OffBeat Magazine February 2011 by OffBeat Magazine

NINE LIVES MR. MOM RADIO BLUE LU BARKER THE MOTHER-IN-LAW JOHNNY VIDACOVICH KREWE DE VIEUX

Musical Beds Debbie Davis and Matt Perrine at home

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Letters

Mojo Mouth

10 Photo Op with Zack Smith

16 18

Kind of Blue

Hank Cherry tells the story of Blue Lu Barker, who wasn’t as blue as her songs suggested.

The Couple That Plays Together …

Matt Perrine and Debbie Davis tell Michael Patrick Welch how they juggle their family and musical lives.

In the Kitchen with Johnny

Astral Project’s drummer is not afraid to die, unless he runs out of pasta.

Reviews Listings and Plan A with the Elephant 6 Surprise Holiday Tour

Fresh

Obituary: Dickie Taylor

20 22

24 30 36 38

40 46

A Chorus Second Line

Alex Rawls tracks Paul Sanchez and Colman DeKay’s efforts to take Nine Lives to Broadway.

Two-Stepping

Elsa Hahne finds some of New Orleans’ musical couples at home.

OffBeat Eats

Caddywhompus is in The Spot at Doson Noodle House, and Rene Louapre and Peter Thriffiley review BLAST FROM THE PAST Kanno. “Anders & Theresa: Doin’ Fine” by Keith Spera, July 1994

with 53 Backtalk Krewe du Vieux Alex Rawls talks to Ray Kern and Lee Mullikin on the eve of the irreverent krewe’s 25th anniversary parade. “There’s a Prime Directive,” Mullikin says. “Don’t interfere in another subkrewe.

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This month’s cover story celebrates musical and romantic partners Matt Perrine and Debbie Davis, with a photo essay of other couples bound by more than just music. Back in 1994, former editor Keith Spera wrote about Swedes Anders Osborne and Theresa Andersson, who he called “the hottest musical couple in town.” They’ve each moved on to other partners, but their crazy cover photo remains. To read this article and more from this issue, go to offbeat.com/1994/07. FEBRUA RY 2011

Letters

“I can only hope that the club owners on Bourbon Street do their part to make [the street] a more musical experience for our visitors.”—Nita Hemeter, New Orleans, LA

Louisiana Music & Culture

February 2011 Volume 24, Number 2 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com

WALTER PAYTON Regarding the letter from Barry Wratten published in the January 2011 issue. The correct name of the city is Bonn. I remember the N.O.R.O. concert very well. Not only because I was the organizer, but also for the following: the band played the city’s Market Place in front of a movie theater, showing The Sting, the famous movie with the famous soundtrack “The Entertainer.” I asked Lars Edegran to play Joplin’s composition in the very moment the movie audience was leaving the theatre. The people went crazy. They stayed in front of the bandstand asking for more and more. —Hans W. Ewert, Cologne, Germany

SLEAZE STREET Well thank goodness, an article about Bourbon Street! I wonder how the epicenter of jazz became the American Main Street of Sleaze and blaring decibel-busting music. As a tour guide and musician, I talk to many visitors to our beautiful city, and they all say the same thing: “Bourbon Street is awful.” There is nothing wrong with the songs “Sweet Home Alabama” or “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” but these songs can be heard in any bar in the U.S.A. and they don’t really highlight the virtues of New Orleans’ music. Many of our visitors come to New Orleans to eat our wonderful food, bask in our fabulous architecture, learn about our interesting history, and to hear New Orleans music. The music is often hard to find on Bourbon Street. I give them a list of the few places in and around Bourbon Street, as well as the street musicians on Royal Street, where you can find traditional jazz, the music that was born here and the music many want to hear. Then, I direct them to Frenchmen Street to experience New Orleans music and musicians. I can only hope that the city and club owners on Bourbon Street will recognize the trend, and individually and collectively do their part to make one of the most famous streets in the world a more accommodating and musical experience for our visitors to enjoy the music that sprang from the roots of jazz. Perhaps Mayor Landrieu can provide an economic stimulus reward to those clubs who promote Louisiana’s cultural economy

and thus support local musicians and local music. —Nita Hemeter, New Orleans, LA

HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH I just got an email from my one of my best friends who last year put his money where his heart is by buying a second home in the Bywater. [The email] bemoans the cruel fact that we sit in the Mid-Atlantic in sub-freezing temperatures while it is 75 degrees in New Orleans and Vaughan’s (whose owner grew up in our childhood neighborhood in Baltimore) will be alive tonight with Kermit. Knowing that our wives would not put their stamps of approval for hopping a flight, I turned to today’s [Weekly Beat] from you for some solace. Thanks for your continued devotion to what we refer to as the “happiest place on earth” and its culture; it is the next best thing to being there. And for the monthly OffBeat, one of several magazines that I read cover to cover. —Tim Gilbert, Whaleyville, MD

THANKS RADIATORS From a guy that grew up in Minnesota and now resides in the Northern California Wine Country, the New Orleans music scene remains to be inspirational to musicians and fans across the world. It is something that the city should cherish and be deeply proud of. I will truly miss one of your special products, the Radiators, after this year. The boys gave me so many wonderful and memorable nights over the last twenty years from Farms in Wisconsin, backyards in Northern California, the great City by the Bay, many great shows in their home town, and of course they always heated-up Minneapolis. Thank you Radiators and thank you New Orleans. Also, thank you Dad for taking me to New Orleans for my 21st birthday those 20 years ago and sharing a town that we spoke of often and had such passion for. I miss you old man. —Dave Ready, Jr., Healdsburg, CA

BATTISTE POSTER In response to Jan Ramsey’s Blog on Harold Battiste, Jr.: As my wife, who was the secretary for the UNO music department for 13 years says, Harold is one of the most photogenic jazz musicians ever. I hope we might see him on a Jazz Fest poster soon. —Kurt Nicewander, Lincoln RI

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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Managing Editor Joseph L. Irrera, josephirrera@offbeat.com Associate Editor Alex Rawls, alexrawls@offbeat.com Consulting Editor John Swenson Listings Editor Craig Guillot, craigguillot@offbeat.com Online Editor Ben Berman, benberman@offbeat.com Contributors Brian Boyles, Hank Cherry, Chloe Curran, Elsa Hahne, Andrew Hamlin, Aaron LaFont, Jacob Leland, Rene Louapre, Stephen Maloney, Tom McDermott, Caitlyn Ridenour, Kate Russell, Peter Thriffiley, Michael Patrick Welch, Dan Willging, Zachary Young Cover Elsa Hahne Design/Art Direction Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Advertising Sales Casey Boudreaux, caseyboudreaux@offbeat.com Melinda Johnson, melindajohnson@offbeat.com Aaron Lafont, aaronlafont@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Chloe Curran, Barbie Cure, Cooper O’Bryan, Kate Russell, Zachary Young 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 Copyright © 2011, 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 at $39 per year ($45 Canada, $90 foreign airmail). Back issues available for $6, except the May issue for $10 (for foreign delivery add $2). Submission of photos and articles on Louisiana artists are welcome, but unfortunately material cannot be returned.

MOJO MOUTH

Loving Music Until the End

n OffBeat’s pages, we’ve covered the struggles that our musicians face as they age: illness and incapacity to work; bad business decisions that have impacted royalty income. Many Americans have a safety net of savings or pensions or investments that can keep us afloat in our later years. Most musicians do not. More often than not, musicians and the others employed (or selfemployed) in the creative industries such as artists, actors and performers don’t have the luxury of a safety net. Organizations such as Actors’ Equity and the Actor’s Fund exist so that actors will have some recourse and a means of living a dignified old age.

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Musicians are the heart and soul of our creative community and currently there’s nowhere for them to go after retiring or for assisted living. Perhaps you may have wondered why so many jazz musicians are old? If your only source of income were the gigs you play, you’d never stop working because you’d have to, to survive. The first time this hit home to me was when Tommy Ridgley was in the hospital, dying of lung cancer. I spoke with Tommy regularly, and when he was barely able to talk, he told me that he just “had to go back to work because without work, I have no money.” The man was dying, and he needed to go back to work to have an income.

I often see “Uncle” Lionel Batiste walking down Frenchmen Street, slowly because of his age, but with great dignity from the small apartment he lives in on Royal Street. Will he be able to afford living in his apartment when he gets too old to travel and work? Our beloved Harold Battiste lives alone in an apartment with no assistance and can no longer play. Sweet Home New Orleans, the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, MusiCares and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation are a few of the organizations that have assisted aging musicians, but they have limited funding. The Musicians Union has an “altruist” fund for members who become incapacitated and ill,

but musicians often don’t take care of business records. “We’ve had some respected members who just had no money at all,” said Kim Foreman of the Musicians Local 174-96. “We’ve had to try to come up with money just to give them a decent burial because many times their families can’t do it. It’s a tragedy.” There’s a retirement community that will include assisted living that’s being built outside Nashville. But nothing in Louisiana. So there’s a real problem here, and it’s a pity and a shame that for all the pleasure and enrichment that our musicians have provided to us, there’s little for them to look forward to as they get older.—Jan Ramsey

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FRESH

ll Aboard the Mother-in-Law

Kermit Ruffins is set to take over the Mother-in Law-Lounge on Claiborne Avenue in the Treme, saving another endangered landmark on the New Orleans musical landscape. While the Treme neighborhood and the working musicians that call it home have received worldwide attention over the past year thanks to the eponymous HBO series, too many of the historic neighborhood’s music venues have closed their doors over the past decade. The once thriving neighborhood saw many of its lifelong residents scattered by Hurricane Katrina five years ago, a loss that has made it hard to sustain any kind of business in the area, especially one dependent on a steady stream of bodies through the door. But Ruffins still maintains hope that the Treme will bounce back better than before. “A lot of the bars closed down because they just weren’t sustainable,” Ruffins says. “But the Treme’s coming back. Sooner or later the Circle Food Store will open back up and that whole avenue will be back up and running.” When legendary New Orleans musician Ernie K-Doe’s wife and longtime business partner Antoinette K-Doe passed away on Mardi Gras Day 2009, the future didn’t look good for the couple’s Mother-in-Law Lounge on the corner of North Claiborne and Columbus. Her daughter Betty Fox took over after her mother’s death, but couldn’t keep the legendary bar open. When Ruffins saw boards over the windows, he knew he had to do something. “I was driving around one day and I saw that it was closed, and I thought that looked like a nice corner to have a nice bar,” he says. “I want to reopen K-Doe’s place and help keep his legacy alive. I love that neighborhood. I have a bar around the corner, down the street from the Candlelight.” Ruffins said he intends to continue the traditions the K-Does started when they opened the Motherin-Law in 1994. “It’ll be the same bar, just under my ownership,” he says. “We’ll have as much live entertainment as we possibly can.” With any luck, Ruffins hopes to have the bar open by Jazz Fest. While this will be the second bar Ruffins owns after he purchased Sidney’s Saloon at the corner of St. Bernard and St. Claude two years ago, he said he has no plans to start a second career as a club owner. “I do everything really spontaneous,” he says. “I never really plan through anything, and whenever I see an opportunity, I just jump on it. And this is a great opportunity.” —Stephen Maloney

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Photo: ELSA HAHNE

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FRESH

Rappers popularized the questionable phrase “baby mama.” But in naming his new WGSO radio talk show about parenting, local rapper Daniel “Impulss” Perez chose “Mr. Mom Radio.” The premise: “I am not Dr. Phil or Joy Brown,” says Perez. “I am not giving people answers, just trying to start a dialog between parents about parenting. That’s assuming they are parents who give a shit.” Perez’s humorous irreverence doesn’t permeate his radio show, but it’s there. On Mr. Mom’s inaugural episode January 5, as Perez hurried from idea to idea, jokes and opinions slipped out. He wrapped a segment musing on the idea of the 10-hour workday by saying, “Many people believe that what’s best for the company is what’s Impulss a.k.a. Daniel Perez: Rapper, keyboardist, engineer. most important. I say me Rita LaGrange: Singer, pianist. spending time with my Nico, 3. Remy, 1. kids so that they don’t Anniversary: July 5, 2008. Together since 2005. rob you and your co"I recorded Marie Laveaux's Hustle with Remy in a Bjorn." workers in 20 years is just as important.” The show—a blogish discussion with relevant guests about recent news articles regarding parenting—runs Wednesdays from 4 to 5 p.m., right after Lou Dobbs, which, though he considers himself both liberal and conservative, makes Perez chuckle: “It’s definitely not the same demographic as my music.” When asked if he planned to incorporate his most obvious talent into his show Perez hesitated. “I don’t know,” he says. “I’d really have to find the right place to wiggle it in there…” For now, Perez hopes to also affect people’s idea of masculinity. “Most rappers have kids but rarely do they celebrate their families publicly. You want to know hard? Get two kids ready for school everyday. Or stand outside in the freezing cold morning for two hours like I just did, hoping to get my kids into a good school.” Episodes of “Mr. Mom” are archived on the web at WGSO.com. —Michael Patrick Welch

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Photo: Elsa hahne

mpulss-ive Parenting

uarter Fest Lagniappe

This year’s French Quarter Festival will start on Thursday, April 7, a day earlier than in previous years. The free festival that takes over Bourbon Street, Decatur Street, Jackson Square and Woldenberg Park has traditionally held its gala—“TGIF: Thank Goodness it’s Festival”—on the Thursday night with entertainment and the World’s Largest Jazz Brunch starting on Friday at lunch time. This year, the Jackson Square stage and the Jackson Square portion of the World’s Largest Jazz Brunch will be open from noon until 5 p.m., and three stages at Woldenberg Park and the accompanying food vendors will be up and running from 3-7 p.m. “We are extremely honored that our festival has been embraced by so many people over the past few years following Hurricane Katrina,” says Marci Schramm, Executive Director of French Quarter Festivals, Inc. ”We continue to make operational changes that are designed to greatly improve the quality of the festival experience for everyone. To that end, we are proud to announce the addition of an extra day to the schedule; a little something we like to call ‘Local Lagniappe,’ that we hope will be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.” The talent lineup and food vendors for the festival, which runs from April 7-10, have yet to be announced. —Alex Rawls www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

’Mashing Time

What? The Debut of MashUp NOLA party, a mash-up performance featuring local DJs and musicians. Who’s First? Jermaine Quiz, a local mashup DJ who’s experienced in the turntables-with-live-instruments experience. Who’s In? The first lineup features Derrick Freeman (Michael Franti Trio, Kermit Ruffins’ BBQ Swingers) on drums, Kirk Joseph playing tuba (Dirty Dozen Brass Band), saxophonist James Martin (Ernie Vincent), and guest MC M@Peoples. Future guests include members of Karl Denson, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, George Porter, Jr.’s Running Pardners, the Funky Meters, and Trombone Shorty’s New Orleans Ave. When? Every other Friday Night of Spring 2011, beginning on February 18. Where? The Parish at the House of Blues.Why (besides the popularity of Girl Talk)? “Everything is a mash-up. You are a mash-up of your parents,” Jermaine Quiz explains. “New original music has been inspired and driven by past ideas. It’s natural. I feel the mix of electronicbased music fused with the best musicians is a naturally explosive combination.” —Chloe Curran

Breath of Fresh Air

There’s a new movement in town that has almost no opponents, and it’s driving smokers from their beloved bars and into the streets. The movement’s newest convert is d.b.a.; the Frenchmen Street bar became smokefree on January 3. Owner Tom Thayer timed the switch to coincide with the new year, when many smokers vow to cut back, and he hasn’t seen any drawbacks yet. “So far, so good,” he says. “I’d say 98 percent of customers are backing it.” While the decision to go smoke-free doesn’t necessarily make a profit, Thayer believes that creating a better environment encourages people to stay in his bar longer. Thayer’s main motivation was to provide a clean environment. Most of his staff don’t smoke, yet had to work long hours breathing smoke fumes from patrons. Thayer worked at the New York d.b.a. in the ’90s and remembers upper respiratory infections plaguing him from secondhand smoke. “After all these years,” says Thayer, “I didn’t want to be a part of it anymore. I didn’t want to not come to my own club because it was too smoky.” The “Let’s Be Totally Clear” campaign by Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) helped Thayer make the switch by garnering support for smoke-free environments. “Louisianans care about each other,” says policy director Carrie Broussard. “We care about our musicians, casino workers, bartenders and other employees who make our culture so special. We want to protect them from secondhand smoke.”

