OffBeat Magazine May 2016 by OffBeat Magazine

BAYOU BOOGALOO FEST GUIDE INSIDE: Stage Schedules, Food & Crafts

Aurora Nealand a.k.a. Rory Danger sets sail for

Bayou Boogaloo

LOUISIANA MUSIC, FOOD & CULTURE—MAY 2016 Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

Miss Sophie Lee Harold Brown Nolatet Minos the Saint Eric Lindell Robert Mugge

Sound on Sound Aurora Nealand has always been a bit of an enigma. Page 36

LETTERS

BAYOU BOOGALOO STAGE SCHEDULES, FOOD & CRAFTS

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Page 22

By Jonathan Tabak, June 1999

IN THE SPIRIT

MOJO MOUTH

Chris McMillian at Revel mixes up a Fine Brown Frame for Nellie Lutcher.

FRESH

Five Questions with Dennis Deboisblanc, chair of the Fifth Annual Crawfish Mambo; 2016 Jazz Hero Award to Germaine Bazzle; Crawfish Tracks; My Music with Dave Easley and more.

PHOTO OP

REVIEWS 16 20

Johnny Vidacovich’s fun time with Nolatet.

EASE ON DOWN

All you need to know about Bayou Boogaloo.

SEOUL SINGER

Miss Sophie Lee expands her palate as a singer, songwriter and restaurateur.

MORE THAN A MUG SHOT

Independent filmmaker Robert Mugge is flying high.

LET IT GO Baton Rouge’s Minos the Saint’s musical democracy.

Dancing Man 504 is In the Spot at Horn’s and Peter Thriffiley reviews Coquette.

French Quarter Fest

OUT OF THE NORM

OFFBEAT EATS

"Astral Project"

Eric Lindell, Michael Juan Nunez, Jeff Chaz, Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses, Leroy Jones and more.

REWIND

Brett Milano rewinds Gatorhythms with Marcia Ball.

LISTINGS

BACKTALK

Harold Brown

“You go to a formal dinner, you’re thinking, I got to sit straight and watch my manners. You go to a family dinner, man, you’re taken by the music of the family. It’s the same situation as with this band. I allow myself to be taken, because I have no prerequisites…” —Johnny Vidacovich talking about Astral Project. To read more, buy this issue at www.offbeat. com/shop/1999/offbeatmagazine-june-1999/. MAY 2016

Letters CAPTURING INDIANS This letter is in response to Noé Cugny’s web post “LEH to host ‘Culture of Capture’” discussing fair usage rights for images and concerns with the changes of the digital age. I attended Super Sunday as a tourist last year. It was a thrilling event. Since I discovered New Orleans for myself in 2010, I have been fascinated by the Indians. I was blessed to be vacationing at the right time in 2015 since vacation time relates to work schedule. That being said, I of course took snapshots. I found myself in the street between two spy boys. I took a video. While there, I saw lots of seemingly professional photographers also recording the event. I see photos of Indians on all kinds of promotional material every time I am in the city. I am glad the topic will be discussed because even I have questioned the ethics of this. —Linda Estel, Duluth, Minnesota

TOUSSAINT For Mardi Gras this year we went to our local Cajun dive restaurant/bar. Yes, we are so lucky to have such a thing up here. And the folks that run it are fun and funky and crazy and all things that should be in a joint like that. It’s like hanging out in your friends’ basement, with a live funk jazz band. We were having a fabulous semi-drunken time and I’d heard on the radio that day that Mr. Toussaint was coming to Chicago a few weeks later. So we bought the tickets to the show on the spot right there in the bar on the phone while wearing our Mardi Gras masks. When the tickets came in the mail… crap, the show is on Holy Saturday. We’re not devout by any stretch, but we do have our family traditions (that mainly involve eating and providing our own dialogue to The Ten Commandments) and this scheduling mishap was going to throw a monkey wrench into those activities. Shoot. Guess we’ll have to sell the tickets. Which is okay, we’ll just catch him next time around, and he’s on tour all the time, right? Nobody would take ’em. We tried to give them away for free. Nobody. So we ended up cutting the family fun a little short and going to the show!

“My breath was taken away by his poise and his grace and elegance. I only learned that night how his fingers were woven all through pretty much all the music I love.” —Dawn Biller, Hammond, Indiana We’d not much been exposed to his music or him as a person, what a lovely treat that performance was! My breath was taken away by his poise and his grace and elegance. I only learned that night how his fingers were woven all through pretty much all the music I love. My husband Mark snagged a silly Mardi Gras Frisbee that Mr. Toussaint had tossed into the audience and when he unbelievably came back out after the show to sign autographs, he and I worked up the nerve to go have our silly souvenir signed. I think Allen Toussaint would’ve stayed there all night and spent time with his admirers; I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to meet him and interact with him and shake his gifted hand. I’d never met someone who possessed that kind of grace before. He took a full three minutes to script his name, which he then embellished with leaves and flowers and a treble clef. Not a lousy scribble and a beautiful drawing for cryin’ out loud and an actual conversation. I’d never experienced anything like that before, and I don’t expect to again. And as it turns out, there’s not going to be a next time through Chicago for that lovely man. So glad nobody wanted those tickets. —Dawn Biller, Hammond, Indiana

WWOZ This is in response to Sam D’Arcangelo’s post reporting on WWOZ Membership Director Dimitri Apessos’ open letter: A Way Forward for WWOZ. I think it was ’08 when I was re-reading Dylan’s Chronicles for the 3rd time when he talked about OZ I thought “These days many radio stations are on the Internet. I wonder...” Voila! Love at first sight. Sunday mornings we’d drag the laptop onto the porch. My wife loved Hazel. So did I but Dimitri became my hero, despite his recent referring to my ilk as “eavesdroppers.” I prefer to think in terms of Dirty Coast’s “Be a New Orleanian wherever you are.” We soon became members and eventually too with Krewe of Roux. It was maddening and heartbreaking to read Dimitri’s letter in OffBeat. So I’ll be calling shortly to cancel my membership. My low level won’t be missed but it’s a principle thing. I’ll re-up the moment a new native General Manager is named. —Mike Davis, Spring Hill, Florida

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

May 2016 Volume 29, Number 6 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 Frank Etheridge, Robert Fontenot, Elsa Hahne, Tom McDermott, Brett Milano, Nick Pittman, Peter Thriffiley, Dan Willging, John Wirt, Geraldine Wyckoff Cover Elsa Hahne Art Director/Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Web Editor Sam D'Arcangelo, sam@offbeat.com Videographer/Web Specialist Noé Cugny, noecugny@offbeat.com Copy Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, theo@offbeat.com Advertising Sales Camille Ramsey, camille@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Loren Cecil, Laura Kokernot, Jacqueline Kulla, Phil Rached, Clare Welsh 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 facebook.com/offbeatmagazine twitter.com/offbeatmagazine Copyright © 2016, 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

Continuing OffBeat’s Legacy? By Jan Ramsey

his is probably a weird time to talk about this, but in the last few months, so many people have passed away that my own mortality has kind of slapped me in the face. Last week it was Prince (that was a shocker); Allen Toussaint (ditto); my old friend Louis Jay Meyers (ditto); my own mother. It’s a fact of life that as you age, your own mortality starts becoming a much bigger part of the way you perceive everything: your work, your family, your friends, your legacy, or lack thereof. I ran into an old friend of mine at Jazz Fest, and we started talking about the big changes in management at WWOZ. If you’ve been under a rock for the past

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month and don’t know: The ’OZ staff and volunteers basically mutinied against the general manager; the station was losing its stability and focus on its mission. The station’s governance board stepped in, hired a permanent operations manager, and moved the old manager into more of an advisory role. It was sad to see the station’s staff and volunteers angry and discouraged; perhaps the track can be put back on course now. Should WWOZ be a great radio station that preserves and celebrates local music, or be the means for a smart and ambitious general manager to create a personal legacy for himself that’s probably non-sustainable for the station over the long haul?

My friend and I started talking about OffBeat. I’ve heard over the years that what we’ve done is to create a cultural icon, an essential part of New Orleans and Louisiana music culture; we’ve educated so many people about local music, helped musicians and live music venues and culture-bearers. I’m thrilled to hear this, of course, but now I’m also thinking about the future of what I and my husband have worked so hard to create and maintain. The loss of my mother, friends and beloved musical friends have made it clear to me that OffBeat needs a legatee, someone who’s as passionate about local music as we are. Someone who will work like crazy to keep our editorial quality standards up; to do our musicians

and local music and culture justice on a monthly, even a daily basis. Someone who knows the history of our music and can see its potential as a cultural and economic force into the future. Someone who can work with the business community to continue to get them to recognize the importance of music to our city and state. And finally, someone who has the work ethic and fortitude to keep the business solvent. This is a tall order, I know. I was once told by one of our writers that there would never be anyone who worked as hard as we do for as little money as we make. It’s true, I guess. OffBeat is, and always has been, a labor of love, not a means to conquer the world, or make bazillions of dollars. Who will be our future? O

www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

OffBeat.com

Photo: frank etheridge

Five Questions with Dennis Deboisblanc, Chair of the Fifth Annual Crawfish Mambo

SWEET TWEETS

ow and why did you become involved for the past two years as chairman of the Crawfish Mambo? I got involved the first year to basically help expand the presence of the University of New Orleans’ alumni association. I went to school there and had a lot of fun there; we went to a good number of smaller events, a social here and there but there never were really any events you would spend the entire day. The alumni association, I think, is due for a big event it could really stand behind. This cook-off and music festival offers “all you can eat” crawfish with the $20 admission. How many pounds do you plan to eat? If I had to take a guess, I’d say I’m lucky if I can get a pound of crawfish in—I’m usually too busy running around the entire day. What’s the cook-off portion of the event like? We’re shooting for somewhere around 50 to 60 teams this year. They have categories that each team competes to win, broken down into seven categories—such as healthiest, or spiciest—and the judges blind taste-test them and then rank each team in each category from the anonymous samples, entered by number so there’s no bias.

@skooks The Katrina era really is over, y’all. We’re finally back to things that only collapse little by little. @scotiviator (Kami Patterson) First opera performance in New Orleans was staged while George Washington was still president. We got culcha, y’all! @AlisonF_NOLA (Alison Fensterstock) Best thing I’ve heard all day, via @cateroot, is that a Mardi Gras Indian chief is sewing a suit depicting @BarackObama slaying a dragon. @summerbrennan My neighbors are having a party for small children and the theme once again is basketballs bouncing against metal and screaming. @jonclearymusic The house we’re staying in was once a shop where Rembrandt bought his frames. I don’t expect he had to negotiate the digital keypad. @GalacticFunk Congrats to our longtime friends Gina And Shaun who got married today. They met as Galactic fans 15+ years ago. Gina proclaimed she was "Miss Galactic" and Shaun ran our listserv (way before Twitter/Facebook existed). Great people! #mazeltov

Rockin’ Dopsie and the Zydeco Swingers headline. Does zydeco music sound better when paired with a Lake Pontchartrain sunset, cold beer and hot boiled crawfish? Absolutely. Admirers and visitors of the University of New Orleans can’t help but notice the impact of drastic state funding cuts in recent years on the lakefront campus. Are community-wide, grass-roots efforts like Crawfish Mambo part of the solution for the school? I think it’s obviously something that could help bring awareness for the university and its campus and all it has to offer. Whether or not it’s the end-all solution, I’m not sure, but it’s certainly a step in the right direction. Crawfish Mambo cooks up 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday, May 7 at The Cove on UNO’s lakefront campus. Admission $20 advance, $25 dayof, kids 7 and under free. Visit crawfishmambo.com for tickets, music schedule and more info. —Frank Etheridge

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Photo: KIM WELSH

Downtown Super Sunday

SOUNDCHECK

FRESH

CRAWFISH TRACKS

2016 JAZZ HERO AWARD

he New Orleans chapter of the Jazz Journalists Association honored vocalist and veteran music educator Germaine Bazzle with the 2016 JJA Jazz Hero Award on April 20 at the Prime Example jazz club. Presented in cities nationwide each April in conjunction with Jazz Appreciation Month, the award recognizes advocates for jazz who have gone beyond the call of duty in supporting the music within their local communities. Bazzle, who was recently honored with OffBeat’s Lifetime Achievement in Music Education award, was recognized both for her work as a vocalist and for the 50-plus years she spent teaching aspiring musicians, according to a spokesperson for the JJA. “As a music educator at Xavier Prep, [Bazzle’s] efforts opened the door for generations of young women to discover and engage with jazz,” the JJA said in a press release announcing the award this spring. “She’s played an active role in the esteemed Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong summer jazz camp for nearly 20 years … She’s also made a point of focusing on the bigger picture of what music education can do for a young person” in life outside of the music itself. Citing the singer’s “big ears, impressive vocal technique—she’s best known for her near-perfect scat mimicry of brass instruments—and flexibility on the bandstand,” the JJA praised Bazzle for having “devoted her life to imbuing the next generation of New Orleans musicians with skills and values that reflect her own, making her a New Orleans Jazz Hero on all counts.” Bazzle retired from teaching full-time in 2008, but continues to influence young musicians with her weekly Sunday shows at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse. The Jazz Journalists Association is a national organization of writers, broadcasters, photographers and bloggers who share a passion for covering jazz. The JJA nominates honorees each year in a variety of music performance categories, while the Jazz Hero award is generally reserved for people whose contributions to jazz occur offstage. New Orleans’ JJA representatives—a group that includes a number of OffBeat writers— have made a concerted effort to recognize musicians who advocate for jazz both on and off the bandstand. In 2013, the group recognized Kidd Jordan for his progressive approach to improvisation and his devotion to teaching the fundamentals to young musicians at the “Satchmo” summer jazz camp. Composer, arranger and educator Harold Battiste—who recorded Bazzle’s 1996 album, Standing Ovation on his historic All For One (AFO) Records—was named the JJA’s 2014 Jazz Hero. In 2015, the group honored Dr. Michael White for his work as an ambassador for traditional New Orleans jazz through teaching, writing, producing and performing. —Ed.

