind me being a bar manager. I wanted to make this drink for Leon Bridges because he has family in New Orleans, but was raised in Texas. One of the reasons I like Leon Bridges is that I was born in New

By Elsa Hahne

Orleans, but my parents would send me to Honduras a lot. I know he feels like both New Orleans and Texas is his home and I feel like that too, between New Orleans and Honduras. We play his music during brunch here at Coquette because it has this ’40s-’50s kind of vibe. That’s the kind of music my parents would play when they had parties and things like that. We listen to a lot of music at our family events. I love Leon Bridges' song ‘Mississippi Kisses.’ It's the kind of song that puts me in a good mood no matter how busy or how slow we are at the restaurant. Since both the gin and the chicory liqueur are from Mississippi, the name works. We try to have fun with our cocktails here, but also to respect the classics. Almost like Leon Bridges—creating something

new, but still, going back to the classics. That’s what I like about him, and that’s what I like about bartending too.”

Mississippi Kiss 1 ounce Hoodoo chicory liqueur 1 ounce Gran Classico Bitter 1 1/2 ounces Bristow gin Stir with ice. Serve in a rocks glass. www.OFFBEAT.com

FRENCH Café Degas: 3127 Esplanade Ave., 945-5635 La Crepe Nanou: 1410 Robert St., 899-2670

GERMAN Bratz Y'all: 617-B Piety St., 301-3222

ICE CREAM/CAKE/CANDY Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop’s: 2831 Chartres St., 944-6090 Bittersweet Confections: 725 Magazine St., 523-2626 La Divina Cafe e Gelateria: 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692 Sucré: 3025 Magazine St.,520-8311 Tee-Eva’s Praline Shop: 4430 Magazine St., 899-8350

INDIAN Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797

AFRICAN Bennachin: 1212 Royal St., 522-1230.

AMERICAN Barcadia: 601 Tchoupitoulas St., 335-1740 Brown Butter Southern Kitchen: 231 N Carrollton Ave., 609-3871 Poppy’s Time Out Sports Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St., 247-9265 Port of Call: 838 Esplanade Ave., 523-0120 Primitivo: 1800 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 881-1775

BARBECUE The Joint: 701 Mazant St., 949-3232

COFFEE HOUSE Café du Monde: 800 Decatur St., 525-4544 Morning Call Coffee Stand: 56 Dreyfous Dr., (504) 300-1157, 3325 Severn Ave., Metairie, 885-4068

CREOLE/CAJUN Cochon: 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123 Cornet: 700 Bourbon St., 523-1485 Galatoire’s: 209 Bourbon St., 525-2021 Gumbo Shop: 630 St. Peter St., 525-1486 K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen: 416 Chartres St., 524-7394 Mulate’s: 201 Julia St., 522-1492 New Orleans Creole Cookery: 508 Toulouse St., 524-9632 Restaurant Rebirth: 857 Fulton St., 522-6863

DELI Stein’s Market and Deli: 2207 Magazine St., 527-0771

FINE DINING Bombay Club: 830 Conti St., 586-0972 Broussard’s: 819 Conti St., 581-3866 Commander’s Palace: 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221

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ITALIAN Adolfo’s: 611 Frenchmen St., 948-3800 Little Vic’s: 719 Toulouse St., 304-1238

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS Biscuits and Buns on Banks: 4337 Banks St., 273-4600 Cake Café: 2440 Chartres St., 943-0010 City Diner: 3116 S I-10 Service Rd E, 8311030; 5708 Citrus Blvd., 309-7614 Cowbell: 8801 Oak St., 298-8689 Dat Dog: 601 Frenchmen St., 309-3362; 5030 Freret St., 899-6883; 3336 Magazine St., 324-2226 Live Oak Cafe: 8140 Oak St., 265-0050 Parkway Bakery and Tavern: 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047 Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361 Tracey’s: 2604 Magazine St., 897-5413

LOUISIANA / SOUTHERN Fulton Alley: 600 Fulton St., 208-5593 Mondo: 900 Harrison Ave., 224-2633 Praline Connection: 542 Frenchmen St., 943-3934

MEDITERRANEAN Byblos: 3218 Magazine St., 894-1233 Mona’s Café: 504 Frenchmen St., 949-4115

MEXICAN/CARIBBEAN/SPANISH Barú Bistro & Tapas: 3700 Magazine St., 895-2225 Juan’s Flying Burrito: 2018 Magazine St., 569-0000 El Gato Negro: 81 French Market Place, 525-9846

MUSIC ON THE MENU Banks Street Bar & Grill: 4401 Banks St., 486-0258 B.B. King’s Blues Club: 1104 Decatur St., 934-5464 Buffa’s: 1001 Esplanade Ave., 949-0038 Chickie Wah Wah: 2828 Canal St., 304-4714 Dmac’s Bar & Grill: 542 S Jefferson Davis Pkwy, 304-5757 Gattuso’s: 435 Huey P Long Ave., Gretna, 368-1114 Hard Rock Café: 125 Bourbon St., 529-5617 House of Blues: 225 Decatur St., 412-8068

PIZZA Midway Pizza: 4725 Freret St., 322-2815 Pizza Delicious: 617 Piety St., 676-8482 Slice Pizzeria: 1513 St. Charles Ave., 525-7437 Theo’s Pizza: 4218 Magazine St., 894-8554; 4024 Canal St., 302-1133; 1212 S Clearview, 733-3803

SEAFOOD Basin Seafood and Spirits: 3222 Magazine St., 302-7391 Crazy Lobster Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St. 569-3380 Deanie’s Seafood: 841 Iberville St., 581-1316; 1713 Lake Ave. Metairie, 834-1225 Pier 424 Seafood Market: 424 Bourbon St., 309-1574 Royal House Oyster Bar: 441 Royal St., 528-2601

SOUL Praline Connection: 542 Frenchmen St., 943-3934

STEAKHOUSE La Boca: 870 Tchoupitoulas St., 525-8205

VIETNAMESE Namese: 4077 Tulane Ave., 483-8899

WEE HOURS Buffa’s Restaurant & Lounge: 1001 Esplanade Ave., 949-0038 Mimi’s in the Marigny: 2601 Royal St., 872-9868

The Dish

JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI/THAI Chiba: 8312 Oak St., 826-9119 Mikimoto: 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., 488-1881 Seoul Shack: 435 Esplanade Ave., 417-6206 Sukho Thai: 4519 Magazine St., 373-6471; 2200 Royal St., 948-9309 Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433

Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683 Warehouse Grille: 869 Magazine St., 322-2188

Chef Daniel Esses on Three Muses’ Pork Belly Sliders

What do your pork belly sliders say about the kind of restaurant you run? The dish was conceived through an amalgamation of all the cooks in the kitchen. One suggested we do something with apples, one suggested pork belly, and I said, ‘Let’s do it on scallion pancake.’ It was really nice to get the cooks’ input on a dish that’s become so popular for us. We were three to four cooks who put our heads together. It’s braised in chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and beer. It’s an Asian technique, but not in-your-face Asian. And then it’s served with apple chutney and with some crispy apple on top. It’s rare to get this kind of input from cooks only because it’s rarely asked for. A lot of cooks are afraid to get rejected—‘Will chef take me seriously?’ But this is the kind of chef I want to be—someone who gets input from their cooks. Do all cooks at Three Muses prepare the dish the same way? Exactly the same way. They’d better! —Elsa Hahne www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

Kingfish: 337 Chartres St., 598-5005 Mr. B’s Bistro: 201 Royal St. 523-2078 Restaurant R’evolution: 777 Bienville St., 553-2277

Howlin’ Wolf’s Wolf Den: 907 S. Peters St., 529-5844 Le Bon Temps Roule: 4801 Magazine St., 895-8117 Little Gem Saloon: 445 S. Rampart St., 267-4863 Maison: 508 Frenchmen St., 289-5648 Mid City Lanes Rock ‘N’ Bowl: 4133 S. Carrollton Ave., 482-3133 NOSH: 752 Tchouptoulas St., 581-7101 Palm Court: 1204 Decatur St., 525-0200 Rivershack Tavern: 3449 River Rd., 834-4938 Southport Hall: 200 Monticello Ave., 835-2903 Snug Harbor: 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 Three Muses: 536 Frenchmen St., 298-8746 Three Muses Uptown: 7537 Maple St., 510-2749

DINING OUT

The Daily Beet For many of us, the start of a new year signals an annual rejuvenation of our health consciousness. Following a six-week (or longer) stretch of celebratory dinners, wine-soaked holiday lunches and general overindulgence, we instinctively reach for the reset button as soon as the New Year’s Eve hangover dissipates—vowing to cut the carbs, speed up the treadmill and let the bar cart go un-replenished as a means of penance for the December bacchanalia. But then along comes Twelfth Night and the never-ending parade of king cakes that follows. The prospect of a Saints playoff run (or a disappointing end to a promising Saints season) often necessitates consumption of numerous adult beverages before, during and after each game. And in the blink of an eye, it’s time for Krewe du Vieux to roll through the Marigny and French Quarter, which means Fat Tuesday is around the corner. The next thing you know, you have “lost” your gym membership card,

