IVAN NEVILLE ROCKIE CHARLES PANORAMA WANDA ROUZAN EARTHBOUND VAMPIRE WEEKEND
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A newly bearded Anders Osborne returns to the French Quarter Festival.
LOUISIANA MUSIC, FOOD AND CULTURE—APRIL 2010
Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50
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Features 18 To Tell the Truth
Alex Rawls goes on the set of HBO’s Treme. Will it get New Orleans right, and if it does, will anybody get it?
26 Undressing a C-Sharp Minor
Zachary Young learns about Ben Schenck while taking clarinet lessons from the leader of the Panorama Jazz Band.
32 A Patchwork Job
John Swenson talks about rebuilding yourself and your city with Anders Osborne.
58 Dinner for Thousands?
Kathleen McCann discovers how restaurants prepare for the World’s Largest Jazz Brunch.
60 In the Kitchen with Wanda
Singer Wanda Rouzan tells Elsa Hahne the secret to her bread pudding.
FQF IQ 38 44 46 48 50 52 54 56
Cindy Scott Ernie Vincent and the Top Notes Tom Sancton Kora Konnection Baby Boyz Brass Band Luke Winslow-King Evan Christopher BMI Songwriter Stage
Departments 6 Letters 8 Mojo Mouth 10 Fresh 14 Obituaries: Alex Chilton, Rockie Charles 61 OffBeat Eats
Peter Thriffiley reviews The Green Goddess, and Theresa Andersson is in The Spot at Cure.
63 Reviews 50 Club Listings, Plan A: Bonnie “Prince” Billy 61 Backtalk with Vampire Weekend
Alex Cook talks to drummer Chris Tomson about life in the spotlight and dealing with the politics of African influence. “Music is such a global passageway,” Tomson says. “It’s never a one-way street.”
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Letters STRANGE CHOICE OF WORDS I found the March cover to be in questionable taste considering the origin and references of the Billie Holiday song. A bunch of white guys yukking it up is definitely not my association to “Strange Fruit.” —Karl Holzmuller, Anacortes, WA OffBeat, one of my favorite magazines, I got my copy in the mail yesterday, and when I saw your cover, I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. Strange Fruit? Maybe it is just me, but that phrase brings to mind immediately a despicable image, brought to the forefront by Billie Holiday. Some words are so powerful, and for me, there is no making light of that phrase. —Maureen Rice, Brooklyn, NY The March cover is just lame and weird. Why? It’s not exactly a play on words, but you’re mucking around with one of the most sacred songs ever written, “Strange Fruit” and you have a bunch of white kids hanging and smiling—the image just makes my stomach hurt. I know it’s not a racist statement or anything like that, but, I’m wondering, what were you thinking? —Bernard Pearce, New Orleans, LA Never in a million years would I have thought anything other than “a bunch of crazy guys messing around on playground equipment.” “Lynching” didn’t even occur to me, much less anything racial. Your pain, sincerity and bewilderment expressed in your apology are extremely obvious. I’m embarrassed and ashamed that you’ve been made to feel that an apology was necessary. I’m sorry—not for the cover—but for the people who saw evil in it and who can only look back, not forward. —Sandra Dartus, Jackson Hole, WY We’ve heard from many of you about our cover text for the March issue, and if we had the chance to do it again, we’d go in a different direction. This was an error in judgment for which we apologize.—Ed.
“OffBeat, one of my favorite magazines… when I saw your cover, I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach.” —Maureen Rice, Brooklyn, NY
ARTS COUNCIL GRANTS As the city’s official arts agency, the Arts Council has a 35-year history of supporting the multidisciplinary arts community, that includes artists in all genres- dance, theatre, culinary, literature, visual, music and much more. However, we appreciate the opportunity to share more information on how Arts Council specifically supports local music. Here are a few highlights from last year alone: Our Entertainment Law Legal Assistance Project offered pro-bono legal assistance to 100 low-income musicians in 2009. The Community Arts Awards, our annual celebration honoring organizations and individuals for their dedication and outstanding contributions to the arts and culture of our community, honored six recipients in 2009— four were music-focused, including Deacon John and Luther Gray. Last year’s Arts Council grants funded 25 music organizations and individual musicians to the tune of $148,000. Our grant deadline is approaching on April 21st. We hold community workshops each year to help applicants better understand our grants process and would love to see more musicians and music organizations apply for funding. Workshops begin on March 4th and details about this and other programs are available on our website: www.artscouncilofneworleans.org. —Mary Len Costa, President/CEO, Arts Council, New Orleans, LA
BEST OF THE BEAT I’d like to express my gratefulness to you and the staff of OffBeat for nominating me for the 2009 Best of the Beat Best Saxophone Player Award. I know that music is the great blessing of my life and I approach it that way. It’s always about touching the soul of anyone listening to what I play. It’s about reaching for creative ways to approach all music. The audience is always a part of the process, through their spirits as well as mine, and ultimately God’s. —Tim Green, New Orleans, LA
OffBeat welcomes letters from its readers—both comments and criticisms. To be considered for publication, all letters must be signed and contain the current address and phone number of the writer. Letters to the editor are subject to editing for length or content deemed objectionable to OffBeat readers. Please send letters to Editor, OffBeat Publications, 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116.
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Louisiana Music & Culture
April 2010 Volume 23, Number 4 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com 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 Contributors Rory Callais, Rosalie Cohn, Alex Cook, Herman Fuselier, Elsa Hahne, Andrew Hamlin, Jeff Hannusch, Aaron LaFont, Madison LaGrone, Tom Macom, Kathleen McCann, Tom McDermott, Caitlyn Ridenour, Cait Smith, John Swenson, Peter Thriffiley, Dan Willging, Courtney Young, Zachary Young Cover Elsa Hahne Design/Art Direction Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Advertising Sales Ben Berman, benberman@offbeat.com Casey Boudreaux, caseyboudreaux@offbeat.com Margaret Walker, margaretwalker@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Remy Carras, Rosalie Cohn, Madison LaGrone, Tom Macom, Kathleen McCann, Lauren Noel, Cait Smith, Courtney Young, Zachary Young Distribution Patti Carrigan, Doug Jackson, Shea MacKinnon 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 © 2009, 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
Supporting FQFI
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t’s festival time in New Orleans! That’s not to say that we don’t have festivals all year long, but the springtime is special because the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest take place. The French Quarter Fest is a homegrown operation, run by a small board of locals (disclosure: I am on that board), a staff of only seven people and a host of dedicated volunteers. French Quarter Fest was originally meant to attract locals back to the Quarter after construction for the 1984 World’s Fair event disrupted traffic, but it grew from there. It has become an economic powerhouse and showcase for local-only musicians, food, and a way to get people to experience the French Quarter. French Quarter Fest is not operated by the city. It’s a private organization (French Quarter Festivals, Inc., or FQFI) that not only produces the French Quarter Festival, but also Satchmo SummerFest and Christmas New Orleans Style. All of the FQFI events are free to the public, which means that the money that’s needed to produce the festival has to be generated from the
sales of beverages, beer and merchandise, and sponsorships. And while there are sponsors like Capital One for this year’s French Quarter Fest, it doesn’t have deep-pocket sponsors like Jazz Fest does. This year, the organization has introduced a “Fest Family” special package for sale at FQFI.org that includes bumper stickers, special merchandise, access to hospitality areas and more. In the past five years, attendees at French Quarter Fest may have even exceeded Jazz Fest; the French Quarter Festival has grown to 18 stages and literally spreads from the Old Mint and French Market down through Woldenberg Park to the Aquarium and over to Bourbon Street. I think it’s truly amazing what the festival has become, but what I find even more amazing is that the City of New Orleans doesn’t really have a stake in producing the Festival, and provides very limited support. Police, sanitation, etc. are all paid for by FQF out of limited funds. What is fact has happened is that FQFI has become the second-largest festival organizer in the city. The Jazz & Heritage Foundation
has also become a major player in producing local festivals with its Blues & BBQ Fest, Fiesta Latina and others. We have the capacity to host even more festivals that celebrate our music and culture, but we need the people to do it. The city needs to step up to the plate and take a financial interest in festival production by providing these people with some serious monetary support, if nothing else, waiving or seriously reducing fees for city services. If we’re going to brand ourselves as the “Festival Capital of the US,” we need to have some more support from the city, which supports the Jazz Fest in a big way. There’s room for a lot more festivals in New Orleans, but it takes security, police, logistical machinations, sanitation and more services that can—and should—be provided by the city. They provide this for Mardi Gras, why not for local festivals? The City of Chicago has a festival office. Perhaps the new administration should consider doing the same thing.—Jan Ramsey
Strange Fruit
school teacher to the song that came to define Holiday. She first performed it at Cafe Society, an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village. Meeropol had set the poem to music, and he took it to the club’s owner and asked him to have Holiday sing it. By all accounts she did so reluctantly, most likely because she was uncomfortable being asked to sing those sentiments. Cafe Society’s Barney Josephson said, “I remember a time a woman followed Billie into the powder room. Billie was wearing a strapless gown and she tried to brush the woman off. The woman became hysterical with tears—’Don’t you sing that song again! Don’t you dare!’ she screamed—and ripped Billie’s dress. I asked her to leave. She started to cry again. She explained she came to Café Society to have fun and here she heard Billie sing about ‘burning flesh’ and it brought back a lynching she had seen when she was seven or eight years old down south.”
Officially, the last lynching took place over 40 years ago, but James Byrd was dragged to his death in Texas in 1998. In 2006 in Jena, Louisiana, six nooses were hung from a tree in a schoolyard where six Black students had sat the day before. In 2005, the United States Senate formally apologized for not enacting an anti-lynching law. Bill sponsor Senator Mary Landrieu told a gathering of the families of victims of lynching, “The Senate failed you and your ancestors and our nation.” We regret treating such a history so casually, and we’ll make an effort to do better in the future. —OffBeat Staff
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n our March cover, we demonstrated a remarkable lack of judgment and sensitivity when we matched a photo of a young band hanging from monkey bars with the headline “Strange Fruit.” The combination of the phrase and the hanging image was far too close to the subject of the Billie Holiday song first recorded in 1939—lynching—and we’re profoundly sorry for our mistake. As one reader pointed out, the song started as a poem by Abel Meeropol, who published it in 1936 as a response to a photo of two lynched Black men. He wrote: Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. In David Margolick’s Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song, he documents the song’s transition from a poem by a white, leftist high
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FRESH
Benoit Conservationist of the Year B
ew Orleans musicians rarely reach Hollywood notoriety, and if they do, it still seems unusual to actually see a local artist on the silver screen. For Earthbound, a comedy starring Kate Hudson that was shot in New Orleans in March, Ivan Neville lues artist of Dumpstaphunk wrote and Tab Benoit Ivan Neville with Ian Water meier and performed the soundtrack. was recently Skot Bright, producers of Earthbound Neville was tapped to write and awarded the perform music for the film shortly 2009 Governor’s after the actors were chosen. Line Award for Producer Skot Bright brought Conservationist Neville on to the project for his of the Year for contemporary New Orleans his work and sound. “I knew of Ivan and advocacy for the Dumpstaphunk after seeing them state’s wetlands. play a few times,” says Bright. On February “I had a personal connection 27, the awards to Ivan, so the director, Nicole banquet and the nal Kate Hudson and Gael Garcia Ber Kassell, reached out to him.” Louisiana Wildlife in Earthbound According to Neville, “The Federation’s 71st producers had possible music in Convention were mind, but they asked if I would held at the Cypress like to write some pieces for the Bend Resort in film. I read the script and felt inspired.” honor of Benoit. Hudson’s character is a music-lover, Benoit established the and she has a bar she frequents. Voice of the Wetlands The producers wanted a band to be Foundation (VOW) to playing in the film, so Neville selected draw attention to the his bandmates. “I called in my guys significance of Louisiana’s from Dumpstaphunk and Anders disappearing wetlands, Osborne. We wanted to incorporate and linked it to his music horns, so we asked saxophonist Tom with the Voice of the Fitzpatrick and trumpeter Shamarr Wetlands All-Stars. Allen to join the project.” Last year, Benoit told Neville wrote four original songs OffBeat, “We have in the film, as well as covering two to make a decision. more, including “When the Saints Go Everything from the Marching In.” The theme song for the North Shore and the film was a collaboration between Neville Atchafalaya down—you and Osborne, “Makeup of a Fool.” scoop that whole piece “It is a soulful R&B number, a out and look at what reflective ballad,” says Osborne, who you’re missing. Look at has had several songs featured in films what you’re going to in the past. lose. Baton Rouge will The movie’s not an ad for Dumpstaphunk, though. “The upbe the coast. Mandeville will be the coast. Everything south tempo pieces are more standard New Orleans. Others are more of that was built by the Mississippi River. A lot of money has mellow and bluesy,” says Neville. been spent on the coast of Louisiana and a lot of money has He chose to work on Earthbound because he could relate to been wasted. We’ve got to make sure that we have a voice aspects of the script. “A certain part of Kate’s character reminded the next time the federal government spends money on the me somewhat of myself,” he says. “After reading the screenplay, coast of Louisiana. I want to make sure that the local people it was easy to write the songs. Plus, I’m a fan of Kate Hudson, here have a voice, that the area has a voice, and not just the and it was very cool to have Whoopi Goldberg involved.” people, the land itself.” —Madison LaGrone —Cait Smith
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PhotoS: Patti Perret
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FRESH
A Fight for Haiti
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lternative rock band Mutemath started the tour for its recent album, Armistice, in New Orleans last fall. It started its spring tour here as well when it played “Spotlight on Haiti,” a concert at the Howlin’ Wolf benefiting the American Red Cross and Hope for Haiti Now. They used the occasion to premiere their new song, “The Fight.” “We want people to show for the good cause,” singer Paul Meany says. “We’re doing what we can.” Of “The Fight,” he says, “It’s a song that’s been in the works for five years and is the first song we put together as a band around Katrina. It’s about perseverance. Having a special song that connects New Orleans’ journey and the help that can be extended to our neighbor, Haiti, is what I’m looking forward to.” —Cait Smith
Swamp Pop’s New Home S
wamp pop, south Louisiana’s blend of Cajun rock ’n’ roll, New Orleans R&B, country and zydeco, lives a life of irony in its Southwest Louisiana birthplace. As gray hair grows on the music’s original musicians and fans, swamp pop is rarely featured at the region’s numerous festivals, clubs and casinos. Many swamp pop classics were recorded in the tiny town of Ville Platte, home of Floyd Soileau’s Jin record label. The Evangeline Parish town, designated Swamp Pop Capitol of the World by the state legislature, continues to carry the torch. A restored train depot on Ville Platte’s Railroad Street has been converted to a swamp pop museum, which should be open by this summer. On February 15, hundreds jitterbugged the night away with the museum in mind. Swamp Pop Reunion V, an annual museum fundraiser at the Ville Platte Civic Center, attracted hundreds of fans and more than a dozen of the genre’s legendary entertainers. Tommy McLain resurrected his version of “Sweet Dreams,” which reached No. 15 on the Billboard charts in 1966. Jivin’ Gene crooned “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” a tear jerker that reached No. 69 in ‘59. Mark Layne of radio station KVPI 92.5 FM, a reunion and museum organizer, called the event another success. “We didn’t have as big a crowd as we’ve had in the past,” says Layne. “We’ve always had a problem with overcrowding, where people didn’t have enough room to dance or sit. But this year, everybody had plenty of room.” Layne says once the museum is open later this year, visitors will be treated to a walking tour of swamp pop, featuring photos, records, costumes, rare videos, radio interviews and more.
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Mutemath
“We’ve got a lot of donations. Lou Gabus, who had the Louisiana Hall of Fame, died not long ago and her son turned over a ton of stuff. The family gave it to Rod Bernard and he turned it over to us. “Rod turned in a DVD of his performance of American Bandstand that will be in there as well. It’s going to be very nice.” —Herman Fuselier
CECI on Hold L
ast month, developer Stewart Juneau’s Le Triomphe Property Group (LTPG) asked for “a temporary suspension of negotiations on a professional services agreement for the redevelopment of the Morris X. F. Jeff, Sr. Municipal Auditorium.” This brings to a halt his controversial efforts to redevelop the auditorium as a multidisciplinary arts center. The project dubbed the Center for Entertainment and Creative Industry (CECI) was announced at a star-studded launch party at Dooky Chase’s last November. Juneau envisioned a performance arts space, a recording studio, a home for culture non-profits and an interactive jazz museum. Almost immediately there were concerns about the project, starting with whether it had the support of City Council, which would have been necessary to transfer the auditorium to LTPG. CECI had Mayor Ray Nagin’s support. He was at Dooky Chase’s to announce the project, but his relationship to Juneau and the remarkably close match between the city’s call for proposals and LTPG’s pitch drew charges that CECI was an inside job. Controversy heightened when city Inspector General Ed Quatreveaux reviewed LTPG’s proposal in December and called it “abject waste,” contending that the plans to have much of the work paid for by FEMA were unlikely to happen because of their scope. More damning, he contended, was that it seemed to allow LTPG to bill the city for its time without specifying why. “Juneau can just bill hours for breathing,” Quatreveaux wrote. The controversy resurfaced after Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor. Despite his lame duck status, Nagin announced that he intended to continue pursuing personal service contracts—the type of contract LTPG was to enter into with the city. Afer the election, Landrieu said, “I do intend to send a letter to the mayor asking him not to extend any contracts, not to take any action that would bind the city into the future, not to make any decisions that will bind the next mayor or the next City Council in any significant way.” Juneau’s announcement reinforces his interest in the CECI project. “LTPG remains confident that providing a landmark home for the cultural arts and creative industry in New Orleans in the damaged and unused auditorium is one of the most important projects that will be undertaken in the city in the near future,” he wrote. “We look forward to working closely with all segments of our great community on making the mission of providing a landmark home for the cultural arts in New Orleans a reality.” —Alex Rawls www.OFFBEAT.com
IN MEMORIAM
Alex Chilton 1950-2010
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inger, songwriter, guitarist and producer Alex Chilton died of a heart-related problem in New Orleans on March 17, 2010. Chilton’s work with the Box Tops, Big Star and as a solo artist inspired a considerable and loyal following in the indie and alternative music fields. His compositions have been performed by Wilco, Garbage, Son Volt, Counting Crows, Elliott Smith, Jeff Buckley, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo and many more. Chilton grew up in a musical family in Memphis; his father, Sidney Chilton, was a jazz musician. At the age of 16, Chilton had a number one hit with “The Letter” as a member of the Box Tops. The group disbanded in February 1970. He joined Chris Bell, Jody Stephens and Andy Hummel to form Big Star in 1971 and recorded three albums, #1 Record, Radio City, and Sister Lovers. Only he and Jody Stephens were a part of Sister Lovers’ recording, and they retired the Big Star name until the two started doing occasional Big Star projects in the 1990s augmented by members of the Posies. Chilton moved to New Orleans in the early 1980s where he formed a trio with Rene Coman and drummer Doug Garrison. Coman left Chilton’s solo trio at the end of 1986 to pursue other projects, forming the Iguanas with Garrison. While here, he recorded and performed intermittently, more in the 1990s than in the last decade. He was taken to the hospital in New Orleans, and died of a suspected heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Laura, and son, Timothy.