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Photo: elsa hahne

Germaine Bazzle

ouisiana never seems to tire of crawfish songs, and there’s plenty of excuses to play them at this time of year, with Crawfish Mambo upcoming and mudbugs coming back into season. Here’s our crawfish playlist, with a few newer ones and a few old standbys: Elvis Presley: “Crawfish”: Is it possible that Elvis didn’t know what a crawfish is? Seems that way, as he sings about catching one (that’s right, one) with a fishing pole and throwing it into a frying pan. Great song anyway and as featured in the movie King Creole, it includes some of the most gorgeous Quarter footage ever filmed. Dr. John: “Crawfish Soiree”: We’ll never know the details on this one, since it’s one of those contractual grey-area songs that’s been on a million compilations (usually under the wrong title, “Bring Your Love”). It’s a gem, though, the only song he really ever wrote in the Cajun style, and after one listen you’ll be singing it all day. Zachary Richard: “Crawfish”: A second-line rocker from back in the days when Zach was making almost-commercial albums for major labels. When he did this live he’d always quote a clueless friend who asked, “How come you Cajuns are always singing about sushi—you know, raw fish?” The Radiators: “Suck the Head”: We owe this one to the days when Rads fans would throw themed parties and Ed Volker would come up with a theme song. A funky groove that goes into the sexual overtones of crawfish eating—we’re surprised more songs don’t. Morgan Blanchard: “The Crawfish Boil”: In this country-styled tune the Thibodaux swamp pop artist goes into painstaking detail about how boiling crawfish is done—in fact you could probably use the song’s video as an instructional vid. Bumped up a few points for rhyming “boil” with “y’all.” Marcia Ball: “Crawfishin’”: Marcia Ball proclaimed in another song (“Mama’s Cooking”) that you can eat without gaining weight if you do enough dancing. Maybe that’s why this ode to mudbugs is one of the fastest songs in her repertoire. Johnette Downing: “Crawfish Song”: This traditional tune was recorded by Downing and Buckwheat Zydeco, both of whom put it on kids’ albums. We think Downing’s version is especially charming, and it doesn’t hurt to know she’s indoctrinating a new generation of crawfish-boilers. Benjy Davis Project: “Cajun Crawfish Boil”: Baton Rouge band came up with a terrific recent addition to the crawfish canon, one of the few done in a soul vein with lots of Hammond organ. Unlike most of the songs here’s it’s taken at an easy tempo that’s probably closer to the rhythm of a real boil. Brushy One String: “Crawfish Song”: One of those great things you find on YouTube, this probably-improvised song was video’d live at a crawfish boil, shortly after the Jazz Fest where Brushy played four different Fair Grounds sets in one weekend. He even plays a six-string guitar here, probably because he didn’t bring his usual one. Moose & the Mudbugs: “Crawfish with a Vengeance”: Bet you haven’t heard this unless you’re from Boston, where singer and kazoo player (yes, that’s right) Ed “Moose” Savage leads this gang of lunatics. Apparently the title was coined after Moose and friend Jon Cleary were eating crawfish and he stabbed one with a fork and got sprayed in the eye with hot juice, causing Cleary to say “That’s a crawfish with a vengeance!” —Brett Milano www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

MY MUSIC Photo: ashley rouen

Dave Easley

“I

like doing everything from solo to playing with however many people show up. You are kind of all by yourself solo, but I like to play that way. It usually works out fine. I play with the Quickening 5 p.m. on Friday [May 20] at Bayou Boogaloo. I love playing with them. They’re just a lot of fun and it makes me feel young. They have a very nice energy. I play Sunday and Monday on Bourbon Street with Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass [Tropical Isle Bayou Club], authentic Cajun music. I’ve been doing it since June and he still pulls out old Cajun tunes that I’ve never heard of before. Brandon’s grandfather was friends with Dewey Balfa, and they do some of that stuff. When I was 18, I went out and bought my own pedal steel, and just took to it. I like to keep on playing it until I feel like everything is all connected, until it all feels a part of you. I would say [that I am a Deadhead]. I never did like go show-toshow, town-to-town, and to all the shows of a tour, like some people do. But when they were all alive, I did see a few shows. I loved it. I like Jerry Garcia’s style [on pedal steel]. Most pedal steels are double necks. He’s mostly an E9 player. And I’m mostly a C6 player, though I can play the E9, too. A new one, I’m getting any day now, is going to be E-ninth and C-six on the same neck, with a gear-shifter that shifts between two necks on one neck. It’s a very new technology. I was originally from Hawaii but I grew up in Champaign, Illinois. I’ve lived here in South Louisiana since 1988. I live in Covington, same house I lived in during Katrina, but last month was the first time that my house ever flooded. A few miles upstream, they had 21 inches of rain in a very short time. It kind of upset my life for a few weeks. I do a lot of recording from my home. Recently, I was on a record with Peter Rowan, Dharma Blues, and played a lot of the parts on that in my house. Though when he came into New Orleans, I went into the studio with him to work on it. When I used to play with Coco Robicheaux and Brian Blade at the same time, it seemed like I was always coming and going. There were some tours with Shannon McNally. I enjoyed all that but it’s also nice just to play around here. When the subdudes broke up [1996], I toured out in Colorado with the Western faction of the subdudes, the 3 Twins. Now I’m playing with Tommy Malone, from the other faction of the subdudes. We played French Quarter Fest with his Batture Boys, which was so great.” —Frank Etheridge

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FULLY FEATHERED Monk Boudreaux had more feathers than the seagulls swooping overhead. Give the man a paddle and he'll probably out-paddle the Natchez. Photo by Jerry Moran. Left: The Lost Bayou Ramblers put on a rockin' Cajun show. Photo by Kate Gegenheimer. Below: Char-broiled oysters were in high demand, giving the cooks little rest from the fire and smoke. Photo by Clare Welsh. Right: Delfeayo Marsalis and his Uptown Orchestra put on a parade. Photo by Kate Gegenheimer.

French Quarter Fest Squared The Fest in photos.

record 760,000 people attended the 33rd annual French Quarter Festival, making it the most popular edition of the event to date. This year’s FQF undoubtedly benefited from four days of beautiful weather that made for a perfect festival climate. Unsurprisingly, attendance wasn’t the only stat to reach record heights. Rouses moved a whopping 50,000 pounds of boiled crawfish, and to wash them down, Abita served 675 kegs and 1,400 cases of beer while Pepsi served over 57,000 bottles of Aquafina water. French Quarter Festival featured over 1,700 local artists including Irma Thomas, Sonny Landreth, Raw Oyster Cult, Cowboy Mouth, Ellis Marsalis, Astral Project, Flow Tribe, the New Orleans Suspects and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, among many others. —Ed.

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Above: Cowboy Mouth was high-intensity, as usual. Photo by Noe Cugny. Below: Dancing of all kinds was spotted on the riverfront grass, including hula-hooping. Photo by Max Westerman.

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Above: Pianist David Boeddinghaus played with Duke Heitger. Left: French Quarter jesters. Right: Meschiya Lake wore a stunning dress from Anthropologie as she performed with her Little Big Horns. Below: Mardi Gras Indian Big Chief Juan Pardo joined Big Chief Monk Boudreaux on stage. Photos by Noe Cugny.

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FQF WRAP-UP

Top: Dancers in Jackson Square had just enough room to swingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;at least early in the day. Photo by Corrie Boudreaux. Above: Mason Ruffner is back in New Orleans after a long time living and performing in Europe. Photo by Hanna Kwasik. Right: This Hardhead Hunter needed a hard back and hard shoulders to don his extravagant and heavily beaded costume. Photo by Kim Welsh.

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NOLATET

Out of the Norm

eclining on the back seat of a van is apparently Johnny Vidacovich’s preferred position while on the road with Nolatet. That’s just where the renowned drummer was when talking about touring the West Coast with the all-star group—Vidacovich, vibraphonist/ percussionist Mike Dillon, bassist James Singleton and pianist Brian Haas, who stands as the only non-resident of New Orleans. The band, which is promoting its stunning debut album, Dogs (Royal Potato Family), will regroup again to perform at the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo. Vidacovich was pleasantly surprised at the reception Nolatet received at the clubs and small theaters it hit during a series of one-night stands in California, Oregon and Washington. “They liked it a lot—a lot more than I imagined,” he offers. “I thought the music would be a little too orchestral and maybe [I’d have to] ask the audience to have an open mind. There are a lot of things that we’re doing that are just out of the norm.” “I can tell you what it sounds like to me sometimes when I’m involved with the music and my head is spinning,” he continues. “It reminds me of a circus and a Christmas tree with a lot of lights.” Both Nolatet and the album Dogs came into being spontaneously. The four members first performed together at the 2014 Telluride Jazz Festival, where Dillon, Singleton and Vidacovich were booked. “We asked Brian to come up and play with us because we were all crazy about him,” Singleton said. Afterward, Vidacovich remembers, everyone was of one mind. “We said, ‘Let’s play with this. Let’s push this around.’”

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So Nolatet did a couple of gigs in New Orleans and one in Mississippi before heading into Esplanade Studios to record. No big deal was made of the session and Vidacovich remembers just throwing down his drums in the middle of the studio. “We all sat in a room with the piano wide open and we just played and that’s how the record got made,” Vidacovich explains. “Brian said, ‘Hey these tracks sound pretty good’ and Michael [Dillon] said ‘Hey these tracks sound pretty good.’ By the time I listened to the tracks I barely remembered doing it. I said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s the day we went into the studio and messed around. This it what it sounds like?’” The result was Dogs, named not because these guys are unsavory characters but sweetly because of Haas’ love of canines. “I’ve seen By Geraldine Wyckoff

him on the road with two or three of his dogs,” Singleton explained. The material, which comes from the members’ pens, dominates Nolatet’s sets, augmented with classics from band favorites pianist/ composer Thelonious Monk and trumpeter/composer Miles Davis. As for the tunes from the album, says Vidacovich, they constantly change. “In the beginning there were never any set arrangements so we’re all enjoying the fact that every night we’re playing the shit off the record but the arrangements keep getting broader and broader. We’re having fun like kicking the ball around like a bunch of kids. It’s a lot of kicks. Too much fun for a guy my age.” “In music it takes two things,” Vidacovich observes. “It takes somebody to play it and somebody to listen to it. Then you’ve got the music. If you play, it’s not music.

If somebody is sitting down and listening and you’re playing, it’s music. That’s only what I’m saying and I’m sure I’m not right but I know I’m not wrong. I’m in the gray area and that’s where I like to be. Am I funny or am I being arrogant?” “I love that gray area and I found that this band does have a gray area where I can express myself more not only musically but as a human being. This band has brought out another part of me that I didn’t know I had. I thought at my age, 66, I knew everything about me and I just found out that I don’t. This band has kind of turned my head around. It’s crazy and these cats are younger than me and they’re killing me and I love it. I think it’s changed just the way I can relax a little more.” Considering the make-up of Nolatet and its strong percussive elements, listeners might be surprised at the quietude of such tunes as the disc’s opener, Dillon’s “Pops.” “That piece is pretty personal because Michael’s dad died and he had this little melody,” Vidacovich relates. “He played it and I like pretty shit because I can play mallets and brushes and get sounds and colors. Me and James know how to do that shit.” On the other hand, Vidacovich calls “Melon Ball” “some basic, straight-ahead fun. I never know what’s going on with that song. That’s one of the things I like about this band and one of the reasons that I committed to playing with it. It’s because I have a lot of freedom and a lot of expressions and these guys make me feel good. There are no egos, nobody’s tripping, and everybody is already a good musician so there’s none of that need for over-playing or making the bandstand out of balance.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

PHOTO: zack smith

Johnny Vidacovich’s fun times with Nolatet.

BAYOU BOOGALOO

Ease On T Down It's Bayou Boogaloo time.

he Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo was launched after Hurricane Katrina. Like many others neighborhoods facing an uncertain future, Festival Director Jared Zeller thought the solution was to create a music festival on the banks of Bayou St. John to help revitalize the area. “The Bayou Boogaloo Festival represents the rebirth of New Orleans neighborhoods. This historic and nostalgic location is very significant in the history of New Orleans and our country. The festival offers the best in Louisiana cuisines, local artisans and diverse music from the region,” said Zeller. The 11th year of the festival brings a great line-up, with several platinum-selling artists like the Wailers and the Lowrider Band plus Grammy award-winning locals like Irma Thomas and Buckwheat Zydeco. The event is free and open to the public. So make your way down to Mid-City, eat your fill from local restaurants, buy some beautiful New Orleans artwork, and dance your ass off along the shores of Bayou St. John.

What’s To Hear? Friday, May 20 Orleans Stage Truth Universal 5p Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers 6:15p The Wailers 7:45p

Dwayne Dopsie

Lynn Drury

Dumaine Stage The Quickening 5p Lynn Drury 6:45p

First NBC Kids Stage Silent Jam Experience featuring Rebomijo 6p

Darcy Ma lone Bring back the duckies! 22

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Saturday, May 21 Lafitte Stage Ron Hotstream & the Mid-City Drifters 11a Darcy Malone & the Tangle 1:30p Gravity A featuring John Paul Carmody 4p New Orleans Mystics 6:30p

Dumaine Stage Soul Brass Band 11a Big Pearl & the Fugitives of Funk 12:35p Debbie Davis & the Mesmerizers 2:15p Seth Walker 3:55p ROAR! 5:35p Mason Ruffner 7:15p

Orleans Stage Creole String Beans 12:15p Lost Bayou Ramblers 2:45p Irma Thomas 5:15p Lowrider Band 7:45p

Aurora Nealand

First NBC Kids Stage TBA 11a Christine Todd 11:45a Percussion workshop with Daria Dzurik 1:30p Uptown Arts Ensemble 2:15p Drum Circle with Boyanna Travanova 4p Annie Gaia and Naughty Pie 4:30p Divine Dance Depot 6:30p The Trombone Shorty Academy 7:10p

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PHOTO credits, from left: Golden G. Richard, III; brandt vicknair; noe cugny; elsa hahne; elsa hahne

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Sunday, May 22 Lafitte Stage Swan River Yoga with Michelle Baker and Bahkti Caravan 11a Muevelo 1:10p Motel Radio 3:30p CC Adcock & the Lafayette Marquis 5:50p

Dumaine Stage Red Hot Brass Band 11a The Grayhawk Band Rampart Revival 12:45p Robin Barnes “New Orleans’ Songbird” 2:30p Rory Danger & the Danger Dangers 4:15p Nolatet 6p

Orleans Stage The Robert Pate Project 12p Billy Iuso & Restless Natives 2:20p George Porter Jr. and Running Partners 4:40p Buckwheat Zydeco 7p

First NBC Kids Stage TBA 11:30a TBA 1:10p Singing Beats 1:50p Confetti Park Players 3:30p Singing Beats 4:10p Song and storytelling with GrayHawk Perkins 5:50p

What’s To Eat 4 Of Us Catering Alligator wrap & crab sauce, fries $9; crawfish wrap & crab sauce, fries $9; fried fish po-boy, fries $10; shrimp po-boy, fries $10. Ajun Cajun Ninja Yakiniku po-boy (garlic ribeye beef) $8; shrimp yakisoba (fried noodles) $6; crab stick and cucumber salad $5; seaweed and cucumber salad $5. Any O’Cajun Crawfish beignets with “son-in-law” sauce $6; crawfish mac 'n' cheese topped with crushed Zapps potato chips $6; smoked chicken and sausage jambalaya $6; 3-way sampler $10. Bayou Brew Wellness Beverages Living Water (cucumber, lime, mint, aloe, kale and spirulina) $6; Crescent Breeze Green Tea (pineapple, grapefruit and goji berry) $6; Bayou Palmer with Three Olives Vodka $10; Irish Coffee $10. Beaucoup Juice Spirited Snowballs Mango passion fruit $6 ($9 with rum); strawberry lemonade $6 ($9 with vodka); pineapple mint $6 ($9 with tequila); extra shot $3. Big Wil & The Warden, LLC Funnel cake $7; alligator sausage po-boy or pita, fries $10; Philly cheese steak po-boy or pita, fries $10; bacon-wrapped shrimp po-boy or pita, fries $11.