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the button on your suit jacket is in danger of popping off, and your constant hangover has earned you platinum status at the rehydration therapy clinic. I’ve seen it a hundred times. Lucky for you, the first step to righting the ship can be a delicious one with a stop at The Daily Beet. Owner Dylan Maisel was literally born and bred for nutritional outreach—his parents ran vegetarian restaurants in New York and Vermont. He blazed his on trail in New Orleans starting with JuiceNOLA in St. Roch Market, serving cold-pressed juices and simple salads as one of the original vendors in the reincarnated food hall. Two years later, Maisel expanded his vegetarian concept to the South Market District with the opening of The Daily Beet. Thankfully, he brought along the signature summer kale salad, a mélange of shredded lacing kale, pecorino, parmesan cheese and crunchy sunflower seeds tossed in a tart lemon vinaigrette balanced with the sweetness of currants. Maisel incorporates heartier, non-traditional ingredients to “beef up” the salad offerings. Ancient grains like quinoa and wild rice form the base, along with seasonal greens, for bowls such as the aptly named Rainbow, a kaleidoscope of shredded carrots, beets, bell pepper, chickpeas, toasted almonds and more in a ginger-garlic

Photo: Randy Shmidt

EATS

dressing. An assortment of toasted nuts is utilized for extra protein power, from the toasted pepitas in the Southwest bowl to the bright green pistachios in the Wellness bowl with goat cheese and grapes dressed in a balsamic vinaigrette. Thick slices of Bellegarde country loaf are the foundation of the toasts, including the now ubiquitous avocado toast topped with cherry tomatoes, chili flakes and a drizzle of olive oil. Homemade apple butter, whipped lemon ginger ricotta and a sprinkling of toasted almonds does double duty as a light breakfast or a near guilt-free dessert. All things in moderation, including moderation. —Peter Thriffiley 1000 Girod St., 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, (504) 605-4413, thedailybeetnola.com

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REVIEWS

Reviews When submitting CDs for consideration, please send two copies to OffBeat Reviews, 421 Frenchmen Street, Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116

CDs reviewed are available now at 421 Frenchmen Street in the Marigny 504-586-1094 or online at LouisianaMusicFactory.com

A Truly Impressive Album

John Fohl Hands On You (Independent) John Fohl came down from Montana in the old century and made himself an indispensable member of the New Orleans music community. His signature gig was a decade-plus-long residence at the Dr. John school of funkology during Mac’s Lower 911 days, a period that included some of Dr. John’s most political writing in the wake of the Katrina flood. Fohl has been much in demand elsewhere as well, teaming up with Johnny Sansone and Anders Osborne for the acoustic workshops at Chickie Wah Wah that turned Osborne’s career around, and supporting a variety of musicians in the area. Fohl’s popularity as a sideman has kept him from concentrating on his own work, but anyone who has caught his regular Monday night gigs at Dos Jefes over the last 20 years knows what a versatile and engaging solo performer he is. Hands On You, Fohl’s third solo album, is a classic from start to finish, a step forward from the excellent Teeth and Bones. The songs are all Fohl originals and he has assembled an exceptional band of old friends to record it: Eric Bolivar on drums, Cassandra Faulconer on bass, John Gros on piano and Hammond B-3,

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Johnny Sansone on harmonica and Rod Hodges on accordion. The music here is uncategorizable, yet oddly familiar. Some might call it country, others blues and still others rock. It resembles the chameleon style of Neil Young by switching genres mid-stream. Yet it hangs together on the fidelity to the songs, the attention to structure. Fohl’s singing is foursquare, direct. The nuance is all in the music itself, so carefully organized, so meticulously delivered. “This Side of the Grass,” with its unsentimental ruminations on mortality, is really about the carefully articulated layers of guitars, Fohl in his strength as an accompanist to his own perfectly phrased, economical solos. Or the clever arrangement of “Go Again” as Fohl trades choruses with Gros’ honky tonk piano, playing like three different guitarists. Or the stark, stoic “Army of One,” two guitars playing off each other, leading to the ominous line: “Me and my gun/ Me and my army of one.” The sense of awe and perhaps foreboding attends songs like “Taste Your Tears,” “Shinin’” and “A World Undone,” but Fohl’s music upends any negative thoughts when he starts to exult in exchanges with Gros (“The Right Hand of God,” “Put Your Hands On It”) or Sansone (“It’s Your Time Now”) and Hodges (“I Can’t Wait”). The tracks were recorded at the Music Shed, then mixed and mastered at Esplanade Studios. The result is a clean, full, very professional sound. Altogether this is a truly impressive album by a great instrumentalist who is developing into a formidable songwriter. —John Swenson

Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys Allons Zydeco (Lockdowne Records) Allons Zydeco, the fourth album from Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys, expands upon the groundwork laid on 2014’s Back on Track. And once again, the interlocking rhythm section of former Beau Jocque sidemen bassist Chuck Bush and drummer Eric Minix gives its engaging frontman the necessary fuel to sprint hard (“Allons a Lafayette”) or drop into a midtempo, heart-melting ballad (Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight”). The song selection is amazingly diverse with practically every idiom in zydeco represented, with the exception of speaker-rattling hip-hop and gutbucket blues. Aging rockers will likely experience flashbacks on the galloping version of Canned Heat’s “Going to the Country,” and the older Creole contingent will feel solidarity with “Joe Pete” and “Oh Ca Fait du Mal,” where Terry sings in Creole French. Though not necessarily known as a vocalist in these days, Bush croons admirably on the 1961 doo-wop hit “Daddy’s Home,” which is given royal treatment by Kent Pierre-August’s smooth jazz guitar solo and producer Michael Lockett’s floaty keyboards.

The two new originals, the jaunty “Boudin Special” and “Opossum in the Sack,” are similar in that they’re both lighthearted, comical jams with plenty of interaction and cutting up. Besides being one of the more playful and tightest ensembles on the z-scene today, Terry and the Zydeco Bad Boys achieve a career milestone with their best album to date. —Dan Willging

Germaine Bazzle Swingin’ at Snug (Musikbloc) “Please welcome to the stage, the wonderful Miss Germaine Bazzle,” Lawrence Sieberth graciously introduces New Orleans’ high priestess of jazz vocals to begin the album Swingin’ at Snug. Bazzle gets right to living up to the CD’s title, swinging hard on the classic “After You’ve Gone.” The release is a follow-up to her terrific 2015 disc, It’s Magic, which includes those musicians—longtime cohort pianist Sieberth, bassist Peter Harris and drummer Simon Lott—who contributed to its punch. This night at Snug Harbor boasts a twist with the addition of guitarist Todd Duke, whose expertise for accompanying a vocalist is renowned for his work with John Boutté. Duke is a great match not only with Bazzle but the entire band. He takes it out on his solo during the first cut while Bazzle urges him on. Her phrasing and unique scatting make this song jump. The vocalist turns next to a more obscure tune, the great Benny Golson’s “Whisper Not.” During several sections, its staggered, almost march-like rhythms, punctuated by the www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS inventive Lott, certainly set it apart from more usual interpretations. Pianist Sieberth opens “I Just Found Out About Love,” with a New Orleans flavor, trills and all. As serious as Bazzle is as a vocalist, she allows her sense of humor and the storytelling elements of a song’s lyrics to shine through. “I like it, I like it,” she sings with a grin in her voice on this standard. Of course, Bazzle, who doesn’t just front a combo but becomes an instrumental element in its interactions, brings great elegance and a sense of drama to ballads as

heard on her rendition of “When Your Lover Has Gone,” on which she successfully uses her voice’s lower register. Swingin’ at Snug stands as a typical night for Germaine Bazzle at the Frenchmen Street club, which translates into an extraordinary performance. —Geraldine Wyckoff

Lloyd Price This Is Rock and Roll (Double L Records) At 84, Kenner native and rock ’n’ roll pioneer Lloyd Price has released a

Looking Back while Looking Forward Jason Marsalis and the 21st Century Trad Band Melody Reimagined: book 1 (Basin Street Records) Melodies suggest melodies that often lead to either new or familiar paths. Think of a song and the next thing you know it reminds you of another. Jason Marsalis uses this reality in, as the title of his latest album states, Melody Reimagined: book 1. Performing on vibes with drummer David Potter, pianist Austin Johnson and bassist Will Goble, Marsalis utilizes primarily jazz tunes as jumping off points for his original creations. In doing so, he respectfully pays homage to the material’s creators and extends the longevity of melodies by giving them a fresh twist. To explain, the album kicks off with “Ratio Man Strikes Again,” a rethink of “Traneing In,” a John Coltrane classic. Jazz fans will recognize the source of its initial melody and the importance of the strong role pianist Johnson plays in referencing the performance of the late Red Garland. Then, with the urging of Marsalis’ vibes and Potter’s insistent drums, it goes elsewhere, though never forgetting the passion that made Trane’s performance soar. Perhaps an easier example of Marsalis’ concept is heard on “Basin Street Ain’t Mardi Gras,” a clever and accurate title in itself. It’s a play on Paul Barbarin’s classic “Bourbon Street Parade,” which remains in there, however obscurely to the average listener. Most will recognize Marsalis’ vibes throwing in Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” (“You can feel it all over...”) and the chestnut “Dinah.” Perhaps Marsalis’ reconfiguring these tunes is a new twist on old school jazzers routinely quoting songs within their own works. Smartly, Marsalis lists the names of his new creations alongside the songs from which inspired them. A few examples include “Just as Cool as the Other Side of the Pillow,” melodically derived in part from “Willow Weep for Me,” and “A Peaceful Silence” from Horace Silver’s “Peace.” Jason Marsalis wisely looks back while simultaneously looking forward on the intriguing Melody Reimagined. —Geraldine Wyckoff www.OFFBEAT.com