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The 2007 Louisiana Smoke-Free Air Act banned smoking in restaurants, but left out stand-alone bars and casinos. That left New Orleans musicians, bartenders and other bar and casino employees unprotected. Though few have come out to defend smokers, State Rep. Reed Henderson (D-Chalmette) did so in 2009 when he claimed that a ban is discrimination against smokers akin to discrimination against homosexuality. But Broussard asks, “Isn’t it discrimination to protect employees who work in offices, but not those who work in casinos or bars?” According to Nancy Romano, general manager of the now smoke-free Tipitina’s, the only people bothered by their new policy were more upset about changing rules than about going outside. “People are creatures of habit,” says Romano. “Tipitina’s went smoke-free over a year ago. When it rains, the staff erects a tent outside for the more determined of its smoking patrons. “It began with Tipitina’s French Quarter location. During Jazz Fest, we worked with Let’s Be Totally Clear and made the venue smoke-free for a little while. We noticed that it really did make a difference. It wasn’t stuffy and the air was so much cleaner.” Republic, 13, Chickie Wah Wah, Rock ’n’ Bowl and the Rusty Nail are all non-smoking now. The Delachaise’s Evan Hayes feared that going smoke-free might hurt his business, but it actually improved. LetsBeTotallyClear.org has a complete list of smoke-free nightspots, events as well as directions on how to become an advocate. —Kate Russell www.OFFBEAT.com

PHOTO OP

Photographer: ZACK SMITH Musicians’ Village Security

n my never-ending quest to photograph everybody I know and meet, I photographed WWOZ DJ, documentarian and percussionist George Ingmire at his new digs in the Musicians Village, before the Chinese drywall moveout. We talked to legendary New Orleans drummer Smokey Johnson, known as “Sheriff of the Musicians’ Village,” about how people protect themselves. —Zack Smith

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IN MEMORIAM

Dickie Taylor 1940-2010

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illustration: tom mcdermott

ickie Taylor, a drummer on the New Orleans scene for 45 years, passed away November 30. Taylor grew up in Chicago, where he began his career in blues and rock bands. He dated the future pop star Jackie DeShannon in high school and played a couple gigs with Muddy Waters, but turned down the regular chair with Muddy with regret. He began playing with fellow Chicagoan Ronnie Kole in 1963. Ronnie Kole and the Heavyweights, with an average weight of over 300 pounds, toured nationally for three years before dieting down to the Ronnie Kole Trio. “When I met Dickie, he was a rock ’n’ roll drummer who didn’t own a pair of brushes,” says Kole. “But he developed into an outstanding, all-around player.” With Kole and bassist Everett Link, Taylor played a long residency on Bourbon Street’s Kole’s Corner, as well as many national and international tours, and Carnegie Hall in 1974. The 1980s found Taylor working with a variety of trad jazz leaders, including Connie Jones, Eddie Bayard and Banu Gibson. It was not uncommon for him to play six days of double shifts per week, and at one point for a few months, he even played six days of “triples,” or three gigs a day. It was this kind of stamina that led musicians to compare his strength to that of five gorillas. In 1990, Dickie was offered the leader’s chair in the Dukes of Dixieland. After the passing of the founding Assuntos, the band had lapsed far away from its trad origins, and Taylor is given credit for injecting

a bit of New Orleans into the band and turning it back around. Dickie made his second appearance at Carnegie Hall with the band in 1992, and toured and recorded with them up until the summer of 2010. Ronnie Magri, a New York drummer who heard Dickie many times during the last 15 years and who subbed for him towards the end, describes him as “a powerhouse, an athlete. He could play four hours of fast tempos and it wouldn’t faze him a bit. He swung hard. I’m not surprised to hear his favorite drummer was Ray Bauduc because he really sounded like him, especially later Bauduc when he used the ride cymbal more.” Everett Link, who with Kole and the Dukes played more gigs with Taylor than anyone, says, “He was a brother to me, and was one of the kindest people you’ll ever meet. He was as loved by his fellow musicians as anyone I’ve ever met, and I don’t think you’ll find anyone to argue with that.” Dickie Taylor was 70 years old. —Tom McDermott www.OFFBEAT.com

BLUE LU BARKER

Kind of Blue Blue Lu Barker’s persona promised a very different person than she was at home.

er voice was never as buxom as she was. Her husband’s fame outgrew her own. Still, Blue Lu Barker remains an important icon of New Orleans jazz and blues 12 years after her death. And while her best-remembered material dates from the ’30s when she was living in New York City, Barker continued performing, especially after resettling in New Orleans, well into the 1980s. Some song titles? I Feel Like Laying in Another Woman’s Husband’s Arms. Loan Me Your Husband. Love that Man. I’ve Got Ways Like the Devil. Marked Woman. On her last recording—an appearance from 1989’s New Orleans Jazz Fest not released until the year she died—Lu’s voice wears the cellophane mask of time, yellowed and brittle, yet filled with oaken substance. As she crackled on, the fans roared in approval while the band churned behind her. Age was not a hindrance. Instead, it was the rattling declaration of Blue Lu Barker’s story, her crinkling vocals a memorial to a life lived well. Barker was the antithesis of today’s glitzy seductress. She sang with more daring suggestion than Beyonce’s plunging neckline. And while singers today rely on athletic histrionics, Blue Lu delivered the goods in a subtly timbred, high voice that told you more by what she didn’t say than by what she did. Mischief and hijinks lingered in between each pause, and the music playing behind her offered more of the same. “Onstage I say all these things, and I shake and dance,” Barker told The TimesPicayune in 1987. “It might give you the impression that I’m a bad or fast person. But if you know me you find out that I ain’t none of those things. Because I don’t even flirt. I’m not a real rowdy person. I’m a fun person.” Her dad operated both a pool hall and a candy store, where he sold

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bootlegged liquor he made at home. As a kid she focused on dancing, but she was singing as early as seven years of age. Yard concerts would feature a piano, maybe a kazoo. “We’d get paid $3.50 for being in the concert, but we’d spend more than we made,” she said. The risqué persona was born out of those times, a performer’s mask to hide behind. “Mother taught me in front of the armoire… but when she was asked about it later, she said, ‘Nobody ever taught Lu anything like that in this house.’ She went to all my concerts, even tried to smoke like they did in New York. I guess you could say she was sassy,” Barker told documentary filmmaker Suzanne Rostock. Husband Danny Barker wrote many of Blue Lu’s songs, including her most famous hit, “Don’t You Feel My Leg” (a.k.a. “Don’t You Make Me High”) but Blue Lu had a history of singing bawdy songs, her phrasing developed from her youth. “The type of blues I was singing, I was too

By Hank Cherry

young,” she said of her early years. “Mama said people would think I knew what I was talking about.” In 1930, Louisa Dupont married Danny Barker. She was barely 16. They remained married until Danny died 64 years later. Her career really hit in the late ’30s when she recorded 24 sides for Decca. Her delicate voice gave the songs the right dollop of intrigue. Her voice proved a perfect foil for genius trumpeter Henry Allen’s horn lines. Blue Lu put her career on hold when the couple moved to New York. After their daughter was born, Danny urged Lu to start singing. She took the bait, and after hearing her 1938 tryout, Decca offered her a contract. A company executive asked if she had a professional name. “I asked Cozy Cole, the drummer, what’s a professional name? He said, ‘Something short and snappy.’ So I said Lu Blue. We switched it around, added Barker, that’s how I got the name.”

The Barkers moved back to New Orleans in 1966, where Blue Lu was more than just some famous musician’s wife. She performed with Danny at Jazz Fest regularly. She appeared in movies, including Live and Let Die, and Rostock’s documentary about her, Blue Lu. And there was more to her than a mischievous turn of the phrase. “First time I heard her sing I was amazed,” jazz historian Tom Dent said. “Her performance was risqué… her actual personality was just the opposite.” Blue Lu also recognized the importance of a jazz funeral. When her husband died, she made sure that the real traditions of jazz funerals were honored. She felt many jazz funerals had gotten away from what they were meant to be. In May 1998 the fun was over. She received her own jazz funeral, having succumbed to natural causes at the age of 84. O www.OFFBEAT.com

NINE LIVES

A Chorus Second Line PhotoS: JERRY MORAN

How does a book about New Orleans get to Broadway? Paul Sanchez and Colman DeKay are finding out.

Wendell Pierce with John Boutte (left) and Paul Sanchez with Tanya Boutte in the studio (right)

“I

and screenwriter Colman DeKay’s adaptation of Dan Baum’s 2009 book. Nine Lives tells the stories of nine quintessential New Orleanians living between Hurricane Betsy and Hurricane Katrina, which interested DeKay so much that he Here comes old Cedric. approached Sanchez with the idea He’s had a fabulous year. of making a musical. A hush fills the room as his “I said no,” Sanchez says over young wife draws near. coffee. “I said, ‘I don’t want to read He pimps her out freely to a Katrina book. I’m trying to get advance his career and you’re their king at Mardi Gras. over it.’” When DeKay finally convinced him to read it, he not only relented He’s portraying Rex member but was inspired. “I was lying in bed George Montgomery, and he’s and a song popped into my head. singing over Tom McDermott’s I ran downstairs. He was on the harpsichord to Kevin Griffin’s Billy phone long distance to L.A. I said, Grace, Grace having become the ‘Hang up, man. We’re doing this.’” Rex captain and King of Carnival Since Nine Lives has no central in 2002. The litany of dirty little plot, a staged drama—much less secrets is so new that producer Paul Sanchez didn’t get a chance to a musical—would seem unlikely, send Shearer a demo. Instead, he’s but Dam Baum saw it too. “When the book came out, I sent behind the mixing board singing a copy to Randy Newman saying, him a guide vocal so Shearer can ‘Let’s write an opera about New cut his part a line at a time. Orleans,’” Baum says. “Never “The King of Mardi Gras” is just heard from him.” one song from Nine Lives, Sanchez ’m going to Bing it up,” Harry Shearer says. He’s in a vocal booth at Piety Street Recording as his voice drops into a fruity, Crosby-esque baritone:

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By Alex Rawls

DeKay points to the 1982 play Working, based on the Studs Terkel book of oral histories. “You don’t have a traditional narrative structure,” he says. “If you look at the city as a central character, there’s a lot of connective tissue there.” The songs are theatrical and so are the performers. Tony Award-winning actor Michael Cerveris sings John Guidos, who becomes JoAnn before the book is finished, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu—who has a background in musical theater—sings in the finale. John Boutte shares a song with Treme’s Wendell Pierce, who sang their song first as a baritone then, at Boutte’s urging, in his normal register. After that take, Boutte took him aside and said, “You’re an actor, baby; act.” The next one was the keeper. When Sanchez and DeKay finished writing earlier this year, they weren’t sure what came next. “Maybe the Threadheads might put up $6,000, and we make a little cabaret record,” Sanchez says. Instead, the project won a Pepsi Refresh Grant for $50,000, which allowed them to

work at Piety Street and employ more than 100 musicians, including a who’s who of area musicians. One was Irma Thomas, whose long-time drummer was the father of one of “The Nine”—as Baum refers to them—Wilbert Rawlins, Jr. “We called him ‘Computer,’” she says of Rawlins, Sr. before it’s her turn to track. “He could remember anything.” She’s in the studio to cut “It Could Have Been Worse,” and Sanchez and DeKay can’t stop smiling, hearing her sing their words. “I need a few takes to wake up my voice,” she says after the first take, though it sounds just fine to them. “Stop me before I get into bad habits.” Will Nine Lives make it to Broadway? Michael Cerveris plans to get it to the right people. “I don’t fix my car,” Dan Baum says. “I don’t do my own dental work, and I don’t know anything about writing or staging musicals and these guys do. Unless they’re going to do something wildly antithetical to the spirit of the book, I trust them.” O

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TRUMPET PLAYERS

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COVER STORY

The Couple That Plays Together… …has logistical issues, but Debbie Davis and Matt Perrine make it work. By Michael Patrick Welch

1997 saw Davis living in New Jersey, singing in classic rock cover bands and the occasional wedding jazz band. Near the tail end of a horrible break-up, she agreed upon a road trip to help a friend move out of Jersey. “Since it was convenient,” she says, “we drove 700 to 800 miles out of our way to New Orleans. We found out it was Jazz Fest the day before we got there. We had no hotel but by the grace of God found everything we needed. We go to the fest www.OFFBEAT.com

to look for a friend who was playing there. We stop at the Economy Hall tent and there this was this amazing clarinetist, and he had this bassist with him in a dark suit and sunglasses. I turned to my friend and said, ‘That one. I want that one,’ pointing at Matt. The next day we spotted that same guy playing an upright bass so we went to investigate.” “Electric bass,” Matt corrects. Perrine learned to play all bass instruments because bass players are most employable. “I didn’t know any professional musicians growing up in Sacramento,” he says. “But I started at 12 years old on piano, then trombone, then the first instrument I loved was the tuba. Around then, I knew music was going to be my living. I started playing electric bass too, so I could play in like a Dixieland band. Then I started playing upright bass to play jazz.” He had a plan: “I liked many styles of music and didn’t want the instrument I played to limit me to one style. I wanted to give myself every possibility to make a living.” “You wanted to have all your basses covered,” Debbie adds. The groaning dies and Davis continues her Jazz Fest remembrance, “We met Matt that day, then went to see him play tuba the next day. I went back to Jersey and we started writing letters—on paper, like people used to do.” She still has the letters. “On the second day of my first post-Jazz Fest visit, we talked about me moving here. I moved down in September ’97, and we were engaged before Christmas. Much to many people’s shock and horror.” Perrine had known Davis was a singer. “But I hadn’t heard her sing throughout our courtship at all,” he says. “Until I went up to Jersey to meet her parents, help her pack, and move her to New Orleans. She had a gig with one of the classic rock bands, singing Hendrix and Zeppelin. That was when I realized she was actually a serious musician—which I was intrigued by, but a little concerned by. Because now as we proceeded, we were a couple of musicians. It occurred to me that my life would be simpler if she couldn’t sing FEBRU A RY 2 011

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

ithout music, how many would never have fallen in love? Without love, how many songs would have never been written? And yet two musicians in an intimate relationship sounds like romantic chaos. Not so for respected local low-end specialist (sousaphone/bass) Matt Perrine and wife Debbie Davis, best known for her interpretations of songs by the Boswell Sisters and Andrews Sisters as a member of the internationally renowned Pfister Sisters. Together and apart, Perrine and/or Davis perform almost daily, playing everywhere from Late Night with David Letterman to the New Orleans Public Library. Their fairy-tale musical journey together begins at Jazz Fest 1997, but perhaps really takes off during one of the couple’s first serious collaborations at the nowdefunct Warehouse District bar, the Mermaid Lounge. “Debbie, I, and Davis Rogan did the music from Tommy live, one night only during Jazz Fest,” Perrine recalls, “with very minimal staging, and with Davis Rogan as the Pinball Wizard. It was ferocious. In the movie Tommy, the mother throws a champagne bottle into the television and out come these baked beans and chocolate, and Ann Margaret has a psychedelic freak-out, rolling around in all this on the bearskin rug. When it got to that point in our show, Debbie actually stepped down off stage into this kiddie pool. The band is riffing and Debbie’s rolling around in the beans and the chocolate. That was the end of the first act.” “I then had to go out back and get hosed off,” Davis interjects. “And now I am nominated for OffBeat’s Female Vocalist of 2010.” But let’s first return to that fairytale Jazz Fest.