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An appreciation by Alex Rawls Learning of Alex Chilton’s death during South by Southwest made the enterprise seem a little empty. Almost every rock band here with pop leanings has Chilton or Big Star in its cellular structure whether it knows it or not. As a member of the Box Tops, he sang on the pop/soul hits “The Letter,” “Cry Like a Baby” and “Soul
It’s hard to write about Chilton and not impose your suppositions about motivations because he was notoriously private. He wasn’t reclusive but he had his own priorities and interests. I last saw him before Christmas on Frenchmen Street when Alex McMurray and I ran into him, the three of us marveling at three Alexes in the same place at the same time.
Deep.” Big Star’s three albums present the blueprint for contemporary indie rock, and as a solo artist, he pursued a progressively personal vision with little regard for labels, audiences or sales. He made pop archaeology cool in his later years, writing less but digging up obscure pop, R&B and soul classics, seemingly determined to be hip by being unhip; in later years, “Volare,” the Italian pop standard, was a staple of his live show. As a producer, he helped Tav Falco’s Panther Burns show that roots music may be best celebrated by its spirit rather than religiously faithful renditions.
Bruce Eaton documents in Radio City, his entry in the 33 1/3 book series, how Chilton was reluctant to be interviewed. That reluctance let us fill in the blanks—likely as we would fill them in, not as he would. For years, I’ve thought that he was perhaps the perfect example of what the music business can make you. He’s best known for music he made at 16 as the hired voice of the Box Tops, a band that used little of his writing. With Big Star, he made remarkable music, but distribution problems meant few people heard it. After that, he made music that always had “fuck this business” as a subtext. As time has passed, I have come to
suspect that reading; it’s too simple and too generic, based on how people would respond—how I might respond—rather than how he would. But Chilton invited that sort of identification. Big Star’s not as revolutionary as its proponents claim, but it’s hard to think of a band that better reflected being young than it did. On all three albums, there’s an undercurrent of confusion and uncertainty, even in the optimistic songs. That spoke more clearly to me than the Beatles or countless singer/ songwriters who seemed to have a far clearer handle on their lives than I did then or now. Add to that the hardto-find nature of his recorded output and all the pieces were in place for Chilton to become a cult figure, the beloved of those who are certain that real music exists at the edges of the mainstream. When Jon Dee Graham played the Ogden Museum of Southern Art recently, we connected when he warmed up before the doors opened with Big Star’s “13.” After he finished, I showed him photos of the lyrics to “13″ that someone had made into a series of posters and pasted up on a warehouse on Tchoupitoulas last August. He was blown away by the posters—the enigma they presented, and the reassurance that “13″ still speaks to people more than 30 years later. It offers hope that there’s still a long possible shelf life for those toiling on the margins. When I let Graham know about Chilton’s death, he wrote, “Giants falling right and left; who can even pretend to the size of these immortal dead? Who wants to?” It’s going to be hard to walk around SXSW and not measure bands with that yardstick in mind. O www.OFFBEAT.com
IN MEMORIAM
Rockie Charles
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ew Orleans’ “President of Soul,” Rockie Charles, whose given name was Alfred Charles Merrick, died after a long battle with cancer on March 12. He was 70. Charles was a guitarist and singer who cut a handful of well-crafted soul singles in the 1960s and 1970s. He recorded his first CD in 1997, the acclaimed Born for You. Charles was also a seasoned Mississippi River tugboat captain for many years. An engaging man, Charles was born November 12, 1939, in Boothville, Louisiana. He was raised by his father Earlington, who fished and shrimped the river and played guitar with a group that played the local juke joint. At the age of 13, Charles moved to New Orleans to live with an aunt where he attended Caffin High and Houston’s School of Music, where he learned to write music and play the guitar. “I used to enter talent shows in the summer at Lincoln Beach,” said Charles in 1996, referring to the black amusement park on Hayne Boulevard adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain. “In 1958, I won second place. That inspired me to go some place with my music.”
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During the 10th grade, Charles dropped out of school and moved to Venice, Louisiana, where he first saw his biggest musical influence, Guitar Slim. On his 18th birthday, he got his river pilot’s license and moved back to New Orleans, where he also formed a band called the Gadges. The Gadges played small black neighborhood clubs and Tulane fraternity dances on Broadway. “By working those kind of gigs, you had to be real versatile,” said Charles. “That affected me when I started writing my own songs.” Charles auditioned for Dave Bartholomew at Imperial Records and Allen Toussaint at Minit, but with no success. Like many New Orleans musicians, Charles frequented the One Stop Record Shop on South Rampart Street, where he met Senator Jones, who wanted to start a record label. Jones started Black Patch and his one-and-only release on the label was Charles’ “Sinking Like a Ship” backed with “Mr. Rickashay.” As appealing as it was, it didn’t sell. Charles and the Gadges were hired to do a tour with Irma Thomas that took them to Nashville. While there, they were hired by a booking agent called “Good Jelly” Jones who
put the Gadges on the road with everybody from Otis Redding to Little Johnny Taylor. “Good Jelly” kept the band busy but eventually stiffed them after three weeks’ worth of dates in Texas in 1969. At that point, Charles cut his losses and returned to New Orleans. Back at square one, Charles realized that to shop for gigs, it would help to have a record out. With the local record business contracting, no label was willing to give him a shot. As a result he started his own label, Soul Gate. His ploy worked and Charles waxed several great sides including “Show My People Around the Curve,” “Living the Good Life” and his biggest, “The President of Soul” recorded in Jackson, Mississippi at Malaco Studios. “The President of Soul” sold a respectable 7,000 copies around New Orleans, but in the mid-1970s Charles faced a new adversary—disco. With gigs harder and harder to find, Charles moved to the West Bank and returned to being a tugboat captain. He did that until 1986 when he let his license expire after one too many close calls on the Mississippi. Charles built an oyster boat and continued to write music in his spare
time. He was confident enough to run an ad in OffBeat’s 1994 Louisiana Music Directory announcing that “The President of Soul” was again accepting engagements. The ad caught the eye of Orleans Records’ owner Carlo Ditta, who promptly called Charles. After the two met, they began working on Born for You, which took two years to complete. After its release, Charles reflected: “My style works off the blues, but it’s not confining, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. I’ve had to play a lot of different types of music because of the situation I was in. I incorporated those styles into what I write. That means taking the blues a step further.” Born for You rightfully garnered a monumental amount of positive reaction and Charles was offered gigs far and wide. His new group, the Stax of Love, continued to work and record sporadically. In 2009, he recorded an album in Denmark, I Want First Class. Earlier this year, he released a single, “It’s Party Time for the Mardi Gras.” Charles was scheduled to appear at this year’s Jazz Fest, but sadly that ship won’t come in. He leaves numerous children and grandchildren.—Jeff Hannusch www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: SKIP BOLEN
1939-2010
TREME
To Tell the Truth
Photo: HBO / Skip Bolen
HBO’s new Treme series strives to present New Orleans as it is; will America get it?
Wendell Pierce joins the Treme Brass Band on trombone
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ipitina’s is smokier than usual, perhaps because there’s a smoke wrangler. A woman walks among the crowd, offers people cigarettes and on cue, the takers start puffing. Soon a gray-blue haze hangs in front of the Pine Leaf Boys onstage. Steve Earle leans against the bar near the stage in a beige pearlsnap Western shirt, his Allen Ginsberg beard and glasses. He’s studying the band and talking to the younger, dark-haired woman standing on a short platform next to him. “He’s better than me,” the woman says, looking at fiddler Courtney Granger. “Besides, I can’t do that.”
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“CUT,” director Simon CellanJones says, and the band and smokers stop. He calls for another take and when Wilson Savoy leads the Pine Leaf Boys into another take of “Pine Leaf Boy Two-Step,” CellanJones runs, jumps on beat and dances during this take and many to come. He is shooting an episode of the upcoming HBO series Treme, produced by The Wire’s David Simon and part-time New Orleans resident Eric Overmyer, who worked with Simon on Homicide: Life on the Streets and was a consulting producer and writer on The Wire. In the scene, Earle plays Harley Watt, the father of Annie, the woman standing next to him played by Lucia Micarelli. In the
By Alex Rawls
show, she’s a classically trained violin player who’s watching the Pine Leaf Boys after she didn’t get the job of replacing Cedric Watson. “She can’t play Cajun fiddle,” music supervisor Blake Leyh says. “She doesn’t know that music.” The scene is based on a real situation. The Pine Leaf Boys were going on tour and needed a sub for Watson, though that took place in 2006 not 2005. That’s one of the few liberties Treme takes with its timeline, though. The drama tells the story of the city rebuilding after Katrina by focusing on musicians, and it starts three months after Katrina. Authenticity has been paramount in the production. “One thing I’m
certain of is that we’re going to be authentic,” actor Wendell Pierce says. “I know that’s very important to New Orleanians. We’re very protective of our culture and its depiction because we’ve seen so many bad Mardi Gras movies over the years. Treme approaches it like anthropologists.” Because of that, the production has taken care to have the music played by bands that were here. “I’ve been in touch with the musicians asking to send me their schedules, what they were doing between December and March, and between December ’05 and March ’06, and I’ve been trying to follow that,” Leyh says. “I would love to have Lil’ Queenie playing live in the show but she wasn’t around. www.OFFBEAT.com
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K-Ville was dismissed by locals almost immediately when it introduced us to a tradition we never knew we had: the gumbo party. She didn’t come back until Jazz Fest.” As important as authenticity is, though, Treme is ultimately a television drama, and as hard as it strives for veracity, it can never be 100 percent true to the moment because it inserts fictional characters into the chronology. “It’s not a documentary,” Eric Overmyer says. “We don’t want to make a fetish out of it.” New Orleans has high hopes for Treme because the city has been ill-served by television and movies. One episode of the 1988 incarnation of the Mission: Impossible television series centered on the Underground Railroad going through New Orleans—a real, literal underground railroad in tunnels carved under a city that in reality rests on a mud patty. There have also been countless crimes against geography—in John Woo’s Hard Target, a character runs over the Algiers levee and into the middle of Decatur Street—and accents, most famously by Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy. K-Ville was dismissed by locals almost immediately when it introduced us to a tradition we never knew we had: the gumbo party. But the interest in Treme is more than just the desire to see our reality reflected on big and small screens. Tourism has been down since Katrina, and business leaders think the show will become an ad for the city. Those who want to see the truth about post-Katrina flooding come to light hope Treme will help spread the word, and a community desperate for jobs and an influx of money into the city looks to Treme to stimulate the economy. Almost every group has some stake in Treme’s success, something the production knows very well. “It makes me a little nervous, but I’ve also been a little moved by that hope that we’ll get it right,” Overmyer says. The central figures in Treme are musicians, a group that has been
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almost as poorly treated on screen as New Orleans. In the first episode, musicians aren’t hipsters, freaks or artists who interact awkwardly with the community. They are the community, and they’re trying to get their lives back in order after Katrina just like the chefs, lawyers and trash haulers. They, like New Orleans, are treated as if they’re normal. Not surprisingly, music is a central feature of the show. The first episode begins and ends with brass bands—Rebirth and Treme—and Elvis Costello is in Vaughan’s to see Kermit Ruffins while here to record The River in Reverse. Rebirth, Treme, Ruffins and Costello play themselves, just as the Pine Leaf Boys do at Tipitina’s. This not only exposes their music, but earns them a paycheck, and Leyh prefers to use the band’s original songs so that they’ll make more money. “The money we’re spending on music for the show, I’d rather that money be coming right back to the pocket of musicians in New Orleans than going to a multinational corporation in Burbank,” he says. After Katrina, The Wire included music by New Orleans musicians to try to funnel some money to them indirectly but later feared their efforts didn’t benefit anyone but the publishing companies holding the songs’ copyrights. “Any note of music that you hear in this show would be music that you could have heard in that situation,” Leyh continues. That means there is no incidental music composed to dramatically heighten a scene. “The idea that I would write some music that would tell this story better than the music that’s already here—why would I do that?” Music never occurs without a source, whether it’s a car, a stereo, or a band, and if a band appears to be playing on screen, the music viewers hear is the music the band made while the camera was rolling. Typically,
when live music appears in film, it’s recorded in a studio, then the band pretends to play it for the cameras. “There’s no pantomime,” Leyh says, but the bands don’t play the whole song. The Pine Leaf Boys play the same minute-long verse and solo at least 20 times this morning. The No Faking policy puts additional pressure on Wendell Pierce. He’s trombone player Antoine Batiste on the show, but he’s just starting to play the trombone in real life. “One thing I always hated was when you see actors who obviously haven’t put in any time learning about the instrument,” Pierce says. He has a sound double, Rebirth’s Stafford Agee, to cover him, but he learns and plays the 16-or-so bars he “performs” on camera, if for no other reason than because it makes him better in those scenes. “Everything you see musicians do behavior-wise, it has to do with what it takes to produce the sound on the instrument,” Pierce says. The challenge isn’t acting with the horn; it’s delivering lines of dialogue then playing, then going back to dialogue. “That’s like rubbing your head and patting your stomach,” he says. “I get weak in the knees when the scenes come up with musicians; that’s how much I respect what they do and want to look like I’m playing,” Pierce says. He’s learning to play from Agee and Keith Hart, who teaches at KIPP School, and he clearly wants to represent trombone players properly. “The one thing I’m trying not to do is look so out of breath because I don’t have my breath up to where it needs to be.” Pierce is also quick to recall compliments from professional musicians who joke that he’s going to put Agee out of work. More seriously, he says, “My tone is getting better. I’m more consistent, but I can’t wait until we get some downtime so I can actually learn the horn a lot better.”
Many characters on Treme have their roots in real life. There’s a female chef played by Kim Dickens who ties her hair back with a bandana in a visual echo of Susan Spicer. Spicer served as a consultant early on and was the conceptual starting place for the character, but the character’s not her. “There were starting points for some of the characters, but we tried to move them away from that as quickly as possible,” Eric Overmyer says. The stories help move the characters away from the starting point, but casting makes a bigger difference. “As soon as you cast an actor, that’s when characters really start to evolve, when you hear a specific voice and see a specific person.” Steve Zahn plays Davis McAlary, a character modeled on musician and former WWOZ DJ Davis Rogan (who isn’t former on Treme). “David Simon got me off of John Swenson’s review (of his album The Once and Future DJ),” Rogan says. “He read the review, bought the record and liked it.” Simon liked it so much that a track ended up in The Wire and Rogan became a consultant of Treme, telling postKatrina stories and making sure that the details were right. Now he is a consultant, piano teacher for the musicians—“I’m not giving away anything to say watch Michiel Huisman play ‘Lonely, Lonely Nights’ in episode seven. He’s been great; he can play some New Orleans piano”—on-screen piano player in Davis McAlary’s band, and with the Pine Leaf Boys episode, a co-writer, having written the script with David Mills. Also on the writing staff are novelist Tom Piazza and former Times-Picayune columnist Lolis Eric Elie. Rogan hoped he’d be considered for the part he inspired. “When I got emails saying, ‘I’m reading for the part of Davis; can you give me any hints?’ I said, ‘I labor www.OFFBEAT.com
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Pierce not only plays a character dealing with Katrina’s aftermath on television; he’s doing it in real life. He and his family evacuated from Pontchartrain Park before it took on floodwaters 14-feet deep.
under the delusion that I’m under consideration for the role, so any advice I give would be tainted.’” When he didn’t get the part, he successfully lobbied to have the character keep the name Davis in hopes of making his name more of a household word. He’s sanguine with backing up a character that he inspired. “Steve’s great,” he says. “I understand that this is a character in the hands of the writers.” Pierce’s Antoine Batiste doesn’t have any direct inspirations. When he started playing him, Pierce thought of Agee, Corey Henry, Delfeayo Marsalis and a former roommate, Kevin Wavers. When he was doing homework to prepare for the character, people told him about a trombone player named Wolf. Wolf was the stuff of stories for him until one day when Pierce was in the Quarter. “I hear this huge, funky sound coming from down the street,” he says. A man was playing a trombone solo, and during it, he dropped into a crouch, something that was Wolf’s trademark. After the set, Pierce introduced himself and they talked, though Wolf was vague about where and how he was living. “He has become this enigmatic figure I think about when I’m playing the role, but I’m not playing Wolf,” Pierce says. Not surprisingly, the cast and crew have a strong affection for the city, some with roots deeper than others. Blake Leyh’s not from New Orleans, but his mother and sister lived here in the 1990s and he visited regularly. “My sister lived here for a long time and was really involved in the brass band scene,” he says. “She painted Uncle Lionel’s drum.” After a day of shooting Olympia Brass Band in a cemetery in the morning and Washboard Chaz at Bacchanal in the afternoon, he went to WWOZ to hang out with disc jockey David Kunian before
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Eric Overmyer
they went to the Maple Leaf. “How could you not?” he asks. The next morning, he’s at Tipitina’s working with the Pine Leaf Boys. “I feel so blessed to have the job I do.” Davis Rogan is from here, as is Pierce, who attended Ben Franklin and NOCCA. He not only plays a character dealing with Katrina’s aftermath on television; he’s doing it in real life. He and his family evacuated from Pontchartrain Park before it took on floodwaters 14-feet deep. “We were totally wiped out,” he says. He settled his parents in Baton Rouge and spent the months after Katrina cycling between Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Baltimore, where he worked on The Wire. After he got his parents’ home rebuilt, he became more involved in their community. “We started a neighborhood association,” he says. The Pontchartrain Home Improvement Association put together a development corporation and started a redevelopment project. They’ve aggressively pursued
Photo: HBO / Skip Bolen
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grants and subsidies to rebuild the neighborhood and maintain its character, and they have been sufficiently effective that New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) has used their efforts as a model for its policy. NORA has also transferred abandoned and blighted properties to them for rehabilitation, and the rebuilding efforts have made them solar or geothermalpowered homes. Just last month, the golf course in Pontchartrain Park reopened. Eric Overmyer’s post-Katrina story is less dramatic. He has had a house in the Marigny for more than 20 years, and it only sustained roof damage. He didn’t come back to New Orleans until December 2005 because a friend whose house was destroyed was staying in his. Still, working on Treme and revisiting the post-Katrina landscape has been hard at times. “Sometimes it feels like reliving it, and it gets emotional,” he says. “And I’ve learned a lot about the city. I thought I knew the
city pretty well, but I realized I didn’t know it very well at all. I’ve fallen, madly, passionately, deeply in love with the place.” That passion has fueled the desire to treat the city properly, which means making a good show. Overmyer started talking with Simon about a New Orleans show in the 1990s, and how the city had been poorly used in the past. “Very rarely has the city been photographed very well,” he says, but it poses a host of challenges. “How do you translate the lights, and how it smells, the food, how people talk, the sense of style and the way people relate to each other? We talked a lot about how do you translate New Orleans.” In the first episode, some scenes will likely be more inexplicable than others. If viewers aren’t plugged in to the heightened emotions in post-Katrina New Orleans and the city’s underlying theatricality, John Goodman’s character may be a little puzzling. It’s Simon and Overmyer’s aesthetic, though, to immerse www.OFFBEAT.com
TREME people in a world and hope the world is interesting enough to hold viewers until things become clearer. “You don’t want people explaining to each other things they already know,” Overmyer says. “We didn’t want to make our main character a volunteer so that everything can be explained to her. ‘Look, that’s a Mardi Gras Indian.’” HBO has been supportive of their approach, but even they were left in the dark by a reference to a Hubig’s pie—an anachronism, Overmyer admits, since Hubig’s wasn’t open in December 2005. When HBO executives asked what that was, the production sent them a case of pies. Wendell Pierce is confident in Treme’s approach. “People who know nothing about New Orleans are going to be impacted by the way we depict New Orleans and how we are affected by what we’re depicting,” he says. “The truth and authenticity will make them come back for more. For the vast majority of the universe watching the show, they’re going to understand that
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this was a major event in people’s lives that changed people’s lives, and the humanity of people trying to get their lives back together’s going to be depicted on the screen. Whether it’s in New Orleans, Topeka or Timbuktu, the more specific it is, the more universal it becomes.” In some cases, creating the world means an attention to detail that goes above and beyond. The first scene in the first episode is the first second line after Katrina with the Black Men of Labor. “When we recreated that scene, we had some of the guys from Rebirth, some of the guys from New Birth, three social clubs, about a hundred dancers and second liners,” Blake Leyh says. “Most of the people on that scene were people who would normally be doing it, and most of them did it. The only person you can see on screen who is not part of the real event is Wendell Pierce, who’s our character. The level of recreation and conceit and artifice is as small as possible.” Those who were back early after Katrina will appreciate details like
those and countless others. In one scene, a restaurant with a limited menu runs out of dessert and has to improvise. In another, a restaurant is full of cops, sheriffs and a host of other uniformed types. The question is, will anyone else get the references? Will people understand that world? “The Wire has an audience outside of West Baltimore,” Davis Rogan says. The show hasn’t aired yet, so the crew looks ahead guardedly. If Treme gets past its first season, it would likely last four or five seasons at most. HBO prefers finite series and so does Overmyer. The first season deals with people returning and starting to get their lives back together; season two would deal with the money. “Where is all the money going? The aid, the insurance money, the Road Home money,” Overmyer says. “We’ve barely scratched the surface on politics and crime, which historically was just coming back about the end of our season.” It has already been a strange and powerful experience for the people
making it. “I feel a great responsibility to the music community here to tell the story correctly, and to use the music that is right for the situation,” Blake Leyh says. “We’re going to be representing New Orleans to the world, and that’s a heavy responsibility.” In some cases, the experience has been more personal. “I’ve had weird shit happen to me. Having someone represent me on an HBO television show is number three, but it’s not number one,” Davis Rogan says. “There has been a constant dialogue between the cast and crew,” Wendell Pierce says, as locals and those from out of town talk about their present, their past, and their relationships to the show. Treme’s not only going to open America’s eyes, he says, but it’ll give locals something to think about. “It’s going to challenge New Orleanians,” Pierce says. “Why should we save New Orleans? Are we getting a little too relaxed? You can’t sit back on your laurels.” Treme debuts on HBO Sunday, April 11.