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REVIEWS new album. Hearing Price performing his This Is Rock and Roll songs, he’s clearly the same singer heard in his landmark 1952 rhythm-and-blues crossover hit, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Price recorded This Is Rock and Roll at City Lights Studio in Farmingdale, New Jersey and The Cutting Room club in New York. He goes all out for the project. It’s a big production featuring extensive arrangements performed by dozens of musicians and background vocalists. The material covers much ground, including a pair of Fats Domino songs. As every New Orleans R&B music fan knows, the recently departed Domino played piano for “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Price gives “Blueberry Hill” a smooth and understated spin, speaking more than singing the lyrics. His rendition of “I’m Walkin’” swings alongside horn section-and piano-dressed bigband accompaniment. For other songs, Price succeeds in sounding both modern and classic. Rock, soul and a big beat mix in the Price original, “I’m Getting Over You.” He moves to funk and soul for “Nobody Loves Anybody Anymore,” a topical song about a divided nation. “If we don’t get together, we can’t survive,” Price laments. “When will we stop acting so selfishly?” Funk and social commentary blend again in “Our World.” A remake of Price’s 1969 R&B hit, “Bad Conditions,” it’s in a Curtis Mayfield-era Super Fly and early Sly and the Family Stone mold. Price mostly fills the album with a well-chosen variety of songs, including his nicely delivered R&B ballad “The Smoke.” But his version of the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” plays overly faithful and his slowed-to-a-ballad-tempo interpretation of the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” belabors the point in a bland, synthesizer-heavy arrangement. Despite some miscalculations, the ambition and work ethic Price shows in This Is Rock and Roll is more than commendable. The album reveals classic rock-androller Price as a still vibrant act. —John Wirt

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my favorite lines of the album: “confectionary mama with a praline smile”) the writing, like the musical accompaniment, is rock solid. Finally, for those who prefer non-traditional Christmas songs, Hebert delivers the gift of “Brr Brr Bourbon Street.” —Christopher Weddle

Louise Cappi Jon Hebert Bayou Wild (Independent) Jon Hebert’s first full-length album fits nicely into the steadily growing New Orleans singersongwriter scene. Don’t make the mistake of thinking, however, that after hearing the album’s opening track you’ve got the formula figured out. While “Lost Yesterday” starts things off in a decidedly early-1970s folk-rock feel that would feel right at home on a Brewer & Shipley record, Bayou Wild moves effortlessly through a plethora of genres. No matter if it’s the Americana sounds of “Windy River” (which features Hebert on mandolin), the horn laden “Landmark Hotel,” or the Louisiana roots-rock of “Henriette Delille,” Hebert is clearly comfortable working in different musical landscapes. Bayou Wild, while certainly a showcase for Hebert’s songwriting craft, is augmented by a stellar group of musicians who clearly know how to move a song forward without getting in the way. Whether it’s the understated drumming of Andre Bohren, the silky smooth pedal steel of Bruce Tyner, the exquisite fiddle work of Gina Forsyth, or the horn section featuring Rick Trolsen, Jeff Watkins, Joe Crachiola, Ian Smith, and Tim Stambaugh, the supporting cast lays an appropriate framework for the all-important story line. And speaking of story lines, Hebert has a knack for clever lyrics that mine the human experience without sounding forced or contrived. As evidenced in the cautionary tale of “Aim For The Wishing Well” or the light-hearted fun of “Too Much Sugar Blues” (with one of

Mélange (Independent) While straightforward and not breaking any new ground, Louise Cappi’s Mélange covers a lot of musical styles familiar to New Orleanians. Eclectic in both genre and repertoire, she touches on Latin music by way of Afro-Cuban and bossa nova, rock, funk, swing and ballads, while never straying far from the blues. Her voice is quite raw, and one appreciates the effort placed on emphasizing its natural character rather than capitalizing on mediating it through studio magic and Auto-Tune. She sticks mostly to

her comfortable middle register, making her brief forays into her upper range contain much of the emotional impact, especially when she allows brief distortive growls to add color to vocal climaxes. The inclusion of a few medleys helps maintain interest. The caliber of the musicians is quite high, and their solos and driving rhythms are often what propel these tracks forward. Jenna McSwain in particular shines as a sensitive piano accompanist and the arranger of the handful of originals. While the energy of this album is relatively static, one

Praised Be! Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band (Paytone Records) It’s difficult to effectively walk the line between modern jazz and gospel music in a way that comes across as genuine to both, but that’s exactly what Grayson Brockamp has done on his EP with the New Orleans Wildlife Band, co-produced and released by Nicholas Payton’s Paytone Records and featuring some of the older local young lions of jazz backing the justifiably acclaimed gospel singer/keyboardist Bailey Hinton. Covering ground from the 1960s Blue Note recordings of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Elvin Jones to praise and worship music, and the blazing fast horn solos of big band bebop to heartfelt ballads treated with the sensitivity and reverence of hymns, all in a mere 16-minute release, is a daunting task that Brockamp makes sound easy, to say nothing of the world-class quality of his bass playing. More impressive still are the organic stylistic transitions between the fast and slow, dense and sparse, quiet and loud, and even sacred and secular—all beautifully blended and blurred, never forced or jarring. The purposely unresolved chord at the end of the final song feels like an unanswered question, and leaves one craving the full-length album that I’m told is presently in the works. —Nick Benoit www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS can have a satisfying listening experience when framing it as an eclectic blues release. —Nick Benoit

Rockie Charles Born For You (Orleans Records) “Wow, who is that?” was the reaction of many on first hearing Rockie Charles’ 1996 disc Born For You. The album, which is being re-released on CD and vinyl as well as being made available as a download, sounded way old-school soul yet so uniquely fresh. Word soon went around that the voice, the guitar and these special songs were the product of a man called Rockie Charles, a tugboat captain who was also building a boat in the backyard of his home in Algiers. Carlo Ditta, a hip and observant record producer and owner of the Orleans Records label, apparently spotted an advertisement that Charles “The President of Soul” had placed in an entertainment directory in the hopes of landing some gigs. Ditta wisely took the bait, a move that revitalized Charles’ then rather inactive music career and introduced his talents to a flock of soon-to-be new fans. From Charles’ first guitar riff on the title cut, it’s evident that here’s a musician with a different approach. That he’s backed on the album of all self-penned material by the organ of either Rick Allen or Wayne Lohr adds a distinctive touch to Charles’ singular style. The thing about Charles as a singer is that he not only hits the high notes, it’s the way he hits them. On some tunes, Charles fronts a small combo, as on “Festis Believe in Justice,” that includes Fred Koella on the lap steel guitar. Now there’s an instrument not often heard on soul records. A full band complete with horns and background vocalists kicks in for the uptempo “I Need Your Love So Bad, I’m About to Loose My Mind.” Born For You stands as a rarity as each tune on the album, written and delivered by the great Rockie Charles, is a killer. —Geraldine Wyckoff www.OFFBEAT.com

Louie Fontaine The Sun Ain’t Black (Independent) Sometimes losing a loved one can bring one full circle. In the case of Louie Fontaine, it was the 2010 death of close friend Rockie Charlies that would lead back to the Big Easy and into the recording studio. After booking 40 days at Dockside Studio and teaming up with producer Tony Daigle, the result is The Sun Ain’t Black, a quirky trip through classic rock that ends up being more fun than anything. Over the course of the album’s 16 tracks, listeners are taken on a journey through the mind of the Danish-born artist as he blends elements of rock, blues and country music. Soul-tinged harmonies are also interwoven ever so gently, adding a fullness and richness to the chorus on songs like “Prefer My Demon,” “It Ain’t Right,” “Pure Love” and the album’s lead single, “The Pill.” While Fontaine isn’t the strongest singer, he more than makes up for it with his soulsearching lyrics and the lively musical arrangements. Even when the mood is more somber than light-hearted, as it is on songs such as “Fully Control,” “Daddy,” and the album’s title track, Fontaine still presents a solid outing that is sure to make for an entertaining live experience. —Ivory Jones