CO VER STO RY

It’s easier than one musician and one civilian, actually, because we both know what’s at stake and what sacrifices have to be made.

Perrine and Davis admit to feeling a lot more stable now in every regard as a couple of musicians with two children, boys Ben, 7, and Henry, 3. “We went into this marriage both wanting kids and wanting music careers,” says Perrine. The couple has a secret weapon that basically allows them to gig and keep the family together: His mom moved from Sacramento to New Orleans to babysit. Prior to that, he says, “It took a long time to get to where living like this is a possibility. We’ve had to see each other stuck in situations for very long stretches of time. But in the end, it’s really working out well. Debbie also has amazing instincts of what the kids need exactly when they need it.”

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Photo: elsa hahne

so well. Both of my parents had been home every night, so I had no idea how to reconcile that lifestyle where we’d both be out doing gigs. But I will also say that I didn’t really want her to move to New Orleans because we were falling in love.” “Oh,” says Davis. “Thanks.” “No, in the end, even if we weren’t falling in love and we didn’t work out,” Perrine says, “I just suspected there was a place for her in the New Orleans music scene.” Davis had no qualms. This was what she’d grown up with. “My parents were both opera singers,” she says. “Both traveled a lot, together and separately. I didn’t even attend a full year of school till fourth grade because we’d be touring everywhere. So there was never a doubt in my mind that two musicians could work and have a family. It’s easier than one musician and one civilian, actually, because we both know what’s at stake and what sacrifices have to be made. We both understand when one of us can’t come home. And kids—kids get used to what you get them used to.

Instincts that served Davis well during a recent six-week cabaret show in Berlin. The kids came with, written off as a business expense. “I had to bring them to work. And the kids flew great and traveled great and lived in the hotel great,” Debbie gushes. “It was just an interesting thing for them to do that summer, like we went to Disney World.” With the extra bonus of your kids thinking you’re a badass musician? She laughs, “Ha, no. They don’t think I am a www.OFFBEAT.com

CO VER STO RY

”I write until the kids get home.”

badass. They think I’m a huge dork. Even when they saw pictures of me in Berlin, posters and billboards at the zoo, on the subway, there’s a picture of your mom and they’re complaining, “Ugh, your picture’s everywhere.” The couple also relies on New Orleans, especially on its vast network of bohemian babysitters. It’s said that “It takes a village,” and New Orleans is one of the only big-city villages in the country. “It’s also great to live in a city where a musician can make something resembling a living in town,” says Perrine. “I can have a job almost all the time here. But if I had to be touring on the road all the time, away from the kids, that would be harder. I enjoy traveling, but I am much happier being home with the kids.” In other cities in America, musicians over 28 who are still in bands are often made to feel that they should grow up. “I have never taken anyone who thinks like that seriously,” says Perrine, who reaps the benefits of New Orleans, where musicians are—at least socially if not economically—held in high regard. Neither Perrine nor Davis has ever encountered anyone who didn’t understand his or her musical destiny. “I’ve never dated a non-musician,” she says. “Never dated anyone who wasn’t on the front lines of that and didn’t understand. Even the guitar players.” Matt groans. “Not the drummers though,” Davis jokes. “I said musicians. But seriously….” “My heart breaks for my friends in New Jersey who had to give up their instruments to get jobs,” she says. “They were as good as anyone, in some cases better. And they put aside all of that for something they didn’t really want. New Orleans helps make this life possible for us, no doubt.” When asked about the downsides of being a musical couple, Perrine says immediately, “It never occurred to me to think about the hard parts, really, when I’m so overwhelmed with all the great parts about it.” The couple has begun working on many projects together, from Christmas songs with Paul Sanchez, for Putamayo’s Putumayo Presents: A Family Christmas, to many regular gigs together with friends at the new Three Muses on Frenchmen Street. This year will also hopefully see the anxiously awaited (by the couple) debut of their unnamed ukulele and tuba duo, which they’ve taken so seriously they’ve yet to unveil it. “We may have to bring in the bagpipes if this doesn’t get their attention,” jokes Debbie. “But as cute as the idea is, in order for anyone to take it seriously, it has to be perfect. And even on a ukulele, that’s harder than one would think. Spike Jones, novelty that he was, wouldn’t have been nearly as potent if everything wasn’t perfect.” The duo’s catalog will include everything from Fats Waller to the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, Amy Winehouse, Irving Berlin and Alex McMurray tunes. “It reminds me of the Tin Men,” says Perrine of his band with McMurray and Washboard Chaz, “in that no one knows what to expect, and it’s not a big band so we’re flexible. We’ll have a blank slate to play rock ’n’ roll all night, or rock steady all night, or jazz, whatever has us excited to play.”

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But their most intense collaboration has been together with Paul Sanchez, working out Sanchez’s musical interpretation of the Dan Baum Katrina non-fiction book Nine Lives. With a grant from Pepsi and Threadhead Records (with whom Davis and Perrine are both deep conspirators) Perrine recorded the music of Nine Lives at Piety Street Studios, to be shopped to investors. “At first Paul made me a demo with guitar and vocals,” Perrine explains. “As the arranger, I would take his composition—the melody, harmony, rhythm and lyric—and I might write an intro or an outro or change keys in the middle of a song, or add horns. Part of what made it so fun was that every song was presented in a New Orleans genre. Then Paul and I had a few meetings. I discussed the size of the ensembles I wanted to put over the music. We were under a strict deadline and after we were finished arranging, we had to record immediately. Paul gave me quite a bit of trust, and leash, and he seems to be happy with what came out of it.” Perrine got to record many other greats, including his wife, on the Nine Lives recording. “One of the tunes was hypothetically written for Irma Thomas to sing, and I arranged it as if she was going to sing it. Then she showed up at Piety Street and sang the song! Another song I worked out to have an Allen Toussaint piano part, hoping it would encourage him to show up and play piano on it. In the end, he did.” “Lately, from nine o’clock in the morning, I write until the kids get home.” says Perrine, whose at-home time ebbs and flows. “A lot of times my life is like other 9 to 5 dads. I’m just in my house doing it. Sometimes I’m here recording for days. At those times, my life feels very traditional.” Currently he is spending his days writing and arranging four songs for the Dukes of Dixieland to use for their pops concerts—compositions that will first be performed in Boston, with the Boston Pops playing Perrine’s arrangements into existence. “Then, coming up during Mardi Gras, I will be out every night, like all the other musicians.” Perrine continuously gigs with the Tin Men and other Alex McMurray concoctions, plus the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, the Midnight Disturbers, various collaborations with Paul Sanchez and his own band, Sunflower City. Davis has gotten the green light to record a solo album for Threadhead Records, featuring original music by Alex McMurray and Paul Sanchez, plus obscure standards and “more standard standards,” she says. As for their kids: “Our oldest son has minimal interest in learning an instrument, but he does want to be Robert Plant,” says Davis. “He’s obsessed with Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. So of course we’re very proud. And his grandparents are opera singers, so he’s got this really dramatic rock voice that he uses, an operatic cross between Maria Callas and Freddy Mercury.” “He’s not spending the time like I did, tinkering on the piano all the time,” says Perrine, proudly. “But he spends a lot of time working on his moves. I should have probably spent a little more time on my moves and less time practicing.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

MUSICAL COUPLES

MARRIED WITH MUSIC

Two-Steppin

“Y

ou have to want more for the other person than you want for yourself,” says Barbara Menendez. The former member of local ’80s band the Cold pours me a cup of coffee in her kitchen around the corner from the Prytania Theater. She doesn’t ask if I take cream or sugar, only “How much do you want?” It is obvious from her and husband Ray Ganucheau’s smiles that coffee is one of the things that have kept them going and together all these years. “Sitting down and just talking is so important,” she says. “I’ve been a hands-on mommy for going on 28 years. The music career always came second to me; I wasn’t going to let somebody else raise my kids. At this point, I’m having so much fun starting again with my new band, the Help. But I’m my husband’s biggest fan. I want to wear Ray Ganucheau T-shirts.” When shooting these portraits, I was looking and listening for signs of connection. In some, it was in their eyes, like with Spooky and D.C. Harbold. In others, it was in the stories they told. Jimbo Walsh, for instance, recounts the story of how he and his wife, Janna Saslaw, went on a road trip up to New York through Arkansas once and realized that it actually does matter whether spouses share the same last name—something that isn’t all that common among musicians who establish professional names before meeting their significant others: “We were driving a beat-up old station wagon and it was loaded with musical instruments. Janna was driving and she passes a state trooper in Arkansas. You don’t pass a state trooper. So he pulled us over and they separated us and questioned us, didn’t believe we were married. Not until they asked, ‘When’s your anniversary?’ and I said, ‘That’s just not fair. Married man to another?’ Then they believed us.” Across town, in the Bywater, music promoter Lefty Parker shares a shotgun house with his wife Alison Fensterstock, music critic at The Times-Picayune. They got married in 2009, and it changed both of their careers. “She doesn’t get to write as much about me now that we’re married. Sometimes I’m actually doing interesting things, but she can’t write about it,” he says. “At least not without full disclosure.” —Elsa Hahne

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Angela O’Neill Harbold a.k.a. Reverend Spooky LeStrange: Burlesque dancer, vocalist, music director, oboist. Performs with Crescent City Cupcakes, Billion Dollar Baby Dolls, the Amazing Dr. Z, former member of Sophistikittens, etc. David Cheney Harbold: Singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer. Performs with Clockwork Elvis, the Junior League, the Swaggers, Flatware, Doctor A’ Go-Go, Hairy Lamb, the Help, the Kitty Lynn Band, Andre Williams. Anniversary: Halloween 2007, together since 2003.

“I came to her burlesque show at the invitation of another girl.”

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S LE OUP C L A SIC MU

Dr. James “Jimbo” Walsh: Bassist, guitarist, keyboardist, arranger. Performs with the Naked Orchestra, the Other Planets, Davis, Washboard Rodeo, New Orleans New Music Ensemble. Dr. Janna Saslaw: Singer, flautist, music professor. Performs with the Naked Orchestra, Bubble Bath, New Orleans New Music Ensemble. Anniversary: June 16, 1984. Together since 1979. “We performed as a duo for the first time recently. For a funeral.”

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M US ICAL COU PL ES

Ulrike Masakowski: Pianist, music book writer. Steve Masakowski: Guitarist, music professor. Performs with Nova Nola and Astral Project.

Anniversary: 1981. Do not remember the date. "Whatever I cook, he puts ketchup on it. I think it's the mellowing agent of ketchup. I mean, who else is married this long?!" James Westfall: Vibraphonist, keytarist, pianist. Performs with Nova Nola, Bionica, the Wee Trio.

Kathleen Gorman Westfall: Opera singer, voice teacher. Teaches and performs at University of Southern Mississippi. Anniversary: June 27, 2009. Together since 2002.

“We have one chair. Would you like to sit?”

Alison Fensterstock: Music writer and promoter. Lefty Parker: DJ, bassist, music producer and promoter. Anniversary: April 29, 2009. Together since 2007. "I just got the king cake baby for the first time ever. I moved here in '95, so that's 15 years, and it's not like I haven't eaten my share of king cake."

“Life can be chaotic, always negotiating time. Time to work, and time to be together.”—Sophie Lee 32

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S LE OUP C L A SIC MU

Barbara Menendez: Singer, entertainer, keyboardist. Performs with the Help, former member of Babs Guitars and Drums, the Cold. Ray Ganucheau: Guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, singer, songwriter. Performs solo and with Bande Le Rois. Has played with Continental Drifters, the subdudes, Tommy Malone and Susan Cowsill. Anniversary: September 7, 1982. Together since 1980.

“It doesn’t matter if I’m right. I can just be nice.” Sophie Lee: Singer and co-owner of Three Muses on Frenchmen Street. Performs with her own band.

John Rodli: Guitarist. Performs with New Orleans

Cottonmouth Kings, Palmetto Bug Stompers, Hot Club of New Orleans, King James and the Special Men. Eleanora Moon, 3. Una Mae, 1. Anniversary: Together since Jazz Fest 2002.

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FEBRU A RY 2 011

M US ICAL COU PL ES

Jane Harvey Brown: Singer, voice teacher. Grand marshal for Storyville Stompers, performs with Jane Harvey Brown Traditional Jazz All-Stars, Sugarbear and the Jazzcats. Kerry Brown: Drummer, pianist, festival producer. Has performed with David Allan Coe, Allman Brothers, Tuxedo Brass Band, Olympia Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Storyville Stompers. Anniversary: December 24, 1998.

"I wanted a voodoo wedding, because I've had the other kind, I've had the limousines. I decided voodoo so I don't have to marry again. You get a divorce, you wake up with snakes in your bed." â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Kerry Brown

"Until death and beyond, those were our vows."

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Jane Harvey Brown

Connie Fitch: Singer and music minister at St. Raymond/St. Leo the Great. Dwight Fitch: Singer, pianist, music minister at St. Raymond/St. Leo the Great and Xavier University. Anniversary: June 5, 1971. Together since 1966. "We met at our high school talent show. We've been married 40 years. We have five children and all of them are musical."