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PANORAMA SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 11:00 A.M.-12:15 P.M.—JACKSON SQUARE, STATE OF LOUISIANA STAGE WITH WWL-TV
Undressing a C-Sharp Major Photo: ELSA HAHNE
Panorama Jazz Band’s Ben Schenck teaches the author a thing or two about the clarinet.
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lay me something.” It’s a gray February morning as I sit down for my first clarinet lesson with Ben Schenck. His daughter Ida, home sick from school, is asleep in the living room, and so we’ve set up our chairs in the kitchen. I ponder for a moment before launching into a solo I memorized from an Artie Shaw recording of “Deep Purple.” Schenck taps his foot in time before jumping in with an improvised accompaniment. Soon my memory goes dry and I trail off into silence, but Schenck smiles. “That’s great, man. You hear something you love, learn it.” He tells me about doing the same exercise with old records when he was my age. “I was doing it back in the ‘80s before there was digital. I just had a tape recorder. I would listen to a phrase over and over and over again. It would take hours, but it’s really good ear training.” Schenck, who lives with his wife and two children in a festive blue and green shotgun in the Freret neighborhood, is best known as the clarinetist and leader of the Panorama Jazz Band. Its concerts juxtapose New Orleans jazz with the folk musics of Eastern Europe among other things. He thinks the combination is more natural than it might seem. “Creole music and Yiddish music balance each other out,” he says. “They’re like complementary opposites.” Panorama avoids the temptation to amalgamate these various styles. “I really try not to blend them together, to keep
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them distinct,” Schenck explains. “I’ve never been into fusion. I think that’s how you get mashed potatoes. Klezmer is such a strong flavor. Creole music is such a strong flavor. I want them straight.” At the very least, they both put the clarinet front and center. In most styles of jazz the instrument has fallen far from its heyday in the swing era, but in New Orleans it remains as constant a presence at it’s ever been. I’ve had other teachers, but none with Schenck’s talent for imagery. “It’s like when you crave a woman’s body,” he tells me. “So how do you get it? You sit down with it and you undress it, little by little.” Part of that gradual undressing is the drilling of technical exercises, scales and arpeggios, he says.
By Zachary Young
You have to internalize the basic building blocks of the music. A soloist can’t afford to pause while he tries to remember which notes are in a C-sharp major chord. It has to be instantaneous. It has to live in your fingers. Like most folks who took lessons during school, my background is mostly in classical playing. Also like most folks, I was an expert at not practicing. I have a vivid memory of my first teacher coming to my house for a lesson one day. As I stumbled through a piece I was supposed to have learned that week, she asked me point blank: “Did you practice this at all?” I couldn’t lie to her. She got up and left right there. Although I picked up the clarinet at age 10, my ability plateaued after a few years. I’ve long been a devotee of Sydney Bechet, Johnny Dodds and the
whole pantheon of swing and Dixie clarinet players, and after moving to New Orleans in the fall I started to think of playing this music myself. I was worried, though, that it might be too late for me to learn to do it right. Which is why I’m taken aback at the end of our lesson when Schenck offers to let me sit in at a Panorama show. “There’s nothing like doing a show if you really want to learn,” he says. “Maybe I’ll take a few more lessons first,” I reply. He tells of sitting in with musicians like Kermit Ruffins and the Treme Brass Band in the early days, when he was still getting his footing in the music. “You can ask Kermit; I was stinking up the place,” he says. “But it wasn’t about that. Everybody was really friendly and welcoming because it www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: ALEXEI KAZANTSEV
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Panorama Jazz Band was understood that that’s what you need to do to learn. And I owe those guys a big debt of gratitude.” For someone in my shoes, his story is an encouraging one. Schenck started on the clarinet during his college years, late by musician standards. His interest in jazz was piqued during excursions to the music library. Duke Ellington was an early favorite. “I got this one record—“Jazz at the Plaza”— and I listened to it every day,” he recalls. “Sometimes twice.” “When I started getting into it, I had a lot of people telling me, ‘It’s not going to work out.’ Both because you can’t make a living at it, and because you’re starting too late. Can’t can’t can’t. No no no. But I wanted to. So I figured, fuck, I’m going to try, man.” His first exposure to klezmer was through Henry Sapoznik, who spearheaded the revival of the genre in the 1970s and ’80s. Schenck was listening to a local
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radio station in Washington, D.C. when Sapoznik’s group came on. “I heard this music and I said, ‘Wow, that is cool. That is sexy, man, that’s rich. I wonder if I could do that with the clarinet.’” He moved to New Orleans from D.C. in 1988, and his professional career got off to an auspicious start at an Uptown coffee shop called Borsodi’s. “Bob Borsodi was a poet and a beatnik, a really beautiful guy, really a throwback. One day I came in and asked, ‘Would it be alright if I play my clarinet?’ He had a white dove that lived in a cage up in the corner. The door was open but the dove would never come out. He was always trying to get the bird to come out, but it never would. I sat down to play—I’d been playing the clarinet for a couple years; I wasn’t any good—and the bird flew out of the cage and landed at my feet. It sat there all night.”
The result was a regular gig playing solo clarinet every Thursday for ten bucks. No great sum, but as Schenck says, “It was something.” Panorama is a ubiquitous presence in one form or another during Carnival in New Orleans. As the Panorama Brass Band, it marches with Krewe de Vieux, Krewe of Muses, and St. Anthony Ramblers among other Mardi Gras organizations. As a result, he’s a little busy in early February and it’s a few weeks before we meet for another lesson. “I haven’t seen Krewe de Vieux in a long time,” he jokes. “When you’re in it, you can’t see it.” This time we work on improvising. Schenck walks me through the tune “Some of These Days”. Then he breaks out his guitar and plays the chords while I attempt a solo. “You’re onstage, someone calls a tune you don’t know,”
he explains. “You’re listening, and you get it. The second time around, you’re ready to jump in on it.” Maybe, but I’m not quite there yet. I meander, playing a few good stretches but more pedestrian ones. I realize that a good improviser needs a mental repertoire of rhythmic/melodic building blocks, analogous to the phonemes of spoken language. Building that internal library of usable material is a daunting task. “Whatever you do,” he says, “you’ve got to practice.” As we’re finishing up, he renews his previous offer. “Come sit in with my band. We’ll play this song. I think that’s really what you need.” “You get to be nervous,” he laughs. “Just like I was.” Back home, I put on Panorama’s recording of the song and play over it. His solo on the record starts with a high D-sharp that lingers in midair for a few www.OFFBEAT.com
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beats before sliding downwards. The power is not in the note itself, but in the gratifying release when the tension ends and he gets down to business. I try to imitate this, but here I run up against a familiar roadblock. The clarinet is not a forgiving instrument. Anyone who took lessons as a kid knows well the dreadful squawks with which it will punish an unsuspecting novice. The difficulty is greatest in the highest register, where even the slightest relaxation of air speed or of the facial muscles can transform a would-be Benny Goodman into a dying seagull. Unfortunately for the aspiring jazz master, it’s those wailing excursions into the upper reaches
of the instrument that make the clarinet so distinctive within the sonic milieu of New Orleans music. My own brilliant solution to this problem has long been to avoid the register whenever possible. Predictably, I’ve never gotten much better at it. I resolve to change that and make “Some of These Days” the backdrop for that resolution. To my surprise, it only takes a few days of concerted effort before I’m bending those high notes with relative ease. And the more the tune settles in my head, the better it all sounds. Saturday evening rolls around at the Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street. The crowd is thin but growing fast. It’s a small venue, but that suits Panorama just fine. It lets their sound fill the space, and they don’t need electricity to do it. Playing acoustically is also an aesthetic preference for the band.
“In the Tao Te Ching, it says something about how the quiet person has more influence,” Schenck says. “If you’re shouting, you automatically diminish yourself. Amplifying when you don’t have to looks to me like an artificial ego boost. People who want to interact with the band come over to us. We don’t need everybody.” At our first lesson, he gave me some advice. “Remind yourself that everyone in the room is your friend.” Maybe that’s why I feel oddly at ease when he waves me onstage and the band strikes up “Some of These Days”. When he nods at me for a solo, I get a little excited and enter early; he catches me before I can do too much damage. Not how I’d hoped to start my performance. When I come in for real, though, I hit that D-sharp pretty well. He keeps me onstage for another two songs, during which I manage to rack up more than my fair share of missed
chord changes and poorly chosen notes—but in other moments I’m spot-on. This is nothing like playing over a record. I can feel the stage rumble under the chugging of the rhythm section, and the energy of an appreciative crowd hooting and dancing in front of me. I understand why people want to do this for a living. “What’d you think?” Schenck asks when the set is over. “I think I flubbed that second song,” I say. “Whatever, man,” he replies. “I flub songs all the time.” That about sums up the atmosphere: supportive, nonjudgmental. This must be what he meant when he told me of sitting in with the Treme Brass Band back in the day. “It’s scary,” he said. “And it should be. Life’s about walking through scary stuff.” He invites me to come back and play again some time. “Definitely,” I reply. O
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COVER STORY SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 6:15-7:30 P.M.— WOLDENBURG PARK, ABITA BEER STAGE
Patchwork Job A
nders Osborne does not fit the stereotype of the signature New Orleans musician. But if you use the analogy of the Mississippi River to describe the city’s cultural history, Osborne’s presence in New Orleans has helped divert the course of its music. His accomplishments as a producer, performer and songwriter place him in the rarefied company of such New Orleans icons as Allen Toussaint and Dr. John. History provides the raw, irrefutable proof—a number one single recorded by Tim McGraw, “Watch the Wind Blow By;” production jobs for local musicians including Andy J. Forest, Tab Benoit and Johnny Sansone, Ingrid Lucia and Monk Boudreaux’s outstanding Bury the Hatchet; and a chameleon-like performance history as a singer/songwriter and guitarist that has repeatedly hit paydirt. During his early years in the city, Osborne helped create the music scene at Checkpoint Charlie and mentored another young Swede, Theresa Andersson, who went on to become a star in her own right. Osborne put together the groundbreaking, hybrid New Orleans band that includes drummer Doug Belote, sousaphonist Kirk Joseph and saxophonist Tim Green, then collaborated with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux on a live band and two album projects that yielded new compositions from both Boudreaux and Osborne. Of his own albums, two stand out as classic New Orleans recordings: Living Room and Ash Wednesday Blues. Then there’s his ongoing participation in one of the great American bands of the 21st Century, the Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars. Most recently, Osborne has been playing a very popular Tuesday night session at Chickie Wah Wah with John Fohl and Johnny Sansone. The acoustic performances showcase original songwriting from all three musicians, but Osborne’s new material—powerful, soulwrenching confessionals like “On the Road to Charlie Parker” and “Echoes of My Sin”— indicate that his songwriting has evolved to www.OFFBEAT.com
a new level in the wake of the 2005 federal flood. This is the material that populates his latest record, American Patchwork, which will be release during Jazz Fest. “This is the healing,” he says explaining the title, “the patching back together of a man scattered to the wind, broken in pieces.” Osborne used the mistakes he’s made in his own life as a metaphor for the trials that his adopted city went through after Katrina. “It’s also about the city and what happened to it,” he says. “A lot of songs are about patching your life back together. The source for the emotion behind those songs is reaching a certain age in my life and also about Katrina. It’s about my choice of lifestyles over the years, my lack of focus many times. I’ve come to a point in my life where I’ve made a decision to straighten out a lot of things, to become the best dad I can be, to become a husband who’s basically living up to that name. Also in the last year or so I’ve been trying my very best to get on a strong spiritual path, to be connected with the big picture. When you do that, you start to heal. You realize a lot of things you’ve said and done are simply out of ignorance, inexperience.” Like many brilliant New Orleans musicians, Osborne has struggled with substance abuse problems. American Patchwork is not the first of his albums to deal with the subject. Both Living Room and Ash Wednesday Blues include songs about the consequences of Osborne’s young and wild days. The difference, he says, is the intent of the man inside the songwriter. “I wasn’t ready to deal with actual improvement back then,” he says. “I stopped doing certain things but I didn’t improve my character.” Eventually he slid back into bad habits, especially in the hectic years after the flood. “Katrina accelerated everything and every aspect of my reality,” he admits. “In order to address the stuff in front of you, it
By John Swenson
means you have to put a lot of other stuff on the back burner. Your neighborhood is absolutely wrecked. Four years later, that’s still no time, it all goes by so fast. I’ve just finally finished fixing my house. “People haven’t dealt with the actual mourning—your relationships with your family, your spouse, your children. The emotional vendetta hasn’t really been touched yet. Nobody has stopped to let that catch up to them. The magnitude of that disaster is so mind-boggling, I feel blessed that I’m part of it. I can’t believe that I get to experience something of this depth in my lifetime and live to tell about it.” Osborne made the decision to clean up early last year and the change in his demeanor is dramatic. His natural friendliness and easy-going, self-deprecating humor has been tempered by a sober visage protected by the imposing fortification of a thick auburn beard. His oncerapid fire conversational style has changed even more dramatically. He pauses frequently, weighing the impact of his words, and often professes not to be able to explain his thoughts. But he also appears to be a man at peace with himself for the first time in his life. Osborne’s enduring vice is tobacco, and when he lights up and thoughtfully lets the smoke filter through his beard, he looks like an old sailor sizing up the weather. The image makes you think of his grandfather, a seaman who inspired young Anders to dream of traveling to exotic cities like New Orleans. Osborne acknowledges his grandfather’s influence. Anders left home as a teenager to find his way in the world as an itinerant musician, traveling through Europe and Africa, but his arrival in New Orleans was more of a stroke of chance than a longcherished goal. “I had met this guy that was from here, I think it was in Dubrovnik,” he says. “We traveled together for about a year and then we parted ways and later I just came to visit him in New A PRI L 2010
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Anders Osborne’s new album documents the rebuilding process—his and the city’s.
Orleans. There was no thought at all behind it. He said, ‘You’ve got to come see me in New Orleans; you’d love it.’ “When I got here, it was like the same thing that everybody that lives here says about it. There’s this complete ability that you get to feel free and be yourself. It’s designed that way. It’s a port town so people come here and find themselves and stay. I was searching for something, but I didn’t know what it was. I just know that when I got here I felt comfortable. The people were awesome. Not just the music and food, the stuff they always talk about. I’m talking about everything, like the neighborhood where I moved in or the neighbors I met. They all approached me in a different way. There was no trial period to be accepted, or for me to accept them. It was an instant sense of community; that’s what I felt. The more of it you saw, the more that it works.” Most importantly, Osborne found a musical home in New Orleans. Though he was well schooled in American music from the records he heard growing up with his father, a jazz drummer, and from his experiences on the road, Osborne assimilated the indigenous sounds of New Orleans and made them part of his own voice. His reputation as an outstanding guitarist and vocalist grew quickly, but after a few years it started to become apparent that he was a great songwriter as well. In 1994, he began a long relationship with Universal Music’s publishing arm in Nashville. He would fly to Nashville and pen country hits, then return to New Orleans and create new music with Monk Boudreaux. “I love Monk in a way I can’t express in words,” says Osborne. “I don’t have any questions about who I am as a musician when I play with him. Monk brought me into the old cultural experience that the Indians play, which is really trance-like. The whole point is to elevate as you’re playing. It’s a school of consciousness like a lot of jazz and improvisational music is. That has influenced how I play things. I may repeat things differently in my solos, maybe playing a certain line over and over. It’s influenced me to not be afraid of grinding it out until it elevates by itself.” When Osborne was displaced after Katrina, Nashville became the logical place to reunite with his wife and children. “We had lots of friends in Nashville after the storm, people helping us out. It didn’t last long, though. It’s one thing to go somewhere when you know you can go home, but it started to rub us
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painfully. We were very uncomfortable being displaced, like I’m guessing everybody was. “I started to come back after six weeks. As much as possible, I started playing at Le Bon Temps and the Maple Leaf. It was extremely heartbreaking to see all that devastation and death. No birds. No worms. No life at all. It was really very, very strange. No electricity. It was so quiet and dark. But on the flip side of watching New Orleans almost be completely dead, it was this resurgence of willpower and love, camaraderie amongst the people that were here. It was pretty fantastic.