Keith Frank One Night at Cowboy’s (Soulwood Records) For the past several years, Keith Frank has celebrated his October birthday at Lafayette’s JA N U A RY 2 018

REVIEWS

Bon Mot Cheap Drinks, Poor Lighting (Proper Channels Music)

Cowboy’s Nightclub, so when it came time to record his third live album, Cowboy’s was a logical choice. Without anything to hide behind in the studio, Cowboy’s is a solid testament of how absurdly tight Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band really are, with its anchoring rhythm section of siblings Jennifer (bass) and Brad (drums). It’s also obvious how unsung Jennifer’s contributions are as well, given her strong propulsive presence and uncanny ability to power the group through stepping chord changes. On the breezy keyboard-led “Come See About Me,” she takes flight with a melodious, jazz-tinged solo. Of these 14 tracks, 9 originals make their debut. The title track seems destined to become Cowboy’s theme song as Frank describes the nightclub experience including the after-show parking lot partiers. “Secrets” delivers a moralistic message about how secrets usually backfire on the beholder. Additionally, there’s the bouncy, vintage Frank–sounding “I Really Don’t Know,” bluesy stepper “Working With The Feeling” and familiar swamp pop and soul covers like “Mathilda” and Otis Redding’s “Good Music.” With all that it has to offer, sometimes it seems sonically gluttonous. But then again, maybe that’s the secret of Frank’s three-decade longevity: Hook your audience with something different for everyone. And that so far hasn’t backfired yet. —Dan Willging

J A N U A RY 2 0 1 8

The simultaneous presentation of high and low fidelity permeates the debut solo release of MC Bon Mot, one-third of a group of underground local rappers and hip-hop producers called Proper Channels. Evident from the very beginning in the intentional scratchiness and vinyl-like warmth of the first track, Cheap Drinks, Poor Lighting instantly reminds one of the conscious alternative releases of the early 1990s. Indeed, the jazz and funk-influenced production of this record are not dissimilar from A Tribe Called Quest’s famous masterpiece, The Low End Theory. Neither is the consistently slow, greasy, resolutely lazy flow of the raps and the tracks containing them, and by extension the attention drawn to the content of the words. His choice of stage name is an invocation of itself, bon mot an obscure way to express a witty remark. And witty he is. Samples drawn from the catalogue of deep cuts and rare grooves are sprinkled throughout and employed cleverly: a melody from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, the presence of Herbie Hancock’s bass player Paul Jackson, the Ohio Players’ “Alone” over a track about independence, even a vocal melody from a 1936 recording of Ella Fitzgerald. The latter is used to greatest effect, as the chorus of a track to emphasize the focus on the promise of future hope belying the hardships of one’s current situation, ending with all of Proper Channels’ rappers singing (rapping?) along with Ella at the top of their lungs: “The stars above have promised to meet us tomorrow… Till then my love, how dreary the new day will seem.” A lot of the lyrics seem preoccupied with the anxiety of coming up lower or lower-middle class, with unadorned phrases like “spend nights working on a version of a new track, wishing I was better at the only thing I’m good at” cutting to the

bone. The underlying motif of revering and respecting while subverting, and the scintillating wordplay and reversals (“but with perfection comes practice”) are what make this album so coherent and charming, be it usage of a thematically resonant jazz track from almost a century ago, or assertions concurrently tonguein-cheek and rooted in truth. The consistency in cleverness of this record, be it from the production or lyrical perspective, make it a must-listen for fans of contemporary underground New Orleans hip-hop. —Nick Benoit

Toonces Milk For My Tears (Community Records) It took over two years for the spastic six-piece Toonces to lay down their unique sound in an official album. And the resulting work definitely sounds like it’s trying to contain years’ worth of ideas. The group’s debut, Milk For My Tears, is bursting at the seams with accumulated genre experiments, sketches, doodles and other marginalia. The album features fractured takes on everything from surf rock (the

The Pixies South Revival! Now Is the Time (Independent) There is a quality to Southern rock music that gives it a constant upward current. The Allman Brothers Band had it. The Tedeschi Trucks Band has it. Revival! does too, and their name says it all. Of course we’re talking about gospel. Now Is the Time is a collection of seven covers that are securely Southern, soulful, and gospelinfluenced. When you’ve got two songs made famous by the Staple Singers, there’s no question where your influence comes from. Carolyn Broussard is center-stage on this album, but you can tell she’s a team player. Her vocals, despite their power, do not over-extend. She blends naturally with the backing vocals and instrumentation from the band. You can tell she’s really listening to them. A less-measured singer in the same milieu might think that more is more and verge into wailing territory on some of these songs. The rest of the band have that same cohesive gentleness. The result is a feeling of lightness and warmth that flows through the album. “Satisfied Mind” is the only song on the disc to diverge from that feeling, the guitars cutting loose and the ensemble playing with loud/ quiet and stop/start dynamics. Kinda like the Pixies went south. —Stacey Leigh Bridewell www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS opening notes of “Tang Tang”) to hip-hop (the distorted drag rap at the heart of “Fire Island”). Toonces make room for just about everything on their first release. The blown-out and sad “Moonbow” plays like the soundtrack to a space-age bachelor pad performed by winking cynics who now have the knowledge that space is largely a cold, dead nothing. The elegant and bucolic “Gnome Trot” sounds like folk from the future. But if you had to put a pin in Toonces, their dominant sound is a warped spin on bossa nova. The majority of the tracks sound like Astrud Gilberto took a stroll on Copacabana Beach and accidentally tripped into an interdimensional rift. While the album has some definite weak points—they absolutely could have cut a few of the thirty-second toss-offs—this long-gestating work is worth a spin for anyone who wants to samba by starlight. —Alex Galbraith

Jamison Ross All For One (Concord Jazz) Expectations—rarely trustworthy inclinations—were that as the winner of the prestigious 2012 Thelonious Monk Institute’s Drums Competition, Jamison Ross would make his mark in jazz behind a drum set. Well, in many ways he has and he does. However, his vocals stole the show on his self-titled debut on Concord Jazz. The label, which he was signed to as one of the perks for the Monk award, gave him the go-ahead to sing. Smart move. Ross’ much anticipated follow-up, All For One, definitely features his soulful vocal prowess on a disc of many flavors. Dig it that Ross, a Florida native and now New Orleans resident, goes directly to the source on Allen Toussaint’s “A Mellow Good Time,” which the late, great vocalist Lee Dorsey hit with back in 1966. Ross’ drums got that www.OFFBEAT.com

funk with some strong Hammond B-3 by Cory Irvin and tasty piano of Chris Pattishall. He continues to show his appreciation for his now hometown by turning to another New Orleans master, keyboardist/ vocalist/composer Wilson “Willie Tee” Turbinton for the title track, “All For One.” It also respectively makes reference to Harold Battiste’s innovative label AFO (All For One) Records. Ross’ pen is also busy here often in conjunction with guitarist Rick Lollar, who contributes many complementary background vocals. Ross, whose roots in the church are often evident, brings a wonderfully uplifting spirit to their “Keep On.” Other well-chosen covers include a passionately delivered “Don’t Go to Strangers,” a tune that, in these parts, is most often associated with the genius of singer Johnny Adams. Ross also wisely selected another brilliant song, “Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy,” by pianist Mose Allison. Ross’ often romantic and always thoughtful originals, like “Safe in the Arms of Love,” again co-written with Lollar, warmly reside with his smart choices of non-original material. Ross tellingly closes the album with a Kahn/McHugh classic, “Let’s Sing Again,” on which he’s accompanied, church-like, simply by the organ. All For One finds the award-winning drummer happily and lovingly back at the microphone. “A song will see you through, let’s sing again...” —Geraldine Wyckoff JA N U A RY 2 018

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These listings are abbreviated. For complete daily listings, go to offbeat.com. These listings were verified at the time of publication, but are of course subject to change. To get your event listed, go to offbeat.com/add-new-listings or send an email to listings@offbeat.com.