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E TH

Y AV GR

In the Kitchen with Johnny when we were little kids, before we’d go to bed. Love coffee, my whole life, but not that hotel coffee. That shit will give you the shakes. I have low blood sugar. Have to watch it. I’ve never passed out on stage, but there’s been times when I was out, passed out, and people freaking out that I’ve had a heart attack. Man, two things; I need an apple and I need a CocaCola. Cola get me right up; apple keep me going. Want me up right now? Give me a Coke real quick; back it up with an apple. My grandmother’s red gravy was good. She made a great meatball sandwich: French bread, mash a meatball down on that, put some red gravy on it. I know that as long as I eat spaghetti, I won’t be afraid. It’s going to be great to die, it’s going to be great!

he poem, yes. We call it “Getting Ready Spaghetti.” The name of the poem is “Oh, it’s Fun to Play the Drums,” but the best part of playing the drums is eating spaghetti. Oh, it’s fun to play the drums. Getting ready, eating spaghetti. Going to the gig, feeling like a pig. Oh, it’s fun to play the drums. Stomach’s full of music’s fuel that makes the bouncing balls of sound and time go touching all over your skin. Oh, it’s fun to play the drums. Eating spaghetti, getting ready. Going to the gig, feeling like a pig. Now, the protein in here is great. By the time you get to work it’s like [snaps fingers]. Protein going to work, you know. Pasta get you through the gig. I try to eat a lot of pasta. I was raised by my Sicilian grandparents all my life, so I had pasta about four times a week, in different forms and variations. The whole trick to making this dish work out is to have a wife. Ha! No, the secret to this dish is good cheese. Spend money on cheese, spend the money on cheese. If you say, ‘Johnny, we’re having pasta at my house tonight’ I’m not going to ask ‘What kind?’—I’m not going to say that because I know I’m going to like it. If it’s something I’ve never had before, then I’ll eat slow. Pasta can hold anything together. I wouldn’t put a can of tuna fish in it, though. Italian is my first choice. When I’m out with Astral Project, we eat healthy. Tony [Dagradi]’s a vegetarian, so he’s a problem. You’ve got to make sure the food is up to his standards, with no animals in it. Tony will eat no bullshit. No eggs. No butter. Bless his heart and their hearts, because James [Singleton] is a real bitch when it comes to—can I edit some

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Getting Ready Spaghetti 1 head roasted garlic 1/4 cup pine nuts 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup basil chiffonade 1 handful cherry tomatoes, cut in half 1 lb pasta, cooked al dente 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

words out?—he’s very conscious about food. They’re googled up, ‘Seven miles, take a right’ and you walk into Happy Chopstick and there’s a Mexican back there. I don’t say nothing. I say, ‘Okay, brother. Just give me a pair of chopsticks and a tamale.’ My mother-in-law cooks fat-boy meals. She loves me, because I go over there with a fork in each hand. You’re watching the right guy because I love to eat and I’m skinny as a rail. That’s alright, I’m healthy. My grandmother cooked hamburgers on Saturdays, that was traditional, every Saturday. But

By Elsa Hahne

they were not like anybody else’s hamburgers. Most people take hamburger meat, make a patty, fry it. My grandmother cut up a little onion, a little green bell pepper, she took an egg, she took a little Italian breadcrumbs, could have been celery in there, maybe garlic, but she’d only put a little because we were young and garlic was strong to us. Now, I can sit down with an apple, piece of cheese and eat a whole bulb of garlic. Raw! I like coffee, I like it all kinds of different ways. After Katrina, I got the Maserati of coffee makers. My grandmother used to give us coffee

Roast garlic at 300 degrees for 30 minutes: Cut the top off the head, exposing the cloves, and rub a few drops of olive oil on top and over the skin—garlic is ready when cloves are soft enough that you can squeeze them out. Toast pine nuts in a dry skillet until golden, stirring/shaking constantly. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add roasted garlic cloves, pine nuts, basil chiffonade (stack leaves, roll into a fat roll and cut to make long, thin strips) and tomatoes and cook until warm, about 1 minute. Toss together with pasta in a large serving bowl and serve immediately, covered with parmesan cheese. www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

Johnny Vidacovich is not afraid to die, unless he runs out of pasta.

EATS

AMERICAN Green Goddess: 307 Exchange Pl., 301-3347 Feast: 200 Julia St., 304-6318 O’Henry’s Food & Spirits: 634 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-9741; 8859 Veterans Blvd., 461-9840; 710 Terry Pkwy., 433-4111. Port of Call: 838 Esplanade Ave., 523-0120. BARBECUE The Joint: 801 Poland Ave., 949-3232. Squeal Bar-B-Q: 8400 Oak St., 302-7370. Voodoo BBQ: 1501 St Charles Ave., 5224647. BREAKFAST Daisy Dukes: 121 Chartres St., 561-5171. Lil’ Dizzy’s Café: 1500 Esplanade Ave., 569-8997. New Orleans Cake Cafe & Bakery: 2440 Chartres St., 943-0010. COFFEE HOUSE Café du Monde: 800 Decatur St., 525-4544. Café Rose Nicaud: 634 Frenchmen St., 949-2292. CREOLE/CAJUN Le Citron Bistro: 601 Orange St., 566-9051. Clancy’s: 6100 Annunciation, 895-1111. Cochon: 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123. Dick & Jenny’s: 4501 Tchoupitoulas, 894-9880. Fiorella’s: 1136 Decatur St., 553-2155. 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. Olivier’s Creole Restaurant: 204 Decatur St., 525-7734. DELI Mardi Gras Zone: 2706 Royal St., 947-8787. Stein’s Market and Deli: 2207 Magazine St., 527-0771. FINE DINING Antoine’s: 701 St. Louis St., 581-4422. Arnaud’s Remoulade: 309 Bourbon St., 523-0377. Besh Steakhouse: 8 Canal St., 533-6111. Bistreaux at Maison Dupuy: 1001 Toulouse St., 586-8000. Café Adelaide: 300 Poydras St., 595-3305. Commander’s Palace: 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221. Emeril’s: 800 Tchoupitoulas, 528-9393. Galvez Restaurant: 914 N Peters St., 595-3400. Iris Restaurant: 321 N Peters St., 299-3944.

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Lüke: 333 St. Charles Ave., 378-2840. Mat and Naddie’s: 937 Leonidas St., 861-9600. Mr. B’s Bistro: 201 Royal St. 523-2078. 7 on Fulton: 701 Convention Center Blvd., 525-7555. Stella!: 1032 Chartres St., 587-0091. FRENCH Café Degas: 3127 Esplanade Ave., 945-5635. La Crepe Nanou: 1410 Robert St., 899-2670. Crepes à la Cart: 1039 Broadway St., 866-2362. The Flaming Torch: 737 Octavia St., 895-0900. Martinique Bistro: 5908 Magazine St., 891-8495. Restaurant August: 301 Tchoupitoulas St., 299-9777 ICE CREAM/GELATO/CANDY Creole Creamery: 4924 Prytania St., 8948680. La Divina Gelateria: 3005 Magazine St., 342-2634; 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692. Sucré: 3025 Magazine St., 520-8311. Southern Candymakers: 334 Decatur St., 523-5544. Tee-Eva’s Praline Shop: 4430 Magazine St., 899-8350.

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS Café Reconcile: 1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 568-1157. CG’s Café at the Nail: 1100 Constance St., 525-5515. Parkway Bakery and Tavern: 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047. Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361. Sports Vue: 1400 Esplanade Ave., 940-1111. Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683. Wit’s Inn: 141 N Carrollton Ave., 486-1600. PIZZA Fresco Café & Pizzeria: 7625 Maple St., 862-6363.

ITALIAN Domenica: 123 Baronne St., 648-1200. Eleven 79: 1179 Annunciation St., 299-1179. Irene’s Cuisine: 539 St. Philip St., 529-8811. Maximo’s: 1117 Decatur St., 586-8883. Tommy’s: 746 Tchoupitoulas St., 581-1103. JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI Kyoto: 4920 Prytania St., 891-3644. Mikimoto: 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., 488-1881. Miyako Japanese Seafood & Steak House: 1403 St. Charles Ave., 410-9997. Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433. MEDITERRANEAN Byblos: 3218 Magazine St., 894-1233. Jamila’s Café: 7808 Maple St., 866-4366. Mona’s Café: 504 Frenchmen St., 949-4115. MEXICAN/CARIBBEAN/SPANISH Juan’s Flying Burrito: 2018 Magazine St., 569-0000. El Gato Negro: 81 French Market Place, 525-9846. Nacho Mama’s: 3240 Magazine St., 899-0031. RioMar: 800 S. Peters St., 525-3474. Taqueros Coyoacan: 1432 Saint Charles Ave., 267-3028 Tomatillo’s: 437 Esplanade Ave., 945-9997. Vaso: 500 Frenchman St., 272-0929.

SEAFOOD Acme Oyster & Seafood House: 724 Iberville, 522-5973. Casamento’s Restaurant: 4330 Magazine St. 895-9761. Crazy Lobster Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St. 569-3380. Drago’s Restaurant: 2 Poydras St. (Hilton Hotel), 584-3911; 3232 N. Arnoult St., Metairie, 888-9254. Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar: 739 Iberville St. 522-4440. Oceana Grill: 739 Conti St., 525-6002. SOUL Dunbar’s: 501 Pine St., 861-5451. Praline Connection: 542 Frenchmen St., 943-3934. Willie Mae’s Scotch House: 2401 St. Ann St., 822-9503. WEE HOURS Clover Grill: 900 Bourbon St., 523-0904. Mimi’s in the Marigny: 2601 Royal St., 872-9868. WINE BAR & BISTRO Orleans Grapevine: 720 Orleans Ave., 523-1930.

Sean Hart hits the

INDIAN Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797.

[of Caddywhompus]

What do you usually get? I usually get the beef pho—pho bo, or any of the standard stuff. What are you getting today? The beef pho. How did you hear about this place? Probably from one of my friends, but there is a huge sign that I saw from across the street.

Doson Noodle House 135 N Carrollton Ave (504) 309-7283

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

Slice Pizzeria: 1513 St. Charles Ave., 525-7437. Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza: 4218 Magazine St., 894-8554. Turtle Bay: 1119 Decatur St., 586-0563.

Photo: CAITLYN RIDENOUR

OffBeat

MUSIC ON THE MENU Carrollton Station Bar and Grill: 140 Willow St., 865-9190. Chickie Wah Wah: 2828 Canal St., 304-4714. House of Blues: 225 Decatur St., 412-8068. Le Bon Temps Roule: 4801 Magazine St., 895-8117. Maison: 508 Frenchmen St., 289-5648. Mid City Lanes Rock ‘N’ Bowl: 4133 S. Carrollton Ave., 482-3133. Palm Court Jazz Café: 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.

Who do you usually come here with? My roommates, we eat here all the time.

What do you put in your pho? Lots of sriracha, hoisin sauce, jalapeños, bean sprouts, pretty much anything they have that’s free.—Caitlyn Ridenour www.OFFBEAT.com

DINING OUT Kanno The numerous watering holes that populate Fat City may be holding on for dear life amidst the current parish ordinance overhaul, but one local business which expects to remain unbothered by these changes is Kanno Sushi Bar. Patrons of this unassuming purveyor of fresh fish have no reason to start trouble in the area, as most everyone leaves happy and full after enjoying simple and creative dishes prepared by a chef who goes by “Elvis.” Newcomers to Kanno are encouraged to sit at the bar, which offers the best opportunity to interact with owner Chef Hide Suzuki and his wife Lin. Even though Hide has taken the name of the King, he and Lin are the consummate hosts, always quick with a smile or a joke and perhaps a free refill of Sapporo every now and then. A meal at Kanno should begin with softshell crab in one of two forms. The thick, spicy soft-shell crab miso soup resembles a hybrid between gumbo and classic French onion

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soup; the hot garlic soft-shell crab appetizer has crunchy tempura crustaceans covered in a sweet, sticky and spicy sauce. Your best bet is to tell the waiter or Hide to bring you however many courses you like, be it two, three, four, or more. You can add modifiers onto this. For instance, you may say, “Three courses, spicy, no rice.” What you will get will depend on a variety of factors such as the season and what fish Hide has in stock. One standout is Hide’s salad of spinach topped with raw tuna, salmon, and occasionally squid. What ties the whole dish together like the rug in Lebowski’s den is a spicy jalapeno dressing. Or you may get a poached pear stuffed with salmon, the sweetness of the pear matching the fatty firmness of the salmon. Or you could get a simple piece of seared red snapper with big meaty mushrooms. Perhaps if you and Hide strike up a good report, one day there will be a perfect orb of rice with fresh wasabi and a glistening pink tuft of tuna on top. This is “choose your own adventure” sushi. Each meal at Kanno ends up with their own interpretation of mignardises, tiny squares of frozen chocolate with a consistency somewhere between frozen chocolate

Photo: CAITLYN RIDENOUR

EATS

marshmallows and the classic fudgesicle. How could anyone leave unhappy? 3205 Edenborn Ave., 455-5730. Tue-Sat 5-9p. —Rene Louapre and Peter Thriffiley

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REVIEWS

Reviews

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

CDs reviewed are available now at In the French Quarter 210 Decatur Street 504-586-1094 or online at LouisianaMusicFactory.com

Country Art

Shannon McNally Western Ballad (Sacred Sumac) One of the hallmarks of Shannon McNally’s music is a plasticity. It’s not the only one, but that trait has meant that her collaborators leave an obvious mark on her music, even as it remains clearly hers. On Jukebox Sparrows, her Capitol Records debut, that meant the label and producer could put a layer of gloss on her version of American roots music just as easily as Dylan sidemen Tony Garnier and Charlie Sexton could bring out the Dylanesque romp in the songs on Geronimo. Last year’s Coldwater was cut with the late Jim Dickinson, and the Mississippi hill country blues the two loved gave the songs a raw edge, while Western Ballad, made at Piety Street Recording with Mark Bingham (who co-wrote the songs), treats McNally’s music as art. Each collaborator sees something different in McNally. The producers of Jukebox Sparrows clearly saw someone marketable, while Geronimo highlighted her place in the folk rock tradition. Coldwater embraced her bluesy side, but Western Ballad shows how all those pieces and more fit together in a unified artist who’s more than just a genre, face or voice.