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Bobby Hebert's Cajun Cannon Blackened catfish po-boy $8; cajun nachos topped with crawfish and mushroom sauce $8. Boswell’s Jamaican Grill Beef or veggie patty $4; festival (Jamaican hushpuppies) with callaloo & plantains (vegetarian) $7; jerk chicken or jerk pork with callalloo & plantains $9; combo: jerk chicken & pork with callaloo & plantains $12. Boucherie Cracklins $5; watermelon gazpacho $6; lemongrass pulled pork poboy with sambal aioli and pickled green tomatoes $6; 12-hour roast beef po-boy with horseradish cream and pickled red onions $6. Bratz Y’all! Beef or pork & veal bratwurst topped with homemade sauerkraut & caramelized onions $8; slow-roasted pork topped with homemade sauerkraut & caramelized onions $9; bacon-wrapped pork sausage stuffed with white cheddar, topped with chili-apricot sauce $9; fried breaded pork loin, topped with crawfish remoulade slaw $9. Brown Butter Vinegar-braised beef short ribs served with stone-ground grits and fried onions $8; pressed house-made boudin and pimento cheese panini $6; grilled cheese sandwich with nutella and amarena cherries $5. Canal Street Bistro Coconut curry chicken wings $8; Cuban sandwich pressed on French bread $8; homemade chicken boudin balls with pepper jelly $5. Clesi’s Restaurant and Catering Hot boiled crawfish with corn, potato, boiled sausage links $8. Cool Brew Coffee Hot coffee $3; black coffee $4; iced cafe au lait $4; frozen cafe au lait $5. Cool Fruit Sensations Lemonade with fresh strawberry, blueberry, watermelon or pineapple $6/$9. Crêpes à la Cart Tomato, basil & mozzarella crepe (vegetarian), add bacon $1, $8; bacon & cheese crepe $8; black & gold crepe: bananas & nutella (vegetarian) $7; bacon and nutella crepe $7. Felipe's Mexican Taqueria Taco with either grilled chicken, al pastor or grilled vegetables $3; quesadilla with either grilled chicken, al pastor or grilled vegetables $8; super nachos with either grilled chicken, al pastor or grilled vegetables $12. Food Drunk Drunken pig cone: apple/hickory-smoked pig braised in Pabst Blue Ribbon with habanero-serrano slaw and Maker's Mark barbecue sauce served in a waffle cone $8; seared ahi tuna over Asian vegetable salad with sweet-hot Thai sauce (served cold) $9; apple/hickory slow-smoked St. Louis-style ribs with Maker's Mark barbecue sauce, glazed and finished on the grill $10; crab and crawfish mac 'n' cheese topped with herbed panko crumbs $10. Loretta’s Authentic Pralines Pralines: original, chocolate, rum or coconut $3; praline shoesoles $5; pies: sweet potato or pecan $5; praline beignet $5; crabmeat beignet $8. Louisiana Lemonade Fresh-squeezed lemonade & limeade $4/$7. www.OFFBEAT.com

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Meltdown Mobile Cart Ice pops in four flavors: lemon ginger $3; strawberry basil $3; coconut $3; salted caramel $3. Mid-City Pizza Pizza slices: cheese $3; vegan $4, pepperoni $4. Red beans and rice $5. Mona’s Cafe Falafel pita sandwich (vegetarian) $7; gyro sandwich $7; chicken shawarma sandwich $7; combo platter: choice of falafel, gyro or chicken with hummus, Greek salad and pita $10. Nola Snow Snoballs Snoballs $3; cream/mixed snoballs $4; sugar-free snoballs $4; condensed milk $1. The Praline Connection Fried chicken wings with either greens, beignets or crowder peas & okra $8; greens, crowder peas & okra (vegetarian) $8. Quintin’s Ice Cream Cups or cones with ice cream or sorbet $6. Ralph’s on the Park Smoked duck boudin $6; yakamein $7; fried smoked oysters $8. Saltwater Grill Grilled alligator sausage $5; crabcake salad with remoulade dressing $6; fried green tomato and shrimp remoulade po-boy $7; crawfish & spinach boat $8. Woody’s Fish Tacos Vegan gluten-free taco: corn tortilla, spicy dill remoulade, slaw with hearty black beans $3; blackened fish taco topped with seasoned slaw and spicy dill remoulade $4; sauteéd shrimp quesadilla with cheddar-jack cheese and spicy dill remoulade $6; cajun burrito layered with slaw, black beans, rice, cheddar-jack cheese and alligator sausage topped with spicy dill remoulade $8.

What’s to Buy? Apparel and Accessories: 2-DYE-4; Angel Bands; Bonga-Chop Designs; The Haute Feather; Kabuki Design Studio; MsCrochetjig’s Creative; Tchoup Industries; Vintage Virageaux Arts & Crafts: Bare Bones Studio; Cavalier Expressions; Ceaux Artwork; Copperhead Studios; Crawfish Clay and Art LLC; Debris Art; Decorating Impressions; Designs by Masue; Fais Jo-Jo; Feral Femme Art; Gamache Designs; Home Malone; Margie and the Moon; Miki Glasser Art; Mitch Landry Art; Nola Boards; Party Pirogues; Preservation Tile Co. LLC; Salstubro LLC; Shaun Aleman; Sidney’s Creations; Snardvark; Stone Creations; Swamp Dog & Friends; Uniquitys; WalkingMan Studios Food: Michael’s Pickles Furniture: Bergeron Woodworks; Living Furniture Glass: Carnival Sculpture; Ginger Kelly Glass Studio; Lizano’s Glass Haus, Inc. Health and Beauty: Bayou Soap Company; Coconola Skincare; Natural Hair Community; Shae Shea LLC Jewelry: Adorn & Conquer; Alluvial Atelier; Baobab Tree Designs; Beatrixbell Handcrafted Jewelry; Betsy Meyers Jewelry; Blue Moon Malas; Cathy’s Creations; De’Vard DeSigns; Gift Horst; Heather Elizabeth Designs; Niki Fisk Jewelry; Queens Metal; Rachael Adamiak Jewelry; ReStrung Jewelry; Still Waters Jewelry; Valois Designs Jewelry and Accessories: Bayou Leather; Halfshell Productions; L.E.it Design; Mistura Timepieces; Red Diva Designs/SummerBee Woodworks Photography: GoZePa; Joshua Lee Studio

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MISS SOPHIE LEE

Seoul Singer Miss Sophie Lee expands her palate as a singer, songwriter and restaurateur. PHOTO: elsa hahne

iss Sophie Lee does a lot of dreaming nowadays—a lot of the songs on her new disc, Traverse This Universe, were literally dreamed up. And when it comes to her life and work in New Orleans, she’s dreaming big. Before the year is out she’ll have opened two new music and food hotspots—to join the one she’s already got, the popular Three Muses on Frenchmen Street. Meanwhile she’s released her fourth album, first in three years, and most accomplished one yet. In a city where the music and restaurant biz are equally exclusive, the Chicagotransplanted Lee is pulling both off in style. “If you ask me what I do, being a mom would come first, then a singer. And I guess I’m a reluctant restaurateur, but one that really loves it. Before Three Muses happened I probably spent my whole life taking notes, looking at what worked and didn’t. And music’s been part of my life since I grew up taking piano lessons. So things just happen at the right time—and sometimes they all happen at the same time.” Born in Chicago from a racially mixed background—her mother was Korean, her father was black with roots in Mississippi and Tallulah, Louisiana—Lee grew up studying classical piano and later took up guitar as a rock/ pop songwriter. Moving to town before Katrina, she worked at the Belle Fourche restaurant (now Vaso) on Frenchmen and immersed herself in jazz, figuring that her own writing would benefit from a dose of the classics. The Spotted Cat became one of her first regular gigs; she still plays there weekly even though it’s across the street

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By Brett Milano

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MISS SOPHIE LEE from her own place. As she told OffBeat in an earlier interview, “They say that New Orleans is a place where you either lose yourself or find yourself. I’m one of the lucky ones.” There’s a bit of elegance in everything Miss Sophie does. Three Muses is one of Frenchmen’s more inviting spots, with its dim lights, acoustic music and room for conversation (and the cocktails absolutely don’t hurt). As a singer she’s become known for a silky approach that harks back to an earlier, more romantic era of jazz singing. The new disc’s opener “You & Me (The Universe)” is a prime example: The lyrics promise both undying love and a trip round the planet; Aurora Nealand’s clarinet curls around Lee’s voice, and Matt Bell’s Hawaiian-styled guitar solo adds to the exotica. It conjures visions of a long-ago time when lovers and world travelers really knew how to live. The catch, however, is that she wrote that one herself (with help from lyricist Kimberly Kaye), as she did six of the album’s eleven tracks. And the album isn’t tied to nostalgia, or even to jazz; even longtime fans are likely to be surprised by the reggae groove on “Under the Moon” and the lead electric guitar and loops on “The Way That Love Can Be,” both of which lend the album a suitably dreamlike flow. Joining her regular band (guitarists Bell and Matt Johnson, pianist Bart Ramsey, bassist Tommy Sciple and trumpeter Dave Boswell) are eclectic players like Nealand, cellist Helen Gillet and saxophonist Khris Royal. The covers include a few perennials plus a surprise Elvis tune, and her own songs go deeper into the ideas of love and family—and along with the cover art (drawn by her daughters Eleanora and Una Mae) show that being a mom really does come first. That’s especially true on “A Safe Place,” a Luke Winslow King cowrite that’s the album’s emotional centerpiece. “The songs I’ve put on have always been personal, www.OFFBEAT.com

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Her dance card is about to get fuller in the coming month, as two new venues will be opening: the long-rumored expansion of Three Muses and the formal relaunch of Seoul Shack...

but especially that one. I started writing it when I heard about the Domino’s pizza man who was murdered in the Lower Ninth Ward—that really affected me because he had three children around the same age as my girls. Murders and tragedies always affect you, but that one had a pretty lasting impact on me the summer I was writing. So that’s for his family and his parents, and for anyone who’s had the tragic loss of their children.” One key to the album was her discovery of an instrument that’s not even on the record. But having ukuleles around the house proved a stimulus for songwriting. “My husband went on a collecting frenzy and started buying ukuleles and banjoleles off the Internet. Then I got bored over Christmas break and started messing with one—‘hey, this is relatively easy, only four strings.’ First I went online to learn some easy uke songs, then I took my own charts and learned to play a couple of my own songs. So I thought, hey, I can at least play a dozen chords and this could be a tool in songwriting, as a voicing tool so that different emotions and flavors come out.” Then she started rescuing song ideas that came to her in dreams. “I’d always be dreaming songs or melodies like musicians do, but I never put them down before. But I started waking up and humming them into my phone. I built up quite a collection of those, picked a few and set them to chords on my ukulele.” The next step was to bring on other songwriters and producers— King, Earl Scioneaux III and Ben Polcer—all of whom she’d known from the Muses circuit. “I decided that it was going to be mostly originals, without even

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the intention of keeping it in the jazz genre.” Scioneaux’s tracks push the furthest, but the album flows well enough that the loops and grooves (and Gillet’s typically inventive cello) don’t sound too odd on a Sophie Lee record. Especially since that’s followed by the two most familiar songs on the album, if not her entire repertoire: “Ain’t Misbehavin’” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got That Swing.” As

she explains, those are only on the album because people kept asking for them. “I didn’t really feel like putting on songs that have been recorded gazillions of times, but those are the ones people ask about when I’m trying to sell CDs. So I figured I’d juxtapose things people have heard before with the originals that they’ve never heard.” A less obvious cover, “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” came about when she surfed the Sirius

channels and landed on the Elvis Presley channel (he hit with the song the Ink Spots had originally done). “Once you take out that corny spoken bit that Elvis did, it’s really a beautiful song.” While the album was being done, Lee also made her movie debut. And while she’s got no designs on an acting career, she did wind up with a two-line cameo in the critically praised, New Orleans–shot movie The Big Short—in a scene with Selena Gomez, no less. Turns out the director and screenwriter, Adam McKay, was a Chicago connection. “We knew each other back in our strugglingartist days in the early ’90s. We were all friends, musicians and actors and comedians. They’d come see and support our shows and we’d go to theirs. My first gig in a band ever was at a party in his basement apartment in Chicago. When he was in town, we re-connected and he graciously entrusted me to a small role in his movie, which was outside of my zone but great fun nonetheless.” Her dance card is about to get fuller in the coming month, as two new venues will be opening: the long-rumored expansion of Three Muses and the formal relaunch of Seoul Shack, which she ran for a time last year behind the Dragon’s Den. The partners who run Three Muses—Lee mainly handing the music, Daniel Esses the food and Kimberly Patton Bragg the bar—have settled on an Uptown spot for their second location, which they’ll unveil as soon as the ink dries for a mid-summer opening. It promises to be the same as the Frenchmen spot, but different. “It will be less of a Frenchmen concert-type experience, more www.OFFBEAT.com

PHOTO: elsa hahne

MISS SOPHIE LEE

like dinner with acoustic music you can talk over,” she says. “On Frenchmen there’s live music from the moment we open our doors, that location demands it. For Uptown I’m thinking that will be scaled down a bit. We’re still going to focus on all three things, the food and the drinks and the music, but the music will be a little more in the background, maybe with acoustic trios.” There will also be music at the new Seoul Shack, set to open in mid-summer on the 2700 block of St. Claude. But the place will really be about tracing her family history through food—her mother’s Korean recipes and her father’s Southern roots are both referenced in the punning name she chose for the place. “We want to focus on the soul foods of the world; I know for sure I’m going to put a Chicago hot dog on there, and local soul food like jambalaya and gumbo. Definitely nothing crafty or fusion. And it will be built around the Korean food concept, the dishes I was taught by my mother. Once a month we’ll take a different city and a different culture. Since I’m half Korean and half black, I wanted to include the city that adopted me as well as the city I was born in.” If it seems that Sophie Lee quite literally has a lot on her plate, she still points out that it’s nothing compared to what she grew up around. “My mother literally didn’t stop working until she got a brain aneurysm. Before my parents divorced they ran a Chicago hot dog stand together, which they turned into a grocery store. My mother would work 18-hour days, up every day at 4 a.m., and I’m sure I got that from her. That Korean work ethic—you can’t beat it.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

MAY 2 016

ROBERT MUGGE

More Than a Mug Shot Independent filmmaker Robert Mugge is flying high.