People that you had always seen but never spoken with were all of a sudden your best friends. The only thing that mattered was that we were there and that we were there together. We were human beings coming together in an area that we love and we were determined to get it back.” Though he stopped traveling, he didn’t stop songwriting. “I wrote consistently through this period,” he says. “Some things were really magical writing, some things were just getting rid of a lot of grief and stuff. Some of the material on this album was influenced www.OFFBEAT.com
by that time. ‘Darkness at the Bottom,’ both lyrically and musically, was directly connected to a feeling that I had that first six months or so after Katrina. It was a hook, a lick without actual lyrics that I improvised on depending on how I felt. Each show I would play it. I had played it with the band from time to time over the past 10 years, but it never had any real substance. After Katrina, it became pretty clear that I could use that to express my feelings.” The intense self-examination Osborne has undergone in the past year is reflected in the
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idea in D minor on the piano trying to get some kind of atmosphere going, just bleeding it out. Out of that a lot of words start coming and you want to write it out and reflect on all the things you just said, and then you go back in and lift it up before you send this last message off. You go to a different key and open it up, and then you go back to hammering out your words.”
powerful strains of “On the Road to Charlie Parker,” the opening song on American Patchwork. “There was a sort of frustration about where I was at the time and the choices I was making, the lack of discipline,” Osborne explains. “I was railing at myself, at the place where I was, kind of like, ‘You stupid motherfucker, come on man, get your shit together. You create an isolation and you become more and more delusional. You’re burying the things that matter.’ To write a song like that, you have to be pretty upset. That lyric came quickly while I was hammering out an
The songs for American Patchwork took on additional contours when Osborne began playing them with Fohl and Sansone at Chickie Wah Wah. “I felt it was a great opportunity to bring stuff that was almost done. I don’t know why it felt like that, maybe it was because of the trust we had between the three of us. Everybody can follow each other real easy. We all help each other make it sound right. We all know that, so we’re unafraid to throw in brand new stuff, some of it cowritten, some of it things we’ve written ourselves. Sometimes I’ll bring in a song that I wrote that day and give it a shot. That’s been enormously stimulating because I’ve had a chance to develop some songs in front of an audience. I don’t think I’ve done that to this degree before.” When it came time to make the album, Osborne chose an old friend, drummer Stanton Moore, to co-produce. “I’ve learned to have a co-producer,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be somebody with a big resume; it’s just somebody you have a connection with. When you do that, you have to have complete trust in the person. If there’s any doubt, the process is going to be very confusing. I go through the hundreds of songs I wrote and say, ‘Check these out.’ The guy that you’re working with points out which ones he likes and I have to listen to why those songs are picked by him. He’s the one that’s telling me how it sounds, how it feels, even if it’s just a really rough guitar and vocal on a crappy little recording. We try to hone it to not too many songs. I try to stay close to the number of songs I want, usually about 10. Forty-five minutes of music is all I want.” Corrosion of Conformity/Down guitarist Pepper Keenan came in later and the three musicians, along with keyboardist Robert Walter, finished the album. “Pepper was working mainly with my vocals,” says Osborne. “For the most part it was me and Stanton doing some really heavy playing. I wanted Pepper to help me get specific guitar lines, specific tones I was looking for. There are over 30 tracks of guitar on some of the songs here.” American Patchwork represents a fresh start for Osborne, and he intends to make the most of it. “Singing and playing these songs seems really straight up. I’m standing real solid and taking it on. It’s time to rock ’n’ roll and spread your legs a little bit, move and rock and come together like people always do.” O www.OFFBEAT.com
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Cindy Scott
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1:30-2:45 P.M.—ROYAL STREET (400 BLOCK), COMMUNITY COFFEE STAGE, WITH THE BRIAN SEEGER PROJECT
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azz vocalist Cindy Scott has always had music in her life. The daughter of a classical pianist and a band director, she was a dedicated flute player until college, when she had the required pick-a-major crisis. She bounced from music to pre-medical and finally business, detouring to spend her junior year in Germany. “We used to hang out in this bar (in Germany),” Scott says. “Sometimes the owner would lock the doors, and they would pass this boot of beer around the table. We were all drinking for hours, and there was a piano player at the table, and after many of the boots had gone around, he got up and started playing. I knew all the words, so the owners, in their drunkenness, gave me a gig.” It was her first gig, and she made 25 dollars. “Then we passed the hat and got another 25 bucks each, and that’s it, I was hooked.” Despite this a-ha moment, she went on to work in management for several years. “I had kind of a big job with a lot of people reporting to me and a corner
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office and all that stuff, but when I could, I would sing on the side.” At a jazz workshop, she was reading What Color is Your Parachute? “(It’s) sort of a career search thing, and I was trying to do the exercises, which are really a bitch, man. They ask over and over again, ‘What do you do better than most people?’ and ‘What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about money?’” She called her husband, and told him she wanted to go back to music. “And my husband says, ‘Honey, I’ve been trying to tell you that for 10 years.’” The couple won a house on a reality television show, and that’s when Scott quit her day job to take up jazz full-time. She’s made two albums since. “I wanted this record to really reflect how my music has changed since I moved here,” she says of her 2009 release, Let the Devil Take Tomorrow. “I feel it does really reflect a lot of New Orleans stuff, even though it’s not a typically New Orleans record. But it’s me. It’s kind of where I am.” www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: jerry moran
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Ernie Vincent and the Top Notes FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 11:15 A.M.-12:45 P.M.— OLD U.S. MINT, SOUTHERN COMFORT ESPLANADE IN THE SHADE STAGE
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rnie Vincent and his band the Top Notes are best known for the 1972 funk anthem “Dap Walk.” In the years that followed, Vincent tried to keep up with the times. He transitioned from blues to R&B to disco only to find that fans (locally and internationally) were craving the original, funk sound. “One time I was in Germany, and the Germans told us to go back to the original funk and blues music and let it ride,” Vincent says. “I recorded with quite a few different people (since then) and I decided to go back to what I originally did.” This past year Vincent rebooted his Top Notes with new band members James Martin (bass), Phillip Breen (keyboard), Mike Kobrin (trumpet) and Eric Heigle (drums). Manager Jerry Moran assisted Vincent in finding the right guys to complete the ensemble. Being personally familiar with most of the potential bandmates made Moran confident that they weren’t
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choosing fair-weather members. “There are a lot of bands where they switch players a lot in the city,” he says. “The consistency in the shows is nonexistent. We wanted to put something together that was consistent; we got commitments from all the guys in the band to rehearse and see it through.” The new band looks to be half his age, but he says the music remains classic Ernie Vincent. “It’s almost like déjà vu,” he says. “It’s very good. I’m very excited about it.” Vincent and his new Top Notes have been developing their chemistry with regular gigs at d.b.a., and they recently recorded a live album there, Party on the Bayou Live. It should be out in time for French Quarter Fest. “Ernie’s been holding back for a long time because he’s a perfectionist,” Moran says. “If you don’t have what you need to show what you’ve got, then you don’t do it, and that’s pretty much what happened. We’re taking advantage of this situation right now.” www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: erika goldring
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Tom Sancton
SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 3:45-5:45 P.M.—BOURBON STREET (700 BLOCK), TRADITIONAL JAZZ SHOWCASE
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f you frequented Preservation Hall in the 1960s, you might have witnessed a young Tommy Sancton sitting in with the legendary clarinetist George Lewis. Nearly 50 years later, he’s still a regular at the venue, only now it’s as the leader of Tommy Sancton’s New Orleans Jazz Band. Sancton’s career has followed an unusual arc. Excursions to Paris are hardly out of character for New Orleans musicians (on whom the city seems to exert a magnetic pull), but when Sancton moved there it was as Paris bureau chief for Time Magazine. He quit gigging professionally for over a decade, and only since Katrina has he reemerged on the New Orleans scene, teaching at Tulane and releasing a terrific memoir, Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White. New generations may put their own stamp on this music, but it always returns, boomerang-like, to its roots. Its extreme insulation against the march of time is its weakness, its charm or both, depending on whom you ask. Sancton demonstrates this
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well, for he and his mentor Lewis share the warm tone and wide vibrato that you can hear in recordings of all the early masters. He has a wellearned place in the modern vanguard of traditional music. Sancton has played in a number of different groups over the years, and has associated with some of New Orleans’ younger stars (Jason Marsalis, among others). At French Quarter Fest he will be accompanied by the “Tom Sancton New Orleans Quintet”. Repertoire choice should be interesting; we’re not likely to hear anything revolutionary, but Sancton’s recorded output reveals a laudable tendency to avoid familiar standards. One exception stands out: “Burgundy Street Blues”, George Lewis’ signature composition. Sancton was living in France when Katrina hit. “Seeing those images of my shattered city on television… stirred up powerful feelings,” he says. “I felt that somehow I had to do what I could to help the city recover.” The storm prompted his decision to return to New Orleans. French Quarter Fest will surely be the better for it. www.OFFBEAT.com
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Kora Konnection SATURDAY, APRil 10, 3:30-4:45 P.M.—WOLDENBURG PARK, CAPITAL ONE BANK RIVERSIDE LEGACY STAGE
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n a city known for jazz and blues, it’s not common to find a group led by a 21-string African harp. Kora Konnection combines West African music with acoustic jazz in a city that is less accustomed to world music than you might think. Musical director and Senegal native Morikeba Kouyate is known throughout West Africa for his performances and ability to skillfully play the Kora. The group also includes Guinea native Thierno Dioubate (djembe, balafon), Tim Green (saxophone), James Singleton (bass) and Jeff Klein (djun djun). “We’ve combined acoustic jazz instruments with traditional West African instruments,” Klein says. “These are instruments that are not traditionally ever together. There may be one other African styled jazz group in the world, so it’s fairly unique.” The kora, played by musical director Morikeba Kouyate, is a 21-string African harp. Kouyate is the only person in Louisiana who plays the kora, Klein says, and
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there are only about 10 of them in the United States. The djun djun is a West African drum, the djembe is an African hand drum and the balafon is a West African wooden keyed percussion idiophone similar to the xylophone. The group plans to share their historical beat and culture with those unfamiliar with it at French Quarter Festival where fans can “expect the unexpected” from the musical ensemble. “We don’t say, ‘We’re going to play these 10 songs for this show,’” Klein says. “We play on the spirit and vibration of the crowd. We play what we’re feeling and what we’re feeling from the crowd that day.” The group hopes to gather strong support from the city since it is such a rare commodity in New Orleans. Although there are currently no world music venues in the city, Kora Konnection hopes to change that. “If we can say this is now part of New Orleans culture, when people think of New Orleans, I hope they’ll think of us,” Klein says. www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: ERIKA GOLDRING
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Baby Boyz Brass Band SATURDAY, APRIL 10, 6:30-7:45 P.M.—WOLDENBURG PARK, CAPITOL ONE BANK RIVERSIDE LEGACY STAGE
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ressed in their navy blue T-shirts with their logo across the front, the Baby Boyz Brass Band was dwarfed. It was playing the jazz funeral for the ’Aints, and it was loud enough to be heard despite the growing second line as it danced along North Rampart Street. Glen Hall III, the 16-year-old leader of the Baby Boyz, was the eye of the storm throughout. Hall was sponsored in the second line culture by his father, Glen Hall, Jr., who organized the Baby Boyz after bringing the family home after the flood. Glen Hall III began playing at age six when his cousin Glen David Andrews gave him his first horn. Last summer, he joined Kermit Ruffins, James Andrews and Shamarr Allen in the trumpet jam session that caps off each year’s Satchmo SummerFest and more than held his own. “He’s really good,” says James Andrews, whose son Jenard plays trombone with the Baby Boyz. “He knew what to do up there. That whole band is coming along real good.” Hall also represents a new era of New Orleans trumpeters.
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Though he learned the ways of the second line from his elders in the old school style, Hall is also a student a NOCCA, where he is learning another discipline. “The second-line parades are about playing in the streets,” he says. “You have to know your part and keep playing, and everything falls into place. At NOCCA, it’s more about single line improvisation, more like be-bop, jazz. I graduate in 2012 and plan to get a college degree before I pursue my career in music.” Kermit Ruffins has known Hall all his life and has frequently called on him to perform. Hall says he hopes to also follow in the footsteps of another NOCCA graduate, Wynton Marsalis. “I guess Wynton is (the goal), but I like to play like Kermit, too,” he says. “Really, I’d like to be a combination of all of them.” When asked to name the New Orleans musician he most admires, Hall keeps it in the family. “It’s my cousin Troy, Trombone Shorty,” he says. “He’s the one who inspired me to do this.” www.OFFBEAT.com
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Luke WinslowKing SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1-1:45 P.M.— ROYAL STREET (500 BLOCK), BMI SONGWRITER STAGE AT THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
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uke Winslow-King stumbled across the city of New Orleans almost by chance when he found himself in Louisiana after road-tripping through California and Texas with a friend. After only a few days in New Orleans, Winslow-King’s car--filled to the brim with his instruments—was stolen while parked on Ursulines Street. He says that it was during the two or three weeks that he stuck around trying to recover his vehicle and instruments that he fell in love with the city that he now calls home. Winslow-King grew up in Michigan playing folk music and listening to Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Mississippi John Hurt. He studied jazz in college but eventually realized that he was not into its sophistication and perception as musicians’ music. “It wasn’t really very good to dance to,” he says. “It was cerebral in a way. I was attracted to that at first, but then I reached a wall where I was not very inspired by it. But I loved the element of improvisation that was in jazz,” he says. “New Orleans jazz for me is the collective improvisation,”
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Winslow-King muses, “it seems to represent and embody a certain people, it’s very folky, but there are also elements of improvisation, of musicians that inspire each other on the bandstand.” To him, this marriage of people’s music and improvisation is perfection, both of the things he loves coming together. His latest album, Old/New Baby, is made up of 15 original songs that fuse the traditional New Orleans music that he has come to admire with his contemporary songwriting, and transports the listener back in time. Winslow-King’s marriage of modern songwriting and old world sound eloquently capture a sense of what he finds most beautiful—the way that people interact with, and speak to, one another. While he admits to finding inspiration in the more cliché and romanticized essence of New Orleans—the magnolia trees, the Mississippi River, the smell in the air—he finds himself most inspired by the beauty in the seemingly mundane and everyday. “There’s so much beauty in language and humanity,” he says. www.OFFBEAT.com
Photo: ERIKA GOLDRING
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Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road SUNDAY, APRIL 11, 1-3 P.M.—MUSICAL LEGENDS PARK (311 BOURBON ST.), BOURBON STREET TRADITIONAL JAZZ SHOWCASE
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t’s hard to say what we should expect from Evan Christopher’s Clarinet Road at French Quarter Fest. His first record under that moniker is packed with trad standards (“St. James Infirmary,” “Basin Street Blues”) while the second toys with lounge-y bebop. Hearing Christopher play, I often have the feeling of being tugged in both directions at once. Musicians with formal jazz education sometimes have difficulty with the coarser, more boisterous approach required by traditional folk styles. Christopher has overcome this hurdle quite well; this may have something to do with his choice of instrument. A few years back, he switched from the more common Boehm system clarinet to the Albert system, which has the “fuzzy” sound favored by the jazz masters of latter day New Orleans. It was part of a broader attempt by Christopher to “brand” himself (his words, not mine) as an ambassador of New Orleans music. That’s not to imply that there’s anything disingenuous about his presentation—quite the opposite. When you’ve been playing an instrument most of your
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life, switching to a new fingering system is a massive undertaking and it’s a testament to Christopher’s dedication to this music. French Quarter Fest 2008 saw the debut of Christopher’s Django à la Créole album, which fused New Orleans jazz with gypsy swing. Christopher formed the group in Paris, where he was undertaking a residency at the request of the French government after Katrina. That country’s music continues to exert a strong pull on his music. In September, Christopher made a high-profile appearance on France’s “Les Victoires du Jazz” awards, where he performed Sidney Bechet’s “Petite Fleur.” It’s hard to read about Christopher without hearing a comparison to Bechet; often it’s done reflexively by folks with nothing else to say. They may both have been big in Paris, but I don’t hear Bechet’s energetic, devilmay-care abandon in Christopher’s playing. His is a more fluid, lyrical approach to the instrument, but there’s no denying his skill. Christopher has shown himself to be one of the most versatile clarinetists in New Orleans today and all accolades are well earned. www.OFFBEAT.com
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Kristin Diable
BMI Songwriter Stage SATURDAY, APRIL 10, AND SUNDAY, APRIL 11—ROYAL STREET (500 BLOCK), HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
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ew Orleans has given birth to a plethora of songwriters—Fats Domino, Dr. John, Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint and countless others—but is not commonly hailed as a songwriters’ haven. This year, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) will be making efforts to bring attention to, and support, the flourishing songwriting community in the Crescent City. BMI, an American performing rights organization representing more than 400,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in all genres of music, will launch the inaugural Songwriter Stage during the French Quarter Festival at The Historic New Orleans Collection, showcasing a dozen rising Louisiana-based songwriters. “BMI is always trying to connect the dots in music communities, and New Orleans is one of the most important music communities in the world,” says
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Clay Bradley, BMI’s Assistant Vice President of Writer/Publisher Relations. BMI has partnered with music festival giants SXSW, Austin City Limits, Lollapalooza, and now French Quarter Fest. “When we took a look at New Orleans and saw that we weren’t really doing anything to support the BMI membership and upand-coming songwriters down there, we were introduced to the fine folks at French Quarter Fest who gave us the opportunity to promote our songwriters on a BMI stage,” Bradley says. “When that opportunity came, it was ‘Yes, we need to do this.’ It’s just part of our fostering of talent. We’ve been talking about it, and this was the right opportunity.” On Saturday, the BMI Songwriter Stage will feature Amy Trail, Lynn Drury, Micah McKee, Charlie Oxford, Andrew Duhon and John Michael Rouchell. On Sunday, Dana Abbott, Ruby Rendrag, Luke Winslow-King, Karen www.OFFBEAT.com
FQF IQ Waldrup, Kristin Diable and Jim McCormick will take the stage. Bradley says that a collaborative approach to artist selection was used to create this lineup. “We sat down with business leaders in the close-knit music community in New Orleans, including the Jazz and Heritage Foundation, Loyola University, and the Tipitina’s Foundation, and we really asked for their input on who should perform on this stage,” Bradley says. As a town that encourages self-expression, New Orleans is home to an eclectic group of songwriters. “People can kind of be anything they want in New Orleans. You don’t have to fit a certain mold,” singer-songwriter Kristin Diable says. “You can wear a cape and high heels and read poems in Jackson Square if you want to, or you can sit at a bar and drink all day, or you can write poetry on your rooftop, or you can play songs. You can kind of make your own course here, and I think that’s innately very expansive for being able to stay in a creative mode, and feel free enough to follow your fancy.” The artists appearing on the BMI stage represent the diversity of the songwriters that thrive in our city. MyNameIsJohnMichael frontman John Michael Rouchell and Micah McKee of Silent Cinema write rock songs for their bands, while Andrew Duhon and Charlie Oxford create folk and blues-based tunes. Dana Abbott is an indie songwriter and Luke WinslowKing fuses the old with the new. Lynn Drury’s countrified-R&B is a very different animal from Ruby Rendrag’s pop and classic rock. Some write from confessional places while others keep a professional personal distance from their songs; some spell it all out while others ask listeners to piece the thought together. Collectively, the artists on the BMI Songwriters Stage defy fitting neatly into one genre, but they all have one thing in common: all are shaped in some www.OFFBEAT.com
way by the city of New Orleans. “Sometimes the songwriter, the lyric and melody writer, strumming a guitar, playing the piano, gets overlooked in New Orleans because our other jewels are so wonderful,” says Jim McCormick, whose songs have been recorded by Tim McGraw, Trisha Yearwood and Trace Adkins. “But for BMI to do this with this festival,” he continues, “it’s well deserved
by the songwriters in the community, and it goes a long way toward saying to the rest of the city, and to the country as a whole, that we’ve got a great resource of songwriters down here.” Bradley says that BMI hopes to create a long-term partnership to both continue and build the musical legacy of New Orleans with the Songwriter Stage as a mere
jumping off point. “The whole idea is to support your community and support what’s happening down there,” Bradley says. Diable says that cultivating a strong songwriting community will help New Orleans maintain its place in the history books and stay creatively and historically relevant. The songwriters, she says, “keep creating and making new music, defining what’s current.”