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When a friend heard the album low in the background while we were driving, he asked, “Patti Smith?” The mis-hearing was appropriate. Both are mannered vocalists whose songs are at once carriers of ideas and gestures themselves—prayers, chants and/ or trances that are influenced but not limited by the words. And both are reaching toward something larger than themselves and spiritual, finding the key in the commonplace. Smith wed post-Beat poetry to music heavily influenced by the soul, garage and pop hits of the ‘60s; McNally plays with Native American themes and the tropes of roots music to produce what she calls “North American Ghost Music.” In the process, she makes a stronger claim to the idea evoked by the phrase “Cosmic American Music” than anything Gram Parsons recorded. “When I Am Called,” for example, sounds like it could be an Appalachian folk spiritual (“I will go / when I am called”), but the theme of acceptance is evoked without mention of God or Heaven; instead, McNally finds her place in a nature that exists independent of place and time (“bluebirds are never in / the wrong century”). The album’s title comes from an Allen Ginsberg poem that Bingham arranged in the 1980s and kept in his pocket until he found the right singer. The poem is a riff on the classic trope of a person saying goodbye from beyond the grave. Ginsberg suggests a form of afterlife (the singer had an angel waiting), but the song’s not about waiting for that beautiful reunion to come; it’s about experiencing life’s great experiences. “I never

suffered a love so fair,” McNally sings. Throughout the album, the mundane and natural are celebrated, and experiencing them connects her to something bigger than herself, a note first sounded on the album when she luxuriates in the sensations on “High.” Bingham’s an integral part of Western Ballad. I won’t presume to be able to sort out what each brought to the songwriting partnership, but it’s telling that engineer Wesley Fontenot is listed among the musicians in the liner notes because unlike the more obviously rootsy albums that seemed to obscure the studio’s existence in “rawness,” the album is clearly and obviously produced. Accordions, banjos and lap steels are part of the instrumentation, but they’re only part of a psychedelic network of sound that evokes a dream-like state, and it’s a sound that came about by embracing the studio as part of the creative process and exploring the avenues it makes possible. But this isn’t a detour so much as another context for McNally. As with all her other albums, the sonic context counts. Here the signifiers of classic folk and country frame the songs, but they don’t limit them. Too often, rawness is fetishized as somehow more “true” or “honest” without recognizing that it too is a concept and a product of the studio just as much as a more involved, involving sound is. On Western Ballad, McNally and Bingham have made an album that reaches more boldly and illuminates her thoughts more clearly than ever, in the process calling into questions a lot of assumptions about immediacy and honesty. —Alex Rawls

Pine Leaf Boys Back Home (Valcour) After countless stateside and international tours, the Pine Leaf Boys realize that you never appreciate what you have until you leave home, hence the premise of the disc’s title. Their Valcour Records debut and fifth disc overall is quite possibly the group’s best musical export yet. The playing is razor sharp with a penchant for swinging madly (“Blues de Cajun”) and rocking explosively (“Cajun from Church Point”). Occasionally, there’s a respite courtesy of a glorious waltz. The three distinct vocalists—Courtney Granger, Drew Simon and Wilson Savoy—keep the proceedings fresh and make it difficult to identify a dominant voice. Because the Pine Leaf Boys value their roots, it’s only fitting that the group pays homage to the unsung heroes of the modern dancehall style. Many of the practitioners covered here are still active, including accordion powerhouse Jesse Lége who inspired them to record his “Je T’aime Toujours.” Belton Richard’s “What’s the Matter with My Baby” swings and repeatedly builds to micro-bursts of energy that are capped off by Granger’s combustible fiddle runs. But the song that will likely catch the uninitiated off guard is www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS the infectiously swooning “Fool,” an uncharacteristic swamp popper replete with dreamy “ooh-wah-ooh” background vocals. Though the forgotten ’77 country-pop hit was translated into French as “Coullion” by Wayne Toups a decade ago, Savoy adheres to the English-sung original, adding in delicate accordionplayed melody lines and bouncy triplets on keys. It’s a different side to a vocalist who usually sings with reckless abandon, but it’s also nice to know that, now and then, there’s a different side to one of Cajun music’s best groups. —Dan Willging

Fredy Omar Bailando (Mambito) Those who have gotten used to live performances where Fredy Omar con su Banda takes the audience through an extensive catalog of relatively well-known Latin dance hits over a wide range of rhythms and styles may be surprised to see that Omar’s new release, Bailando, collects 10 new originals composed by the bandleader himself. The songs themselves should sound familiar, though. In its range from merengue and mambo to salsa and cha-cha, Bailando captures the easy professionalism of the live performances that have made Fredy Omar such an institution in New Orleans. Bailando closes with instrumental versions of the upbeat dance number “El Tren” and the minor-key, flamencoinflected “Ojos Verdes,” putting the band itself out in front for the listener. Trumpeter Mario Abney and acoustic guitarist Salva de Maria (who splits duties on the new CD with Omar’s stalwart electric player Jose “Pepe” Coloma) really shine on the latter. Even on the vocal tracks, the principles of composition on Bailando are primarily derived from jazz improvisation. The vocal melodies serve primarily as a way for the band to get into the groove, and for the soloists—mostly Coloma, Abney, and the multi-instrumental Ralph Gipson, another Fredy Omar regular, on saxophone, flute, and keyboards—to keep the song going until Omar’s voice returns. www.OFFBEAT.com

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REVIEWS Fredy Omar’s own charismatic presence on the bandstand translates nicely into his recorded vocals. He works well with the rhythm section and with the horn lines that accompany his voice, and when he asserts himself it’s with the style of one more instrumentalist in the band. Musical interplay and the strong rapport between all the musicians on Bailando—of a kind that can only be earned on the bandstand—deliver just what the title promises: a faithful recording of Fredy Omar’s salsa nights all over New Orleans. —Jacob Leland

Tony Joe White The Shine (Swamp) The formula might seem familiar: older artist strips down to his barest elements, his age injecting a new depth to each turn in his voice, and puts together an introspective, backto-his-roots album. We re-appreciate the craftsman and toast his longevity. A comeback of sorts, we say. What makes the latest release from Tony Joe White truly impressive is the way that format reveals an artist still crafting songs that could

Balls on the Bayou Dave Thompson Bayou Underground: Tracing the Mythical Roots of American Popular Music (ECW Press)

bookmark

Gotta be the succulent-est book to feature the Axeman of New Orleans. If you don’t know the Axeman of New Orleans, feel free to look him up while I wait here, but be warned: you’ll probably go off your feed. Dave Thompson’s written over 100 books, sayeth Wikipedia; this one’s surely the first featuring recipes, let alone recipes for “Alligator Balls.” That’s alligator meat (location on original alligator unspecified) shaped into one-inch balls. Now you can breathe a little easier. An Englishman, Thompson acknowledges that he’s a fish out of the fryer. He lays out his first page with a Louisiana fable concluding, “Well, if you need directions, maybe you don’t have any business going there” and then includes a lot of asking directions. But the journey is the reward, as the story of the bluebird of happiness tells us—a story not from Louisiana, but which should be. Thompson writes plenty for quick cash (the used pizza ovens sold through his website must not add up to much) but hunker down with a few paragraphs of a given tome and you can tell when his heart’s in it. His heart’s in this one. Along with those alligator balls. Two-hundred-and-forty-seven pages including bibliography of course isn’t enough space for the whole of the soul of the Pelican State, but give the man his passion: you get Hank Williams, Huey Long, Robert Johnson, Marie Laveau, Blind Joe Reynolds, Dr. John and Dr. John (if you know what I mean), Zozo Labrique, Jean Laffite, alligator meat, and potentially deadly swamp critters by the cloud. Thompson corrects us on the true meaning of “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” but inserts an error of his own: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn came from the former Samuel Langhorne Clemens, not Longhorne (although maybe that’s a better fit). For people who don’t need directions, all this may be old news. For anyone else, the linkage of bayou to, say, Alice Cooper and Judas Priest, should justify taking this down from the shelf. Alligator balls, optional. —Andrew Hamlin

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www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS sell, tracks that might be picked up by others and run with to the hit parade (whatever that is today), the same route his “Rainy Night in Georgia” and “Steamy Windows” took. The best cuts don’t make you think, wow, how wise. Rather, you think about adding a keyboard or a bass line and letting a crooner, a diva, a bluesman, or an American Idol flesh it out and reap the reward. We’re reminded here of the era when Al Green sang Willie Nelson’s “Ain’t It Funny” and everyone covered old Hank Williams songs. One wonders who in the world of adult R&B will run with one of these tracks, but someone ought to slip “Tell Me Why” to Aaron Neville. Throughout the album, you can hear future horn lines swell around certain lines: “Words are gonna fall / like raindrops froze / Gonna need something / to soften the blow.” As an album, The Shine is nice listening. As a series of choices for other performers, it’s a quality menu, the work of a professional who produces heartfelt work that might yet sell big for another artist. —Brian Boyles

Sun Hotel Coast (Independent) Soon after the release of their excellent Team Spirit EP in early 2010, DIY dudes Sun Hotel became favorites on New Orleans’ college campuses. While the young band’s disheveled blend of bliss, belligerence, and irreverence initially drew a litany of Pavement comparisons, their first full-length, Coast, finds them taking a page out of another indie icon’s book, Modest Mouse. Expanding on the themes of life, death, morality, and spirituality found in their previous work, here, Sun Hotel mixes vibrancy and vehemence (“Suburb”), brashness and brooding (“Loose Women”), and tension and tranquility (“Egyptian Cotton”). Teetering between languid lulls and scathing shrieks, singer Tyler Scurlock’s vocal musings match his band’s unruly movements. At the center of his introspection, beneath Sun Hotel’s raucous energy and twenty-something angst, lies a deepwww.OFFBEAT.com

seeded religious conflict. “God keeps laughing at my plans,” he mulls on “Oikos” before wailing, “So I laugh back at him,” against a squall of crashing drums and a surge of feedback. As the disc develops, so too does Scurlock’s spite. “Closest to bilingual I ever get is praying on my knees and talking shit,” he sings on the tenuous “Rediscovery.” At times, Scurlock’s soul-searching becomes ponderous, and Sun Hotel’s jarring movements bog down the album’s momentum. The trudging, loud-soft dynamics and meandering, multi-part harmonies of earlier tracks make the melodically morose “Seasonality” and strum-y “You (Shake)” easy to overlook, but don’t. Especially don’t skip the nasty swamp rocker “Voodoo You.” “I’ll call you, ‘baby,’ when I’m filled with hate / Our love’s gonna rust anyway,” Scurlock spews as the band bears down on the disc’s dirtiest cut. All in all, Coast is a dark, revealing, and adventurous offering; most impressive, is that this group of dorm room bros produced, mixed, and mastered the whole set themselves. —Aaron LaFont

Yvette Landry Should Have Known (Independent) Yvette Landry’s a natural. She played bass for just months before turning pro with the Lafayette Rhythm Devils. That led to a second band, Bonsoir, Catin; not bad for never planning a career in music. Now she has had a similar upshot as a songwriter, crafting an album’s worth of quality songs and recording them within nine months. Her debut is not Cajun but vintage country. She nails the country ambience with references to honky FEBRU A RY 2 011

REVIEWS tonks, heartaches and hangovers, not to mention bedroom tension, pickup trucks and battered, old guitars. Several tracks, such as the Cajun fiddle-peppered rockabilly title track and the madly swinging “Blue Moon Girl,” are five-star dancehall specials that feature flashy, in-the-honky-tonkidiom solos from Red Stick Ramblers’ electric guitarist Chas Justus, steel guitarist Richard Comeaux and Wilders’ fiddler Betsie Ellis. With its clippity-clop beat, “One More Broken Heart” has an early Ray Price feel while “Jack” is flat-out bluegrass. But Landry’s not out to sell another well drink or pitcher of stale beer. As an emerging songwriter, her stuff can be deep. On “Can’t See Me with You,” she pauses a full beat after delivering critical lines (“I can tell by your touch you’re leaving”) to add a bit of mystery and intrigue. She delivers lines such as “the deeper the pain, the harder the heart” that resonate with the psyche. Debut discs from yearling songwriters aren’t supposed to be this good. —Dan Willging

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Generationals Trust (Park the Van) The Generationals are a lesson in balance: serious but not glum or self-important, smart but not clever or brainy, spare but not underdeveloped, intimate but not awkward, and light but not twee. On the four-song EP Trust, Ted Joyner and Grant Widmer demonstrate the same gift for pop hooks they showed in the Eames Era, but without the obvious ‘60s referentiality and the compulsion to fill a song with all the ideas it can stand. A xylophone line lights up “Victims of Trap,” making additional ornamentation—including guitar—superfluous, while a perfect, trebly, power pop guitar line on the title cut is balanced by a cardboard box snare that staves off any hint of slickness. And songs rarely hook in conventional ways. “Say for Certain” is a series of bass-and-voice verses

followed not by a chorus but an attractive melody that sounds like it’s played on water-filled glasses. Trust lacks the brittle mood and mixed emotions of The xx and the sheen of much contemporary Britpop, but it’s working with a similar musical vocabulary and deserves similar attention. —Alex Rawls

Raphaël Bas Harmonouche (RRJB Music) “[The harmonica] has been widely used in blues and pop music but very little in jazz and swing,” notes Raphaël Bas in the liner notes to Harmonouche. He describes the record as “an attempt to give the harmonica… a greater recognition among other traditional instruments.” Bas triples up harmonica and guitars (electric and acoustic). His nimble fretwork is the dominant sound here, whether in spirited solos or tight rhythmic strumming.

He’s joined by clarinetist Chris Kohl, who’s no stranger to this music. As front man for the Hot Club of New Orleans, he’s well versed in the gypsy jazz idiom that dominates on Harmonouche. Jon Gross’s sousaphone makes an occasional appearance, lending that extra touch of New Orleans. Harmonouche is ostensibly a harmonica showcase, but it’s the clarinet and guitar that steal the show. Take the impressive intro to Django Reinhardt’s “Belleville”, where Kohl plays in intricate parallel with Bas’ reverb-soaked electric. Acoustic guitar thumps along behind in typical gypsy-swing fashion. Bas’ harmonica is most convincing on slow, ballad-type numbers, often alternating plaintive melodies with Kohl’s clarinet. On up-tempo, hard-swinging tracks, it feels limited, particularly when compared to the versatility and melodic range of its companions. But whatever it may do for the fortunes of the harmonica, the record stands on its own as an

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REVIEWS enjoyable bit of ensemble jazz from some fine New Orleans musicians. —Zachary Young

John Trahan My Louisiana (Acadian) A lot has happened since John Trahan’s debut disc 17 years ago, including a career move to Dallas and a recent relocation back to native Vermillion Parish. But one thing’s for sure: he never lost his accordion chops or beautiful tenor voice. That’s certainly in evidence here on such standards as “Madame Bozo” and “Convict Waltz,” where his accordion playing is as beefy as ever. He more than gets by with a little help from his friends, an A-list set of players that includes BeauSoleil’s Michael Doucet, Mitch Reed and Jimmy Breaux.

But since the album took three years to complete, the focus slowly shifted from being a tribute to his accordion heroes (Shirley Bergeron, Iry LeJeune, Lawrence Walker) to unveiling material from area songwriters, such as Johnnie Allan (“La Valse de Marier”) and Ivy Dugas (“The Queen of the Broken Heart.”). While most selections are in French, Trahan includes some English-sung Cajun Americana that, as Doucet points out in the liner notes, “reflects the view of an exiled Cajun.” The Eddy Raven-Jimmy C. Newman-penned “My My Louisiana” couldn’t be more perfect—a song extolling various locales of the Pelican State that was almost prophetic of Trahan’s return. More importantly, Trahan accomplishes the unusual here, a rare blend of tradition and contemporary material that works as an artistic signature. —Dan Willging

A Master Class Joe Krown, Russell Batiste, Jr., and Walter “Wolfman” Washington Triple Threat (Independent) In a city where Joe Krown, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, and Russell Batiste, Jr. play so many nights for tips, drinks, and nominal cover charges, it can be easy to take for granted the wealth of experience, professionalism, and straight-up talent that they bring to the stage every night. They’re so familiar to us that we can forget just how good they are at their jobs. There’s a reason that Krown, Washington, and Batiste got to be such titans of the New Orleans music scene, though, and Triple Threat is here to remind us of it. Their new release is chiefly an exercise in hard-driving, organ-trio funk. Though it does slow down for ballads, it mostly maintains the dance-floor tempo, forceful beat, and deep pocket that have come to characterize the performers’ careers. Nine of its 12 tracks are original compositions, but none is a departure for any of the three musicians, musically or idiomatically. Triple Threat doesn’t make any effort to depart from its sizable comfort zone: it’s a slick, professional record of three master craftsmen putting down stake in the style they call home. For all its utility in clubs and on dance floors, bluesy funk (and vice versa) can get repetitious. Here, though, each performer has such a welldeveloped musical vocabulary and approach that the songs come alive. Krown, Washington, and Batiste dig deep into their bags of tricks and come up with combinations and licks that make the genre feel fresh. For those who follow these musicians and those who’ve been taking them for granted, Triple Threat is a welcome reminder of the funk New Orleans’ consummate pros are capable of putting forth, night after night. —Jacob Leland www.OFFBEAT.com

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When you’re out, text the word ‘offbeat’ to 33669 for daily listings. For complete listings, go to www.offbeat.com

Listings

EXPRESS

Here are OffBeat’s highlights of music and entertainment in New Orleans and the surrounding area for the current month. Each day’s events are listed in alphabetical order by club or venue. Listings are compiled based on information provided by clubs, bands and promoters up to our deadlines. Unfortunately, some information was not available at press time and listings are subject to change. Special events, concerts, festivals and theater listings follow the daily listings. For up-to-theminute, complete music listings, check OffBeat’s web page at www.offbeat.com. For more details on a show, call the club directly. Phone numbers of clubs are shown in this section and/or at www.offbeat.com. To include your date or event, please email information to our listings editor, Craig Guillot at craigguillot@offbeat.com or call 504-944-4300. Mr. Guillot can also provide listing deadlines for upcoming issues.