AF African AM Americana BL Blues BU Bluegrass BO Bounce BB Brass Band BQ Burlesque KJ Cajun CL Classical CR Classic Rock CO Comedy CW Country CB Cover Band DN Dance DX Dixieland DB Dubstep EL Electro FO Folk FK Funk GS Gospel GY Gypsy HH Hip-Hop HS House IN Indian Classical ID Indie Rock IL Industrial IR Irish JB Jam Band

MJ Jazz Contemporary TJ Jazz Traditional JV Jazz Variety KR Karaoke KZ Klezmer LT Latin MG Mardi Gras Indian ME Metal RB Modern R&B PO Pop PK Punk RE Reggae RC Rockabilly RK Rock RR Roots Rock SS Singer/ Songwriter SK Ska PI Solo Piano SO Soul SW Spoken Word SP Swamp Pop SI Swing VR Variety ZY Zydeco

FRIDAY DECEMBER 29

Bombay Club: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Davis Rogan (VR) 6p, Marc Stone (BL) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Paul Sanchez and the Rolling Road Show perform the Songs of Bruce Springsteen (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 6p, Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): House of the Young (HH) 10p House of Blues: A Tribute to Billy Joel and Elton John (CB) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: PYMP, Unicorn Fukr, the Dabmaster (EL) 10p Joy Theater: Cardi B, Machine Gun Kelly, DJ Mannie Fresh (HH) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Paintbox with Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Deacon John and the Ivories (BL) 8p Maple Leaf: Chris Mule and the Perpetrators (RR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a NOSH: DJ Abibas, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p Orpheum: New Year’s Eve Special feat. the Revivalists (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, DJ Soul Sister (FK) 10p

SATURDAY DECEMBER 30 Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski with Evan Christopher (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Fr. Ron and friends (VR) 6p, Miles Lyons and Connor Stewart (JV) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Woodenhead (RR) 9p

J A N U A RY 2 0 1 8

Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, Poppy’s Poppin’ Saturday Review (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p Dos Jefes: Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p House of Blues (Voodoo Garden): Ted Hefko and the Thousandaires (VR) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Daniel Meinecke (JV) 5p, Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 8p Joy Theater: the New Mastersounds, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Deacon John and the Ivories (BL) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Royal Street Winding Boys, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Brass-A-Holics, Gene’s Music Machine (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: John “Papa” Gros Band (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a NOSH: DJ Abibas, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p One Eyed Jacks: Tom Petty Tribute (CR) 9p Orpheum: New Year’s Eve Special feat. the Revivalists, Samantha Fish (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 6p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and Company (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, DJ Soul Sister (FK) 10p

SUNDAY DECEMBER 31

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 7p, Bombay AllStars (JV) 9:30p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 11a, Steve Pistorius, Orange Kellin and Benny Amon (JV) 7p, the Royal Rounders (VR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen (VR) 9p Civic Theatre: DJ Soul Sister’s 15th Annual New Year’s Eve Soul Train (SO) 10p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Bites (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 10p Joy Theater: Hannibal Buress, Tony Trimm (CO) 3p, NYE with Tank and the Bangas, Sweet Crude, Alfred Banks, CoolNasty (VR) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p; Ramp Room: Black and White Bazaar with Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 10:30p Mahalia Jackson Theater: Amy Schumer and friends with Ani DiFranco (CO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, G and the Swinging Gypsies (JV) 10a, Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 1p, Brad Walker (JV) 7p, Soul Rebels, George Porter Jr. and his Runnin’ Pardners (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Sexual Thunder (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a New Orleans Jazz Market: Undeniable New Year’s Eve Celebration (VR) 10p Old Point Bar: Amanda Walker (PI) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p, One Percent Nation (RK) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: NYE with Boyfriend (HH) 9p Orpheum: New Year’s Eve Special feat. the Revivalists (RK) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: New Year’s Eve Gala (JV) 9p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: NYE with Tab Benoit (BL) 9p

Siberia: Cauche Mar, Tasche and the Psychedelic Roses, Sal Geloso’s Up Up We Go (VR) 10p Snug Harbor: New Year’s Eve with Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: NYE Surprise Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Slick Rick feat. the NOJO 7 (JV) 10p Three Muses: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 5p, Leo Forde (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Galactic New Year’s Eve, the Malone Brothers (FK) 10p Trinity Episcopal Church: NYE Celebration with Albinas Prizgintas (VR) 5p

MONDAY JANUARY 1

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Helen Gillet (JV) 7:30p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio feat. Terrence Houston and Mike Lemmler (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Monty Banks (JV) 12p, Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, Joe Cabral (JV) 8p

TUESDAY JANUARY 2

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Chip Wilson and Marcello Benetti (VR) 5:30p, Pontchartrain Wrecks (VR) 8p Columns Hotel: Washboard Chaz and John Rankin (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Jamison Ross Quartet Celebrates Nina Simone (JV) 7:30p Maison: Dinosaurchestra, Gregory Agid Quartet, Roccadile (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (RK) 10p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Martin Krusche and Simon Lott (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Alexandra Scott (SS) 5p, Dr. Sick (JV) 8p

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 3

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Reuther (VR) 5:30p, Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Mario Abney Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Jamison Ross Quartet Celebrates Nina Simone (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Brittany Purdy and her Sazaraz Band (JV) 10p Morning Call:Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p SideBar NOLA: Eric Benny Bloom and David Torkanowsky (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p

Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Two Harps: Luke Brechtelsbauer and Cassie Watson (JV) 9p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 8p

THURSDAY JANUARY 4

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Gumbo Cabaret (JV) 5p, Doyle Cooper Trio (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil Degruy (VR) 6p, Ron Hotstream (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, New Orleans Nightcrawlers Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Kevin Specht and Tom Marron (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Gem Saloon: Jamison Ross Quartet Celebrates Nina Simone (JV) 7:30p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Sweet Substitute, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: CR Gruver (PI) 7p, the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, Nigel Hall and George Porter Jr. (JV) 10p NOSH: DJ Torque, Alexey Marti (JV) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Leroy and Katja Toivola with Crescent City Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Horace Trahan and the Ossun Express (ZY) 8:30p SideBar NOLA: Rick Nelson, Brad Walker and Matt Booth (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Tony Dagradi CD-release party (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Roland Guerin Band (SO) 9p Three Muses: Albanie Falletta (JV) 5p, Mia Borders (SS) 8p Vaughan’s Lounge: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY JANUARY 5

Bombay Club: Mark Brooks (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Dayna Kurtz (JV) 6p, Lynn Drury (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Dave Jordan and the NIA, Sam Price and the True Believers (RR) 10p House of Blues: Bricks in the Wall: the Sights and Sounds of Pink Floyd (CR) 9p, Bogtrotter, Kll Smth, Detox Unit, Frequent (EL) 11:59p Howlin’ Wolf: the New Wave feat. Neno Calvin (HH) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Joe Krown (JV) 4:30p, Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 7p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Kerry Irish Pub: Vali Talbot (FO) 5p, Beth Patterson (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Lilli Lewis (PI) 5p, Jamison Ross Quartet Celebrates Nina Simone (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Jeff Watkins and Hip Pocket (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a NOSH: DJ Crushed Velvet, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p Old U.S. Mint: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 8p One Eyed Jacks: Roadkill Ghost Choir (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Tribute to Allen Toussaint feat. Deacon John and Marcia Ball (RB) 9p Smoothie King Center: Katy Perry, Carly Rae Jepsen (PO) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Jamal Batiste album-release show (RB) 9p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p

SATURDAY JANUARY 6

Bombay Club: Todd Duke (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Davis Rogan and Al “Carnival Time” Johnson (VR) 6p, Arsene Delay and Antoine Diel (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Jackson and the Janks (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, Poppy’s Poppin’ Saturday Review (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p House of Blues (the Parish): Run for the Shadows: A Bowie Theatrical Production (PO) 9p House of Blues: Bustout Burlesque and the Bustout Jazz Band (BQ) 9p, K.L.O., Paint, Charlesthefirst, Goopsteppa (EL) 11:59p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Black Laurel (RK) 10p Joy Theater: Todd Snider, Luther Dickinson (VR) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Jamison Ross Quartet Celebrates Nina Simone (JV) 7:30p Louisiana Music Factory: the Whiskey Bayou Showcase feat. Jeff McCarty and Tab Benoit (BL) 3p, Eric Johanson feat. Tab Benoit (BL) 4p Maple Leaf: 12th Night Celebration feat. 101 Runners (MG) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a NOSH: DJ Torque, Alexey Marti (VR) 8p One Eyed Jacks: Fifi Mahony’s 20th Anniversary Party (VR) 9p Orpheum: Tipper and friends (EL) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, the Iguanas (VR) 9p Siberia: SDCE Masquerade Ball feat. Mid-City Aces, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Elysian Brass Band (VR) 9p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): the Gird presents Nesby Phips album-release show (HH) 9p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Where Y’acht presents a Twelfth Night Tribute to Steely Dan (RK) 10p

SUNDAY JANUARY 7

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Trio (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Pfister Sisters (JV) 4p, Steve Pistorius (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns Trio (JV) 8p Circle Bar: Micah McKee, John Curry and friends (FO) 7p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Bites (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Sunday Stampede with Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band (ZY) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Blues Brunch with Little Freddie King (BL) 11a Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Russel Welch, Eight Dice Cloth (JV) 10a, Tuba Skinny, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Orpheum: Tipper and friends (EL) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Gerald French and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Siberia: Sam Doores: For the Sake of the Song (SS) 9p SideBar NOLA: Jeff Albert and Jesse Morrow (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Battle of New Orleans Suite with John Mahoney’s Big Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Juju Child and the Hypnotic Roots Band (BL) 9p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p

MONDAY JANUARY 8

Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Molaison (VR) 5:30p, Alex McMurray (VR) 8p

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Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Blue Velvet, LittleBoyBigHeadOnBike, Kuwaisiana (ID) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Two Sheets to the Wind (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio feat. Terrence Houston and Mike Lemmler (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old U.S. Mint: Grammy Party (VR) 6p One Eyed Jacks: Blind Texas Marlin (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Mikayla Braun, Keith Burnstein and Taylor Mroski (VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Tasche de La Rocha (VR) 5p, Raisin Pickers (JV) 8p