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Dinner for Thousands? Planning is key when preparing to cook for the World’s Largest Jazz Brunch.
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isette Sutton, the manager of Creole Delicacies, says she’s been in business long enough to know the whole reason behind French Quarter Festival. “The city tore up the sidewalk, and no one could get into the businesses around here,” she says. “The entrances were planks and everything. As a thank you, the city put on the fest, and it was such a huge success, well….” That was 1984. Twenty-six years later, more than 50 local restaurants and culinary organizations come together to put on the “World’s Largest Jazz Brunch,” as the French Quarter Festival calls it. And with approximately 500,000 people by the fest’s estimation attending the threeday festival, preparing can be tricky. Doyle DeForest, Cake Artist at Flour Power Confectionery and six-year Fest veteran, says his best tool is organization. “I try to gauge from year to year how much I’m going to go through,” he says. “Last year was the first year we had anything left over. We just kept prepping more and more because we always sold out around 3 p.m. on Sunday, the last day. Last year, thunderstorms were predicted on Sunday and hardly anyone was out there. We donated what we had left over to the Bridge House. They ate really well that day.” Required to produce thousands of portions of food a day in booths away from their kitchens, most of the restaurants have developed strategies to avoid such a thing. “Because we do a fresh product, and because it is such a perishable item, everything has to be ready to go,” DeForest says. That means strawberries are cut at the last minute, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t do what he can in advance. “We’re prepping really heavily on the Wednesday before. I go through 70 flats of strawberries, about 100 pounds of Creole cream
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cheese and 60 gallons of heavy whipping cream, everything fresh.” Chef Damian Thomas, president of the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation, says he has been involved with the festival for 10 or 12 years, but it’s still always a challenge for an event this size. “We’re planning to serve 6,000 portions,” he says, which means 100 gallons of beans, 100 pounds of rice, 50 cakes and 800 pounds of strawberries. We’re prepared to serve the multitudes.” Amy Martinez, the manager of Little Tokyo, is a first-timer to French Quarter Festival. “They told us to anticipate half a million people. We just have to be prepared for it. Mostly we do everything on the spot, probably thousands of rolls in a day,” she says. Saltwater Grill owner William McIntyre, in his sixth year at the Fest, says experience is the only way to get through it. “You have to decide what items you will do that people want and will sell well, that you can produce for the size crowds of the
By Kathleen McCann
fest, are relatively easy to serve in an outdoor fest environment, and are profitable. You don’t want to run out when the crowd is there buying.” Gumbo Shop co-owner Brian Molony shares McIntyre’s sentiment. “Having experience under our belt is a great help,” he says. “The best way to be successful at an undertaking like this is to plan ahead, and there are a thousand details to go over. We begin working on this event a month ahead of time.” Daniel Silva, the manager of Crepes a la Cart, has been doing the Fest for four or five years. “We usually have four or five people, which is half our staff,” he says. “We get there three hours before all three days. We take a couple of our grills on site. Everything is on hand and everything we use is fresh and made to order. Actually, it’s not as stressful as it should be for how busy we are.” However, says Joe Pando, VicePresident of Operations of New Orleans Original Daiquiris, “The festival keeps growing all the time. The thing has gotten totally out
of control.” New Orleans Original Daiquiris is one of the original businesses involved in French Quarter Festival, and it has added a second location in the brunch, which stretches from Woldenberg Park to Jackson Square. “We’re looking at maybe getting a third,” Pando says. “Logistically, it’s pretty difficult. We have to be able to mix the hundreds and hundreds of gallons of drinks we need. Sometimes we send hand trucks with milk crates of gallons at the last minute.” Richard Buchsbaum, Vice President of Food and Beverage at the Audubon Nature Institute, has been part of the fest for eight or nine years, he says, and the trick is planning. “Last year we made and sold over 8,000 crawfish pies. This year we’re probably expecting the same. Usually in the last week of March, we’ll start stuffing pies. Since we use fresh dough and hand-make each one, we have to bake them off at the aquarium,” he says. “Every year we’re open we get repeat customers, kind of like a Jazz Fest reputation.” O www.OFFBEAT.com
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In the Kitchen with Wanda “W
hen we came back after Katrina, we decided that we needed some social life. The city was so dead. Nine of us, all relatives, decided we’d buy Saints season tickets once the Saints were coming back, and then we started a poker group because we all played poker. My parents played poker. My mom was in several clubs, my dad ran the poker at the Wonderful Boys Club, and at the Autocrat Club my uncle ran it, so there’s history. We learned young. So the Friday night poker group kind of got revisited. It’s all cousins and a couple of friends in the neighborhood. We alternate houses and we fix nice dinners and play cards. We play dealer’s choice, wild cards up the yang yang, I mean just having as much fun as you can. After I found out yesterday that the meeting was here at my house, my sister had bought shrimp—we’re Catholic, so we don’t eat meat in Lent on Friday–and she said she felt like stewed shrimp, shrimp Creole as people call it. And then our youngest sister, she’s flying in as we speak, she always likes boiled crawfish, she’s spoiled, she’s the youngest. Every time she comes in we have to have what she wants. And I said, let me pick up a couple of cans of crab meat, so I just made a crabmeat casserole, and a potato salad. You can’t have shrimp and crab without potato salad, that just goes with it, and green peas and carrots and my sister is making a fresh green lettuce and tomato salad. And bread pudding! My idea of dessert. The harder and staler and crustier the bread is, the better. Nutmeg is the favorite of all my spices. I use lots of nutmeg. I love to cook. I can be exhausted when I come in from teaching all day, and I’m going to cook. It’s relaxing to me. In my next life and maybe even in this one, when I retire from teaching, I’ve always wanted to become a chef. We came from a cooking family, of course. My father was the main
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chef. He cooked almost all Sunday meals, all special occasion meals. So I would always be in the kitchen with him, making sure I always got the best parts and then of course I started chopping seasonings and making gravies. My first gravy was a white gravy that was supposed to be a brown gravy, but I didn’t brown my roux enough. But it tasted good, so I learned. I love gravies, over some rice with some veal or stewed chicken or hen, and I love stuffings. I love oyster dressing, just love making it and it always goes. I’m known for the savory dishes, not the sweets. I like to cook the long gravies, and my gumbo’ll make you hurt yourself. Long dishes, as we call them. Pot food. I started learning from my daddy, watching him, and the neighbors. You were everybody’s child. The lady across the street, Ms. Leda, would always be cooking something. She was one of the elders in the Boutté family, Lilian and John and all of them. She was one of the good old Creole cooks. My aunt made a fried
By Elsa Hahne
potato po-boy to die for! These were the old-time dishes. My daddy made an oyster soup, and my momma made codfish balls. And we always had boiled spaghetti with a nice tomato gravy, and always lettuce, tomato, avocado, cucumber salad, almost every day of our lives. We grew up eating good food, poor man’s food, and every Good Friday my daddy took us either crabbing or crawfishing and we’d come back and sit up underneath the carport and boil crabs, boil crawfish, whatever we had, a seafood boil. When he went hunting we had duck, rabbit, nutria and coon. My sister didn’t eat that, but I ate everything. He’d cook all that wild stuff. Cowan [turtle], he’d go clean the cowan in the backyard and come in and cook that. I’m a fanatic about cooking clean. I hate to come behind people and my daddy was a terrible dirty cook, he didn’t clean nothing, he left it all for his daughters and his wife. So I’m a clean cook. By the time I’m finished, my counters are clean.”
Wanda’s Condensed Milk Bread Pudding 4 eggs 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon allspice 2 cups light brown sugar 1 stale loaf French bread, sliced 1 (14-ounce) can condensed milk 1 stick butter 1 (1.5-ounce) small box raisins In a bowl, mix eggs, evaporated and regular milk with a fork. Add vanilla, salt, spices and brown sugar. Place bread into a deep 9x13-inch pan. Melt ¾ of the butter and pour over bread along with ¾ can condensed milk. Add raisins. Pour milk mixture over bread. Set aside in refrigerator for 1 hour. Add remaining butter in small clumps on top, along with the last of the condensed milk. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. www.OFFBEAT.com
PhotoS: ELSA HAHNE
Singer Wanda Rouzan likes to work clean.
EATS
AMERICAN Hard Rock Café: 418 N. Peters St., 529-5617. 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. St. Charles Tavern: 1433 St. Charles Ave., 523-9823. BARBECUE The Joint: 801 Poland Ave., 949-3232. Squeal Bar-B-Q: 8400 Oak St., 302-7370. BREAKFAST Daisy Dukes: 121 Chartres St., 561-5171. Lil’ Dizzy’s Café: 1500 Esplanade Ave., 569-8997. Mena’s Place: 200 Chartres St., 525-0217. 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. Dee’s Coffee, Cake and Copy: 401 Baronne St., 596-2012. CREOLE/CAJUN Atchafalaya Restaurant: 901 Louisiana Ave., 891-9626. Clancy’s: 6100 Annunciation, 895-1111. Cochon: 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123. Dick & Jenny’s: 4501 Tchoupitoulas, 894-9880. 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. Verti Marte: 1201 Royal St., 525-4767. FINE DINING Antoine’s: 701 St. Louis St., 581-4422. Bombay Club: 830 Conti St., 586-0972. Broussard’s: 819 Conti St., 581-3866. Commander’s Palace: 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221. Emeril’s: 800 Tchoupitoulas, 528-9393. Iris Restaurant: 321 N Peters St., 299-3944. Lüke: 333 St. Charles Ave., 378-2840. Maison Dupuy Hotel: 1001 Toulouse St., 586-8000. www.OFFBEAT.com
Mat and Naddie’s: 937 Leonidas St., 861-9600. Mr. B’s Bistro: 201 Royal St. 523-2078. Restaurant Cuvée: 322 Magazine St., 587-9001. 7 on Fulton: 701 Convention Center Blvd., 525-7555. Stella!: 1032 Chartres St., 587-0091. Tujague’s: 823 Decatur St., 525-8676. FRENCH Café Degas: 3127 Esplanade Ave., 945-5635. Delachaise: 3442 St. Charles Ave., 895-0858. Flaming Torch Restaurant: 737 Octavia St., 895-0900. La Crepe Nanou: 1410 Robert St., 899-2670. Crepes à la Cart: 1039 Broadway St., 866-2362. Restaurant August: 301 Tchoupitoulas St., 299-9777 ICE CREAM/GELATO Creole Creamery: 4924 Prytania St., 894-8680. La Divina Gelateria: 3005 Magazine St., 342-2634; 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692. Sucré: 3025 Magazine St., 520-8311. INDIAN Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797. 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 Gimchi: 3322 Turnbull Dr., Metairie 454-6426. 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. Fellini’s: 900 N Carrollton Ave., 488-2155. 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. Tomatillo’s: 437 Esplanade Ave., 945-9997. 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.
NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS Amy’s Vietnamese Café: French Market Flea Market, 352-9345. Café Reconcile: 1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., 568-1157. Camellia Grill: 626 S. Carrollton Ave., 309-2676. Crabby Jacks: 428 Jefferson Hwy., 833-2722. Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361. Slim Goodies: 3322 Magazine St., 891-3447. Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683. PIZZA Fresco Café & Pizzeria: 7625 Maple St., 862-6363. French Quarter Pizzeria: 201 Decatur St., 948-3287. Slice Pizzeria: 1513 St. Charles Ave., 525-7437. Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza: 4218 Magazine St., 894-8554. Turtle Bay: 1119 Decatur St., 586-0563. PO-BOYS / SANDWICHES Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop: 3454 Magazine St., 899-3374
Parkway Bakery and Tavern: 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047. SEAFOOD Acme Oyster & Seafood House: 724 Iberville, 522-5973. Bourbon House: 144 Bourbon St., 274-1831. 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. 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. THAI Sukho Thai: 1913 Royal St., 948-9309. WEE HOURS Clover Grill: 900 Bourbon St., 523-0904. Mimi’s in the Marigny: 2601 Royal St., 872-9868. Molly’s At The Market: 1107 Decatur St., 525-5169. St. Charles Tavern: 1433 St. Charles Ave., 523-9823.
Theresa Andersson hits the When do you usually come to Cure? I usually come with friends for a small meal and drinks after a late show.
Photo: caitlyn ridenour
AFRICAN Bennachin: 1212 Royal St., 522-1230.
What are you ordering today? The cheese plate, which has three Italian artisanal cheeses with roasted spicy nuts and dates, and also the artichoke and goat cheese crostini.
Cure 4905 Freret St. (504) 302-2357
OffBeat
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.
What about drinks? The Colonial Sour cocktail is very good, it has El Dorado Syr rum, maple syrup, lemon, ginger and fresh cranberry. I first came actually for the drinks, watching the bartenders is amazing, there’s a lot of thought that goes into each of their drinks, and they’re really strong.
Why do you prefer Cure? As a pescatarian, they have a great selection and offer small but filling plates. —Caitlyn Ridenour A PRI L 2010
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DINING OUT The Green Goddess To call The Green Goddess funky would be like saying Louis Armstrong just played the trumpet. The restaurant combines the talents of Paul Artigues and Chris DeBarr to create a multi-disciplinary album of cuisines, flavors, and techniques. In an area of the city most associated classic Creole cuisine, this French Quarter gem is in a category of its own. Artigues presides over the brunch/lunch menu, which ranges from shrimp and grits to poached eggs and Creole queso fresco over corn tortillas and fruity, soft pads of cactus. Leftovers from dinner are transformed in delightful ways, such as the bacon and bison meatloaf sandwich tucked between thick slices of bread, slathered in Creole mustard and topped with bacon. When available, the heirloom tomato stuffed with boudin makes a wonderful lunch, with a creamy dressing and peppery arugula surrounding the main attraction. Chef Chris delivers an evening menu so diverse and eclectic that visitors from all over
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Photo: caitlyn ridenour
EATS the globe will feel welcome. Uthappam, an Indian lentil pancake, shares space with duck sausage and mashed sweet potatoes, a.k.a. Louisiana “Bangers and Mash.” Hawaiianstyle pork wrapped in banana leaves mix with an Irish cheddar grilled cheese while the table next to you sears beef tri-tip on a brick of Himalayan salt. The place follows no rhyme or reason at dinner, improvising its own cuisine as the audience waits for them to strike a wrong chord. That rarely happens. But when it does, as in duck-fat-fried potatoes that were a soggy mess, the waiters/cooks are more than willing to swap out the item or take it off the check. Those checks can run a little high, but prices are still lower than other Vieux Carre restaurants that are cooking this innovatively. 307 Exchange Place; 301-3347; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thurs-Sun 5 p.m.midnight. —Peter Thriffiley
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Reviews
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REVIEWS
CDs reviewed are available now at In the French Quarter 210 Decatur Street 504-586-1094 or online at LouisianaMusicFactory.com
Marking Time
Bobby Charles Timeless (Rice ’n’ Gravy) Thinking about a Bobby Charles album the way we normally think of albums probably isn’t fair. It’s hard to believe he took much care with programming Timeless, and the album features six (that I’m aware of) songs that he has already recorded or that have been kicking around for years. “Before I Grow Too Old” is a song he co-wrote with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew that first appeared on 1972’s Bobby Charles album, and “You’ll Always Live Inside of Me” is a co-write from 1977 with David Allan Coe. More likely, music was something Charles did when inspiration hit, whether inspiration came in the form of new songs, new ideas or just a desire to sing old songs again. It’s not clear that he cared about albums as units that documented anything more than what was on his mind and perhaps what was leftover in his musical pantry. Since he was a reluctant performer under the best of times, going in the studio with Sonny Landreth, Dr. John, Mickey Raphael and others was his occasion to scratch his musical itch and spend time with friends. www.OFFBEAT.com
Really, his albums document his social time. Fortunately, Charles had good friends, so even skeletal ideas produce reliably entertaining blues rock circa the late 1960s/early 1970s, and the presence of his friend Dr. John in the production chair seemed to bring out the best in Charles the vocalist. His voice was an eccentric instrument that often sounded as offhanded as his lyrics, but he never seems inattentive or too casual. Like his best songs, he sounds just casual enough. Charles includes three occasional songs—“Happy Birthday Fats Domino,” “Happy Halloween” and “Take Back My Country”—songs that are meant to be revived once a year, but it’s hard to imagine many who’ll return to them more often than that. Far stronger are the songs that suggest a modicum of attention—not so much that the songs seem worked, but enough to suggest he took them seriously. “Nickels, Dimes and Dollars” is the closest he came here to crafting a tune, playing with monetary references to count the ways he’s brokenhearted. It, like many of the songs here, seems truly timeless with language so commonplace and artless that it could come from any moment. Better, though, is “Rollin’ Round Heaven.” Charles’ passing gives the song poignancy, but it’s a notion of gospel that could only come from him. The title gives it an informal air, and it’s easy to imagine someone who’d had a pot bust getting a sly laugh at working “rolling” into a description of the afterlife. I’ve been told that Bobby Charles knew his days were
numbered when he was recording Timeless, and it’s tempting to think of that while listening to “Rollin’ Round Heaven” and “Before I Grow Too Old”—something he sometimes felt he’d done—but more likely, the album reflects nothing more or less than what he’d been doing and who he’d been doing it with for the last year. Coherence isn’t its long suit, but it suggests he spent the last year well. —Alex Rawls
The Givers Givers EP (Valcour) Lafayette-based Valcour Records broke from their usual Cajun and zydeco fare late last year to sign a local band less than a year old. The Givers describe themselves as “Afrobeat, dancy pants, indie pop love music,” and that’s pretty accurate, actually. Combining funk, calypso and the poppiest of pop rock, the band creates a lush, layered atmosphere, filled with choruses that stick in your head for days. Tif Lamson’s voice is sweet and smoky, and like the rest of the band, she sounds at once youthful and older than her years, producing music much tighter and practiced than you’d ever expect from their age. The only complaint I have is how short the CD is, but here, quality is given precedence over quantity. Every song feels perfected without being polished into lifelessness, no doubt from playing constantly since the band’s inception. Still, I could do without the remix of “Up Up Up,” and the EP doesn’t do
their show justice. Live, they’re a fantastic, colorful, sweaty explosion. They’re the only band I’ve seen lately that looks like it’s having the time of its life the whole show. Look for the Givers’ full-length album this summer. —Kathleen McCann
Josh Charles Love, Work & Money (CC Ent/Copycat) A reviewer for HuffingtonPost. com wrote of Love, Work & Money, “Remember where you were when you heard Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, or Alicia Keys’ Songs in A Minor? Like these two albums, you will remember the moment you heard Love, Work and Money, the stunning debut album from visionary musician Josh Charles. It is, quite simply, an instant classic.” That’s a lot of love, and it likely made Charles blush. It’s easy to hear what motivated the gush. His music is a throwback to classic R&B, and Love, Work & Money is all about the eternal verities. Charles’ voice is authoritative and soulful enough, his keyboard playing solid, and the songs are clear and easily grasped. They have strong New Orleans roots, but he cleans much of the city’s trademark busyness out of his funk. A PRI L 2010
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REVIEWS
Sasha Squared Nova Nola Wetland (Independent) A Louisiana swamp on the cover is not a typical feature of a bossa nova record. The genre is certainly not often identified with New Orleans. But here comes Nova Nola, founded by renowned guitarist Steve Masakowski. Nova Nola’s organic, largely acoustic sound is refreshing, a throwback to the heyday of the style 50 years ago. But this ain’t just João Gilberto for the new millennium. Modern touches abound, from Ricky Sebastian’s undeniably rocktinged drumming on “Sea” to Sasha Masakowski’s creative use of multi-part vocal overdubbing. The album is punctuated by a series of brief “Marimba-ludes,” though one hardly needs a breather between songs this mellow. Of course, there is the obligatory rendition of “Girl from Ipanema”, complete with breathy vocals. It might not win awards for adventurous programming, but Sasha’s interpretation (in Portuguese) is still a winner. Steve Masakowski reveals his compositional talent with a number of originals. The music frequently betrays his background in fusion and modern jazz, but that’s not a bad thing. The continuum of styles, from the pure to the composite, keeps listeners on their toes. —Zachary Young
Bionica Take Your City (Independent) Bionica’s debut EP Take Your City is a half-hour of swirling, frenetic electropop. After the first four measured chords from the Rhodes, it’s a non-stop train of rapidly ticking hi-hats, meandering synthesizers, and jingling bells—enough to get anyone’s heart rate up. Bionica, the electronic experiment of James Westfall and four other
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young local musicians more often found in the jazz clubs than on the indie circuit, offer five tight jams in their debut effort. Drawing on the skills honed in their jazz careers, the band takes a virtuosic approach to electronic instruments (keytar, anyone?) rather than the usual acoustic instruments. The result is a series of layered, digital soundscapes dominated by extended instrumental breaks featuring chirping and warbling synth solos. The two acoustic components, however, are very much of note. Sasha Masakowski (of Nova Nola) provides the human face to the quintet with her gorgeous vocals. The lyrics are often difficult to decipher in the mix, giving her voice an instrumental quality. As Masakowski’s vocals flitter above the other instruments, Nick Solnick’s insatiable beats on the drum kit offer a frenzied feel on most tracks. While synths and samples may slow down and fade out, the frantic ticking of the hi-hat colors this release more than anything else. Though the EP clocks in at just under a half-hour, the extreme drum tempos and insistent synth solos make it hard to feel like you haven’t been rushed through the record. You may feel out of breath by the end, but you’ll be well worked-out musically. Bionica has given its city a charming, cool and upbeat record. —Tom Macom
But unlike Stevie Wonder, Josh Charles would benefit from a lyricist. Songs in the Key of Life could only come from Stevie, but songs such as “The Waiting Game,” “Pick Up the Pieces” and “I’ll Be There for You” lack the distinctive fingerprints that connect the songs to one person. “The Waiting Game,” for example, has already been the title of two other songs, two movies and a game show, while Wikipedia lists seven songs named “Pick Up the Pieces,” along with an EP and an album. The compositions these words inhabit catch, but the language and lines are too common to make an impression. If talent speaks louder than words for you, you’ll likely hear Love, Work & Money as the Huffington Post writer did; if the songs matter, then the album marks Josh Charles as someone worth waiting on. —Alex Rawls
Hurray for the Riff Raff Young Blood Blues (Independent) A common theme of blues music is that of the second chance. Be it jilted lovers or unemployed derelicts, many blues songs tell the tale of a narrator lamenting loss and seeking redemption. In that regard, it is fitting that Hurray for the Riff Raff’s second album, Young Blood Blues, features a dramatic augmentation—and improvement—of the band’s sound. To be fair, Hurray for the Riff Raff’s first effort, It Doesn’t Mean I Don’t Love You, was a good album. The disc was filled with delicate folk reminiscent of the Woody Guthrie ballads from the Great Depression. And while the melodies were beautiful and the songs were heartbreaking, the album ran too long and was at times too fragile for its own good. On the more concise Young Blood Blues, Hurray for the Riff Raff sound more energized and confident. “Is That You?”