AC AU BL BU BB SH KJ KS CL CO CW DN FE FK GS IR IN MJ TJ JV LT ME PK PP RG RH RB RR SI SW TC VO ZY

A Cappella Acoustic Blues Bluegrass Brass Band Cabaret/Show Cajun Christian Classical Comedy Country Dance Folk Funk Gospel Indie Rock International/World Jazz, Contemporary Jazz, Trad Jazz, Variety Latin Metal Piano/Keyboards Pop/Top 40/Covers Reggae Rap/Hip Hop Rhythm & Blues Rock Swing/Gypsy Spoken Word Techno/Dance/Electronica Vocals Zydeco

TUESDAY FEB 1

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Neslort (OR) 10p BMC: Royal Rounders (BL) 7p, Maryflynn and Prohibition (JV BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: John Mooney (BL RR) 8p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p

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Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Aaron Fletcher (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk open mic feat. Jason Bishop (CW) 9p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Margaritaville: call club (RR) 2p, Brint Anderson (BL) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-stars feat. Shannon Powell (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Credo Blues Society (BL) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Tom Fitzpatrick CD-release party (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p University of New Orleans: Musical Excursions Series feat. Brazilian Guitar Quartet (JV) 7:30p

WEDNESDAY FEB 2

Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Andre Bouvier (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: United Postal Project (RR) 8p, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p BMC: Lynn Drury (BL) 7p, Blues4Sale (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam feat. the music of “Cannonball” Adderley (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Tommy Malone & Blvd. Jr. feat. Johnny Allen, David Torkanowsky, Shane Theriot and Carlo Nuccio (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Ched Reeves (RR) 2p, Joe Bennett (RR) 7p Palm Court: Lars Edegran & Topsy Chapman with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-stars feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: closed for private party Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: call club (TJ) 7p

THURSDAY FEB 3

Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, I Tell You What feat. Adam Crochet (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p, Gravity A (balcony room) (RR) 11p BMC: Ruby Moon (BL) 7p, the Low-Stress Quintet (BL) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Tuba Skinny and Erika Lewis (SI JV) 8p d.b.a.: Rik Slave & the Phantoms feat. the Unnaturals (RR) 10p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Murder by Death, the Builders & the Butchers, Damion Suomi & the Minor Prophets (RR) 9:30p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: Phenominal Woman, a benefit feat. the Two Lips (VR) 9p

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (JV) 5p, Shamarr Allen (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Dave James and Tim Robertson (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Jimmy James (RR) 2p, Captain Leo (RR) 7p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Paul Ferrara (OR) 6p Palm Court: Wendell Brunious & the Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: New Birth Brass Band feat. Tanio Hingle (JV) 8p Rivershack: Brent & George (RR BL) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Geno Delafose (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Matt Lemmler Quartet (MJ) 8p & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Luke Winslow-King (TJ) 7p, Washboard Rodeo (BL) 10p

FRIDAY FEB 4

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Holladay (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Mykia Jovan and Jason Butler (JV) 8p, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers (MJ) 11p, DJ Real and Black Pearl (OR) 12a BMC: Caroline Fourmy and her Jazz Band (JV BL) 7p, Rue Fiya (FK) 10p, One Mind Brass Band (BB) 1a Chickie Wah Wah: Happy Hour feat. Kelcy Mae (KR) 5:30p, Paul Sanchez (RR) 8p, Geraniums (OR) 10p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Iguanas (LT RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Bionica, Alan Hampton (RR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Bridge House Recycled Fashion Show (SH) 7:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): the Professor Piano Series (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx and Linnzi Zaorski (SH JV) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louviere (BL) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: NOLA Country (RB) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Dwight Breland (RR OR) 4:30p, Frank Fairbanks Duo (RR OR) 9p Maple Leaf: Good Enough for Good Times, Gravy (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Colin Lake (RR) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (CW) 7p One Eyed Jacks: Krewe of Delusion Fundraiser (VR) 9p Palm Court: Clive Wilson & the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters present a tribute to Thomas Jefferson feat. Leroy Jones (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: the Blue Party (FR) 10p Rivershack: Refugeze (RR BL) 9p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Wise Guys (PP) 9:30p

Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (MJ) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6:30p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Pfister Sisters (JV) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p

SATURDAY FEB 5

Apple Barrel: Maxwell (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, WATIV (balcony room) (OR) 10p, Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 11p, DJ Real and Black Pearl (Balcony Room) (VR) 1a BMC: New Orleans Jazz Series (JV) 3p, Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band (JV) 6:30p, Blues4Sale (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Danny Alexander Blues Band (BL) 9p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Dirty Dozen Brass Band (BB) 10p Fritzel’s: Mike Fulton and Richard Scott (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Truth and Savage Co., Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights (RR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf Northshore: Northshore Open Mic Super Jam (VR) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bill Summers (JV) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Kinfolk Brass Band (BB) 12a Le Bon Temps Roule: Country Fried (CW) 11p Louisiana Music Factory: Benjy Davis Project, Country Fried (RR) 12p Maple Leaf: Bill Summers’ Jazalsa (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Joe Bennett (BL) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RB) 7p Palm Court: Lionel Ferbos (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Swing Kings feat. Will Smith (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: Yann Tiersen (VR) 10:30p Rivershack: Pig Pen (RR BL) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes & the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY BL) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Dr. Michael White & the Liberty Jazz Band (TJ) 8p & 10p Spotted Cat: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 3p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Davis Rogan Band (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Linnzi Zaorski (SI) 7p, St. Louis Slim Jug Band (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Two Fresh, Mux Mool, Body Language, Ryan Pearce, 8188 (VR) 10p

SUNDAY FEB 6

Apple Barrel: John Williams and Billy Outlaw (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Ivoire Spectacle (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Mainline (BB) 10p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Mas Mamones (OR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Tyler’s Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle and Paul Longstreth (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Mike Ryan (BL) 8p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Margaritaville: Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RR) 2p, Cindy Chen (RB) 5p Old Point Bar: Jesse Moore (BL) 3:30p Palm Court: Lucien Barbarin with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Snug Harbor: Stephen Richard Quartet (MJ) 8p & 10p Three Muses: Debbie Davis (JV) 7p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais Do Do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p

MONDAY FEB 7

Apple Barrel: Jon Williams (BL) 4p, Sam Cammarata (BL) 8p, 19th St. Red (BL) 10:30p BMC: Fun in the Pocket feat. Mayumi Shara (OR) 6p, Smoky Greenwell’s Monday Blues Jam (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: John Rankin, Don Vappie, Raphael Bas (JV) 8p d.b.a.: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 6p, Glen David Andrews and Paul Sanchez (JV) 10p Fritzel’s: Tim Laughlin Quartet (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Lynn Drury (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Truman Holland (RB) 2p, Brint Anderson (RR RB) 7p Palm Court: closed Preservation Hall: St. Peter Street Playboys (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville & Friends (JV) 8p & 10p Three Muses: Kristin Diable Songwriters Series (SS) 7p

TUESDAY FEB 8

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Luke Winslow King (BL) 8p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: John Doheny Trio feat. Rob Kohler and Geoff Clapp (FK) 10p BMC: Royal Rounders (BL) 7p, Gypsy Elise and the Royal Blues (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: New Orleans Nightcrawlers (BB) 8p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Lissie, Dylan Leblanc (RR) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Ed “Sweetbread” Petersen (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk open mic feat. Jason Bishop (CW) 9p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Margaritaville: call club (RR) 2p, Brint Anderson (BL) 7p Palm Court: closed Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-stars feat. Shannon Powell (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Los Po-Boy-Citos (LT) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p

WEDNESDAY FEB 9

Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Mike Darby & the House of Cards (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: United Postal Project (RR) 8p, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p BMC: Lynn Drury (BL) 7p, Blues4Sale (BL) 9:30p

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Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam feat. the music of Ben Webster and Sweets Edison (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Tommy Malone & Blvd. Jr. feat. Johnny Allen, David Torkanowsky, Shane Theriot and Carlo Nuccio (FK) 10p COMPLETE LISTINGS ON THE GO at offbeat.com/mobile. Check from any cellphone, or add to your iPhone, Android, Blackberry home screen.

Margaritaville: Ched Reeves (RR) 2p, Joe Bennett (RR) 7p One Eyed Jacks: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (OR) 9p Palm Court: Lars Edegran & Topsy Chapman with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Swing-a-Roux (SI) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Kid Merv (JV) 7p

THURSDAY FEB 10

Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Washboard Chaz (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Gravity A (Balcony Room) (RR) 11p, DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p BMC: Ruby Moon (BL) 7p, the Low-Stress Quintet (BL) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Tuba Skinny and Erika Lewis (SI JV) 8p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (PK) 7p, Ernie Vincent and the Top Notes (JV) 10p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Robin Trower (OR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (JV) 5p, Shamarr Allen (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Quite Contrary (BL) 9p Krazy Korner: Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers (ZY) 4p, Death by Orgasm (RR) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Jimmy James (RR) 2p, Truman Holland (RR) 7p Neutral Ground Coffeehouse: Beth Trepangnier, Terrina & Jon, Sarah Flynn (OR) 8p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Opera by Encore (OR) 6p Palm Court: Leroy Jones & Katja Toivola with the Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Survivors Brass Band feat. Jeffrey Hills (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: Designer Drugs (OR) 9p Rivershack: Don & Christian (RR BL) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 7p, Jayna Morgan (JV) 10p

FRIDAY FEB 11

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Holladay (BL) 8p, Mike Hood (BL) 11p Big Top: Friday Night Music Camp feat. Seguenon Kone and Friends (VR) 5p Blue Nile: Mykia Jovan and Jason Butler (JV) 8p, New Grass Country Club, Mississippi Rail Company (JV) 10p BMC: Caroline Fourmy and her Jazz Band (JV) 7p, Rue Fiya (FK) 10p, One Mind Brass Band (BB) 1a Carrollton Station: the Hons CD-release party (RR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: call club, Happy Hour feat. Sweet Olive String Band (JV) 5p, Paul Sanchez (LT) 8p d.b.a.: Linnzi Zaorski (SI) 6p, R. Scully & the Rough Seven, Debauche (RR) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Bustout Burlesque (SH) 8 & 10:30p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Sun Hotel, M@ People’s Collective, Royal Teeth, Habitat (RR) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Professor Piano Series (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx and Linnzi Zaorski (SH JV) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Steve Keith (BL) 5p, Foot & Friends (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Lynn Drury Band (BL) 11p Maple Leaf: George McConnell (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Colin Lake (RR) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (CW) 7p Old Point Bar: Josh Garrett & the Bottom Line (BL) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Camel Toe Lady Steppers Annual Fundraiser (JV) 9p Palm Court: Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: Glasgow (RR) 10p Rivershack: Refugeze (RR BL) 9p Rock ’n’ Bowl: The Creole String Beans plus Amanda Shaw 8:30p Snug Harbor: Quamon Fowler Quartet (MJ) 8p & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6:30p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: George Porter, Jr., Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p

SATURDAY FEB 12

Apple Barrel: Maxwell (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, t.b.a. 11p, DJ Real and Black Pearl (Balcony Room) (VR) 1a BMC: New Orleans Jazz Series (JV) 3p, Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band (JV) 6:30p, Cha wa (OR) 9:30p, Ashton & the Big Easy Brawlers Brass Band (BB) 12:30a Chickie Wah Wah: Grayson Capps and Lost Cause Minstrels (CW) 10p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Fritzel’s: Mike Fulton and Richard Scott (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Generations Hall: My Darling New Orleans Action and Celebrity Gala (SH VR) 7p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Soundclash Beat Battle (RR) 10p Howlin’ Wolf Northshore: Indium, Elmo Hoojen (VR) 9p FEBRU A RY 2 011

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Don Vappie (JV) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Kinfolk Brass Band (BB) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Crescent City Celtic Band (FE) 5p; Invisible Cowboy Band 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Truman Holland and the Back Porch Review (OR) 11p Louisiana Music Factory: J. the Savage, Louisiana Hellbenders (RR) 3p Margaritaville: Joe Bennett (BL) 2p, Bannister’s All-stars (RB) 7p One Eyed Jacks: Lost Bayou Ramblers, Brother Dege (RR) 9p Palm Court: Lionel Ferbos with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p

Rivershack: Blackened Blues (RR BL) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Nobles (OL) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Herlin Riley Ensemble (MJ) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Tuba Skinny (JV) 3p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Derek “Kabuki” Spodie (JV) 7p, St. Louis Slim Jug Band (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Earphunk (FK) 10p

SUNDAY FEB 13

Apple Barrel: John Williams and Billy Outlaw (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Johnny J. & the Hitmen (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Mainline (BB) 10p

BMC: Nola Music Series (VR) 1p, Alex Bosworth (BL) 6p, Andy J. Forest (BL) 9p, Sweet Jones (BL) 12a d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Coot (OR) 10p Fritzel’s: Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Tyler’s Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle and Paul Longstreth (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Bloomin’ Onions 8p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p

Margaritaville: Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RR) 2p, Cindy Chen (RB) 5p Palm Court: Lucien Barbarin with the Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: St. Peter Street All-stars feat. Lars Edegran (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: call club Spotted Cat: Rights of Swing (JV) 3p, Ben Poker & Friends (JV) 6p, Pat Casey (JV) 10p Three Muses: Linnzi Zaorski (SI) 7p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais Do Do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Trinity Episcopal Church: British Brass Band of Louisiana (BB) 5p

MONDAY FEB 14

Apple Barrel: Jon Williams (BL) 4p, Sam Cammarata (BL) 8p, Shotgun House (BL) 10:30p BMC: Fun in the Pocket feat. Mayumi Shara (OR) 6p, Smoky Greenwell’s Monday Blues Jam (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Jon Cleary (PK) 8p d.b.a.: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 6p, Glen David Andrews and Amanda Shaw (VR) 9p Fritzel’s: Tim Laughlin Quartet (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Sex in the City (VR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Mike Pinto (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): A Night of Love Songs feat. Bob French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: call club Little Tropical Isle: Marc Stone (BL) 4:30p, Jason Bishop (RR OR) 9p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Truman Holland (RB) 2p, Brint Anderson (RR RB) 7p Palm Court: Closed Preservation Hall: St. Peter Street Playboys feat. Maynard Chatters (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville & Friends (JV) 8p & 10p Three Muses: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p

TUESDAY FEB 15

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Naked Orchestra (FK) 10p BMC: Royal Rounders (BL) 7p, N’awlins Johnnys (BL) 9:30p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Jason Marsalis (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk open mic feat. Jason Bishop (CW) 9p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Margaritaville: call club (RR) 2p, Brint Anderson (BL) 7p Neutral Ground Coffeehouse: Tom Henehan, Gina Forsyth, Sam Cammarata (OR) 8p Old Point Bar: Jimmy Carpenter (BL) 8p Palm Court: Closed Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-stars feat. Shannon Powell (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Susan Cowsill (OR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Geoff Clapp Trio (MJ) 8p & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Tipitina’s: Broken Social Scene, Zeus (RR) 9p Trinity Episcopal Church: Organ & Labyrinth (CL) 7p

WEDNESDAY FEB 16

Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, I Tell You What feat. Adam Crochet (BL) 10:30p

F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 1

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Blue Nile: United Postal Project (RR) 8p, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p BMC: Lynn Drury (BL) 7p, Blues4Sale (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam feat. the Music of Duke Ellington (JV) 8p COMPLETE LISTINGS ON THE GO at offbeat.com/mobile. Check from any cellphone, or add to your iPhone, Android, Blackberry home screen.

Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Tommy Malone & Blvd. Jr. feat. Johnny Allen, David Torkanowsky, Shane Theriot and Carlo Nuccio (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Ched Reeves (RR) 2p, Joe Bennett (RR) 7p Palm Court: Lars Edegran & Topsy Chapman with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (VR) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Joe Krown (SI) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Aurora Nealand Group (JV) 7p

THURSDAY FEB 17

Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Andre Bouvier (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Dear New Orleans Benefit Show feat. Bonerama and Friends (FK) 10p BMC: Ruby Moon (BL) 7p, the Low-Stress Quintet (BL) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Tuba Skinny and Erika Lewis (SI JV) 8p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (PK) 7p, Los Po-Boy-Citos (LT RR) 10p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (JV) 5p, Shamarr Allen (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Speed the Mule (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Jimmy James (RR) 2p, Captain Leo (RR) 7p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Marc Stone (BL) 6p Old Point Bar: Blues Frenzy (BL) 6:30p, Louisiana Hellbenders (BL) 9p Palm Court: Tim Laughlin & Connie Jones with the Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Tornado Brass Band feat. Darryl Adams (JV) 8p Rivershack: Truman Holland (RR BL) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Jeffery Broussard (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: call club Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 7p, Davis Rogan (JV) 10p

FRIDAY FEB 18

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Holladay (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Big Top: ’90s party feat. DJs Dubla, Yamin and Frijolinda (VR) 10p Blue Nile: Mykia Jovan and Jason Butler (JV) 8p, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers (MJ) 11p

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BMC: Caroline Fourmy and her Jazz Band (JV) 7p, Rue Fiya (BL) 10p, One Mind Brass Band (BB) 1a Chickie Wah Wah: Happy Hour feat. Pfister Sisters (SI JV) 5:30p, Paul Sanchez (RR) 8p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Pine Leaf Boys (JV BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): MashUp NOLA feat. Derrick Freeman, Kirk Joseph and more (FK VR) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues (SH) 7p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Professor Piano Series (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx and Linnzi Zaorski (SH JV) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louviere (BL) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Renard Poche Band (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Radiators (RR) 10p Margaritaville: Colin Lake (RR) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (CW) 7p My Bar: LC Smoove (OR) 9p One Eyed Jacks: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 9p Palm Court: Clive Wilson with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: the City Life (RR) 10p Rivershack: Refugeze (RR BL) 9p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (PP) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (MJ) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6:30p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Schatzy (JV) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p

SATURDAY FEB 19

Apple Barrel: Maxwell (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, Empress Hotel (JV) 10p, DJ Real and Black Pearl (Balcony Room) (VR) 1a BMC: New Orleans Jazz Series (JV) 3p, Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band (JV) 6:30p, Paula & the Pontiacs (BL) 9:30p, Ashton & the Big Easy Brawlers Brass Band (BB) 12:30a Café Negril: Smoky Greenwell & the Blues Gnus (BL) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: call club d.b.a.: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Tin Men (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Mike Fulton and Richard Scott (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Off the Dome Emcee Competition (RH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues (SH) 7p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bill Summers (JV) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Kinfolk Brass Band (BB) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson and Jesse Moore (BL) 5p, Rites of Passage (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Project (FK) 11p Louisiana Music Factory: the Parishioners, Ivoire Spectacle, Panorama Brass Band (BB) 4p Maple Leaf: call club Margaritaville: Joe Bennett (BL) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RB) 7p Neutral Ground Coffeehouse: Professor Gal, Mr. Steve, Nicholas Mallis, Todd Lemoine (OR) 8p FEBRU A RY 2 011

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Old Point Bar: Ian Cunningham (BL) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: 101 Runners feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and War Chief Juan of the Golden Commanches, 3 Piece Spicy (FK) 9p Palm Court: Lionel Ferbos with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rivershack: Mo Jelly (RR BL) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Sgt. Pepper’s Beatles Tribute Band (RR) 9:30p Rusty Nail: Jesse Moore (OR) 10p Snug Harbor: call club Spotted Cat: the John Royan Trio (JV) 3p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Jonathan Freilich (JV) 7p, St. Louis Slim Jug Band (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Donald Harrison presents the New Sound of Mardi Gras (FK) 10p

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Lynn Drury (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Truman Holland (RB) 2p, Brint Anderson (RR RB) 7p Old Point Bar: Brent Walsh Jazz Trio (JV) 6:30p Palm Court: Closed Preservation Hall: St. Peter Street Playboys feat. William Smith (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville & Friends (JV) 8p & 10p Three Muses: Kristin Diable Songwriters Series (SS) 7p

TUESDAY FEB 22

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Luke Winslow King (BL) 8p, Mike Darby & the House of Cards (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Jeff Albert’s Instigation Quartet (Balcony Room) (MJ) 10p

PLAN A: Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour Under the ragged flag of the Elephant 6 Recording Company, some of the most enduring and endearing music of the 1990s was crafted by Neutral Milk Hotel, The Apples in Stereo, Of Montreal, and countless other loosely defined projects born in a nebulous cloud of creativity and friendship that started in Ruston, Louisiana, then took form in Denver and Athens, Georgia.

SUNDAY FEB 20

Apple Barrel: John Williams and Billy Outlaw (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Ivoire Spectacle (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Mainline (BB) 10p BMC: Nola Music Series (VR) 1p, Cristina Perez (OR) 6p, Andy J. Forest (BL) 9p, Sweet Jones (OR) 12a d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Marc Stone (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Tyler’s Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle and Paul Longstreth (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Traditional Irish Session (FE) 5p, Steve Keith (BL) 8p Krazy Korner: Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers (ZY) 1p, Death by Orgasm (RR) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jason Bishop (RR OR) 4:30p, Lacy Blackledge (RR OR) 9p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Margaritaville: Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RR) 2p, Cindy Chen (RB) 5p Palm Court: Lucien Barbarin with the Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Tommy Sancton’s New Orleans Jazz Band (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: call club Spotted Cat: Rights of Swing (JV) 3p, Kristina Morales (JV) 6p, Pat Casey (JV) 10p Three Muses: Debbie Davis (JV) 7p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais Do Do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Trinity Episcopal Church: Gulf South’s Only Scottish Fiddle Orchestra (VR) 5p

MONDAY FEB 21

Apple Barrel: Jon Williams (BL) 4p, Sam Cammarata (BL) 8p, Johnny J. & the Hitmen (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Fugitives of Funk feat. Russell Batiste (FK) 9p BMC: Fun in the Pocket feat. Mayumi Shara (OR) 6p, Smoky Greenwell’s Monday Blues Jam (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Jon Cleary (PK) 8p d.b.a.: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 6p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Fritzel’s: Tim Laughlin Quartet (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p

F E B R U A RY 2 0 1 1

BMC: Royal Rounders (BL) 7p, Gypsy Elise and the Royal Blues (BL) 9:30p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Jason Marsalis (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk open mic feat. Jason Bishop (CW) 9p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Margaritaville: call club (RR) 2p, Brint Anderson (BL) 7p Palm Court: Closed Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-stars feat. Shannon Powell (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Neslort (OR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Trinity Episcopal Church: Organ & Labyrinth (CL) 7p

WEDNESDAY FEB 23

Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, 19th St. Red (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p, United Postal Project (RR) 8p BMC: Lynn Drury (BL) 7p, Blues4Sale (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam feat. the Music of Anita O’Day (JV) 8p

The hallmark of an Elephant 6 record, buffeting the existential anxiety at its core, is a pervasive framework of wonder. According to Julian Koster, singing saw-impresario and master of ceremonies for the tour, that hasn’t changed over the last 20 years. “What changes is that the world is constantly being transformed around you—it’s almost like a potter making a bowl on one of those spinning things, and they touch it and it starts making the shape that your finger makes.” Speaking to the collective’s seemingly adverse relationship to commercial viability, he adds, “If you were in your right mind, you’d never do something like this. But, that’s the whole thing about wonder, that it’s a very real thing and a valid thing and you have to begin to wonder about anyone who isn’t feeling that, when you think about how amazing this universe is and how miraculous it is and how little we are in control of it.” Aquarium Drunkard presents Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour, Feb. 26, 9pm, One Eyed Jacks, Tickets $12 —Alex V. Cook

Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Krazy Korner: Death by Orgasm (RR) 8:30p Maple Leaf: Tommy Malone & Blvd. Jr. feat. Johnny Allen, David Torkanowsky, Shane Theriot and Carlo Nuccio (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Ched Reeves (RR) 2p, Joe Bennett (RR) 7p Old Point Bar: Open Mic Nite (OR) 6:30p Palm Court: Lars Edegran & Topsy Chapman with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys (SI) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (MJ) 8 & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: call club (JV) 7p

THURSDAY FEB 24

Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p, Louisiana Hellbenders (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Gravity A (Balcony Room) (RR) 11p, DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p BMC: Ruby Moon (BL) 7p, the Low-Stress Quintet (BL) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Putnam Smith, Nate Spencer and Richard Julian (BU OR) 8:30p d.b.a.: Egg Yolk Jubilee (JV) 10p Fritzel’s: Tom Fischer & Friends (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Keller Williams (OR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (JV) 5p, Shamarr Allen (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Buddy Francioni and Home Grown (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Jimmy James (RR) 2p, Trumn (RR) 7p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Davy Mooney (OR) 6p Palm Court: Tim Laughlin & Connie Jones with the Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Paulin Brothers Brass Band feat. Dwayne Paulin (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: “Bassik” featuring Excision, Downlink, Antiserum, Black Swan (RH) 9p Rivershack: Dave Jordan (RR BL) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Geno Delafose (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Max Grosch with the Jesse Boyd Trio (MJ) 8p & 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 7p, Washboard Rodeo (JV) 10p

FRIDAY FEB 25

Apple Barrel: John Williams (BL) 4p, Kenny Holladay (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Mykia Jovan and Jason Butler (JV) 8p, PYMP, Noise Org., Up Until Now (VR) 10p BMC: Caroline Fourmy and her Jazz Band (JV) 7p, Rue Fiya (FK) 10p, One Mind Brass Band (BB) 1a Chickie Wah Wah: Happy Hour (VR) 5:30p, Kelcy Mae Band (KR) 8:30p Club Caribbean: Pato Banton & the Now Generation Band (OR) 9p d.b.a.: Linnzi Zaorski (SI) 6p, Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 10p Fritzel’s: Chuck Brackman and Barry Foulon (JV) 9p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Tera Melos, Marnie Stern, Caddywhompus (RR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Slow Burn Burlesque presents Burlesque to the Future (SH) 11p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Professor Piano Series (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx and Linnzi Zaorski (SH JV) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louviere (BL) 5p, Foot & Friends (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: R.Scully and the Rough Seven (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Gravy (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Colin Lake (RR) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (CW) 7p My Bar: LC Smoove (OR) 9p Neutral Ground Coffeehouse: Daniel Black, Serge Villanova, Phil Minissale, Mike True (OR) 7p Old Point Bar: Jeff Chaz (BL) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Cliff Hines presents Prince (RR) 9p Palm Court: Clive Wilson with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (JV) 8p Republic New Orleans: G-Eazy (RH) 10p Rivershack: Refugeze (RR BL) 9p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Eric Lindell, John Nemeth (RR RB) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (MJ) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6:30p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Creole Syncopators (JV) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Meters Experience feat. Leo Nocentelli with Jonathan “Sugarfoot” Moffett and Bill “The Buddha” Dickens (FK) 10p

SATURDAY FEB 26

Apple Barrel: Maxwell (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, Andre Bouvier (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes (FK) 10p, DJ Real and Black Pearl (Balcony Room) (VR) 1a BMC: New Orleans Jazz Series (JV) 3p, Jayna Morgan & the Sazerac Sunrise Jazz Band (JV) 6:30p, Cha wa (OR) 9:30p, Ashton & the Big Easy Brawlers Brass Band (BB) 12:30a Chickie Wah Wah: Shannon McNally and Hot Sauce (RR) 9p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Lost Bayou Ramblers (RR) 11p Fritzel’s: Mike Fulton and Richard Scott (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Scorceses CDrelease party (OR) 9p House of Blues: STS9, Savoy (RR) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Don Vappie (JV) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Kinfolk Brass Band (JV) 12a Kerry Irish Pub: Speed the Mule (BL) 5p, Rites of Passage (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Brass-a-Holics (BB) 11p Mahalia Jackson Theater: Rickey Smiley (OR) 7p Maple Leaf: Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 10p Margaritaville: Joe Bennett (BL) 2p, Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RB) 7p My Bar: LC Smoove (OR) 9p

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Neutral Ground Coffeehouse: Cross Walk & Numerals, Richard Bienvenu, Badura, Rupert Wates (OR) 7p Old Point Bar: Thomas Johnson & the People (BL) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour (FK) 9p Palm Court: Lionel Ferbos with the Palm Court Jazz Band (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rivershack: the Kingtones (RR BL) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers (MJ) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Astral Project (MJ) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 3p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Dominick Grillo & the Frenchmen St. All-stars (JV) 10p Storyville: Bryan Lee (BL) 8p Three Muses: Derek “Kabuki” Spodie (JV) 7p, St. Louis Slim Jug Band (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: Anders Osborne, Lubriphonic (FK) 10p

SUNDAY FEB 27

Apple Barrel: John Williams and Billy Outlaw (BL) 4p, Kenny Claiborne (BL) 8p Blue Nile: Mardi Gras Costume Sale (N/A) 12p, Mainline (BB) 10p BMC: Nola Music Series (VR) 1p, Cristina Perez (OR) 6p, Andy J. Forest (BL) 9p, Sweet Jones (BL) 12a d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, the Dharma Bums (RR) 10p Fritzel’s: Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark & the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a House of Blues: STS9 (RR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (The Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Tyler’s Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle and Paul Longstreth (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Schatzy & Associates (BL) 8p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Margaritaville: Irving Bannister’s All-stars (RR) 2p, Cindy Chen (RB) 5p Palm Court: Lucien Barbarin with the Sunday Night Swingsters (TJ) 9p Preservation Hall: Tommy Sancton’s New Orleans Jazz Band (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Davy Mooney Quartet (MJ) 8 & 10p Three Muses: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 7p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais Do Do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Trinity Episcopal Church: Sophie Kuhn (CL) 5p

MONDAY FEB 28

Apple Barrel: Jon Williams (BL) 4p, Sam Cammarata (BL) 8p, Butch Trivette (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Fugitives of Funk feat. Russell Batiste (FK) 9p BMC: Fun in the Pocket feat. Mayumi Shara (OR) 6p, Smoky Greenwell’s Monday Blues Jam (BL) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: call club d.b.a.: Luke Winslow-King (JV) 6p Fritzel’s: Tim Laughlin Quartet (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Willie Locket & the All Purpose Blues Band (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Kim Carson (BL) 9p FEBRU A RY 2 011

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Margaritaville: Truman Holland (RB) 2p, Brint Anderson (RR RB) 7p Preservation Hall: St. Peter Street Playboys feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville & Friends (JV) 8p & 10p Three Muses: Lantana Combo (JV) 7p

LOUISIANA MUSIC ON TOUR

Complete listings are available at OffBeat. com. Weekly listings are available with a free subscription to OffBeat’s Weekly Beat email newsletter.