TUESDAY JANUARY 9

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Chip Wilson and Marcello Benetti (VR) 5:30p, Frankie Boots (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Diaz Trio (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (RK) 10p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Redrawblak feat. Brad Walker, Aurora Nealand and Paul Thibodeaux (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: U.S. Bombs, the Turds, the Sickness (VR) 8p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Eric Gales Band (RR) 9p Three Muses: Steve DeTroy (JV) 5p, Joshua Gouzy (JV) 8p

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 10

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Reuther (VR) 5:30p, Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p, Korby Lenker (VR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Gasa Gasa: Bit Brigade performs the Legend of Zelda (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): the Heather Gillis Band (BL) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Roy Gele (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Diaz Trio (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Brittany Purdy and her Sazaraz Band (JV) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Old U.S. Mint: Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival (JV) 8a, Kid Merv and All That Jazz (JV) 5p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Helen Gillet and Simon Lott (MJ) 9p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 8p

THURSDAY JANUARY 11

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Calvin Johnson and Native Son (JV) 5p, Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil Degruy (VR) 6p, Sarah Quintana Trio (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Lulu and the Broadsides feat. Dayna Kurtz (VR) 7p, Brasinola (VR) 10p Gasa Gasa: the Braun-Wood Band feat. Mikayla Braun and Kathryn Rose Wood, Maggie Belle Band (VR) 8p House of Blues: Eli Young Band (CW) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, Brass-AHolics (BB) 8:30p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Gem Saloon: Chris Mule and the Perpetrators (BL) 7p Louisiana Music Factory: Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival feat. Gwen Thompkins (JV) 1p, Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Quartet (JV) 2p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Noah Young Band, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Josh Paxton (PI) 7p, the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, Skerik and Brian Haas (JV) 10p NOSH: DJ Torque, Alexey Marti (JV) 7p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 6p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Chubby Carrier (ZY) 8:30p Siberia: Eastern Bloc Party feat. Panorama Brass Band (GY) 9p Snug Harbor: Danny Barker Birthday Party (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Little Cosmicana (FO) 9p Three Muses: Albanie Falletta (JV) 5p, Arsene DeLay (VR) 8p Tipitina’s: Sabotage, Stoop Kids (RK) 10p Vaughan’s Lounge: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p

FRIDAY JANUARY 12

Bombay Club: Riverside Jazz Collective (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Frank Oxley and the Joint Chiefs of Jazz (JV) 6p, Asylum Chorus (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Sunpie Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Soul Rebels (FK) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): LouMuzik Live (HH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hand Out, Mundy’s Bay, Tranquility, New Holland (VR) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Joe Krown (JV) 4:30p, Ricardo Pascal’s New Orleans Wildlife Band (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Joy Theater: A Special Birthday Tribute to Allen Toussaint feat. Stanton Moore, David Torkanowsky, James Singleton (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Lynn Drury (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Lilli Lewis (PI) 5p, Sam Price and the True Believers (BL) 8p Maple Leaf: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes CD-recording (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old U.S. Mint: Kris Tokarski (JV) 2p, Bon Bon Vivant album-release party (JV) 8p One Eyed Jacks: Sexy Dex and the Fresh (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation Brass (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Bamboula 2000 with David D’Omni (AF) 9p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p

SATURDAY JANUARY 13

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Phil the Tremelo King (JV) 6p, Alexandra Scott and her Magical Band (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, Poppy’s Poppin’ Saturday Review (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Pine Leaf Boys (KJ) 11p House of Blues (the Parish): Blake Owens (HH) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Shaun Peace, Fighting for Frequency, Lip Candy, the Bummers (RK) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Mike Kerwin and Geoff Coats (FO) 5p, Jamie Lynn Vessels (FO) 9p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p, Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 10p Maple Leaf: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes CD-recording (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old U.S. Mint: Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival Second Line (JV) 12p Palm Court Jazz Café: Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p

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Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Aaron AB Abernathy and Nat Turner with CoolNasty and DJ RQ Away (RB) 9p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p

SUNDAY JANUARY 14

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Trio (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Al Farrell (VR) 4p, Steve Pistorius Quartet (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns Trio (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Bites (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Jeffrey Lewis and Los Bolts, Morgan Orion and the Afterburners (FO) 8p, Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Milky Chance, Lewis Capaldi (VR) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Blues Brunch with Little Freddie King (BL) 11a Maple Leaf: Mike Lemmler, June Yamagishi and Doug Belote (VR) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old U.S. Mint: Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival (JV) 8a Palm Court Jazz Café: Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation Brass (TJ) 8p Siberia: WHIV presents Tulane/LSU Hurricane Relief Fundraiser (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: the Geraniums feat. Brendan Gallagher (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Kristofer Tokarski Jazz Band feat. Andy Schumm (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Juju Child Blues Band with Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 9p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p

MONDAY JANUARY 15

Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Molaison (VR) 5:30p, Alex McMurray (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Sarah Quintana (SS) 7p, Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Beth Patterson (FO) 8:30p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Wild Magnolias feat. Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. and MB3 (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Polyrhythmics, Papa Mali (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Mike Dillon and James Singleton (VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Washboard Rodeo (JV) 8p

TUESDAY JANUARY 16

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Chip Wilson and Marcello Benetti (VR) 5:30p, Lynn Drury (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Davell Crawford (JV) 7:30p Maison: Slick Skillet Serenaders, Gregory Agid Quartet (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Saenger Theatre: Moody Blues 50th Anniversary Tour (CR) 8p SideBar NOLA: Loren Pickford and Dave Easley (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p

Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Think Less, Hear More (JV) 8p Three Muses: Sam Cammarata (JV) 5p, Kris Tokarski (JV) 8p

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 17

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Ivor Simpson-Kennedy (VR) 6p, April Mae and the June Bugs (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RK) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p French Market: Patrick Cooper and Natasha Sanchez (FO) 1:30p House of Blues: Black Label Society, Corrosion of Conformity, EyeHateGod (ME) 7:30p Little Gem Saloon: Davell Crawford (JV) 7:30p Maison: Quicksand, Jazz Vipers, Hyperphlyy (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Zach Deputy (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p SideBar NOLA: Tristan Gianola, Max Boecker and Moses Eder Album-release party (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): SONO presents the Shape of Jazz to Come (JV) 9p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Schatzy (VR) 8p

THURSDAY JANUARY 18

Bombay Club: Joe Ashlar Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Gumbo Cabaret (JV) 5p, Doyle Cooper Trio (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil Degruy (VR) 6p, John “Papa” Gros Band (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p House of Blues: the King, Avatar, the Brains, Hellzapoppin (ME) 7:30p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, Brass-AHolics (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: One Tailed Three (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Gem Saloon: Davell Crawford (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Andre Bohren (PI) 7p, Dirtyvich (JV) 10p NOSH: DJ Torque, Alexey Marti (JV) 7p Old U.S. Mint: Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King feat. Jesse McBride and James Barry (VR) 2p, Cigar Box Guitar Festival (VR) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Lil Nathan and the Zydeco Big Tymers (ZY) 8:30p SideBar NOLA: Soul O’ Sam feat. Sam Price and friends (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Christian Winther Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Doll Skin, the Other LA (VR) 8p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Michot’s Melody Makers (FO) 9p Three Muses: Meschiya Lake (JV) 5p, April Mae (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: the Radiators 40th Anniversary (RK) 10p Vaughan’s Lounge: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY JANUARY 19

Bombay Club: Don Vappie (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Jerry Jumonville (JV) 6p, Hunter Burgamy (JV) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Papa Mali (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 6p, Dwayne Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Hellraisers (ZY) 10p House of Blues: Blackberry Smoke (CW) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Simple Sound Retreat, Jon Lee Ellis, Pucusana (PO) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Joe Krown (JV) 4:30p, Leroy Jones (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p

Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 5p, Paintbox with Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Lilli Lewis (PI) 5p, Davell Crawford (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a New Orleans Jazz Market: Mr. Hands: NOJO’s Tribute to Herbie Hancock feat. Robert Glasper (JV) 6:30p NOSH: DJ Abibas, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p Old U.S. Mint: Marcia Ball (BL) 7p One Eyed Jacks: Particle Devotion album-release show, Sharks’ Teeth, Midriff (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Simply the Best: the Tina Turner Story feat. Anais St. John (VR) 8p Siberia: United Bakery Records presents: Joy Clark, Dusky Waters, Kei Slaughter (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: David Torkanowsky Presents (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Smoke N Bones (FK) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: the Radiators 40th Anniversary (RK) 10p