t’s easy to see why filmmaker Robert Mugge is flying high these days. Five of his films, including The Kingdom of Zydeco, Rhythm ’n’ Bayous: A Road Map to Louisiana Music, and most recently, 2015’s Zydeco Crossroads: A Tale of Two Cites, were released in March on Bluray and DVD. Two films, Iguanas in the House, a 27-minute documentary about New Orleans’ roots-rocking the Iguanas, and Rosie’s in the House Tonight, a 55-minute documentary about zydeco starlet Rosie Ledet, are packaged as bonus features with Kingdom and Zydeco Crossroads, respectively. Additionally, on April 22, MVD released Mugge’s 1992 flick Pride and Joy: The Story of Alligator Records, which could be considered a root of the aforementioned music docs. In a sense, the release of these films validates a portion of his life’s work, since only limited audiences saw The Kingdom of Zydeco (1994) and Rhythm ’n’ Bayous (2000) at special screenings and prestigious film festivals. After their short run, Mugge was forced to shelve the films due to music rights issues. After Pride and Joy, Mugge proposed documenting Rounder Records (True Believers: The Musical Family of Rounder Records) to BMG Video’s David Steffen; it was a natural leaping off place to cover a broad range of traditional American music. Steffen added a second film (Gather at the River: A Bluegrass Celebration) covering the World of Bluegrass festival in Owensboro, Kentucky. But when Mugge started calling around Southwest Louisiana to make arrangements for the Rounder film, he uncovered “all these behind-the-

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Robert Mugge with his longtime producer, Diana Zelman

scenes Shakespearean dramas” and convinced Steffen to add a third film on their sweep through the South. “This white woman [Lou Gabbs] who ran the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame decided that she was going to crown Boozoo to be the new king of zydeco based on a declaration from the City of Lafayette,” says Mugge. “The zydeco association was saying this is horrible. A white woman is going to declare a new head of an African-American music. I started talking to DJs and record store owners and suddenly realized we had a real drama that we could capture.” That drama resulted in The Kingdom of Zydeco, a staged By Dan Willging

battle of the bands at Lake Charles’ Habibi Temple between upstart Beau Jocque and the venerable Boozoo Chavis who was in disbelief that anyone with only a few years of professional zydeco experience could challenge him. Twenty-two years later, the bantering scenes are outright hilarious. Beau Jocque jokes “the best man might win if I do” while Boozoo rants how he has forgotten more about zydeco than Jocque will ever know and how he’s the daddy. “Who’s Beau Jocque?” he asks. “He’s a, how do you call that, an individual. He’s just an individual.” Rhythm ’n’ Bayous came about in 1999 as part of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tour across

South Louisiana. Afterwards, Mugge ventured off to Northern Louisiana to capture its rockabilly, country and gospel, including the fervent Easter Rock celebrants of the Mississippi Delta. Though it wasn’t Easter weekend when the film rolled in Winnsboro, the all-white-clad African-American group performed its ritual of circling a table decorated with lanterns and cakes, clapping and singing to the Lord. “It’s stuff that goes right back to the Civil War and Africa beyond that. It’s just extraordinary.” Similarly, Zydeco Crossroads, with interviews conducted by the World Café’s David Dye, came out of a tour organized by Philadelphia’s WXPN. The public radio station staged zydeco concerts, dance lessons and foodrelated events in Philly, then took a group of WXPN supporters to Louisiana in October 2014 to experience zydeco in its natural environs. Footage includes live performances and interviews in Philadelphia and in Lafayette as well as a zydeco trail ride and a jam session at El Sido’s. As with every film, Mugge insists on musicians being paid, even when things spiral out of control as they did at the filming of the zydeco jam. Originally the plan was to have Buckwheat Zydeco’s band back marquee performers like Chubby Carrier, Corey Arceneaux, and Anthony and Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. in the true spirit of a jam. But that all changed after Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas were added to the bill. Lil’ Nate, Chris Ardoin and Corey Ledet showed up with their full bands, which they needed to play their original compositions. Releases were signed at the last minute and Mugge scrambled, with the help of WXPN’s Roger www.OFFBEAT.com

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LaMay, to find money to pay them. “In the middle of all that I had not yet met Major [Handy] and Major came up to me while I was trying to direct. Lovely man and he said ‘Okay, they told me I’m supposed to see you about playing?’ And I said ‘I’m so sorry. Our budget is just gone.’” Major replied that he didn’t need to be paid and Mugge promised to work him in towards the end. But things took longer than expected, and by the time Mugge was ready for him, Handy had already left. A few nights later Mugge filmed Handy playing in a duo with his scrubboard-scrapping wife Frances at Hook’d Up Bar & Grill. “One of the thrills of Zydeco Crossroads was getting to work with people like Major and someone who, no pun intended, is such a major artist and has been around for so many years and can play so many instruments and types of music.” A key theme running throughout these films is the idea of family and community. “I tried wherever possible to film these traditional regional artists in their own communities, in the places where they have created this music, in the environment that led to this music in front of the people who are their regular audiences, rather than taking them to a festival somewhere disconnected from those origins.” Another thing Mugge captures in his music documentaries is the variety of infrastructure groups, listeners, dancers, music journalists and historians, independent record stores and public radio stations www.OFFBEAT.com

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who support the music. “Without that support, the music would cease to exist,” Mugge says. Since he shows up infrequently, usually years apart, Mugge jokes that he is really just a drive-by shooter rather than someone immersed in the everyday culture. Still, he observes what’s going on. “I think it’s wonderful that the young people are still gravitating to zydeco. They have their own artists, their own dancers and dances.” Mugge sees mostly aging baby boomers at blues concerts around the country, with a slight exception in Mississippi. “To be fair, there are young bands happening in Mississippi and some younger audiences are attracted to it but it’s nothing like Southwest Louisiana. It’s just so amazing that with all the transportation and communication available, the way the people move around, the way they can watch TV and listen to music from everywhere, there is still a distinctive scene like that.” Mugge says that on a certain level none of this side stuff, like king battles (as depicted in Kingdom), matters. “What’s so much fun is talking to these musicians who are really looking for validation and people to appreciate what they do, so whether you call them the king, the prince or an ambassador, whatever it is, let’s just appreciate them. Let’s understand and care for these delicate cultural flowers that happen to bloom in our midst.” O MAY 2 016

MINOS THE SAINT

Let It Go Baton Rouge’s Minos the Saint's musical democracy.

inos the Saint pairs Peter Simon’s rule-breaking songwriting with upbeat, pop-orchestral arrangements. French horn, two trombones, violin, mandolin, accordion, keyboards and percussion beautifully complement the frontman’s poignant baritone. For certain gigs, Minos the Saint’s brass section grows to a powerful five pieces. After Simon writes his songs, he entrusts them to his classically schooled bandmates. During an interview on a coffee shop patio, three members of the Baton Rouge group, which returns to Chickie Wah Wah on May 13, discussed their musical democracy. “A lot of songwriters know exactly what they want,” percussionist Micah Blouin said. “A lot of songwriters don’t have a clue, even though they don’t like what you’re doing. Peter turns his songs over to us. He says, ‘What do you think?’ If anyone has a sound or an idea, we go with it. We trust one another. Everybody’s voice matters.” Simon isn’t protective of the songs. “I’ve done the solo thing. That’s fine, but there’s something great about trusting people with music and letting it go in that way.” Simon doesn’t introduce his songs to the band until they’re fully formed. He wants to be sure the songs are strong enough to stand alone. But once he delivers them into his bandmates’ hands, he’s confident the arrangements that evolve will exponentially enhance his lyrics and melodies. The songs’ evolution ranges from subtle to grand. Because Simon keeps his original guitar and voice recordings, he can compare the before and after versions. “It’s a testament to the group,” he said of the transformations. “It shows me that they care even more about the songs than I do.”

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So far, multi-instrumentalist Ben Herrington has done most of the band’s signature brass arrangements. Before the 2014 show at the LSUadjacent North Gate Tavern that introduced the brass ensemble to Minos the Saint’s performances, Herrington mischievously rehearsed the brass arrangements in secret. Simon and Blouin didn’t hear them until the show. “It was a whirlwind,” Simon said of the surprise. “It went from me thinking, ‘This sounds nice’ to ‘This is on fire.’” Blouin heard something else. “The brass became the glue that bound the whole thing together and made sense of it all,” he said. “Let Me Sleep” served as Blouin’s and Simon’s introduction to Minos the Saint with a brass section. The song’s gloriously rising horns recall such 1960s and ’70s horn bands as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. By John Wirt

Simon described Herrington as the mad scientist in the corner. “We’d known Ben was working on something,” Simon said. “And then he showed up with brass. It solidified our belief that we were doing something interesting, something we could all get behind.” “Let Me Sleep” is one of 12 songs on Minos the Saint’s debut album, Awake and Dream. Other songs include “Just Like New York,” featuring an animated Latin tempo and contrasting sections, and “New Interrogation,” a blend of Ben Folds’ sincerity and Steely Dan’s pop-jazz sophistication. “Let the Music Play” rises on an urgent tempo, approaching Bruce Springsteen–style grandeur. Simon tried but failed to find things he doesn’t like about Awake and Dream. “We prepared well and went in the studio knowing exactly what we wanted to do,” he said.

In performance, Minos the Saint’s improvisation makes every show different. And during the course of dozens of performances, the songs continuously evolve. “At different gigs and venues, large and small, over time, in front of different people, the song develops its own thing,” Blouin said. Formed in 2013, Minos the Saint evolved from duo engagements Simon and Herrington played in Baton Rouge. It was a casual pairing at first. No expectations. They played together because they enjoyed it. Herrington later met Blouin at a theater gig. Herrington originally planned to have Blouin play drums for an album of his original songs. He changed course when Simon’s songs became more important to him than his own. “And I realized that Micah was the perfect addition to what Peter and I were doing,” Herrington said. He later brought violin and mandolin player Joel Willson to the group. And when Minos the Saint booked a few gigs Herrington thought needed a bigger sound, he recruited more brass musicians. Trombonist Jessica Ottaviano and French horn player Arisia Gilmore eventually became official members. “The album would not be the same without them,” Simon said. “They brought the band to a new level.” The evolution of Minos the Saint—from solo singer-songwriter Simon to pop–chamber music collective—happened naturally. “We’ve all been very attentive to what’s going on,” Simon said. “There’s a lot of listening. That’s always been the thing. We’ve been taking everything slowly, not trying to create anything too big out of it. Instead of rushing into something, we let it simmer and cook.” Minos the Saint will perform May 13 at Chickie Wah Wah. O www.OFFBEAT.com

Sound Sound

have a vivid memory of Aurora Nealand from three Jazz Fests ago. She and her band, the Royal Roses, were playing the Economy Hall stage, where they fit in perfectly as one of relatively few young bands who’d really internalized traditional jazz. The band seemed transported from another time, especially since Nealand had traded her usual punkish attire for a vintage turquoise cocktail dress. A few minutes after the set Nealand came running past us, still wearing the turquoise cocktail dress, and straight through the Gentilly Stage mudbath—just to get up close for Patti Smith’s set. Soprano saxophonist, clarinetist, singer and musical conceptualist Nealand has always been a bit of an enigma—a thoroughly modern artist who works in a traditional vein, at least some of the time. The rest of the time she does things that seem a million miles away, and she seems to inhabit a different persona with every project—quite literally in the case of Rory Danger, the leather-jacketed outlaw who leads a band of rockabilly marauders (officially, Aurora Nealand and Rory Danger are different people who’ve never met). As a jazzwoman, she plays with Tom McDermott in a keyboard/sax duo; as a free improviser she plays in the multidirectional band Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship? She was part of the Cajun/Celtic mashup that the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Spider Stacy did at Jazz Fest. And her about-to-launch solo project the Monocle is none of the above, a progressive and personal take on electronic pop.

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on Aurora Nealand has always been a bit of an enigma. By Brett Milano

“I would say that sound is sound,” she explains. “So they blend into each other. Projects are different on purpose because I don’t think any one project can be all encompassing; it’s not about any one framework—each one gives you a place to focus the sound. Certainly, playing traditional music only enhances or informs my own compositions. And when I think about improvising I think a lot about texture. A lot of the older music, from that original traditional framework of jazz, is about having the melody in the head and improvising over those chord changes. So when I’m improvising I hear melodies over textural gestures—that’s more of a compositional aesthetic that came in later in the 1950s, where you have Morton Subotnick and Stravinsky.” As for her adopting different personae… Well, she’s a David Bowie and Laurie Anderson fan. More to the point, she thinks a lot about performance and what it means: “Performance is a funny thing. Ideally you’re always yourself. The singers I love to listen to and admire are singers that always sound like themselves; they sound like they’re talking to you in their voice. But I always think about what serves the music, what does it need from me? So in one sense that is a different persona—but they’re all within us. Everyone is a beautiful complexity of mechanisms and feelings are desires and fears. They’re all in this little universe inside your body. They’re all about what the music needs and how you can channel that inside the music. So you can tap into yourself. ‘Aha, you’re coming out of the box today.’ But it doesn’t mean that the rest of you isn’t there too.” www.OFFBEAT.com

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“Nothing went wrong in Austin, I had just gotten the bug and started playing live music in New Orleans.”

It was a long road that brought Nealand to New Orleans in 2004. She grew up in Moss Beach, California (population: 3,213), where there wasn’t a huge music/arts circuit to plug into. Yet music was in her life for as long as she can remember. “There was never any epiphany moment, there just wasn’t a time when music didn’t seem like something I wanted to do; it was just part of the fabric of being alive. My mother was very shy so she never performed, but she was a very good pianist. And my father loved Stravinsky while my brother had all the Pixies and Rage Against the Machine albums. I played oboe and flute in the middle school band, and took some piano lessons in senior year. I do recall having a moment when I saw Preservation Hall Jazz Band in San Francisco. I would have been 10 or 11, and I do remember thinking ‘That’s amazing.’” Formal training had to wait until she got to college; she studied electronic music and composition at Oberlin, then stuck around in Ohio and saved up money to send herself to L’Ecole Internationale in Paris, the school founded by actor and mime Jacques Lecoq. “A lot of people I’d looked up to as a young arts maker had gone there, people like Julie Taymor, and there was a connection with people in the ’80s New York scene—Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson. So I thought that by my going there, the other door would open and I’d meet all these different people from Europe and South America that I was going to form a theater company and make weird art with. But the school was in transition [Lecoq died in 1999], so it didn’t work out that way, and going to Paris didn’t point me to the next step. It was that point in your life when you wind up moving every year.” And in some ways, the Paris training shaped her philosophy as a musician. “One thing you study there is how the different elements live in your body—like, how does your body channel fire or wind, and how does that affect the way you move? To me, the different projects are like that, taking these elements and putting them into the music. Some are better at expressing fragility and humanity, others at fire and spontaneity. There are different channels for different expressions. Like, Marilyn Manson is genuinely expressing something, and Rage Against the Machine. That’s no less a powerful expression of a genuine feeling than, say, Paul Simon doing a solo set.” She made it to New Orleans a couple moves later, in 2004, in time to evacuate to Baltimore for Katrina and move on once more, this time to Austin where she enrolled in grad school and lasted three weeks. But she’d already made her first musical connection with the Panorama Jazz Band, with whom she marched for Mardi Gras the next year. “Nothing went wrong in Austin, I had just gotten the bug and started playing live music in New Orleans. It was a pretty exciting time in terms of what I wanted to do as an artist. I’d go down to Frenchmen Street to see the Jazz Vipers and the Hot Club of New Orleans, and I’d go to Preservation Hall when I could afford it.” Her first real gig was a little-noticed, five-hour slot playing at the French Market. The real watershed was a concert of Sidney Bechet’s music that she put on at Preservation Hall, for which the Royal Roses were formed. For a young, more-or-less unknown artist who’s still new in town, playing Bechet’s music at Preservation Hall is a jump into the deep end—which is why she did it. “It was a pretty ostentatious thing for a young white woman who’s not from New Orleans to do. But you learn

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www.OFFBEAT.com

“Learning to play [is] more like learning a language and when you do that, you create your own punctuation.”