CONCERTS FEBRUARY 4 Rascal Flatts: The popular country band plays the New Orleans Arena with Luke Bryan and Chris Young. 7:30p. FEBRUARY 12 Legends of Hip Hop Tour: Female hip-hop legends Salt n Pepa play the UNO Lakefront Arena with Whodini, Kurtis Blow and more. 8p. FEBRUARY 19 Kem: The popular R&B singer, songwriter and producer plays the UNO Lakefront Area with El Debarge. 8p.

SPECIAL EVENTS FEBRUARY 3-24 Ogden After Hours: Visit the Ogden Museum every Thursday evening for live entertainment by a variety of local musicians. Check the OffBeat daily listings for a schedule of performances. 6p. OgdenMuseum.org. FEBRUARY 12 My Darlin’ New Orleans: Enjoy HBO and Treme’s auction and celebrity gala at Generations Hall to benefit the Roots of Music and the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. 7p. MyDarlinNewOrleans.eventbrite.com

MARDI GRAS PARADE SCHEDULE FEBRUARY 19 Krewe du Vieux (French Quarter) 6:30p FEBRUARY 20 Lil Rascals (Metairie) 12p FEBRUARY 25 Cork (French Quarter) 3p, Oshun (Uptown) 6p, Cleopatra (West Bank) 6:30p, Excalibur and Atlas (Metairie) 7p, Eve (Mandeville) 7p FEBRUARY 26 Choctaw and Adonis (West Bank) 11a, Pontchartrain (Uptown) 2p, Nemesis (Chalmette) 2p, Olympia (Covington) 6p, Sparta and Pygmalion (Uptown) 6p, Caesar (Metairie) 6p FEBRUARY 27 Carrollton (Uptown) 12p, Alla (West Bank) 12p, Rhea and Thor (Metairie) 2p, King Arthur (Uptown) 1:15p, Barkus (French Quarter) 2p MARCH 2 Ancient Druids (Uptown) 6:30p MARCH 3 Babylon, Muses and Chaos (Uptown) 5:45p

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MARCH 4 Hermes, Krewe d’Etat and Morpheus (Uptown) 6p, Selene (Slidell) 6:30p, Orpheus (Mandeville) 7p, Centurions (Metairie) 7 MARCH 5 NOMTOC (West Bank) 10:45a, Iris and Tucks (Uptown) 11a, Endymion (Mid-City) 4:15p, Isis (Metairie) 6:30p MARCH 6 Okeanos, Mid-City, Thoth (Uptown) 11a, Bacchus (Uptown) 5:15p, Napoleon (Metairie) 5:30p MARCH 7 Proteus and Orpheus (Uptown) 5:15p, Zeus (Metairie) 6:30p MARCH 8 Zulu, Rex, Elks Orleans, Crescent City (Uptown) 8a, Argus, Jefferson Trucks, Elks Trucks (Metairie), Grela and BES (West Bank) 11a COMPLETE LISTINGS ON THE GO at offbeat.com/mobile. Check from any cellphone, or add to your iPhone, Android, Blackberry home screen.

MARDI GRAS EVENTS FEBRUARY 27 Krewe of Barkus: New Orleans finest dogs prance and prowl to the theme of “A Broadway Tail” at this fun canine parade. The event starts at 2p in Armstrong Park and takes a 15-block route through the French Quarter. (504) 5220239, Barkus.org. MARCH 5-7 Mardi Gras Mask Market: Head down to the French Market and discover an array of hand crafted masks from local artists. FrenchMarket.org. MARCH 5 Endymion Extravaganza: The superkrewe’s mega-party takes place back in the Louisiana Superdome. As of press time, entertainment has yet to be announced but check Endymion.org for more information. MARCH 6 & 8 Courir de Mardi Gras: Leave behind the crowds and glimmering floats of New Orleans for a traditional Cajun Mardi Gras where local men set out on horseback to “raid” local farms and chase chickens. Takes place in various towns including Church Point (3/06) and Mamou (3/08). ChurchPointMardiGras.com. MARCH 7 Lundi Gras Celebration: Celebrate Lundi Gras with the Krewe of Zulu down near Woldenberg Park and the Riverwalk. There will be concerts, second lines and more along the river from 10a-5:30p. LundiGrasFestival.com. MARCH 7 Orpheuscapade: Welcome Harry Connick Jr.’s mega-elebration as they enter the Convention Center at this legendary celebration. This year’s entertainment includes Loverboy, the Radiators and Bucktown All-stars. 7p-2:30a. Call (504) 822-7200 for tickets. MARCH 8 Bourbon Street Awards: The outrageous costume contest begins outside of Oz nightclub at 800 Bourbon St. 12p.

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BACKTALK

Krewe de Vieux

talks back

Photo: kim welsh

“T

he story starts million years ago when some caveman in order to impress his woman put on the skull of a dead animal and started dancing around pretending it was the dead animal,” Ray Kern says. “It undoubtedly impressed the woman because they mated and Mardi Gras was born.” “And then the krewe was the amount of caveman it took to take down the woolly mammoth,” Lee Mullikin says. “Wouldn’t the original Krewe du Vieux been the people who got together to make fun of the krewe that killed the woolly mammoth?” I ask. “Very good,” Mullikin says. “A quick study.” Lee Mullikin is the Captain of the Krewe du Vieux (KdV), and Ray “Plaine” Kern is a former captain and a member of KdV since its inception in 1987. The walking parade through the French Quarter marks its 25th year as Mardi Gras’ irreverent opening act this year when it rolls on Saturday, February 19, with the theme, “25 Years Wasted.” Its king will be Jazz and Heritage Foundation Executive Director Don Marshall, one of KdV’s founders.

For me, the beauty of Mardi Gras, which your story illustrates, is the degree to which people want to find a way to participate in Carnival beyond standing on the sidewalk. Mullikin: Yes, it’s very participatory. Kern: When I saw the Clones, I wanted to be

part of it. I was a mathematician/engineer at the time, but I had a creative urge. When KdV started up and I got the call, “Want to join?” I was biting at the bit to do this again. I didn’t want this to die because it was a blast to do something like this in the Carnival context. The captain at the time, a guy named “Spoons” (Craig Johnson), he called me a week before to see if I wanted to get my krewe together and join in. I said “yeah” and had a week to prepare. A little over 100 people marched. Six sub-krewes. We lined up on Wilkerson Row, a one-block street between Decatur and Chartres—that’s how small we were. We didn’t have any floats per se; we pushed shopping carts. We had very modest beginnings, but the impetus was creative—and satire, which is something that was lacking in Mardi Gras at the time. Momus was the only krewe in town at the time that was doing satire. Mullikin: We’re unique in that we have four officers, but other than that, it’s a total democracy. It’s all mutual decisions. Kern: It wasn’t always like that. With six subkrewes, it was tough to get quorum. When it came to getting votes from the people, they didn’t care. They just wanted to do this. One of the things about Clones that we didn’t like was that it was an organization run by a handful of people, and they had to approve your theme; they had to approve your costumes. They had a vision that they wanted to execute. We didn’t like it, but we

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By Alex Rawls

Doesn’t the Krewe du Vieux story start with the Krewe of Clones? Kern: That’s where we came from. That’s why we have Don Marshall as our king this year, because he was back at the Contemporary Arts Center, and he came up with the idea of doing an art parade. He found some people locally who were willing to produce it, so the Krewe of Clones was born. It’s late ‘70s—1978—and then it grew incredibly. The last year was “Celebrity Tragedies,” and my guess is that we had 1,500 people and 32 sub-groups. It was huge. It got too big, actually, and there were internal conflicts as to where to go next. Some people wanted to become more respectable, and we didn’t want anything to do with that. They raised their dues from $15 to $300, and I guess that’s one way to get rid of the riff raff.

had so much fun that we went with it. When we formed KdV, we said, “We’re not going to do that. We’re going to keep the spirit, but let’s be more democratic.” We continue that to this day. Mullikin: If two krewes come with the same theme, we separate them in the parade. Kern: We don’t censor. There were two times I did censor because I thought it was too much—not too sexual, too hateful—and I regret those two times because in the context of the parade, it would have just been stupid and silly. Was the first KdV parade legal? Kern: Yes. We had a parade permit. It wasn’t like something that pops up out of the street and follows a parade and starts second lining. Hell, that’s part of our culture. You can do that any time you want. We are organized up to a point, but there’s only so much organization you can do before you have to let the spirit free. I’ve always likened the role of the captain to a guide more than anything else. You can’t really control this energy. Mullikin: It’s like Star Trek. There’s a Prime Directive: Don’t interfere in another subkrewe. We go to a lot of their meetings, we listen. If there are questions about current events or things happening in the krewe, we’ll answer them. Other than that we watch, smile, bite our lip and see what unfolds. FEBRU A RY 2 011

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One year MTV wanted to portray us, so we let them put two little hotties in the Krewe of Spermes and carry sperms. Has a krewe done something that made you wince? Mullikin: I’ve done something that made the city wince. Back when there was the scandal about all the priests and the little boys and the abuse, we decided to do a float called “Comatose Licks the Habit” with a priest going down on a nun. To my critics I said, “It could have been a priest and an altar boy.” Kern: Before that, back in 1989, the theme was “KdV Predicts” and the Krewe of Underwear did three movies. One was a Ronald Reagan flick, Bedtime WITH Bonzo. A guy and his wife dressed in gorilla costumes were on an inclined bed on top of their float, and basically, they did it while they were going through the French Quarter. I was a little nervous about that, but in the context of Mardi Gras, it’s silly and not to be taken seriously. Mullikin: There was the year that Chaos’ float was a cocaine warehouse and they dressed as cops guarding it. That pissed off the cops. Kern: Their costumes looked very real. They were directing traffic. Mullikin: We emphasize all the time to our member and to our captains: “Three seconds, three hours.” If they can’t figure out what you’re doing in three seconds, then you’re too complicated. And you don’t need to build the float so fancy because it only has to last three hours. We’ve got people putting in bathrooms. Give me a break. Why does the ball move around so much? Kern: We always had trouble finding space. They weren’t big enough or they were too far away. We stayed at the State Palace Theater for six years— Mullikin: —but it got too funky. Kern: The ball was just something to do after the parade. What do we do with all that energy? You can’t just stop. Mullikin: You’ve got the costumes on. Kern: The parade is the thing. Ask anybody what they’d rather have, the parade or the ball, and they’d all pick the parade for what happens in the streets. In other Mardi Gras parades, the float riders are above you throwing down to the masses. We’re on the same level as those masses, and being at that level, there’s an interchange that would not be possible from a float, and that’s what makes it so personal.

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Mullikin: Some people march with us once and it’s too overwhelming. Kern: It’s the closest thing to Mardi Gras Day without being Mardi Gras Day, just the energy I’ve seen and felt. Was there a point when you realized that you’d become an institution? Mullikin: There are people who think we ought to tear the temple down and build it all over again. Kern: I wanted to have this year’s theme be “KdV Stops in the Quarter” because of the changes that have occurred. It’s gotten big, it’s gotten popular and we were never meant to be exclusive and it’s become all of those things. We were never meant to be this way. What hurts me most is that we have to turn people away. People see us and want to be part of it, but we’re limited in size to the number of people we can cram through the Quarter. Mullikin: I’m of a totally different mindset. I want us to last hundreds of years and not become victims of ourselves. We’re too smart for that. I once had a member of a sub-krewe explain to me at length its theme, its classical allusions, its relationship to City Hall and city politics, and when they marched, that all manifested itself as big, foam dicks. There have been times when it seemed like the parade existed to walk through the streets with big, foam dicks. Kern: Yeah, at one time we were known as the Penis Parade. We’re getting away from dicks. I had a dream in the heyday of penises; the theme would be, “KdV Don’t do Dick.” Mullikin: Ellen DeGeneres would be our queen! Kern: This was at the time post-Katrina when nobody was doing anything, and I wanted to not have the parade move. Have a stationary parade lined up on Elysian Fields with floats and brass bands ready roll, and then we don’t move. We don’t do dick. The spectators would go by us. I got that from Celebration in the Oaks; why can’t we do that. That would have been the one time that I’d have insisted on no penises. Mullikin: This year, I want to do something to honor the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic, so I want to advertise that Krewe de Vieux is going to be 3D for the first time ever. See these glasses? (hands over clear glasses in cardboard frames that produce a mild prismatic effect).

We’re going to give a shitload of these to the Musicians’ Clinic, and have them precede the parade and hand out our newspapers for free and sell the glasses. All the money goes to them. We’re also going to have a little thing where the women from the Musicians’ Clinic are going to go with me in a little fake Mafia group and we’re going to sell insurance and protection money to everybody along our route who makes money as a business, and all that goes to the Musicians’ Clinic. How did the Treme version of Krewe du Vieux come about? Kern: Treme called and they want to shoot the C’est Levee parade, and wanted to get our permission for it. So we had some discussions. It worked out eventually but it wasn’t an easy task. Discussions with them or discussions within the Krewe? Kern: Both. We didn’t know if that was appropriate for us, if they were going to portray us accurately. Mullikin: One year MTV wanted to portray us, so we let them put two little hotties in the Krewe of Spermes and carry sperms. Kern: Actually that was the second time they [covered us]. The first time was in 1989, but it was much more low profile. They just interviewed a couple of the key people about the parade. What was wrong with having the MTV girls as part of Spermes? Mullikin: They wanted to make it like a “Girls Gone Wild” thing, and we’re a little more serious than that. Kern: The first time, it was respectful. But the second time around, MTV was going through an evolution of its own. We went based on our experiences with the past, even though it didn’t really apply. In fact, that applies to the krewe, too. The experiences that we’ve had in the past no longer really apply. It’s a natural occurrence—people are no longer willing to do more and more outrageous stuff. I doubt you’ll see priests going down on nuns anymore. Last year we had Bobby Jindal fucking a pelican! Mullikin: This year it’s going to be Sarah Palin whipping him as the lead dog in the Idiot-a-rod. Bobby’s my favorite target. www.OFFBEAT.com