SATURDAY JANUARY 20 Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, Soul Rebels (FK) 11p Bombay Club: Leroy Jones (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, the Buddy Boys feat. Danny Rubio, Tom Hook and Steve Yocum (VR) 6p, the Royal Rounders (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, the Hard Luck Revival (CW) 8p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Morning 40 Federation (RK) 11p House of Blues: Blackberry Smoke (CW) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Stefon Moll (JV) 5p, Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Tobin (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a NOSH: DJ Abibas, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p Palm Court Jazz Café: Charlie Fardella and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters (ZY) 9:30p Saenger Theatre: Live From with Chris Thile (VR) 4:30p Siberia: Alex McMurray (SS) 6p, Maggie Belle Band, Jourdan Thibodeaux et les Rodailleurs (KJ) 9p SideBar NOLA: David Torkanowsky and James Singleton (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Herlin Riley Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Sugar Mill: Bal Masque feat. RAM, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Cha Wa, Roots of Music (VR) 7p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): La Noche Caliente with Muevelo and Bookoo Rueda (LT) 9p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Esther Rose (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier and the Royal Bohemians (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: the Radiators 40th Anniversary (RK) 10p

SUNDAY JANUARY 21

Bombay Club: Tim Laughlin Trio (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (JV) 10:30a, Salty Grits Jazz Trio with Chad Moore, Salvatore Geloso and Kellen Garcia (JV) 4p, Steve Pistorius Quartet (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Kinky Friedman (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, the Catahoulas (VR) 10p House of Blues: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Night Beats (RK) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Shooter Jennings, Jonathan Tyler and Jaime Wyatt (CW) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Grammy Brunch (BL) 11a Maple Leaf: Roland Guerin Band (JV) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Gerald French and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Saenger Theatre: Steve Martin and Martin Short (CO) 3 & 8p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC SideBar NOLA: Aurora Nealand and James Singleton (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Kristina Morales and the Inner Wild (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Juju Child and the Hypnotic Roots Band (BL) 9p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Time Out: the Moxie Kings (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: Amanda Palmer and friends (VR) 7p

MONDAY JANUARY 22

Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Molaison (VR) 5:30p, Alex McMurray (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 10p House of Blues: Brockhampton (HH) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Mike B3 and special guests (JV) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Blind Texas Marlin (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Tarrah Reynolds, Charles Lumar and Keith Burnstein (VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Monty Banks (JV) 5p

TUESDAY JANUARY 23

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Chip Wilson and Marcello Benetti (VR) 5:30p, John Paul Carmody (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p

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House of Blues: Jonny Lang (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: NOLA Dukes (JV) 7p Maison: Baby Giants Jazz Band, Gregory Agid, Gene’s Music Machine (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10p SideBar NOLA: Instigation Fest Solos Night feat. Ken Vandermark, Joe McPhee and others (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Noruz (JV) 9p Three Muses: Sam Friend (JV) 5p, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 8p

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 24

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Ivor Simpson-Kennedy (VR) 5:30p, Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Cyril Neville Does Fats, Louis, Marley and Allen (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Brittany Purdy and her Sazaraz Band (JV) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Old U.S. Mint: Nayo Jones Sings Natalie Cole (JV) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Mitch Woods and his Rocket 88s (SI) 8p Saenger Theatre: Wild Kratts Live (VR) 6:30p SideBar NOLA: Mike Dillon and James Singleton (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Gabriella Cavessa Quintet (JV) 9p

Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Mia Borders (SS) 8p

THURSDAY JANUARY 25

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Anais St. John (JV) 5p, Tom McDermott and friends (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil Degruy (VR) 6p, Sarah Quintana and Kid Kaboom (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p Generations Hall: OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Awards feat. Soul Rebles, Jamaican Me Breakfast Club, Alfred Banks with Cool Nasty, Muevelo, Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraiser, the Lost Bayou Ramblers and a Tribute to Monk Boudreaux curated by Johnny Sansone with Anders Osborne, Tom Worrell, Johnny Vidacovich, Bo Dollis, Jr and more. (VR) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, Brass-AHolics (BB) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Beth Patterson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Cyril Neville Does Fats, Louis, Marley and Allen (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, June Yamagishi and Keiki Kamari (JV) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin and Ben Polcer with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush (ZY) 8:30p Saenger Theatre: Johnny Mathis (SS) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Benefit for Puerto Rico with Detroit Brooks (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Soundbytes with PJ Morton and friends (RB) 9p Three Muses:Tom McDermott (JV) 5p,Arsene DeLay (VR) 8p Vaughan’s Lounge: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY JANUARY 26 Bombay Club: Larry Scala (JV) 8:30p

Buffa’s: Dirty Rain Revelers (VR) 6p, Soul O’ Sam (VR) 9p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes Brass Band (BB) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Johnny Sansone Band (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Mike Dillon Band (MJ) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Soft Animal (ID) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 5p, Tim Robertson and friends (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Lilli Lewis (PI) 5p, Cyril Neville Does Fats, Louis, Marley and Allen (JV) 7:30p Maple Leaf: Dave Jordan’s Birthday Bash (RR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a One Eyed Jacks: DJ Soul Sister presents Soulful Takeover (FK) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Siberia: Euphoria Brass Band, the Electric Arch (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: Billy Iuso’s Birthday Bash (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Billy Iuso and the Restless Natives (RR) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p

SATURDAY JANUARY 27 Bombay Club: On the Levee Band (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Dave Ferrato and Irene Sage (BL) 6p, Marina Orchestra (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, Poppy’s Poppin’ Saturday Review (VR) 4p House of Blues: Lucinda Williams (CW) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Stoked (CO) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Tom Hook (JV) 5p, Shannon Powell Quartet (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Little Gem Saloon: Cyril Neville Does Fats, Louis, Marley and Allen (JV) 7 & 9p Maple Leaf: Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a NOSH: DJ Crushed Velvet, Andy Daniels (VR) 8p One Eyed Jacks: Naughty Professor’s Krewe Du Vieux Aftershow with Miss Mojo (FK) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Charlie Fardella and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Saenger Theatre: Boogie’s Comedy Slam (CO) 8p Snug Harbor: Johnny Sansone’s Blues Party (BL) 9p Southport Hall: Green Jellö, Breach, Black Kreole, Misled (VR) 8p; Deckroom: Black Laurel, Them Ol’ Ghosts, Fighting for Frequency (VR) 8p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): KreweDelusion’s Bedlam Ball (VR) 9:30p Three Muses: Chris Peters (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: DJ RQ Away with Pro$per Jone$ (HH) 11p

SUNDAY JANUARY 28

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Trio (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Nahum Zdybel Blue 4 (VR) 4p, Steve Pistorius Quartet (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Fantasy Non Fiction (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Bites (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Jamaican Me Breakfast Club (VR) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): Melodime, the New Respects (FO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Traditional Irish Session (FO) 5p, Beth Patterson (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Blues Brunch with Little Freddie King (BL) 11a Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p

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Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: James Singleton Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Juju Child and the Hypnotic Roots Band (BL) 9p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p

MONDAY JANUARY 29

Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Molaison (VR) 5:30p, Alex McMurray (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Sarah Quintana (SS) 7p, Funk Monkey (FK) 10p House of Blues: Cowboy Mouth Rock Boat PreParty, the Georgia Flood, Sam Burchfield (RK) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: Andy Frasco and the U.N., Wild Adriatic (BL) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Roy Gele (FO) 8:30p Maple Leaf: Trifunkta feat. Mike Lemmler, Wayne Maureau and Chris Adkins (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Blind Texas Marlin (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Salvatore Geloso (JV) 8p

TUESDAY JANUARY 30

Bombay Club: Joe Krown (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Chip Wilson and Marcello Benetti (VR) 5:30p, Lynn Drury (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 9p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop: Lucky Lee (SS) 9p

Maison: the Function, Gregory Agid, Samantha Pearl (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Think Less, Hear More (JV) 8p Three Muses: Sam Cammarata (JV) 5p, Joshua Gouzy (JV) 8p

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 31

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Candlelight Lounge: Andrews Brass Band (BB) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Ivor Simpson-Kennedy (VR) 5:30p, Seth Kessel (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RK) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Gasa Gasa: Radio Moscow, Amplified Heat (RK) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Maple Leaf: Brittany Purdy and her Sazaraz Band (JV) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Old U.S. Mint: Billie Davies (VR) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Marina Orchestra (SO) 9p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Esther Rose (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Yonder Mountain String Band (BU) 9p

FESTIVALS JANUARY 9-14 The six-day Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival includes workshops, panels, performances and

music clinics at several New Orleans venues. DannyBarkerFestival.com JANUARY 23-26 The Instigation Fest features collaborating jazz performers from Chicago and New Orleans performing at the SideBar NOLA, the New Quorum, the Old U.S. Mint and the Music Box Village. InstigationFestival.com

SPECIAL EVENTS DECEMBER 31 The French Quarter celebrates New Year’s Eve with live music in Jackson Square, a fleur de lis drop at Jax Brewery and midnight fireworks at the river. CrescentCityCountdown.com DECEMBER 31 The French Market Corporation presents New Year’s Eve at Crescent Park with live music and beverage vendors from 7:30 p.m. until the fireworks at midnight. FrenchMarket.org JANUARY 6 The Societe de Champs Elysee holds its annual Twelfth Night ride on the St. Claude/Rampart Streetcar, followed by a masked ball at Siberia. Facebook.com/SocietyOfTheElysianFields/ JANUARY 25 OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Awards feat. Soul Rebles, Jamaican Me Breakfast Club, Alfred Banks with Cool Nasty, Muevelo, Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraiser, the Lost Bayou Ramblers and a Tribute to Monk Boudreaux curated by Johnny Sansone with Anders Osborne, Tom Worrell, Johnny Vidacovich, Bo Dollis, Jr and more at Generations Hall 6 p.m. JANUARY 27 The annual Krewe du Vieux parade takes place in the Marigny, followed by KreweDelusion. KreweDuVieux.org

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BACKTALK

Johnny Mathis

talks back

n 2016, elegant pop balladeer Johnny Mathis celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of his Columbia Records debut. The goldentoned singer of “Chances Are,” “It’s Not for Me to Say” and “Wonderful! Wonderful!” signed with the label in 1955, a few weeks before his twentieth birthday. With the exception of three years at Mercury Records, he’s been with Columbia ever since, longer than any other artist.