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to do it and you give yourself the deadlines—and I wanted to force myself to really be immersed in that sound. Learning to play just like Sidney Bechet would be a lifelong pursuit, and that’s not necessarily what I’m trying to do. It’s more like learning a language and when you do that, you create your own punctuation. “The other part of it is that I felt very encouraged by the musicians when I came to town. People like Ben Jaffe at Preservation Hall; we never worked together musically but I felt like they were a welcoming presence. But playing the Sidney Bechet show was really about giving myself a challenge, it wasn’t me saying ‘I’m next in the legacy.’” The show went well enough that it became her first album and the Royal Roses a permanent band, which now includes David Boswell (trumpet), Matt Bell (vocals/guitar), Bill Machow (piano), Josh Gouzy (bass), Nathan Lambertson (bass) and Paul Thibodeaux (drums). Of course there’s a feminist element to this, a young woman crashing the gates of traditional jazz. This had to be part of her mission at the time, right? “No. [Laughs.] Not really, and that’s something I get asked, not un-often. Sound, ideally, isn’t gendered. And for me it’s not about being a woman, but trying to be a good musician.” The new Royal Roses album Comeback Children—a 76-minute epic, no less—expands the musical palette somewhat. There’s a burst of free playing on the opening “Jump for Joy,” which throws a wild spin on the original Ellington arrangement and gets additional color from guest Mike Dillon on vibes. The Eastern European sound of the Panorama Jazz Band spills into “Toploulou,” and there’s a novel arrangement (without piano) of Zez Confrey’s old piano rag “Poor Buttermilk.” But the album’s most haunting piece, which they save for last, isn’t a traditional jazz tune at all: It’s the Tom Waits song “Day After Tomorrow,” a soldier’s testimony that the band takes at a fitting funereal pace. And though she doesn’t think of herself as one, Nealand’s vocal here shows what an expressive singer she’s become. “I think of myself as an instrumentalist who happens to sing, not as a singer first. Everyone is a singer because it’s an instrument everyone has; everyone can make sounds with their vocal cords. I can handle melodies but I can’t do gymnastics with my voice—I’m not Erica Falls, or someone like Betty Davis. I’m more like someone who can carry through.” Still, the upcoming Monocle project, KindHumanKind, hinges strongly on the vocals, and finds her weaving all her musical threads into something quite unique. The two songs I’ve heard, which come with a pair of artfully abstract videos, are layered with rhythm and melody, falling into a grey area—make that a brightly multicolored area—between rock, jazz and experimental music. Though she plays everything on the album she’s formed a band to be the Monocle, and it debuted at Chaz Fest last month. “To me it’s like a birdcage project—you know, that little thing inside your heart area. You let it out to say something very personal to the world, and then it gets scared and flies back in again. I guess it was inspired by those performance artists who use their music to express their worldview, for lack of a better word. But it comes from a very personal place. Lately I’ve been interested in the intersection of mental health and sound, so this comes from a point in me that’s been viewing how those things relate and how they affect us.” www.OFFBEAT.com

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The bottom line is that Aurora Nealand will be playing a key role in bringing new experimental music into New Orleans, while still playing in one of its leading traditional bands. The bottom line is that Aurora Nealand will be playing a key role in bringing new experimental music into New Orleans, while still playing in one of its leading traditional bands. “For me, the past 12 years of living in New Orleans have been an education about digging deeper into a living tradition. When you play traditional jazz, you can feel the vertical connection to the place, and also a horizontal connection to all the bands over time. Playing with musicians from Brazil, or what Panorama does with music from Serbia and the Balkans—all of that falls under the umbrella of living traditions. There are so many lessons you can learn.” O

SOUNDCHECK: Rory Danger

ou seemed to appear in New Orleans out of nowhere, yet you already had some devoted fans and played with some of the best in town. Can you tell us where you came from? In the beginning there was nothing. Then there was something. Then there was Man, and shortly thereafter followed free will and frozen waffles (in the ice age). Next there was Danger. And from Danger, the loins of El Duende, and the miracle of plate tectonics sprung forth the countryside of Dangeria, where coincidentally, a lot of us keep a summer home (just about a hundred miles downriver—when you come to the crossways, take a left and then three rights). It was there that I first learned to rock it like it’s hot. Hail Dangeria! The land that’s brave and blue. The album is mostly good rock ’n’ roll, but there are also those pieces in between that have to do with a sea journey of some kind. How does that play into the Rory Danger story? We are nothing if not our own hero’s journey, traversing the high seas of triumphs and failures, seeking out that great white whale of our own deepest ambitions, hopes and desires. The sage words of Allen Ginsberg (who, coincidentally, was our fifth guitarist for a short stint) sum up our story pretty aptly: “The weight of the world is love. Under the burden of solitude, under the burden of dissatisfaction the weight, the weight we carry is love. Who can deny? In dreams it touches

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the body, in thought constructs a miracle, in imagination anguishes till born in human—looks out of the heart burning with purity—for the burden of life is love, but we carry the weight wearily, and so must rest in the arms of love at last, must rest in the arms of love. [...} The warm bodies shine together in the darkness, the hand moves to the center of the flesh, the skin trembles in happiness and the soul comes joyful to the eye—yes, yes, that’s what I wanted, I always wanted, I always wanted, to return to the body where I was born.” Seems like a lot of your inspiration comes from vintage rockabilly, but you also do interesting covers like Cher’s “Bang Bang.” Who looms large in your musical universe? While certainly Cher, and her impressive hair, are a universal inspiration to us all, I would have to say that Ernest Shackleton is probably our biggest musical influence. Such a rocker, and can really make a damn good cup of tea. I saw a show last year at Jazz Fest where you tried to play every song in 30 minutes and had them all cut off after 75 seconds. How did that idea come about, and is that the most fun thing you’ve done onstage?

In times of great constraint spring forth feats of the unimaginable. We were set to the task of playing a 20-minute show, which as any true rocker will tell you is just enough time for your bassist to tune his E string. In the sage words of Nelson Mandela (who, coincidentally, we once asked to be our sixth guitarist—he declined on account of being preoccupied with being one of the world’s most visionary leaders and humanitarians): “We must use time wisely and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.” No matter how short the time constraints, the right thing to do is always to deliver at least 14 good rockers to a crowd. New Orleans is of course full of gifted jazz players, Aurora Nealand being one of them. What’s your opinion on that kind of music? Ah, jazz! That great primordial soup of sound. We have often heard that New Orleans is known as the birthplace of jazz, and that moniker indeed seems to ring true—all across the city you can hear the laboring cries of fabulous musicians giving birth, breathing their Lamaze in a collective joyous rhythm and pushing out the beautiful mutant baby of improvisation and composition. In the wizened words of Lou Reed (who was our sub bongo-ist for a short stint), “One chord is fine. Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you’re into jazz.” And as for the question about Aurora Nealand? Never heard of him. —Brett Milano www.OFFBEAT.com

photo: WILLOW HALEY

All these projects will be continuing over the next year, and then some. She’s also a part of the Dosti Music Project, which last year brought ten musicians from Pakistan, India and the U.S. together for a month-long collaboration and tour; it’s expected to come through New Orleans in the fall. She and curator Lisa Giordano are also the brains behind SONO, a performance space opening at a warehouse that they renovated at 3405 Royal Street in the Bywater. Their first event was a crawfish boil during Jazz Fest, which featured the eclectic Naked Orchestra performing songs from Canadian songwriter Zoe Boekbinder’s Prison Music Project, a writing collaboration with Folsom inmates.

EATS

photos: Elsa Hahne

Chris McMillian/Revel

“I

’ve always looked for music for the bars I’ve worked in. Stumbled across Nellie Lutcher and she was one of the first black crossover artists in the 1940s—on Capitol Records no less; a nationally recognized musician from Lake Charles, Louisiana. People described her as the female Louis Jordan. She was a pianist as well as a vocalist. Standard jive and jump tunes. Swing! Are you familiar with the song ‘Fine Brown Frame’? That’s the name of this drink. It’s built on a frame of bourbon. I’m from Shreveport, originally. My family is from Natchitoches. I came to New Orleans in 1981 and moved here in ’84. I’m ScotchIrish, French and Italian, a pretty classic Louisiana ethnic mix. If I won the lottery tomorrow, I might buy an apartment in Manhattan or Malibu, but I would still live here. www.OFFBEAT.com

I became a bartender out of necessity. My wife was pregnant with our sixth child. My truck was broken so I couldn’t operate my landscaping business. That was at the beginning of the craft cocktail movement. I got interested and started doing drinks for banquets, weddings. Then I went to the Superdome and did special events. And then when you’re doing something you want to be good at it, so I started copying people who were good at it and got drawn into the story of it. Alcohol is a central component of the human experience. I read a white paper by an MIT professor one time who suggested the reason human beings came together to live in communities was to produce alcohol. On the surface it sounds a bit silly; alcohol occurs randomly in nature, airborne yeast coming in contact with sugar, typically in the form of ripe fruit—we’ve all seen the videos of animals drunk in the wild—but in

By Elsa Hahne

order to make alcohol you have to have more food than you can eat, and agriculture and water, right next to your waste. For centuries, West Europeans substituted lowgrade alcohol for water [because it was safer to drink]. It’s only in the twentieth century that we’ve had water treatment. As former West Europeans, we were all drunk all the time. Life in New Orleans was always uncertain. Given yellow fever, we could lose tens of thousands of people in giant waves. In our own lifetime—experiences with hurricanes and crime—we know life is precious and short. New Orleans has a long history of embracing today because tomorrow may not come. I love how I feel when I’m here. My wife and I opened Revel [on Carrollton Avenue by Canal Street] three months ago. Our son works here, and our son-inlaw—who’s our son, too; he was my

oldest son’s best friend and he and my oldest daughter are now husband and wife. We’re working from nine in the morning to one in the morning, and I don’t want to leave!”

Fine Brown Frame 1 ounce wheated bourbon (such as Maker’s Mark) 1/2 ounce Marie Brizard Apry apricot liqueur Sparkling wine Lemon Stir bourbon and liqueur together with ice. Strain into a champagne glass and top off with sparkling wine. Serve with a lemon twist. MAY 2 016

899-8221 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 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

FRENCH

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS

GERMAN Jaeger Haus: 833 Conti, 525-9200

ICE CREAM/CAKE/CANDY Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop’s: 2831 Chartres St., 944-6090 Bittersweet Confections: 725 Magazine St., 523-2626 La Divina Gelateria: 3005 Magazine St., 3422634; 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692 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

IRISH The Irish House: 1432 Saint Charles Ave., 595-6755

ITALIAN

JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI/THAI

The Joint: 701 Mazant St., 949-3232 Whoodoo BBQ: 2660 St Philip St., 230-2070

COFFEE HOUSE

LOUISIANA / SOUTHERN

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

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

CREOLE/CAJUN

MEDITERRANEAN

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.,

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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

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 LeBayou Restaurant: 208 Bourbon St., 525-4755 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 Clover Grill: 900 Bourbon St., 523-0904 Mimi’s in the Marigny: 2601 Royal St., 872-9868

Dancing Man 504 hits the

Adolfo’s: 611 Frenchmen St., 948-3800 Little Vic’s: 719 Toulouse St., 304-1238 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; 1913 Royal St., 948-9309 Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433

BARBECUE

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 Phil’s Grill: 3020 Severn Ave., Metairie, 324-9080; 1640 Hickory Ave., Harahan, 305-1705 Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361 Tracey’s: 2604 Magazine St., 897-5413 Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683

PIZZA

Spot

How often do you come here? I come here since the new ownership. It used to be La Peniche and I didn't like their grits, so it killed the whole business, but Horn's makes excellent grits. What should I order? Their waffles are great and so are their pancakes. I'm a big fan. Usually, I can't eat them in the morning, but around lunch time, I enjoy them. Pancakes at lunchtime make me feel like dancing. So I come to Horn's, because they'll cook a pancake at 1 p.m., 2 p.m...

MUSIC ON THE MENU

Don't you live just one block away? Yes, I'm in and out. My friends tell me I'm rude. Because when I put in my order, I tell them to bring the check. When I'm ready to go, I'm ready to go.

Banks Street Bar & Grill: 4401 Banks St., 486-0258 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

Does this mean you're a cash costumer? Yes, it helps the servers to get their tip right then and there. If you charge things, then they might have to wait. Me, I find that a cash exchange is always nice. —Elsa Hahne

Horn's 1940 Dauphine St. (504) 459-4676 www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

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

Warehouse Grille: 869 Magazine St., 322-2188

DINING OUT

Coquette Experienced restaurateurs will tell you that the three most important ingredients to a restaurant’s success are the same as the three factors that matter most in real estate: location, location, location. One would assume that the beautiful late nineteenth century Garden District townhouse at 2800 Magazine Street, with its exposed brick, restored wood and windows overlooking Magazine Street, would be a prime location for a fine dining restaurant. But such was not the case for the three short-lived restaurants that occupied the space before December 2008, when Chef Mike Stoltzfus opened Coquette. The most recent inhabitant before Coquette was Table One Brasserie headed by Chef Gerard Maras, a veteran of the local dining scene and a pioneer of incorporating locally sourced ingredients and adjusting his menus to reflect the bounty of the seasons. Although the two chefs have no professional connection, Stoltzfus embraces the same locavore zeal of his

www.OFFBEAT.com

predecessor. The result is a constantly changing menu of inventive Southern cuisine, ranging from fried gulf oysters with blood orange and baby fennel to smoked catfish dip hiding a secret garden of celery root, beets and crushed pistachios. Though Stoltzfus is a native of Maryland, his takes on classic Southern dishes taste as if a native son of Dixie has perfected his family recipes and then somehow improved them with contemporary flair. Case in point—the city’s best fried chicken, brined to juicy perfection, encased in a crunchy batter seasoned with hot paprika, and served alongside honey whipped to the consistency of meringue. Medallions of rosecolored hanger steak are presented with pimento cheese, cabbage slaw, barbecue sauce and bread baked in house—a build-your-own picnic sandwich cloaked in white linen. Where the kitchen excels most is in multicourse dining, whether a tasting menu created on the fly or the three-course lunch/brunch for $30,

Photo: renee bienvenu

EATS

one of the best fine dining values in the city. While portion sizes are modest (some say small), the culmination leaves diners fully satisfied. Although reservations can be scarce on weekend nights, the long bar on the first floor is particularly enticing for those dining solo or à deux. It's the perfect vantage point to watch the skilled bartenders who may recommend a flight of Pappy Van Winkle to close out your meal. You will not be disappointed. —Peter Thriffiley 2800 Magazine Street; dinner: 5:30–10p, Friday lunch: 11:30a–2:30p, brunch: 11:30a–2:30p (Saturday), 10:30a–2p (Sunday); coquettenola.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