ILLUSTRATION: SAM CONART

Saenger Theatre Thursday, January 25

43 Mathis recordings have entered Billboard’s pop singles chart. He’s released 85 albums, excluding compilations. Three of his singles are in the Grammy Hall of Fame and he’s the recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. On January 25, Mathis, 82, will sing many his dozens of hits at the Saenger Theatre. In September 2017, Columbia released Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook. Music business giant Clive Davis and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds co-produced the album of mostly contemporary songs. The track list includes Mathis’ interpretations of Adele’s “Hello,” Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” and Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are.” Born in Gilmer, Texas, in 1935, Mathis grew up in San Francisco. His father, Clem Mathis, a former professional singer and pianist, encouraged his son’s interest in music. When Mathis was 13, he began 6 years of singing lessons with Oakland voice teacher Connie Cox. He paid for the instruction via odd jobs performed at Cox’s home. Mathis was a star athlete at San Francisco State University when a fellow student brought him to a Sunday jam session at the Black Hawk nightclub. Helen Noga, the club’s coowner, became his manager. The persistent Noga convinced George Avakian at Columbia Records to attend a Mathis performance in San Francisco. Avakian signed him immediately. In 1956, Columbia released Mathis’ jazzoriented debut, A New Sound in Popular Song. But jazz wasn’t his forte. Columbia pop producer Mitch Miller paired Mathis with romantic ballads. In 1957, Columbia released the hits “Wonderful! Wonderful!” and “It’s Not for Me to Say.” A career-making appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, movie appearances and the number one hit, “Chances Are,” followed. www.OFFBEAT.com

Mathis’ Greatest Hits album, released in 1958, is among the best-selling albums in history. In December 2017, Legacy Recordings released the 68-disc Mathis box set, The Voice of Romance: The Columbia Original Album Collection. I haven’t interviewed you since 2001. Wow. We’re still here! What’s your reaction to your new box set? I couldn’t believe it. I’ve got one sitting on the table right next to me. My past is flying in front of me. It’s the most wonderful thing that someone like myself can have. My whole recording career in one box. Do you have a favorite among your own recordings? When I do listen to my music, I look forward to hearing the album I did with Henry By John Wirt

Mancini [The Hollywood Musicals]. I love that album. I play it, not so much because of the music, although I love the music, but because I see Henry and remember the cues he gave me when he was conducting. I traveled all over the world with him. We became pals and I sang some beautiful songs that he wrote. I’ve been so fortunate over the years to meet these gifted composers who write these songs that I sing. But I get all the attention, because I deliver the package. But the writers, they’re the ones who created the package I’m carrying. Do you like everything in the box set? Whoever gets this will hear recordings I hoped nobody would ever hear. But the record company wanted to release everything—the good, the bad and the ugly. But there’s a lot of stuff that I am so proud of. So many of the people [producers, composers, arrangers, JA N U A RY 2 018

B AC

KTA

"...discrimination happened to me on a few occasions. I used to laugh at it. I said, ‘That’s so stupid. Wait ’til they hear me sing.'"

musicians] went above and beyond what I even dreamed of. I’m the first one to give credit to all these extraordinary people who I’ve worked with over the years. In 2017, San Francisco State University presented an honorary doctorate of fine arts to you. The City of Los Angeles gave you a lifetime achievement award. You released two new recording projects. Has it been a wonderful, wonderful year? Extraordinary. I’ve done what I usually do in the past year and a little bit more. Recording has always been a big project in my life. I’ve been lucky that I’ve had a record company deal all these years. Most of the things, the big highlights of my career, have been involved with recordings. Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds co-produced Johnny Mathis Sings the Great New American Songbook. I’m big new friends with Babyface. We worked in the studio together for three or four months. I’ve made so many recordings, some of them better than others, but they’re always an adventure. This recording that I did with Babyface turned out to be one of my favorites. The album is mostly songs that were hits in recent years. Who picked the track list? Clive Davis. For the past 10 or 12 years, I’ve sung at Clive’s pre–Grammy Awards soiree. The last time that I sang for Clive, he said, “Where have you been? Let’s do something.” He came up with the songs. I hadn’t done any top-of-the-chart songs in a long time. I’m thrilled about these songs and I owe it all to Clive Davis. Are you doing some of The Great New American Songbook songs in your show? I just got off the phone with my guitar player, Gil Reigers. This is our forty-seventh year of working together. He’s my sounding board for performances, because he’s sitting there accompanying me. He said, ‘Why don’t you do the Leonard Cohen song?’ It’s a very positive song in some ethereal way. I don’t still don’t understand it, but I love trying to figure it out. So, I think I’m going to perform ‘Hallelujah.’

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In 1955, George Avakian signed you to Columbia as a jazz singer. Helen Noga, a lady who owned a nightclub where I sang, and George Avakian were friends. They were both Armenian. Helen sent some of my tapes to George at Columbia. I was going to become the next big jazz thing. But you weren’t a jazz singer. No. I never was a jazz singer. But I tried it. I recorded with some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world. But then I came to the attention of Mitch Miller, who was in charge of popular music. That became my career. Helen Noga was important to your career. Helen was an extraordinary woman. She was adamant that she was going to get out of the night clubbing business and make her boy—me—a success. My mother hated Helen when she said things like that. Early in your career, many people—your father, Connie Cox, Noga, Avakian, Miller—contributed to your success. I was in a culturally advanced city to begin with. And I had the blessing of being born to the most wonderful parents in the world. My father sang for the family. No one else heard him, but I heard him and that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to be like my father. I loved him very much. He was a wonderful man who raised seven children in San Francisco. It’s a very expensive city. But we didn’t seem to be denied anything. How soon did your father recognize your talent? I was 12 or 13 when he said, ‘Son, let’s find a voice teacher.’ I said, ‘Pop, I can sing. I don’t need a teacher!’ He said, ‘No, no, no. You have to learn to do it properly.’ And that was the catalyst. Did your vocal training make your long career possible? I had early training, free of charge, from this wonderful woman, Connie Cox. She said, ‘You’re going to want to sing all your life, so learn to do it properly.’ I thought she was going to make me do something that I didn’t want to do. Of course, she didn’t. She wanted me to do whatever I wanted to do, but in a way that I could not hurt my voice.

You turned 82 in September. Have you considered retirement? The only thing I’m concerned about, and it’s always in the back of my mind, is overdoing it. But when the opportunities present themselves, you must take advantage of them. And every 20 years or so there’s a new audience, young people who don’t know who you are. So, it’s a constant battle between not overdoing it and doing just enough to let people know that I’m still alive and I do still sing. When you toured in the 1950s and early ’60s, did you experience racial discrimination in the South and elsewhere? I was so naïve when I started to travel. Growing up in San Francisco, of course, I was just the same as anybody else. So, yeah, discrimination happened to me on a few occasions. I used to laugh at it. I said, ‘That’s so stupid. Wait ’til they hear me sing. And then they can make up their minds.’ But after I laughed at it for a while, it became annoying and then downright unacceptable. I got a taste of it and made it a learning process. I said, ‘I will never, ever treat anyone that way.’ So, I learned a lot of lessons through the ignorance of people who treat other people badly. Fortunately, it never soured me, it never warped my opinion of people. Your mother and father left Gilmer, Texas, during the Jim Crow era. Are you glad they moved to San Francisco? I used to ask my dad, ‘Pop, why did you move to San Francisco?’ He said, ‘Son, I wanted to get out of there.’ As far as his surroundings were concerned, he was so forward thinking. But I cannot believe the nerve that he had. He had nobody in California waiting to help him. He and my mom just got in the car and took off. God bless them. My mom, my dad were my best pals. I am absolutely a product of all of the good things that they stood for in their lives. They were the nicest people I ever met. Do you think the love you experienced when you were growing up in San Francisco helped make you the successful person you are? It overrides everything, all the negative stuff. My dad and my mom, they are my heroes. I prefer to be like them, because that’s what I really love. O www.OFFBEAT.com