Universal Soul

Eric Lindell Matters of the Heart (Red Parlor Records) The period between 19691973 was the age of universal soul: authentic black gospel was in the Top 40, swamp-rock proved the New South had come around, and the legacy of country soul that had started with Percy Sledge and Otis finally came to fruition. It was the era of Joe Simon and Joe South, the chicken coop/scratch of Jerry Reed, the chomp of Tony Joe White, a million Junior Elvises like Ronnie Milsap, an era that stretches from “Green-Eyed Lady” and “Ride Captain Ride” to “Loves Me Like a Rock” and “Drift Away.” And this is the place where Eric Lindell makes his stand, now more than ever. His first record for the indieroots label Red Parlor completes the transformation this singersongwriter began on 2011s West County Drifter, morphing from a bluesman with heavy soul overtones to a straight blue-eyed soulster with heavy roots. Anson Funderburgh’s guitar, still serving as a delicious counterpoint, is one of the only blues elements left, backed up for the first time by Luther Dickinson’s Resonator

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guitar, but Lindell’s commitment to that classic country-soul mélange has gotten so adept that it’s his straightest country covers which sound most like the blues: Hag’s “Here in Frisco,” George Jones’ “She Thinks I Still Care,” George Strait’s “You Look So Good in Love.” The early ’70s are also where we find Van Morrison’s classic albums His Band and the Street Choir and Tupelo Honey, worth noting because Lindell—who started out as a more or less straight blues man with three excellent Alligator albums—has used his blue-eyed soul, like Van, to fashion his “domestic bliss” album, a place where his usual good natured warmth finally finds its home. It’s also telling that his occasional pain sounds redemptive and his joy inspiring, impulses that come from the church and not the cotton field. Even his harmonica leaves the juke joint on “Sweet Beautiful Thing” for a chromatic Stevie Wonder exercise. And the Fender Rhodes is everywhere. Matters of the Heart is too rooted and heartfelt to be merely soul revivalism, and it’s damn sure not hipster PBR&B— who else knows enough to cover ultra-obscure Nixonera 45s like Matilda Jones’ “Wrong Too Long” and Cold Grits’ “Bayou Country”?—but you could slap a filter on this baby, tweak the mix, and trick someone into thinking it was a resuscitated classic from that magic era of universal soul. You don’t have to be a member of the Class of ’72 to let Eric share his peace of mind with you. But it doesn’t hurt. —Robert Fontenot

Michael Juan Nunez Rise (ParishLine) It would be very easy to label Michael Juan Nunez’s Rise a blues album. After all, it was recorded over a period of three years he calls some of the worst in his life and the lives of the musicians involved. And it is loaded with his resonator guitar spitting out Delta guitar licks. But that knee-jerk reaction would ignore all of what else Rise has to offer. Tracks like “Lemonade” and “Nickel Roll,” a tale of him being a nickel rolling down penny lane, add to the modern blues feel, in the ilk of John Lisi. With their metaphors, similes and swagger, the songs’ lyrics fold nicely into the lexicon of the blues. Rise features Nunez at his songwriting best, adding new material to a genre that has its limitations. Along with those, “Devil’s Daughter” also has waves of Buddy Guy–meets–swamp water. Slower, sweeter but sultry bedroom blues numbers like “BLTLO” and “Burning” round out the well-rounded record. Other times, gritty songs like “Betta” break out of blues expectations and find Nunez on the far-out fringes. In the way that C.C. Adcock brings swamp pop and rock into the future, then whiplashes

them back into the present, Nunez does the same for blues. However, via effects, it is a more raw and unorthodox sound. For example, the backing on “Human” has a post-apocalyptic blues feel as Nunez speaks an indictment with the disenfranchised outlook of a Trent Reznor. Ever evolving, it is loaded with big beats, ritualistic chants of the guitar gods and a jagged edge that cuts. “Betta” has an electro snare backbone in its intro and gobs of distortion along with Delta guitar licks from Nunez’s more than capable hands. On “Trouble,” simple tambourine-style percussion mixes with Southern gothic lyrics. Yet Nunez is never too far out in the wild, coming back to his core with sweaty rhythms and the New Orleans piano sounds of Eric Adcock. “Lost It” remains in the blues canon but with a very rugged rock vibe. Ultimately, the genre conundrum fades away. The issue is not whether this is a blues album—it’s that it is a a good album, no matter in what bin it lands. Nunez may pull vocabulary from a few different vernaculars but he is fluent in his own tongue. Rise is a strong album that doesn’t define him as an artist of one shade but a master of many, blending them and bending them at will. —Nick Pitmann

Jeff Chaz Sounds Like the Blues to Me (JCP Records) A French Quarter fixture known for marathon gigs, Jeff Chaz achieves a career milestone here that’s primarily due to having ample studio time with such A-list musicians as drummer Doug Belote and Wiseguys’ horn men www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

A.J. Pittman and Ward Smith. Additionally, these dozen originals are not longtime gig retreads but actually make their debut here, with a couple being written in the studio. Chaz shifts stylistically from track to track, so the album is not skewed towards any one idiom. Some swing madly (“Walkin’ with My Baby”), some roll with classic

New Orleans horn lines (“Make Love to You in the Sand”) and some are drenching, sweat-soaked slow blues. He can be funny, too. On “I’m Goin’ After Moby Dick in a Rowboat,” Chaz adds that he’s bringing the tartar sauce. “I Am the Blues” is perhaps the most creative track—a first-person narrative where the protagonist is really the blues and its role in history. Though he knows his way around the neck and occasionally unleashes a furious, note-flying jam (“The Mt Vernon Blues”), it’s not all about guitar playing. Vocals are what seal the deal, making Chaz’s songs captivating and performances strong (“Mysterious, Exotic Lady”). The immense heartfelt sincerity expressed on “Will You Be Mine” makes you feel it’s really you

Swinging on Clarinet Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses Comeback Children (Independent) It’s odd to hear master pianist/ bandleader Duke Ellington’s “Jump for Joy” as a dirge. On Comeback Children’s first cut, it sounds rather like solemn jazz funeral procession moving down the street. The song is totally transformed by saxophonist/clarinetist/vocalist Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses. It’s just one way that the eclectic leader mixes things up on the album. She also employs various musicians for different cuts and continuously roams around genres. The mood is much more rousing on Ellington’s “Old Man Blues,” one of several numbers that has Nealand swinging on clarinet with some fine guitar by Matt Bell. Trumpeter David Boswell jumps into the foray for a rousing good time. There’s a lot going on throughout Comeback Children, so the peacefulness of “Indian Summer” is appreciated. On this cut, one can more fully hear each of the individual, highly capable players, including vibraphonist Mike Dillon. A standout on the disc for its rhythmic sway is Guadeloupe-born Al Lirvat’s lively “Touloulou.” Unfortunately, both the composer’s and the tune’s names are misspelled on the disc, but nonetheless it offers a touch of Nealand’s Sidney Bechet influences as she performs the song on soprano sax and even sings in French. Have to thank her for bringing this tune back into the realm. Also appreciated is Matt Perrine’s right-on sousaphone backing and the fun trombone work of Jon Ramm. Dig the background vocals too. On Comeback Children, Nealand moves from port to port, from dirge to jump and swing. She’s traditional at heart in a very un-traditional way. —Geraldine Wyckoff www.OFFBEAT.com

MAY 2 016

REVIEWS

Marcia Ball presses rewind on her 1989 album, Gatorhythms.

who’s proposing and pleading, not him. After decades of marathon performances, Chaz’ pipes are still amazingly sturdy, allowing him to hit high notes easily with bursts of quick, short screams. Look for a late career resurgence for Jeff Chaz. —Dan Willging

Marcia Ball Gatorhythms (Rounder)

“M

y songwriting seemed to coalesce on this album—it was the first one I wrote most of the songs on. When I write for an album, there usually has to be an anchor: I generally do the sensitive song, the most important one first. Then when I have that under my belt I can go on to the fun stuff. But with this one it was a little different. I had pieces of four songs that I was carrying abound—there was ‘Mama’s Cooking,’ ‘Daddy Said,’ ‘Mobile’ and ‘La Ti Da.’ And one day I just went into my rehearsal area and finished all four of them. It was just one magic day, the kind of day that every songwriter dreams of having. And those all became songs that people wanted to hear: ‘La Ti Da’ is still pretty highly requested. That was probably the first autobiographical song I did. I wrote ‘Mama’s Cooking’ and then ‘Daddy Said’—I knew I’d be in a whole lot of trouble if I did a song for one but not the other. The story in ‘Daddy Said’ is true, at least I hope it’s true for somebody—I never know what twists and turns a song is going to take. ‘Mobile’ was a song that seemed to be popular everywhere but Mobile. They caught on eventually, but for a while I was thinking, ‘Why don’t these people take this song up?’ The ballad ‘Find Another Fool’ also seems to be a favorite of people’s. I had just met Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, who passed away two years ago; we became best friends from writing together. I had most of ‘Find Another Fool’ but not the chorus; she had one called ‘I Could Use a Little Tenderness’ that had verses but no chorus, so we got together one

day and finished each other’s songs—they came out so fabulous that it just wrecked me. I tried to do a co-write with Lee Roy Parnell but we didn’t succeed in getting anything done. Then he went home and wrote two songs on the airplane, so they’re both on the record. The other cover is the Mac Rebennack song, ‘How You Carry On’—that’s one of his older pieces, I think he wrote it for Ronnie Barron who was originally supposed to be the Night Tripper. I’m a real digger when it comes to songs; sometimes people will say ‘I have a song you need to hear’ and occasionally that works. The album was a real hometown production, we did it in Austin at a studio that Wink Tyler ran behind his house, it was one of the only professional grade studios in town. The producer wanted to get a guy named Jesse Taylor in to play guitar—a really rocking guitar player who worked with Joe Ely. He played the solo on ‘Red Hot’ and it really is red hot—he stood there drinking his beer and nailed the solo in one pass. Stephen Bruton was another big influence on that album, even though he wasn’t there for very long. He’s all over the album, but he’d come into the studio, play his part and leave—I didn’t know him very well yet, but he produced two of my albums later on. I still had long hair on the album cover, I cut it three years later. And my hair looks like it’s blowing in the wind, but you can’t do that with a typical fan. So when we took the photo, my 12-year-old son was sitting in the corner pointing our lawn and leaf blower at me. That’s the magic of showbiz.” —Brett Milano

“I wrote ‘Mama’s Cooking’ and then ‘Daddy Said’—I knew I’d be in a whole lot of trouble if I did a song for one but not the other. The story in ‘Daddy Said’ is true, at least I hope it’s true for somebody—I never know what twists and turns a song is going to take.“

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Burnhouse Burnhouse (Independent) Bands that attempt to synthesize the past couple of decades of cock-rock, as these guys do, usually depend on either a shredding guitarist or a charismatic lead vocalist to set off their brand, and on their debut, Baton Rouge trio Burnhouse have chosen to go with the latter, for better and for worse: Singer Michael Rayburn offers up a strange and unholy mix of posturing all over these eight originals, a weird Frankenstein of Chad Kroeger’s dudebrah gravitas, Ed Kowalczyk’s studied introspection, and Adam Levine’s white-boy soul, all topped off by a warbling shriek that’s supposed to be reminiscent of David Coverdale but, especially when those doubletracked harmonies kick in, just sounds like a high, gobbling shriek. The band itself is clearly competent on attempted ripsnorters like “Loving You” and moody bar-closers such as “Free Again”—and drummer Jude Housewright, for his part, really goes out of his way to kick these guys’ asses when he thinks they need it. But Rayburn is clearly the centerpiece of Burnhouse’s sound, and his cross-platform mansplaining is about as unconvincing as it comes. Even pandering takes focus, folks. Especially pandering. —Robert Fontenot www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

Chick Corea and Béla Fleck Two (Stretch Records) This live double album by two of the music world’s biggest non-pop stars is a substantial follow-up to their 2007 disc The Enchantment. That earlier album, while perfectly fine and interesting, was clearly dominated by Corea, an observation that is confirmed in his witty liner notes to Two.

The Enchantment was recorded with no playing time together, even without rehearsal. Two is culled from several dozen live concerts they’ve played together; there can’t help but be improvement with musicians of this caliber. For me, the most fun to be had is their reworking of well-known tunes like “Brazil” and “Bugle Call Rag.” The rest are Fleck or Corea originals, including Corea’s well-known “Armando’s Rhumba,” which he can record on every album as far as this listener is concerned. One caveat: The album tends towards the manic. The obvious reason is that these two are virtuosos of the highest order, but another problem lies in the nature of the banjo. Despite Fleck’s mastery, even he can’t make an acoustic banjo sustain a tone for long. Hence, no banjo ballads, no banjo adagios. Keep that in mind, and you’ll be fine. —Tom McDermott

Pure Pleasure Leroy Jones I’m Talkin’ Bout New Orleans (Independent) The first and title cut of trumpeter Leroy Jones’ latest CD, I’m Talkin’ Bout New Orleans, immediately lifts one’s spirits with its irresistibly happy melody and rhythm. It evokes the essence of the Caribbean with Jones singing the lyrics in a calypso style. Jones, a New Orleans native, is understandably most often associated with the traditional jazz realm. However, tonally and stylistically he’s always allowed his modern jazz leanings to shine through, as they particularly do on this album. What pianist/composer Jelly Roll Morton called the Latin tinge is also prominent in the repertoire that relies on Jones’ pen for all but one of the 10 selections. The leader’s trumpet stands strong on the quartet-based, straightup “More Five Four,” on which he’s teamed simply with guitarist Todd Duke, pianist Larry Sieberth, bassist Jason Stewart and drummer Shannon Powell. Most of the tunes feature a larger ensemble, with Alonzo Bowens a core member of the group and three trombonists—David Harris, Terrance Taplin and Katja Toivola—taking turns in that position. The Caribbean flavor returns for the lively “La Vella” featuring Taplin and alto saxophonist Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson. All of the musicians, whether playing solos or in ensembles, offer high-quality performances. That’s particularly true of the brilliant clarity of Jones’ trumpet. He beautifully executes those high notes. I’m Talkin’ Bout New Orleans offers pure musicality and pure pleasure. —Geraldine Wyckoff www.OFFBEAT.com

MAY 2 016

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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

TUESDAY MAY 3

Banks Street Bar: Ari and the Alibis (RB) 9p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: the Lonely Lonely Knights (RK) 8p, the Lafayette Marquis (JV) 9p d.b.a.: DinosAurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Gasa Gasa: Bear Mountain, Young Empires (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p, Nyce (JV) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Louisiana Music Factory: Davell Crawford (JV) 3p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Swamp Kitchen (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10:30p Snug Harbor: Mitch Woods and Rocket 88s (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, the Rhythm Stompers (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY MAY 4

Ace Hotel: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 8p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: John Rankin (JV) 6p, Jimmy Robinson (BL) 8p, Kristin Diable (SS) 9p 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 Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p

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Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Vincent Marini (FO) 8:30p Lafayette Square: Wednesday at the Square feat. Soul Rebels, Tank and the Bangas (FK) 5p Maison: Nyce, Jazz Vipers, Willfunk (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Deltaphonic with special guests (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p One Eyed Jacks: Old 97s, Heartless Bastards with BJ Barham (RK) 7p Orpheum Theater: HNOC’s 50th Anniversary Soiree d’Or feat. Preservation Hall All-Stars, Jimmy Maxwell Orchestra, Joe Lastie Jr. and the Lastie Family Gospel (JV) 6:30p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Jerry Embree (SI) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Terrance Taplin (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY MAY 5

Ace Hotel: Honor Thy Mother (VR) 9p Armstrong Park: Jazz in the Park feat. Davell Crawford, Stephanie Jordan (JV) 4p Banks Street Bar: Tay Hogg (FO) 3p, Bantam Foxes (RK) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Alexandra Scott and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): the Yat Pack (VR) 9p Chiba: Charlie Dennard (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Les White (VR) 8p, Wreckless Eric (VR) 9p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 9:30p; Upstairs: Lou TSB, Zayoe, DJ Toine, Barin the Great, Mike Hazel, Trance Farmers, AF the Naysayer, Sic Hop (HH) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Wild Belle, James Supercave (FO) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Stooges (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Howlin’ Wolf: Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds, the Eastwood Smokes, Animal Years (FO) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Paintbox with Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Jon Roniger, Sweet Substitute, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and guests (FK) 11p Palm Court Jazz Café: Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola with Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Leroy Thomas (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and Heirs to the Crescent City (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (PI) 5p, Ben Polcer (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and Treme Funket (FK) 10p

FRIDAY MAY 6

Ace Hotel: Ben’s Sing-a-long (CW) 8p Banks Street Bar: the Unnaturals (RC) 10p Bombay Club: David Harris (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: David and Roselyn (VR) 5p, Greg Schatz (VR) 8p, Ashley Blume’s Time Machine (JV) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): Burgundy Burlesque: A Trixie Minx Production (BQ) 9p

Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Michael Fracasso (SS) 8p, Dave Jordan and NIA (RR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 6p Dragon’s Den: Slick Skillet Serenaders (JV) 6p, Loose Marbles (JV) 8p, Black Laurel (VR) 11p, Shop Class (RK) 1a; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse (VR) 10p House of Blues: Strangelove Tribute to Depeche Mode (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): the Lilli Lewis Project, Sturmlandia (RB) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p, Rubin/Wilson Folk-Blues Explosion (FO) 9p Maison: Roamin’ Jasmine, Royal Street Winding Boys (VR) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers, Jesse Smith Project (VR) 10p Maple Leaf: the Quickening (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Craig Klein with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Mo Jelly, Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys (CW) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Salvatore Geloso (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY MAY 7

Ace Hotel: Nashville Nights with Tim Easton (FO) 9p Banks Street Bar: Fifth Switch, Saint Roch (RK) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Kitt Lough (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Andre Bohren (PI) 5p, the Royal Rounders (VR) 8p, Michael Liuzza (JV) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): New Orleans Swamp Donkeys (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Lisa Meddick and Allison Young (VR) 8p, Song Dogs (VR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Reggae Band (RE) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Dragon’s Den: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 7p, Elliot Luv (RB) 10p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Close Me Out (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Reggae Night (RE) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker and Trumpet Mafia performing the Music of Outkast (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Speed the Mule (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Louisiana Music Factory: Michael Juan Nunez (VR) 2p, Tanglers Bluegrass Band (BU) 3p, Crispin Schroeder (VR) 4p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 4p, Barry’s Pocket, Organized Crime (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Mike Dillon Band (MJ) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Palm Court Jazz Band with Brian O’Connell and Ernie Elly (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Top Cats (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Astral Project (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY MAY 8

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance Sunday (BL) 12p

Audubon Zoo: Mother’s Day with Irma Thomas (SO) 2:30p Banks Street Bar: Poor Peter (FK) 9p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Melanie Gardner Trio (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Sweet Olive Throw Down (BL) 7p Crazy Lobster: Reggae Band (RE) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Soul Brass Band (BB) 3p, Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Billy Iuso and Restless Natives (RR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam with Anuraag Penyal (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour (CO) 8p House of Blues: Teyana Taylor (RB) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (JV) 10a, Swinging Gypsies, Melanie Gardner (JV) 1p, Too Darn Hot, Soul Project (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (RB) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Gerald French with Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: NOCCA Jazz Ensemble (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascale (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY MAY 9

Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (JV) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Hot Club of Mazant (GY) 8p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Claire Cannon and Kenna Mae (FO) 8p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Crooked Vines (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p the Saint: Motown Mondays with DJ Shane Love (SO) 10p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Joe Cabral (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p

TUESDAY MAY 10

Banks Street Bar: Hilary Johnson, Biglemoi (VR) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Chris Adkins (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Charlie Dennard and friends (VR) 6p, High Standards Orchestra feat. Aurora Nealand and Graham Hawthorne (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: DinosAurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Marshland (FO) 8p, No True Scotsman (ID) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-Stars feat. Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: the Cure (RK) 7:30p

WEDNESDAY MAY 11

Ace Hotel: Daria and the Hip Drops (PO) 8p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: John Rankin (JV) 6p, Paul Sanchez (RR) 9p, Michael Cerveris and Loose Cattle (VR) 10p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RK) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Beach Slang, Potty Mouth, Dyke Drama (PK) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p House of Blues: Floetry (RB) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Tim Robertson (FO) 8:30p Lafayette Square: Wednesday at the Square feat. Marcia Ball, Mia Borders (FK) 5p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: DinosAurchestra, Jazz Vipers, Mutiny Squard (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Deltaphonic with special guests (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Clockwork Elvis (SI) 8p 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 Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: the Cure (RK) 7:30p

d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (MG) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles Presents (JV) 6p, Loose Marbles (JV) 8p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues: Apopcalyptica, 10 Years, Failure Anthem (RK) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Kinky Rhino, Fifth Switch, My Imaginary Friend (RK) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Ferguson (FO) 5p, One Tailed Three (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Ramblin’ Letters, Shotgun Jazz Band, Los Po-boy-citos (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes with Mike Dillon (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old U.S. Mint: Dick Deluxe (SS) 7p

One Eyed Jacks: Kristin Diable (SS) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Palm Court Jazz Band with Kevin Louis (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Shynola (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Ralphie May and the Soul Rebels: A Night of Laughs and Brass for Your Ass (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY MAY 14

Ace Hotel: R.L. Boyce (BL) 9p Banks Street Bar: PYMP (EL) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Duke Heitger (JV) 8:30p

Buffa’s Lounge: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Suzy Malone (VR) 5p, the Asylum Chorus (VR) 8p, Swamp Kitchen (JV) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): New Orleans Swamp Donkeys (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: Reggae Band (RE) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 11a d.b.a.: Corey Henry’s Treme Funktet (FK) 11p Dragon’s Den: Slick Skillets (JV) 7p, the Quickening (FK) 10p, Musical Expression (FK) 11:59p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Brown Improv (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Howlin’ Wolf: Mad Love, Tha Neighbors, T-Ray the Violinist feat. Dreams2Reality (HH) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 5p, Beth Patterson (FO) 9p

THURSDAY MAY 12

Ace Hotel: DJ Kahti (VR) 10p Armstrong Park: Jazz in the Park feat. Bag of Donuts, Preservation Hall Brass Band (VR) 4p Banks Street Bar: Strange Roux, Livingstone (BB) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Alexandra Scott and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): the Yat Pack (VR) 9p Champions Square: Chris Stapleton (CW) 7:30p Chiba: Keiko Komaki (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Emily Robertson and friends (VR) 6p, Sam Price and the True Believers (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Big Sam Trio (FK) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 9:30p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Howlin’ Wolf: Young Greatness (HH) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 8:30p Maison: Jon Roniger, Roamin’ Jasmine, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and guests (FK) 11p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin and Duke Heitger with Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Curley Taylor (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Spencer Bohren (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Kettle Black (VR) 7:30p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and Treme Funket (FK) 10p

FRIDAY MAY 13

Ace Hotel: Disappears DJ Set (RK) 10p Banks Street Bar: Honey Tangerine (BQ) 10p Bombay Club: Charlie Halloran (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: Lucas Davenport (VR) 5p, Margie Perez (SO) 8p, Rebecca Leigh (JV) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): Burgundy Burlesque: A Trixie Minx Production (BQ) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Ship of Fools (VR) 9p, Minos the Saint (VR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p

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MAY 2 016

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Louisiana Music Factory: Jamie Bernstein (VR) 2p, Darcy Malone and the Tangle (VR) 3p, Cole Williams (VR) 4p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, the Essentials, Big Easy Brawlers (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: call club (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Pontchartrain Vineyards: Jazz’n the Vines feat. Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 6:30p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Wise Guys (JV) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Sidney Bechet’s Birthday Tribute with Aurora Nealand (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 12p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: Fantasia and Anthony Hamilton (PO) 8p

SUNDAY MAY 15

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance Sunday (BL) 12p Banks Street Bar: Ameriglow, Blue Blazers, Toonces (VR) 9p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Sweet Olive Duo (BL) 6p, the Fortifiers (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Reggae Band (RE) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Soul Brass Band (BB) 3p, Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam with Anuraag Penyal (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Wild Nothing, Charlie Hilton (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour (CO) 8p

M AY 2 0 1 6

Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Claire Cannon and Kenna Mae (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (SI) 10a, Eight Dice Cloth, Swinging Gypsies (JV) 1p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (RB) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Tom Fischer and Charlie Fardella with Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Fais Do Do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and Heirs to the Crescent City (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 12p, G and the Swinging Three (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascale (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY MAY 16

Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (JV) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Civic Theater: Josh Ritter and the Royal City Band, the Steel Wheels (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Colin Lake Duo (BL) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Hot Club de Cosmos (GY) 8p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Dick Dale, Mahayla (RK) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p

Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: call club (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p the Saint: Motown Mondays with DJ Shane Love (SO) 10p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Joe Cabral (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY MAY 17

Banks Street Bar: Simple Sound Retreat (VR) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Khari Allen Lee and the New Creative Collective (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Charlie Dennard and friends (VR) 6p, Aaron Wilkerson and friends (VR) 8:30p d.b.a.: DinosAurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Range, Rome Fortune (ID) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p, Noah Hunt and Mato Nanji (BL) 10:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Joe Lastie (TJ) 8p Smoothie King Center: Rihanna, Travis Scott (PO) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY MAY 18 Ace Hotel: Michot’s Melody Makers (KJ) 8p

Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: John Rankin (JV) 6p, Shynola (JV) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RK) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: We Are Scientists (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Coast to Coast Hip Hop Showcase (HH) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Dana Abbott (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Jam (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Lafayette Square: Wednesday at the Square feat. the Revivalists, Roar (VR) 5p Maison: Jazz Vipers, Mutiny Squad (VR) 6:30p Maple Leaf: Deltaphonic with special guests (FK) 9p 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 (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Swing Night with the Boogie Men (SI) 8p 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 Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Schatzy (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY MAY 19

Ace Hotel: DJ Quickie Mart (EL) 10p Armstrong Park: Jazz in the Park feat. Honey Island Swamp Band, Zion Trinity with Darcy Malone and the Tangle (VR) 4p Banks Street Bar: the Most Infamous (HH) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Alexandra Scott and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): the Yat Pack (VR) 9p Chiba: Brint Anderson (BL) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Emily Robertson and friends (VR) 6p, Nyce CD-release party with Jamie Bernstein (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Little Freddie King (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 9:30p; Upstairs: Soundclash (HH) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Stripped into Submission (BQ) 9p House of Blues: DMX (HH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Vincent Marini (FO) 8:30p Maison: Jon Roniger, Asylum Chorus, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: After Hours feat. Aurora Nealand (JV) 6p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin and Ben Polcer with Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Wayne Singleton and Same Ol’ 2 Step (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: the Bridge Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Otep, September Mourning, Through Fire, Doll Skin (ME) 5:30p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (PI) 5p, Ben Polcer (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and Treme Funket (FK) 10p

FRIDAY MAY 20

Ace Hotel: Colin Lake (FO) 9p Banks Street Bar: Chris Zonada (SS) 7p, the Bills, Trash Night (VR) 10p Bombay Club: Matt Johnson (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: Live Jazz Group with Rhodes Spedale (JV) 5p, Bayou Saints (VR) 8p, Carolyn Broussard and Matt Whitcomb (VR) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): Burgundy Burlesque: A Trixie Minx Production (BQ) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Erica Falls Band (VR) 9p Circle Bar: Rik Slave’s Country Persuasion (CW) 6p, Alligator Chomp Chomp with DJ Matty (SP) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 6p, Dave Jordan and NIA, Carey Hudson and the Pineywood Players (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles Presents (JV) 6p, Loose Marbles (JV) 8p, Maggie Belle Band (VR) 11p, Nyce (JV) 1a; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Bright Light Social Hour (RK) 10:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Haus of Mayhem (VR) 7p, JMSN (RB) 10p Historic New Orleans Collection: Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 6p Howlin’ Wolf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Piano Bob (PI) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Broadmoor Jazz Band, Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 1p, Shotgun Jazz Band, Soul Project (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Mark Brooks with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Mixed Nuts (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 6p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: IAMSU!, Mod Sun, Gravez, BIA (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (CW) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

SATURDAY MAY 21

Ace Hotel: Soundbytes Jam Session hosted by PJ Morton (RB) 9p Banks Street Bar: Noisewater (BB) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Stephen Gordon (JV) 8:30p

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Buffa’s Lounge: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Kettle Black with Keith Burnstein (VR) 5p, Sherman Bernard and the Ole Man River Band (VR) 8p, Michael Liuzza (VR) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): New Orleans Swamp Donkeys (VR) 9p Carousel Bar: High Standards Orchestra feat. Graham Hawthorne, Quiana Lynell and David Harris (JV) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Margie Perez (VR) 9p Creole Cookery: Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 11a Dragon’s Den: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Drunktoons (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 5p, Mark Hessler and Harold Vivien (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Loose Marbles, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers (BB) 10p Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Palm Court Jazz Band with Brian O’Connell and Chuck Badie (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Mo Jelly and the Genitll Men feat. Bobby Cure, Irene Sage, John Autin and Dave Ferrato, 17/64 (BL) 9p Snug Harbor: Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 6p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY MAY 22

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance Sunday (BL) 12p Banks Street Bar: Jeff “Guitar” Nelson (BL) 8p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase with As You Like It Jazz Trio (JV) 4p, Nattie’s Songwriters Circle (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Sweet Olive Duo (BL) 6p, the Fortifiers (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s AllStars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Soul Brass Band (BB) 3p, Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, MainLine (BB) 11p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam with Anuraag Penyal (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Traditional Irish Session (IR) 5p, Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (SI) 10a, Royal Street Winding Boys, Roamin’ Jasmine, Tuba Skinny, Corporate America (VR) 1p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (RB) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Tom Fischer with Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Paul Varisco and the Milestones (BL) 5:30p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and Heirs to the Crescent City (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy’s Band (JV) 12p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascale (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

MONDAY MAY 23

Banks Street Bar: Jeff Guitar Nelson (BL) 8p Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Russell Welch Hot Quartet (GY) 8p

Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p House of Blues: Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria, Cane Hill (ME) 7:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Crooked Vines (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: call club (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a the Saint: Motown Mondays with DJ Shane Love (SO) 10p Snug Harbor: Monday Night All-Stars feat. Charmaine Neville (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Dying Fetus, the Acacia Strain, Jungle Rot, Black Crown Initiate, Systemhouse 33 (ME) 5p Three Muses: Washboard Rodeo (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY MAY 24

Banks Street Bar: Nicole Ockman Band (VR) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Jesse Morrow (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Charlie Dennard and friends (VR) 6p, High Standards Orchestra feat. Graham Hawthorne (JV) 9p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: DinosAurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Marshland (FO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Cool Nasty (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Joe Lastie (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY MAY 25

Ace Hotel: Haruka Kikuchi (VR) 8p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Shynola (JV) 6p, Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Circle Bar: the Iguanas (RK) 6p , Slick Leo’s Birthday Jam with DJ Obi-1 (EL) 10p 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 Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Maison: Swamp Kitchen, Jazz Vipers, Willfunk (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Deltaphonic with special guests (FK) 9p 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 (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Ingrid Lucia (SI) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Terrance Taplin (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 Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Sarah McCoy (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY MAY 26

Ace Hotel: Dent May, DJs Aaron Castle and Panamajack (RK) 9p

Armstrong Park: Jazz in the Park feat. James Andrews, Colin Lake (VR) 4p Banks Street Bar: Groovy Tuesday (VR) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Alexandra Scott and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): the Yat Pack (VR) 9p Champions Square: Joe Walsh and Bad Company (VR) 6p Chiba: Monty Banks (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Emily Robertson and friends (VR) 6p, Pegg Legg (VR) 9p, Michael Juan Nunez CD-release party (VR) 10p d.b.a.: Feufollet, Miss Tess and the Talk Backs (KJ) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 9:30p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Mrs. Magic (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Circus Darling (BQ) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: One Tailed Three (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Jon Roniger, Loose Marbles, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and guests (FK) 11p Palm Court Jazz Café: Clive Wilson and Charlie Halloran with Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Jeffery Broussard (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Leigh “Lil Queenie” Harris Benefit (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Meschiya Lake (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and Treme Funket (FK) 10p

FRIDAY MAY 27

Ace Hotel: Neon Burgundy, Nicole Lynn Foxx (VR) 9p Banks Street Bar: Unite the Vibe Music Fest (VR) 7p Bombay Club: Josh Starkman (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: Yvette Voelker and the Swinging Heathens (JV) 5p, Cole Williams Trio (VR) 8p, Swamp Kitchen (JV) 11p Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): Burgundy Burlesque: A Trixie Minx Production (BQ) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p Circle Bar: Rik Slave’s Country Persuasion (CW) 6p, Fire Retarded, Trampoline Team, Manic and the Depressives, Mea Culpa (PK) 9:30p Civic Theater: Sam Beam and Jesca Hoop, Marlon Williams (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 6p, Soul Rebels (BB) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles Presents (JV) 6p, Loose Marbles (JV) 8p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Sufficients (PO) 8p, Relapse (VR) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Lifted Deezie, Pluto and Kr3wcial (HH) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Annual Bob Dylan Tribute with Foot and friends (FO) 9p Maison: Too Darn Hot, DinosAurchestra, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers (BB) 11:59p Maple Leaf: Russell Batiste and friends (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamie Lynn Vessels (RK) 9:30p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Mari Watanabe with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Groovy 7 (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p Tipitina’s: Reckless Kelly (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons feat. Maggie Havens (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY MAY 28

Banks Street Bar: Unite the Vibe Music Fest (VR) 7p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Russell Welch (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s Lounge: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Greasy Alice (VR) 5p, Freddie Blues and the Friendship Circle (VR) 8p, Vanessa Carr (VR) 11p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Burgundy Bar (the Saint Hotel): New Orleans Swamp Donkeys (VR) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: the Batture Boys (RR) 9p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 11a d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Morning 40 Federation (RK) 11p Dragon’s Den: Swamp Kitchen (VR) 7p, Shop Class (RK) 11:59p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Adia Victoria (BL) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Rip Off Show (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Blue Healer (PO) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Cajun/ Zydeco Fais Do Do with T’Canaille (KJ) 4p, Smoking Time Jazz Club, Full Orangutan (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: call club (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Glamrock Superfoxx presents Sympathy for the Devil: A Burlesque Rock Opera (BQ) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Brian O’Connell and Lester Caliste with Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 8p Pontchartrain Vineyards: Jazz’n the Vines feat. the Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 6:30p Preservation Hall: Joint Chiefs of Jazz feat. Frank Oxley (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars with Freddie Lonzo (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Roddie Romero and the Hub City AllStars (KJ) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Joel Harrison and Spirit House (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: EyeHateGod (ME) 9p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

SUNDAY MAY 29

Banks Street Bar: Unite the Vibe Music Fest (VR) 7p

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Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (JV) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Shemikia Copeland (BL) 6p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s AllStars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Soul Brass Band (BB) 3p, Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam with Anuraag Penyal (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (SI) 10a, Swinging Gypsies, Brad Walker (JV) 1p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (RB) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Glamrock Superfoxx presents Sympathy for the Devil: A Burlesque Rock Opera (BQ) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Mark McGrain Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascale (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY MAY 30

Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (JV) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s Lounge: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p

Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Circle Bar: JP Dufour and the Laundrymen (BL) 9p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Colin Lake (BL) 7p Dragon’s Den: the Kala Baazar Swing Club (GY) 8p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: DIIV (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Kim Carson (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Organized Crime (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a the Saint: Motown Mondays with DJ Shane Love (SO) 10p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass Duo (KJ) 4p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p TUESDAY MAY 31 Banks Street Bar: Terra Terra, Noggin (RK) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Wail Watchers (MJ) 10:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Charlie Dennard and friends (VR) 6p, Aaron Wilkerson and friends (VR) 8:30p d.b.a.: DinosAurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Marshland (FO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Adonis Rose Quintet (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 10:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Joe Lastie (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p

Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

SPECIAL EVENTS MAY 6 The annual Zoo-to-Do at Audubon Zoo features live music, cuisine from local restaurants, cocktails and a silent auction. AudubonInstitute.org MAY 7 The fifth annual Crawfish Mambo features all-you-caneat crawfish and live music at UNO’s lakefront campus. CrawfishMambo.com MAY 7 The New Orleans Ballet Association presents a performance by Che Malambo from Argentina at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. NOBADance.com

FESTIVALS MAY 5-7 The Alex River Fete in Alexandria features classic cars, live music, kids’ activities, food vendors, dragon boat races and art. CityOfAlexandriaLa.com/Fete MAY 6-8 The three-day Treme Art and Music Festival celebrates Jazz in the Park’s fifth anniversary with live music, high school marching bands, food vendors and more at Armstrong Park. ArmstrongPark.org MAY 20-22 The annual music festival on Bayou St. John features three stages of music, arts and crafts and food vendors. TheBayouBoogaloo.com ONGOING Thomas Mann Gallery I/O, (1812 Magazine St., 504-5812113) is exhibiting functional and decorative sculpture by Hernan Caro and a group show of art jewelry and metalsmithing by international artists; both through June.

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BACKTALK

Harold Brown

photo: Anthony Spadaro, Jr.

t’s been a long time since the very funky Lowrider Band, which takes the stage at the Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo at 7:45 pm on Saturday, May 22, performed in New Orleans. The last occasion was a 2009 benefit concert held at the Howlin’ Wolf for the Save Charity Hospital organization, which included Dr. John. “I was flabbergasted that they weren’t going to open the building,” drummer Harold Brown, who at one time was treated at Big Charity but wasn’t born there remembered. “The hospital was built on the concept of helping the poor and sick.” Prior to that, in 2005, the group funked up the former Ray’s Boom Boom Room, then housed at the present-day Maison on Frenchmen Street. Brown, 70, who has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is, of course, one of the original members of the highly successful band War, which was formed in 1969. That’s also the first year he came to New Orleans. However, he and the Lowrider Band, which also includes former War members Lee Oskar (harmonica), Howard Scott (guitar) and B.B. Dickerson (bass), aren’t allowed to mention their participation in War in any promotional material or advertisements due to a court order. “Here’s how we say it,” Brown explains. “We are the original composers of and performers on ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends?,’ ‘The Cisco Kid,’ ‘The World is a Ghetto,’ and ‘All Day Music.’ All our friends know the Lowriders. Everybody knows exactly who we are.” “They held steadfast onto the name,” Brown says. “But we won [the litigation] and we won good. We get paid our back royalties. We didn’t get beat up like Sly Stone did. We trademarked the Lowrider Band name,” he adds. It makes sense that the Lowriders played a benefit for Charity years ago. The music these guys have performed together has always spoken about real people and real issues. “Our music stands for the underdogs,” declares Brown, a California native who during his New Orleans residency led a drum camp before Hurricane Katrina sent him to Houston, Texas and then back home to the West Coast. Funk music with a socially conscious message was a signature of War and remains

the core of the Lowrider Band’s material. Brown remembers standing between Dickerson and reggae legend Bob Marley while walking down a street in Atlanta on the way to a radio station. Marley elbowed him and said, “Brown, Brown, your band like our band. You a street band. I do a song for you.” The result was Marley’s and Peter Tosh’s 1973 classic “Get Up, Stand Up,” which

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By Geraldine Wyckoff

talks back

contains a riff that echoes one in War’s 1971 hit, “Slippin’ Into Darkness.” “We never played together, he just liked hanging with me because I think I have such an open personality,” Brown says of Marley. “I never met a stranger. I walk down the street and talk to people. I think that’s why I was able to roam with Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix. I was the last drummer who jammed MAY 2 016

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One day, this kid was at the bus stop [in New Orleans] and played this drum roll and I said, “How did you learn to do that?” “You taught me, Mr. Brown.” with Jimi Hendrix. The night before he made his transition, I don’t say died, he and I were in this alley in Soho [in London’s West End]. He said, ‘Come with me Brown, I’ll teach you how to eat when you come to Europe.’ I was playing behind him at Ronnie Scott’s [jazz club] and he said, ‘Yeah, Brown, right there right there.’ How active is the Lowrider Band? We’ve been kind of picking and choosing. We could work a lot more if we would lower the price but Howard Scott now lives in Arlington, Texas, Lee Oskar is living near Seattle and I live in Pomona, California—I drive the same streets I drove before I was a famous musician—so it costs. [Percussionist] Chuk Barber, he’s been with us a lot of years and lives outside of Portland and keyboardist Pete Cole, originally from Detroit, lives in California. Then there are the logistics—they call me the quartermaster. New Orleans bassist Sean Carey is subbing [due to health problems] for B.B. Dickerson and Lance Ellis, who I call our ‘fifth member,’ lives in New Orleans too. We’ve been doing our Peace in the Street Tour. We’re trying to make a difference in the communities. We talk to the young people, we talk to the old people. You never know, one little thing can make a difference. Someone gave me five minutes and changed my whole life. It was one of my music teachers when I was in the 7th grade and he was demonstrating different instruments and he came to the drums. I raised my hand and he showed me how to hold the sticks. One day, this kid was at the bus stop [in New Orleans] and played this drum roll and I said, ‘How did you learn to do that? “You taught me, Mr. Brown.”’ Now it’s not so much about the money as it is about us getting out there and coming in contact with the fans, coming in contact with the people and the kids. It’s far greater to have your name written on people’s hearts than it is to have it written in stone. When you relocated from California to New Orleans in 1986 how did it influence your drumming and/or you?

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New Orleans influenced me as a person. When I first moved to New Orleans, I left a 22-room mansion outside of Los Angeles up in the mountains and moved to the Melpomene [projects]—‘ the bricks.’ What it did for me, it brought me down to a certain level—and I walked. Then I got a job working as a stagehand at the Saenger Theatre. I didn’t even tell people who I was. But then, the Red Hot Chili Peppers came by and they started saying, ‘That’s Harold Brown.’ And then people started picking out who I was. So New Orleans brought me down and then I worked myself back up. That was good for me. Then I started playing with Sunpie [accordionist/vocalist Bruce ‘Sunpie’ Barnes] and a lot of guys and just started doing what musicians do playing clubs like the Bon Temps Roulé and Rock ‘n’ Bowl. I learned if you come to New Orleans and walk around with drum sticks in your pocket you better know how to use them. New Orleans not only made me a better person but a better musician because I became sensitive to the rhythms working with [percussionist] Luther Gray and Bamboula. I went to Delgado, studied the history of the city and became a licensed tour guide. Were there any certain drummers who inspired you? How did the drumming differ in New Orleans than California or elsewhere? Herman Ernest, Johnny Vidacovich, Willie Green and Russell Batiste. In New Orleans, drumming is a conversation instead of just beating. It’s like we are sending out a message to the people. We’re saying there’s a pow wow now or there’s a war party going on. Singing and harmonizing was an important aspect of War as it is with the Lowrider Band. It’s a treat. We [War] did our first recording, ‘Spill the Wine,’ with [vocalist] Eric Burdon [of the Animals]. But then when we separated from him, we had songs that we had written too. Howard Scott was one of our main writers and he had ideas like ‘Slippin’ Into Darkness.’ And then B.B. Dickerson was an incredible crooner. He actually had the best voice in the

whole group. He’s the one that sang ‘The World Is a Ghetto.’ Papa Dee Allen, our original percussion player, he sang opera. So on some of those old records when you hear that operatic voice, that’s Papa Dee. Charles Miller [the late saxophonist] was kind of emulating a certain style and then Lonnie Jordan, our original keyboard player, who’s touring with the group War with a bunch of wannabes [laughs], he could mimic people singing. So when you get this cornucopia of personalities and voices, we started coming up with our own sound. Particularly with the blend of harmonica and sax with Lee Oskar and and Charles Miller, we started hearing a whole other kind of thing like ‘All Day Music.’ So how about you? Did you always sing? Did you sing in church? No, I didn’t sing in church. My mother played piano at one of those Holiness churches down in Anaheim, California. What made me start singing was this guy who sang, ‘Big John is my name, all I want to do is play funky...’ and he was a drummer [John Parrish from the group Rare Earth]. And I said, ‘Wait a minute, he’s singing back there, let me give it a shot.’ The one I sang was ‘Heartbeat.’ It was one of the most played rap songs on the radio. Everybody emulated it—Ice Cube, Ice-T. To this day, we get a lot of requests for that. We were trendsetters. We were the California sound—it wasn’t just the Beach Boys. [laughs] Howard Scott and I have been together 55 years. Howard’s father and B.B.’s father and my daddy used to take us to our gigs. My mother was our first manager. So we go way back. Howard and I have almost the same pitch and tonality. So what does it mean to you to come back to New Orleans to play the Bayou Boogaloo? It means a lot to me. I get there and I get very emotional. It means I get to come back to a place and run the streets that I know. I can get some of the good food. I come back sometimes and people don’t know that I’m there. When I get there, nobody wants to let me out of there. O www.OFFBEAT.com