begins with vocals and banjo, seemingly catching vocalist Alynda Lee Segarra in mid-breath. The ethereal folk that was the band’s mainstay on its first record doesn’t last long here until driving drum hits inject immediacy and propulsion into the song. The drums on Young Blood Blues are much more prominent than on its predecessor, which gives a higher sense of drama to the songs which feature them and more impact to the band’s signature ballads when they are absent. Perhaps most telling is that Hurray for the Riff Raff utilizes its second chance to remake “Little Things,” the closing track from the band’s first album. What was once a dirge has morphed into a driving swing decorated by an ominous accordion, showing the band has traded the intimacy found on its debut for urgency. Some fans may scoff at the retread, but the band’s new approach displays growth and improvement. While not a traditional blues record, the energized and foreboding Depression-era folk juxtaposed against tales of love lost, drug addiction, and grisly murder ensure that the album’s title is a fitting one, and that the band has made the most of its second chance. —Rory Callais
Various Artists Rhythm & Blues (Putumayo) Unlike most compilations that serve as record label promotion, Putumayo has always favored themed releases with tracks licensed from other labels. Rhythm & Blues documents R&B’s midwww.OFFBEAT.com
REVIEWS
period between its jump blues origins and today’s polished, quieter urban variety, and it emphasizes the newer cats who carry on the retro tradition. No theme is ever perfect, and in this case it could be argued that New Orleans’ soul queen Irma Thomas, the late, great Snooks Eaglin (who does a magnificent reading of Earl King’s “A Mother’s Love”) and the late Rockie Charles are not part of any new breed movement since they never changed their style to be fashionably hip. When it comes to collections like these, any selection from Brit blue-eyed soulster James Hunter won’t come as a surprise, but those from the charismatic Cracked Ice and Quantic Soul Orchestra featuring Kabir certainly will. As a whole, Rhythm & Blues is analogous to good FM radio programming with a well-designed flow. —Dan Willging
Live in the House of the Blues.” Allison doesn’t hog all the solos as there’s a very attractive organ present here very reminiscent of the small combo sound on B.B. King’s mid-’60s classic Blues is Boss album. A crowd favorite in Montreal, Allison cleverly attracts audience participation in a couple of songs, in particular on “There Comes a Time.” There’s a great cover of Magic Sam’s “You Belong to Me,” and Elmore
James gets sampled on “It Hurts Me Too.” A fine DVD from this show accompanies this CD, so you can double your pleasure here. —Jeff Hannusch
Giant Cloud Old Books EP (Park the Van) While Old Books, the debut EP from recent Ruston transplants
Giant Cloud isn’t anything new or different, the band’s interpretation of Southern folk isn’t bad. Though only five songs long, the album slowly progresses in complexity from gentle, folky, Beach House-y ambience to a more intricate, multi-instrumental density. It begins slow and dreamy, with delicate vocals between newly married co-lead singers Julie Odell and Benjamin
Luther Allison Songs from the Road (Ruff) As great as the music is in New Orleans, and as lucky as we are that this city serves as a magnet for out-of-town music of all genres, it’s a shame Chicago’s Luther Allison never performed in New Orleans. Allison was a blues guitarist and singer of the highest order, and this live set from 1997 recorded in La Belle Province testifies to that fact. Allison certainly does his share of testifying here, beginning with the frantic opening shuffle “Cancel My Check,” where he really takes the bull by the horn. A well-paced set, he follows with a down-inthe-alley slow burner, “I Can’t www.OFFBEAT.com
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REVIEWS and honoring musical traditions instead of inventing one of its own. —Kathleen McCann
Ayla Miller Some Super Silly Snappy Songs and a Few Works of Genius (Independent) The windy 12-word title pretty much says it all about Ayla Miller’s Jones over jangly guitars. It flirts debut CD, an enjoyable collection with a more up-tempo waltz of originals that were written as a sound, but it never commits. It’s pre-teen and teen. The budding, a shame because these faster 15-year-old violinist/vocalist gets a moments are some of the best little help from her piano-playing of the EP. Though these parts do pops, virtuoso Amasa Miller, sometimes have a Fleet Foxes producer/violinist Neti Vaan and or My Morning Jacket feel, various other musician pals who they’re when the band takes on create gorgeous arrangements more of an identity, and with worth the price of admission a new, full-length album in the alone. Though Ayla’s instrumentals works, hopefully they’ll keep range from touching to haunting, experimenting with different don’t be fooled by her deceptively sounds and continue in this clever, kids-like lyrics. She may direction. start out with simple thoughts, The bio on the website of but she eventually zaps you with their label, Park the Van Records, hysterical, bomb-dropping lines discusses at length how much as she does on “My Father is they embrace their Southern Bald.” In the second verse, she background, especially its critiques her own song from a historically slow, languorous former English teacher’s literary traditions. “Every time I hear perspective of how it lacks a plot, someone refer to the ’80s, I wish narrative art and hero’s quest, and in my mind it was the 1880s,” by the way, where’s the allegorical? Jones is quoted as saying. I feel like On “Love Song for Georgie W,” the band is trapping itself here, she comments that the former too heavily emphasizing preserving president has been sleeping on
the job but does it better “than a hibernating log.” No doubt the funniest performance arrives with “Keys Don’t Bother Me.” Even at the outset, she sounds stressed at the thought of those bothersome musical keys but works her way into a mock drama where she briefly loses her voice, goes through imaginary convulsions and sounds exorcised while still proclaiming “keys don’t bother me.” In this day and age of political correctness and being in touch with your feminine side, masculine side, whatever, Ayla Miller reminds you it’s okay to be in touch with your silly side too. In fact, it’s preferred. —Dan Willging
Duke Robillard Stomp! The Blues Tonight (Stony Plain) After recent, lugubrious attempts at pop, jazz and big band music, Robillard is back
Class is in Session Stanton Moore Groove Alchemy (Telarc) Groove Alchemy the CD is only one part of Groove Alchemy, the larger project that comes with a DVD and instructional book. The project takes drummers and those interested in funk drumming inside Stanton Moore’s process of developing grooves, and the CD presents those grooves in action. The drummers who influenced him the most are James Brown drummers Jabo Starks and Clyde Stubblefield, and the Meters’ Zigaboo Modeliste; not surprisingly, most of the tracks on
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Groove Alchemy draw from Brown and the Meters’ traditions. The relative lack of concept means that there’s not a lot of news on the album, but it’s also Moore, Robert Walter and Will Bernard at their most relaxed. As a result, it’s also Moore’s trio at its most straightforward and funky. The closest thing to a curveball is a dirge-like version of George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” led by Walter’s organ. Walter switches to the piano for a version of James Booker’s “Keep on Gwine,” but the track’s more about Moore’s loping version of a second line groove than about Walter’s dexterity.
Those tracks are the exceptions, though. Groove Alchemy’s funky, and because it’s part of an educational project, it’s not showy. Instead, the trio is modeling how effortless a well-played groove can sound and how effective it can be with sympathetic players. —Alex Rawls www.OFFBEAT.com
REVIEWS doing what he does best—playing and singing the blues. Many of the tunes here will remind you of his old band, Roomful of Blues (several Roomful alumni are present here), as the sound is inspired by late 1940s and early 1950s R&B. The self-composed title track has T-Bone Walker stamped all over it. as Robillard recycles many of Walker’s signature guitar licks. Although Walker’s influence is prevalent throughout, Robillard also pays tribute to Johnny “Guitar” Watson on “Three Hours Past Midnight,” Lowell Fulson on “Do Me Right” and Ike Turner on “Tore Up.” There’s a local connection as Robillard covers Paul Gayten’s “For You My Love.” A fat, fourpiece horn section provides strong backup and Sunny Crownover helps on vocals, but this is most definitely a guitarist’s album. —Jeff Hannusch
medicine show skits. Add the fact that most tunes are highly danceable and the end result is a joyous package that works on many levels. —Dan Willging
Afroskull To Obscurity and Beyond (Skull Sound Music) “This sounds like nothing I ain’t heard before,” keyboardist
Matt Iselin howls through the explosive funk and swinging horn brigade of “Waste Management,” the third track— and one of two vocal numbers— on Afroskull’s latest offering, To Obscurity and Beyond. And he’s right. The second release from the genre-defying New York-viaNew Orleans consortium (their first in nearly a decade) plays out as if Frank Zappa ditched the Mothers of Invention for the
Meters before recording Weasels Ripped My Flesh. A vintage air permeates this twisted time-warp, one rife with the ethos of early prog-metal and jazz-funk: cryptic compositions, sonorous sludge, gritty syncopation, and rhythmic improvisation. But, as the album cover suggests, Afroskull’s gearing up for the future—even if their plans are to carom through space in a rocketfueled Winnebago. And they waste
The Howdies Made With Pure Lightening (Independent) With this auspicious debut in hand, Lafayette’s Howdies show that they rightfully belong in the national alt-country league alongside such established aggregations as the Gourds, Scott H. Biram and the Woodbox Gang. Like the aforementioned, they too stand at the corner where hillbilly string bands, folk, blues, hokum, ragtime and scruffy garage rock intersect—in essence, a quirky modern day jug band without the jug. Their ragged sonic textures involve a loose snare, percussive gadgets, kazoos, harmonica, guitar and string-snapping doghouse bass, but they constantly shift and swell, making each track distinctly different than the last. Many originals are delightfully dark, retaining a high murder-andmayhem quotient comparable to that of bluegrass punksters Split Lip Rayfield. Yet, it’s not all scenes from a grisly, taped-off crime scene. There are stomps, drunken binges and fuzzed-out spaghetti westerns, not to mention fast mamas, eerie phantoms and www.OFFBEAT.com
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REVIEWS no time blasting off, barreling ahead at full speed through the tight, shifty streaks of “Spyplane.” Credit drummer Jason Isaac, percussionist Seth Moutal and bassist Dan Asher, whose convulsive pocket powers the disc’s frenetic blitz. Guitarist, composer, and Afroskull founder Joe Scatassa stretches the sonic terrain on “Redemption,” the album’s most eclectic and imaginative composition. It’s a psychedelic space salsa topped with a trippy jazz sequence, a sinister bridge, and an unhinged organ boogie. But that’s just a prelude to the mind-bending “Escape From Rome,” a menacing and meddlesome sendoff. Set your sights on obscurity and beyond. —Aaron LaFont
Grandpa Elliott Sugar Sweet (Concord/Playing For Change)
bookmark
Like his soulmate, the late, great Ted Hawkins, Grandpa
Elliott’s specialized genius lies in exhilarating simplicity belying the hassle that refined it. According to The New York Times, he play-acts being blinder and crazier than in actuality. Sad, then, how he feels obligated to put on a freak show, however genteel, to get his music across. On the other hand, he’s been working these angles since somewhere around the Johnson Administration. Sugar Sweet’s liner notes tell us he gets up as early as 4 a.m. and stakes out the corner of Toulouse and Royal in the French Quarter. There he does his thing with a lot of guitar, a bit of harmonica and
A History of Jazz History
Various Artists Pure Swamp Pop Gold, Vol. 10 (CSP)
Bruce Boyd Raeburn New Orleans Style and the Writing of American Jazz History (University of Michigan Press) It is no secret to musicians trying to play New Orleans jazz for a living that jazz writers have agendas, and that what passes for worthy in the jazz media often has little to do with the music. This fine book is for these souls, and for anyone with an interest in New Orleans music history. Raeburn, a drummer, Curator of the Hogan Jazz Archive, and the son of a famous big band leader, knows as much about New Orleans music—from Gottschalk to bounce—as anyone alive. In New Orleans Style and the Writing of American Jazz History, he traces an arc
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a smooth voice with a knowing waver on the held notes. Elliott Small, old enough to collect Social Security (if he’d spent his decades working a regular job), sees and feels all of humanity from his perch. Then he takes it in and brings it all on home. Grandpa Elliott apparently does not write and certainly does not need to. Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What You Want Me to Do” rolls on a hip-shifting boogie groove with a surprising reggae tease worked into the carefully-accented offbeats. Elliot plays with the words two-thirds of the way through, but after a deft haiku of a harmonica break, his brow furrows (“I see ya got’cha man with ya but that’s alright”) and that smile collapses into pursed lips. The gospel numbers, by contrast, ring out solid and righteous and even warm—a quality which doesn’t usually mix with righteousness. I’d applaud more loudly if I didn’t get the uneasy feeling that the singer hasn’t learned to sell redemption as one more flavor out of his seasoned, sturdy ice cream cart. But let no one say he doesn’t know his market. —Andrew Hamlin
from the swing era, when the first purists started pining for “authentic” jazz, through the trad jazz vs. bebop wars up through Preservation Hall and Wynton Marsalis. This “history of jazz history” fills in a lot of the cracks for those of us who haven’t lived here our whole lives. The motives behind men who wrote about jazz in the 1940s continue to have repercussions for musicians today. —Tom McDermott
Compilations such as these are generally vehicles to promote a label’s roster and thereby garner sales. That’s true here, as the majority of these crooners and swooners have been CSP mainstays for some time. But what’s remarkable is the series’ sustainability—now in its 10th volume in less than a decade. Van Broussard’s “Hold My Hand” hails from his early days and indicates that his voice remains ageless. Three powerful tracks from Kenny Cornet are on par with Broussard’s, thus placing him among the swamp pop elite. Also unveiled are three unreleased dandies from Cajun Cousins’ award-winning songwriter Ivy Dugas, who’s been trying his
hand at various projects in recent years. Tracks from another nonCSP artist, Aaron Foret, fit right in while Gary T.’s “Angels Don’t Fly” could easily be a Nashville radio staple under the right circumstances. With nary a dud cut to be had, Pure Swamp Pop Gold, Vol. 10 is a quality addition to CSP’s long-running series. —Dan Willging
Hannibal Lokumbe Dear Mrs. Parks (Naxos) Hannibal Lokumbe, the former Marvin Peterson, took up trumpet at age thirteen, in 1961. By his 30th birthday, he’d played with Gil Evans, Pharaoh Sanders, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and other heavy hitters. Dear Mrs. Parks, a work for orchestra, choir, chorale, and four featured soloists, blends many of his life’s obsessions. Written in 2005 and recorded four years later with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Wilkins, Dear Mrs. Parks features little jazz, but a lot of gospel, nods to native African rhythms, and a rich imagination distinct with the composer. The former artist-in-residence at the CAC believes in God and does not hide from his faith; Dear Mrs. Parks opens with a prayer, written out in the audience’s programs and recited by, from the sound of it, most of that audience. A gospel mission persists in the sung parts, spinning a tale of strife, resistance, and conquering through community. “Mrs. Parks” is Rosa Parks, of course. The four vocal soloists—Kevin Deas, bass; Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano; Jevetta Steele, mezzo-soprano; and Taylor Gardner, child soprano—read out four “letters” written to the civil rights legend. These letters address the horror of slavery and racism (“a history so cruel as to be never forgotten or forgiven”), sanctification of “our good sister Rosa,” the power of the black woman in history both foreign and domestic, and finally the opening prayer declaimed once more by www.OFFBEAT.com
REVIEWS the child. In the first three cases, the choir and chorale respond and underline the messages. After the child’s rendition, a final repetition of the prayer ends the piece. Stark packaging completes the effect. On the back of the CD booklet we see a photo portrait of an “Enslaved Woman.” She’s looking to the left. Rosa Parks, on the slipcase cover, sits on a bus; she’s looking to the right, back at her. —Andrew Hamlin
Abe Manuel, Jr. Swire from Grand Chenier (Jin) Abe Manuel, Jr. was part of Merle Haggard’s squadron in the ’90s, but eventually returned to his ancestral Gulf Coast homeland where he’s performed and recorded with various Cajuncountry aggregations ever since. This offering—the first under his name—collects previously released, out-of-print gems coupled with seven new beauts. Eleven tracks come from the out-of-print Honky Tonk Band CD, and include such regional favorites as “H.B.P.D.” and the title track. The uninitiated will either detest these demented proceedings or lovingly embrace them, depending how paramount humor is in one’s life survival kit. Comparisons to a Cajun Roger Miller aren’t that far off. With endless cartoonish voices, he delivers such laugh-out-loud lines as “I crawled up to her like a man” (“Alligator Woman”) and testifies that he’s dropped his carnal vices, changed his religion and now he’s too good to die (“Hypochristian Waltz”). Though warped humor prevails, Manuel is also skilled at a variety of instruments, including accordion, so many tracks rock, swing and boogie. Occasionally his songwriting gets serious, as on the dreamy “Rainbow Song” where he ponders, “Where do the stars go at night?” and “Who’s in charge of setting up the moon?” Sure, they’re rhetorical questions for useless philosophical thought, but if Abe Manuel, Jr. asks them, they’re worth considering. —Dan Willging 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.
Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Melanie Fiona (OR) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Maryland Jazz Band from Cologne (JV) 5p, Johnaye Kendrick (JV) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mike Ryan & Friends (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and guests 10p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm (OR) 6p Palm Court: Crescent City Joymakers feat. Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola (JV) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Chris Ardoin (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Classic Jazz Trio (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 4p, Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
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
FRIDAY APRIL 2
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
SMOKE-FREE SHOW
THURSDAY APRIL 1
Apple Barrel: Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 8p, Washboard Chaz (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: DJ T-Roy Reggae Night (RG) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Jolly House (RR FK) 9p d.b.a.: Will Bernard Trio feat. Brian Coogan and Simon Lott (JV) 10p Donna’s: Tom McDermott (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: DJ Proppa Bear, DJ Daniel Steel, DJ Frenzi (OR) 10p
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Apple Barrel: Kenny Holladay and Rick Westin (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Mykia Jovan (OR) 7p, Soul Rebels (BB) 10p, Abney Effect (OR) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (VR) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Pfister Sisters Pfriday Happy Hour (VF) 5:30p, Paul Sanchez (OR) 8p, Ogya (RG) 10:30p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle feat. Johnny Vidacovich (FK) 10p Donna’s: Pinettes Brass Band (BB) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Glasgow, Wild Mocassins, Dirty Bourbon River Show, DJ Bees Knees (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Jake Smith, Shawn McDonald 9p House of Blues: Third Eye Blind (RR) 7:30p, the A-List (RR) 12a Howlin’ Wolf: Hill Country Revue, the Lee Boys, the Revivalists (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Joe Krown (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Midnight Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx (JV) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Denise Marie (BL) 5p, Chip Wilson and Jessie Moore (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: traditional New Orleans piano (PK) 7p, J. Monque’d Blues Band (BL) 11p Maple Leaf: Big Sam’s Funky Nation (FK) 10p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Trio (MJ) 8p 10p Southport Hall: Know Your Enemy (RR) 10p Tipitina’s: 101 Runners feat. Big Chief Monk Boudreaux (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
SATURDAY APRIL 3
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p
Blue Nile:Washboard Chaz (BL) 7p, John Ellis & Double Wide (RR) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (VR) 10p, Khris Royal Quartet (upstairs) (OR) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Ogya (RG FK) 9p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Donna’s: Wild Magnolias (FK) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Sun Swara, Grass Roots feat. Truth Universal (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (PP) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Shannon Powell (JV) 8p, Midnight Brass Band Jam feat. Free Agents Brass Band (BB) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louvier (BL) 5p, Seneca (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Mahayla, the Tangle (RR) 11p Louisiana Music Factory: Bayou Deville (CJ) 2p; Ted Hefko & the Thousandaires 3p; Seva Venet (TJ) 4p Maple Leaf: Jason Ricci & New Blood, J the Savage (OR) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Band feat. Steve Pistorius (JV) 8p Prytania Music & Spirits: Kora Konnection (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Mixed Nuts (PP) 9:30p Snug Harbor: the Headhunters feat. Clark, Harrison and Summers (MJ) 8p 10p Southport Hall: Topcats (PP) 10p Tipitina’s: Flow Tribe & Bill Summers Jazsalsa (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (BL) 9p
SUNDAY APRIL 4
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 4p, Scotty (BL) 8p, Johnny J. & Benny Maygarden (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Sexy Salsa Sunday (LT) 7p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Andy J. Forest (BL) 10p Donna’s: Maryland Brass Band (BB) 6:30p, Jesse McBride & the Next Generation (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Hell is Other People, High in One Eye, Wildfirs (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p House of Blues: Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a,12:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Mason’s VIP Lounge Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle, June Gardner and David Torkanowsky (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Steve Keith (RR) 8p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Russell Batiste & Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Maryland Jazz Band of Cologne, Germany feat. Doggy Hund (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Davell Crawford & Company (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Sunday Music Workshop feat. ASCAP Songwriting Series with Anders Osborne (VR) 1p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais do do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p
Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
MONDAY APRIL 5
Apple Barrel: Sam Cammarata and Dominick Grillo (BL) 8p, Johnny J. & Benny Maygarden (BL) 10:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Sasha and Steve Masakowski (JV) 7p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Donna’s: Les Getrex & the Blues All-star Band (BL) 9p Dragon’s Den: Uncle Ralph’s Variety Show (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Willie Locket & All Purpose Blues Band (PP) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Old Point Bar: the Brent Walsh Jazz Trio (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Can’t Hardly Playboys (PP) 9p
TUESDAY APRIL 6
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 7p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Jeff Albert Quartet (upstairs) (JV) Chickie Wah Wah: Anders Osborne, John Fohl, Johnny Sansone (OR) 8p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Black Belt, We the Granada (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Jason Marsalis (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk Open Mic feat. Jason Bishop (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Shannon Powell & the Preservation Hall-stars (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Benny Grunch & the Bunch (VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 9p
WEDNESDAY APRIL 7
Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: United Postal Project (MJ) 8p, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (JV) 10p, Unlock the House (upstairs) (DN) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: the Tin Men (JV) 7p Dragon’s Den: Dancehall Classics feat. DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p
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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (MJ) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam Session (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Lafayette Square: Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Honey Island Swamp Band (FK) 5p Maple Leaf: Frogs Gone Fishin’ 10p Old Point Bar: Marc Stone & the Levee Creepers feat. Andy J. Forest and Keith Vinet (BL) 6p Palm Court: Palm Court Jazz Orchestra feat. Solid Harmony and Lars Edegran (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Doc Houlind International Revival Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Swing-a-Roux (SI) 8:30p Sandbar (UNO): Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Mike Clark with No Room for Squares and Soul Station (JV) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra feat. Delfeayo Marsalis (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop & the Garlic Truck Band (PP) 9p
THURSDAY APRIL 8
Apple Barrel: Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 8p, Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: DJ T-Roy Reggae Night RG Chickie Wah Wah: Matt Perrine CD-release party (OR) 6p, Jolly House (RR FK) 9p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (PK) 7p, Happy Talk Band (RR) 10p Donna’s: Tom McDermott (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: DJ Proppa Bear, DJ Daniel Steel, DJ Frenzi (OR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p
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Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (MJ) 5p, Johnaye Kendrick (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Tobin-Specht Trio (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. Evan Christopher (JV) 6p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Kobe Jazz Ensemble (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 4p, Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (MJ) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx (MJ) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Buddy Francioni and Home Grown (BL) 4p, Foot & Friends (BL) 8p Le Bon Temps Roule: traditional New Orleans piano (PK) 7p, Kirk Joseph’s Funkifried (FK) 11p Maple Leaf: 101 Runners, Seguenon Kone 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Prytania Music & Spirits: New Grass Country Club CD-release party (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Wiseguys (PP) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Trio (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Dirty Dozen Brass Band (BB) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
FRIDAY APRIL 9
SATURDAY APRIL 10
Apple Barrel: Kenny Holladay and Rick Westin (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 7p, Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 10p, Abney Effect (upstairs) (OR) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (VR) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Paul Sanchez (OR) 9:30p d.b.a.: Ingrid Lucia (SI VF) 6p, John Mooney (BL) 10p Donna’s: Original Royal Players Brass Band (BB) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Drum n Bass (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Vampire Weekend, Abe Vigoda (RR) 8p, the A-List (RR) 12a Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Joe Krown Trio’s Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton (MJ) 5p,
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Joyful New Orleans Helps Haiti (VR) 6p, Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes, Bottoms Up Blues Gang (FK BL) 10p, Derrick Freeman’s Smoker’s World (upstairs) (OR) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (VR) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Susan Cowsill and Bonas Brothers (OR RR) 9p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, Otra (LT) 11p Donna’s: Leroy Jones Jazz Quintet (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Smiley With a Knife, A Living Soundtrack (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (PP) 8p House of Blues: Who’s Bad: Michael Jackson Tribute (PP) 9p
Howlin’ Wolf: Battle of the Bands Finals (RR VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam Session (MJ) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Free Agents Brass Band (MJ) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Hurricane Refugees (BL) 4p, Rites of Passage (BL) 8p Le Bon Temps Roule: Sol Fiya (FK RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Radiators (RR) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Prytania Music & Spirits: Mia Borders (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Deacon John & the Ivories (RB) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Dr. Michael White & the Liberty Jazz Band (MJ) 8p 10p Southport Hall: Molly Ringwalds (PP) 10p” Tipitina’s: Hot 8, Billy Iuso (BB FK) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (BL) 9p
SUNDAY APRIL 11
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 4p, Scotty (BL) 8p, Kid Merv (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Sexy Salsa Sunday (LT) 7p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 10p Donna’s: Jesse McBride & the Next Generation (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Hell is Other People, Solar Summit (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a, Styx (RR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: Bonoboo, the Invisibles, Gravity A (RR) 10p
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clubs
Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Mason’s VIP Lounge Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle, June Gardner and David Torkanowsky (MJ) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Tobin and Steve Keith (BL) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Snug Harbor: Evan Christopher Jazz Ensemble (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Cajun Fais do do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
MONDAY APRIL 12
Apple Barrel: Sam Cammarata and Dominick Grillo (BL) 8p, Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 10:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Sasha and Steve Masakowski (JV) 7p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Donna’s: Les Getrex & the Blues All-star Band (BL) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Willie Locket & All Purpose Blues Band (PP) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: Assemblage 23, Angel Theory, Suicide Assyst, DJ Vendetta (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Kim Carson (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Can’t Hardly Playboys (PP) 9p Apple Barrel: Luke (BL) 7p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Rex Gregory (upstairs) (OR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Anders Osborne, John Fohl, Johnny Sansone (OR) 8p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Neal Caine (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 9p Louisiana Music Factory: Ken Colyer Trust Party 6p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Shannon Powell & the Preservation Hall-stars (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Joe Krown Trio w/ Walter “Wolfman” Washington and Russell Batiste (FK) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 9p
WEDNESDAY APRIL 14
FRIDAY APRIL 16
Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Ivorie Spectacle (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: United Postal Project (MJ) 8p, Unlock the House (upstairs) (DN) 10p, Khris Royal and Dark Matter (JV FK) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: the Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Dancehall Classics feat. DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p
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THURSDAY APRIL 15
Apple Barrel: Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 8p, Mike Darby & the House of Cards (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: DJ T-Roy Reggae Night RG Chickie Wah Wah: Jolly House (RR FK) 9p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (PK) 6p, Jimmy Carpenter & Friends (OR) 10p Donna’s: Tom McDermott (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: DJ Proppa Bear, DJ Daniel Steel, DJ Frenzi (OR) 10p French Quarter Pizzeria: Big Joe (VR) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (MJ) 5p, Johnaye Kendrick (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louvier (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Preservation Hall: Brass Band Thursday feat. New Birth Brass Band (BB) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Rosie Ledet (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: JD Walker Quartet (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Benefit for New Orleans Music Office Co-op feat. Mark Fowler & Lips & the Trips, Treme Brass Band, Susan Cowsill and many more (VR) 9p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 4p, Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
TUESDAY APRIL 13
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Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Easy Star All-stars Lonely Hearts World Tours 2010 feat. Songs from Dub Side of the Moon (RR) 8p Houston’s (St. Charles Ave.): David Hansen’s Garden District Trio featuring Tom (JV) 6:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (MJ) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam Session (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Lafayette Square: Jon Cleary, Lost Bayou Ramblers (RR PK) 5p Maple Leaf: Frogs Gone Fishin’ 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p Old Point Bar: Marc Stone & the Levee Creepers feat. Andy J. Forest and Keith Vinet (BL) 6p, Mike Burkart Band (BL) 7:30p Palm Court: Palm Court Jazz Band feat. Topsy Chapman and Lars Edegran (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Band feat. Mark Braud (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Johnny Angel (SI) 8:30p Sandbar (UNO): Jazz at the Sandbar feat. JD Walter with UNO Jazz Voices, Cindy/Wiley Old Veterans (JV) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra feat. Delfeayo Marsalis (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop & the Garlic Truck Band (PP) 9p
Apple Barrel: Kenny Holladay and Rick Westin (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Bottoms Up Blues Gang (BL) 7p, Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers (MJ) 10p, Abney Effect (upstairs) (OR) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (OR) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Paul Sanchez (OR) 8p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Rock City Morgue feat. R. Scully & the Rough 7 (RR) 10p
Donna’s: call club Dragon’s Den: Metronome the City, High in One Eye (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Historic New Orleans Collection: Preservation Hall Hot 4 (TJ) 6p House of Blues: Corey Smith, Josh Grinder (RR) 8p, the A-List (RR) 12a Howlin’ Wolf NorthShore (Mandeville): Chris Rose (CO SW) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Thrice, Manchester Orchestra (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Joe Krown (MJ) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (MJ) 8p, Midnight Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx (MJ) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Brooks Hubbert (RR) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: traditional New Orleans piano (PK) 7p, Juice (FK) 11p Maple Leaf: call club Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Leroy Jones (JV) 8p Prytania Music & Spirits: Hurray for the Riff Raff, Sam Buck Rosen (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (PP) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Trio (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: New Orleans Bingo Show, Fleur de Tease (RR VR SH) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
SATURDAY APRIL 17
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz (BL) 7p, Bill Summers & Jazalsa (MJ) 10p, Bottoms Up Blues Gang (upstairs) (BL) 10p, DJ Real & Black Pearl (upstairs) (DN) 12a Chickie Wah Wah: Ven Pa’Ca (LT) 9p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, Alvin Youngblood Hart (JV) 11p Donna’s: Leroy Jones Jazz Quintet (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Below C Level Anniversary Party (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (PP) 8p Howlin’ Wolf NorthShore (Mandeville): Five Star Fiasco, City Below (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Shannon Powell (MJ) 8p, Brass Band Jam feat. Free Agents Brass Band (BB) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mike Ryan & Friends (RR) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: the Jackals (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: call club Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Prytania Music & Spirits: the Drapers (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Roddie Romero & the Hub City All-stars, Anders Osborne (RR ZY) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Astral Project (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: call club Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (BL) 9p
SUNDAY APRIL 18
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 4p, Scotty (BL) 8p, Johnny J. & Benny Maygarden (BL) 10:30p
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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Blue Nile: Sexy Salsa Sunday (MJ) 7p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Margie Perez CD-release party (JV) 10p Donna’s: Jesse McBride & the Next Generation (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Hell is Other People, Solar Summit (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p House of Blues: Sunday Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a House of Blues: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live (VR) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Mason’s VIP Lounge Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle, June Gardner and David Torkanowsky (MJ) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Irish Session (FE) 5p, Steve Keith (BL) 9p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Walter “Wolman” Washington & Russell Batiste (FK) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Snug Harbor: Tony Green & Gypsy Jazz (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Sunday Music Workshop feat. ASCAP Songwriting Series (VR) 1p, Cajun Fais do do feat. Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
MONDAY APRIL 19
Apple Barrel: Sam Cammarata and Dominick Grillo (BL) 8p, I Tell You What (BL) 10:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Sasha and Steve Masakowski (JV) 7p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Donna’s: Les Getrex & the Blues All-star Band (BL) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Willie Locket & All Purpose Blues Band (PP) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Bob French & the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Denise Marie (BL) 5p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: 726 Jazz Band feat. William Smith (JV) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Can’t Hardly Playboys (PP) 9p
TUESDAY APRIL 20
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 7p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Conference Call (upstairs) (VR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Anders Osborne, John Fohl, Johnny Sansone (OR) 8p d.b.a.: New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony (RH) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Jason Marsalis (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Honky Tonk Open Mic feat. Jason Bishop (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Anders Osborne Uptown Jazz Fest Kickoff (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Shannon Powell & the Preservation Hall-stars (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Benny Maygarden Blues Band (BL) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Thelonious Monk Institute Ensemble (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 9p
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WEDNESDAY APRIL 21
Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: United Postal Project (JV FK) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: the Iguanas (LT RR) 8p d.b.a.: the Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Dancehall Classics feat. DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (MJ) 5p, Irvin Mayfield’s NOJO Jam Session (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Lafayette Square: Amanda Shaw, Mark Adam Miller (KJ RR) 5p Maple Leaf: Kirk Joseph & Funkifried (FK) 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Joe Krown (SI) 8:30p Sandbar (UNO): Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Peter Loggins with the Hot Skiffle Band and Hot Club of UNO (JV) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra feat. Delfeayo Marsalis (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop & the Garlic Truck Band (PP) 9p
THURSDAY APRIL 22
Apple Barrel: Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 8p, call club for late show (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Stanton Moore Trio feat. Stanton Moore, Robert Walter, Will Bernard and Anders Osborne (FK) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Lil Band O’ Gold (RR) 10p d.b.a.: Ernie Vinent & the Top Notes CD-release party (JV) 7p, Good Enough for Good Times (RR) 11p Donna’s: Tom McDermott (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: DJ Proppa Bear, DJ Daniel Steel, DJ Frenzi (OR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: King Sunny Ade & his African Beats, Govt Majik (RR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Rebirth Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, the Soul Rebels Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (MJ) 5p, Johnaye Kendrick (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Kelcy Mae (KR) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich, George Porter, Jr. and guests (FK) 10p Ogden Museum: Ogden After Hours feat. DJ Jubilee (VR) 6p Prytania Music & Spirits: Flow Tribe & Friends (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Terrance Simien and Zydeco Experience, Geno Delafose (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Davell Crawford & Company (MJ) 8p 10p Southport Hall: George Porter, Jr. & his Runnin’ Pardners (FK) 10p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Backbeat Jazz Fest Series feat. Nevillution (RR) 10p Tipitina’s: JJ Grey & Mofro (RR) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 4p, Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
FRIDAY APRIL 23
Apple Barrel: Kenny Holladay and Rick Westin (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Dr. Claw feat. Eric Krasno, Ian Neville, Adam Deitch, Nick Daniels and many more (FK VR) 9p, Pimps of Joytime (FK VR) 2a
Chickie Wah Wah: Paul Sanchez (OR) 8p, Tab Benoit, Johnny Sansone and Monk Boudreaux (AU BL) 11p d.b.a.: Ingrid Lucia (VF SI) 6p, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Zydepunks (RR KJ) 9p, Brian Coogan (FK) 2a Donna’s: Original Royal Players Brass Band (BB) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: New Orleans Klezmer All-stars, DJ Rootz (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Harrah’s: Joint’s Jumpin (VR) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Marcia Ball (VF) 9p House of Blues: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave., Jon Cleary (MJ) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk (FK) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Tom Worrell (MJ) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (MJ) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx (MJ) 12a Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Deltabilly Duo feat. Greg Schatz (BL) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: traditional New Orleans piano (PK) 7p, 007 (MJ) 11p, Mike Dillon’s Go-Go Jungle (FK) 1a Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Eric Lindell, Anders Osborne, the Stanton Moore Trio and Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers (MJ RR VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Trio (MJ) 9p 11p Southport Hall: the Radiators (RR) 10p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Marco Benevento & Friends feat. Billy Martin and Dave Dreiwitz (FK) 10p, Hill Country Revue (RR BL) 11p, George Porter, Jr. & the Runnin’ Pardners (FK) 2a Tipitina’s: Zigaboo’s Funk Revue feat. Zigaboo Modeliste with Paul Shaffer and many more, Soul Rebels (BB FK) 9p, Galactic (FK RR) 2a Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
SATURDAY APRIL 24
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 4p, Sneaky Pete (BL) 8p, Andre Bouvier & the Royal Bohemians (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Vinyl, Monophonics, Corey Henry (VR) 9p, Frequinox (FK) 1:30a Carrollton Station: Dash Rip Rock (RR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Tribe Nunzio (RR) 11p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p, George Porter, Jr. & the Runnin’ Pardners (FK) 10p Donna’s: Wild Magnolias (FK) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: MPU Productions (RR) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): Sierra Leone’s Refugee All-stars (OR) 9p House of Blues: Dr. John & the Lower 911 (FK) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: 007 (MJ) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Irvin Mayfield (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Tobin and Steve Keith (BL) 5p Le Bon Temps Roule: Billy Iuso & the Restless Natives (FK) 1a Maple Leaf: Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes (RR) 10p, Johnny Vidacovich 1a A PRI L 2010
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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Old Point Bar: Marc Stone Band & Special Guests (BL) 9:30p Palm Court: Palm Court Jazz Band feat. Lionel Ferbos (JV) 7p Penthouse on the Ritz: NOMC/Threadhead Records Foundation Joint Fundraiser (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: a tribute to Allan Jaffe feat. The Preservation Hall-stars and Lars Edegran (JV) 8p Prytania Music & Spirits: Prytania One Year Anniversary feat. Soul Rebels and more (BB) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: the Radiators, Bonerama, Rockin Dopsie, Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters (RR ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Charles Neville Quartet (MJ) 9p 11p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Anders Osborne, Eric Lindell (RR) 10p, the Slip, Surprise Me Mr. Davis, Marco Benevento Trio (FK) 2a Tipitina’s: Patti Smith (RR) 9p, Lotus, Woodhands (RR) 2a Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (BL) 9p
SUNDAY APRIL 25
Apple Barrel: Kenny Claiborne (BL) 4p, Scotty (BL) 8p, Margie Perez (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Marco Benevento, Skerik, Robert Walter, Adam Dietch (FK VR) 9:30p, Sexy Jesus & the Rollers, Shakewell, Burlesque Nuns, Funky Apostles and more (FK VR) 2a d.b.a.: Palmetto Bug Stompers (JV) 6p, Grayson Capps & the Stompknockers (CW) 8p, Papa Grows Funk, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Geechie Johnson, Honey Bannister (FK) 12a Donna’s: Jesse McBride & the Next Generation (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: the Unnaturals and more (RR) 6:30p, the Creepin Crawlers (RR) 7:30p, Simon Lott and Skerik (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p House of Blues (the Parish): BOB (RR) 9p House of Blues: Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a, Funky Meters (FK) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: New Orleans Klezmer All-stars (JV) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Mason’s VIP Lounge Revisited feat. Germaine Bazzle, June Gardner and David Torkanowsky (MJ) 7p
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PLAN A: Bonnie “Prince” Billy Throughout his career, Will Oldham has sought intimacy. The early Palace monikers (Palace Brothers, Palace Music, etc) gave off the idea of a man walking the grand hall of American song alone, digging always deeper into that solitude to perhaps find something cosmic hiding in the marrow of his lonely, fragile bones. As Bonnie “Prince” Billy, he blossomed as the randy fop, the surfer guru, the troubadour with a command of any music he tries, be it Crazy Horse-style ragged glory, slick Nashville country, or quiet gatherings of one or two compatriots. He’s performed with as many as six guitarists in his stage band, and a few years ago opened Björk’s extravaganza at the Hollywood Bowl alone onstage strumming an autoharp. What ever curious means he employs, the end result is the bared soul of one of our most gifted and mercurial songwriters. His latest incarnation is Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang, that gang consisting
solely of Emmet Kelly. Their new album The Wonder Show of the World bears a resemblance to Superwolf, his stunning 2005 duo record with Matt Sweeney, as well as the sunset glow of Laurel Canyon circa 1974. Oldham is in as fine a voice as ever; his once hoarse rasp is buffed into a rich, candlelit glow. He and his Gang sing and play in such close harmony that His Majesty requested the intimate confines of Preservation Hall so that their soft blows can be felt full on the body of those in attendance. Seating is very limited, so reservations are recommended. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and the Cairo Gang and Hurray For the Riff Raff play Preservation Hall on April 6 at 11 p.m.—Alex Cook Kerry Irish Pub: Lynn Drury (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Egg Yolk Jubilee (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Papa Mali, Vinyl (OR) 10p Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Palm Court: Sunday Night Swingsters feat. Lucien Barbarin, Mark Braud and Tim Laughlin (JV) 7p
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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Rock ’n’ Bowl: Tab Benoit, Sonny Landreth (BL RR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Terrence Blanchard Ensemble (MJ) 9p 11p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Tim Reynolds and TR3, Benjy Davis Project (FK RR) 9p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
MONDAY APRIL 26
Apple Barrel: Sam Cammarata and Dominick Grillo (BL) 8p, Butch Trivette (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Anders Osborne, Good Enough for Good Times (FK RR) 9:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Pfister Sisters (VF) 5:30p, Evan Christopher “Clarinet Road Vol III” CD-release party (JV) 8p d.b.a.: Kristin Diable Duo (JV) 5p, Paul Sanchez (JV) 8p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 11p Donna’s: Les Getrex & the Blues All-star Band (BL) 9p Dragon’s Den: Illuminasti Trio feat. Mike Dillon, Govt’ Magic (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Willie Locket & All Purpose Blues Band (PP) 8p House of Blues: Piano Night, a benefit for WWOZ (VR) 7:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): 100th Anniversary Celebration of Bob French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Gill T’s Birthday Bash feat. Foot & Friends and Kim Carson (BL) 5p Maple Leaf: Papa Grows Funk (FK) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Dave Alvin & Guilty Women feat. Sonny Landreth, and Snooks Eaglin Tribute feat. Brint Anderson and George Porter, Jr. (RR VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Instruments a Comin’ 2010 feat. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave., Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Rebirth Brass Band, Soul Rebels Brass Band and many many more (VR FK) 5p Tipitina’s: Walk of Fame Induction of Harry Connick, Jr. and Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. (VR) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Can’t Hardly Playboys (PP) 9p
TUESDAY APRIL 27
Apple Barrel: Luke (BL) 7p, Kenny Swartz & the Palace of Sin (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Idris Muhammad & NOLA All-stars, Orgone (FK) 8p, Nelsort (upstairs) (FK) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Anders Osborne, John Fohl, Johnny Sansone (OR) 8p Columns: David Doucet (JV) 8p d.b.a.: Jeremy Lyons & the Deltabilly Boys (JV) 5p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 8p, Johnny Vidacovich, June Yamagishi and George Porter, Jr. (FK) 11p Dragon’s Den: Up Hip-hop Night (RG) 10p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: a Tribute to Little Feat Drummer Richie Hayward feat. Anders Osborne, John “Papa” Gros, Billy Iuso, Eric Bolivar and more (VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Jason Marsalis (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Brooks Hubbert (RR) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Mem Shannon & the Membership (FK) 11p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Mulate’s: Lee Benoit (KJ) 7p
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Preservation Hall: Shannon Powell & the Preservation Hall-stars (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: call club Snug Harbor: Allen Toussaint Jazzity Project (MJ) 8p 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 9p
WEDNESDAY APRIL 28
Apple Barrel: Wendy Darling (BL) 8p, Andy J. Forest (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Dream Palace Reincarnation feat. The Radiators and Gravity A (RR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Papa Mali, the Amalgamation (RR FR) 10p d.b.a.: Iguanas (LT) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Donna’s: Billy Iuso (FK) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Dancehall Classics feat. DJ T-Roy (RG) 10p Famous Door: Darren Murphy & Big Soul (BL VR) 3p Funky Pirate: Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Martin Sexton (OR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf: Megalomaniacs Ball feat. Garage a Trois, Stanton Moore Trio, Mike Dillon Trio, the Dead Kenny G’s, Marc Benevento Trio and more (RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Sasha Masakowski (MJ) 5p, Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (MJ) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (BL) 9p Lafayette Square: Marcia Ball, MyNameisJohnMichael (RR) 5p Le Bon Temps Roule: Grayson Capps & the Stompknockers (FK) 11p Maple Leaf: Junco Partners, John Gros, Brian Stoltz, June Yamagishi, Tony Hall and Raymond Webber (FK) 10p Republic New Orleans: Infected Mushroom (DN) 9p Rock ’n’ Bowl: subdudes, Creole String Beans (RR VR) 8:30p Sandbar (UNO): Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Peter Bernstein with UNO Guitar Ensemble (JV) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Piano Night feat. Marcia Ball, Tom McDermott and Joe Krown (MJ) 8p 10p Tipitina’s: Railroad Earth (BU RR) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop & the Garlic Truck Band (PP) 9p
THURSDAY APRIL 29
Apple Barrel: Dave Gregg & the Odd Man Band (BL) 8p, the Louisiana Hellbenders (BL) 10:30p Blue Nile: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave., Dr. Gonzeaux (FK MJ) 10p Carrollton Station: John “Papa” Gros, Anders Osborne, Eric Lindell and Jimmy Robinson (RR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: NO Big Blues Harmonica Show feat. Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone (BL) 8p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (PK) 8p Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 11p, Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm (OR) 1a Donna’s: Tom McDermott (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: DJ Proppa Bear, DJ Daniel Steel, DJ Frenzi (OR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p House of Blues: Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band feat. Eric Krasno and Chapter 2 (OR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: JOJO’s Mardi Gras Band feat. John Hermann, John Bell, Sunny Ortiz,
George Porter, Jr. and many more (FK VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Roman Skakun (MJ) 5p, Johnaye Kendrick (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Tobin-Specht Trio (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny V., Marco Benevento and Skerik (FK) 10p Palm Court: Sammy Rimington’s Grand Jubilee Concert feat. Freddie John, Seva Venet, Lars Edegran, Kerry Lewis and Gerald French (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Brass Band Thursday feat. Paulin Brothers Brass Band (BB) 8p Prytania Music & Spirits: the Rocketboys, Sound of Whales (OR) 10p Republic New Orleans: Julian Casablancas (SS) 9p, Rusko, Big Gigantic (VR) 2a Rock ’n’ Bowl: Buckwheat Zydeco, CJ Chenier, Nathan Williams, Sunpie Barnes, Clayton Sampy, Lil Buck Sinegal and more (VR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Chris Thomas King (BL) 9p 11p Southport Hall: the Radiators (RR) 10p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Cyril Neville & Tribe 13, Toubab Krewe (FK RR) 10p Tipitina’s: North Mississippi All-stars, City Champs (BL RR) 9p, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (FK) 2a Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jason Bishop (PP) 4p, Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
FRIDAY APRIL 30
Apple Barrel: Kenny Holladay and Rick Westin (BL) 8p, the Hip Shakers (BL) 11p Blue Nile: Big Sam’s Funky Nation (FK) 10p, Soulive (FK) 2a Carrollton Station: Susan Cowsill Band (RR) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Paul Sanchez & the Rolling Road Show (RR OR) 8p, Lil Buck Sinegal’s Blues Band feat. CC Adcock (BL) 11p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 5p, Joe Krown, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Russell Batiste (FK) 8p, Jon Cleary (PK) 12a Donna’s: Original Royal Players Brass Band (BB) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Gravity A (RR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (BL) 8p Harrah’s: Joints Jumpin (VR) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Honey Island Swamp Band, Soul Rebels Brass Band (RR BB) 10p House of Blues: Old Crow Medicine Show (RR) 9p, Salvador Santana (FK) 2a Howlin’ Wolf NorthShore (Mandeville): Aura, Trevelyan (RR) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Bayou Rendezvous feat. The New Orleans All-stars, Papa Grows Funk, Rebirth Brass Band, Col. Bruce Hampton, Russell Batiste and many more (FK VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): Joe Krown (MJ) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, Burslesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx (MJ) 8p Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Damien Louvier (BL) 5p, Foot & Friends (BL) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: traditional New Orleans piano (PK) 7p, Rotary Downs (RR) 10p, A PRI L 2010
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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Duwayne Burnside and Dave Kimbrough, Jr. (OR) 1a Mahalia Jackson Theatre: Gov’t Mule, 7 Walkers (RR) 7:45p Maple Leaf: James Brown Tribute 10p Mulate’s: La Touche (KJ) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat. Ingrid Lucia (JV) 8p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Sonny Landreth, Bonerama, John Mooney & Bluesiana (BL FK RR) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Trio (MJ) 9p 11p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Tab Benoit & Friends (BL) 10p, Some Cat From Japan (FK VR) 2a Tipitina’s: Radiators (RR) 9p, Greyboy All-stars (FK) 2a Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
SATURDAY MAY 1
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 7p, Mike Sklar & the Hip Shakers (BL) 10:30p Bayou Park Bar: the Pallbearers, Superdestroyers, Negrophippies (RR) 10p Blue Nile: Soulive (FK) 10p, Toubab Krewe (FK) 2a Carrollton Station: Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes (RR) 10p d.b.a.: Little Freddie King (BL) 8p, Dirty Dozen Brass Band (BB) 12a Donna’s: call club Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p, Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters (PP) 8p House of Blues: Toots & the Maytals, Johnny King & the Soulrockers (FK RG) 8:30p, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Big Sam’s Funky Nation (FK) 10p, Bassnetcar (OR) 2a Howlin’ Wolf: Galactic, Funky Meters, Rebirth Brass Band (BB FK RR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Royal Sonesta): call club Jeremy Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Alex McMurray (RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Johnny V., George Porter, Jr. and Marco Benevento 10p, Jon Cleary 1a Mulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Palm Court: Palm Court Jazz Band feat. Lionel Ferbos (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Tommy Sancton’s New Orleans Jazz Band (JV) 8p Prytania Music & Spirits: Kora Konnection (OR) 10p Rock ’n’ Bowl: Eric Lindell, Anders Osborne, the Stanton Moore Trio and Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers (VR) 8:30p Southport Hall: Casa Samba (LT) 10p Tipitina’s French Quarter: Theresa Andersson, Mia Borders (VF) 10p, Bonerama (FK) 2a Tipitina’s: Ani Difranco (FR) 9p, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave. and guests (FK RR) 2a Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p, Willie Locket (PP) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (BL) 9p
SUNDAY MAY 2
Apple Barrel: Scotty (BL) 7p, Andre Bouvier & the Royal Bohemians (BL) 10:30p d.b.a.: Linnzi Zaorski (SI VF) 5p, the Tin Men (MJ) 8p, Anders Osborne & Stanton Moore (FK) 12a Donna’s: Jesse McBride & the Next Generation (JV) 9p
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Funky Pirate: Mark Penton (PP) 4p House of Blues: Gospel Brunch (GS) 10a Howlin’ Wolf: Royal Family Ball feat. Soulive, Lettuce, Zigaboo’s Funk Revue, George Porter, Jr. and more (FK VR) 10p Le Bon Temps Roule: the Iguanas (LT RR) 11p Maple Leaf: Bonerama, Honey Island Swamp Band (FK) 10pMulate’s: Bayou Deville (KJ) 7p Tipitina’s: Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk feat. Art Neville and the Revivalists (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Beach Club: Waylon Thibodeaux (PP) 5p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Debi & the Deacons (PP) 9p
LOUISIANA MUSIC ON TOUR BEAUSOLEIL AVEC MICHAEL DOUCET Apr 1 San Diego CA Anthology Apr 2 Cerritos CA Center For the Perf. Arts Apr 10 Austin TX Swamp Thing Apr 11 Woodlands TX Dosey Doe Cafe Apr 23 Ann Arbor MI The Ark Apr 24 River Forest IL Dominican University TAB BENOIT Apr 16 Lafayette LA Bue Moon Saloon Apr 17 Port Arthur TX Cah’s Bar & Grill Apr 18 Houston TX International Festival Apr 22 Baton Rouge LA Chelsea’s Apr 24 Houston TX Downtown Houston BIG SAM’S FUNKY NATION Apr 3 Mobile AL The Shed Apr 10 Austin TX Swamp Thing & Crawfish Festival Apr 16 New York NY Sullivan Hall Apr 17 Baltimore MD 8X10 DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND Apr 10 Birmingham AL Open Door Café Apr 17 Atlanta GA Sweetwater 420 Festival DR. JOHN Apr 1-2 Tyagarah AUS Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Apr 17 Live Oak FL Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park HONEY ISLAND SWAMP BAND Apr 16 Hattiesburg MS Live @ Five Apr 17 Gadsden AL Downtown Tavern Apr 18 Biloxi MS Coliseum Apr 24 Oxford MS Double Decker Festival ZIGABOO MODELISTE Apr 11 San Francisco CA Pier 23 KENNY NEAL Apr 1-3 Paris FRA Le Meridien Hotel Apr 4-5 Ruiselede BEL Banana Peel Club Apr 7-10 Monte Carlo MON Moods Apr 30 Memphis TN Beale Street Music Festival CYRIL NEVILLE Apr 1-3 Byron Bay AUS Byron Bay Fest Apr 8 Madison WI Majestic Theater Apr 9 Minneapolis MN Cabooze Apr 10 Chicago IL Vic Theater Apr 11 Cleveland OH House of Blues Apr 13 Lexington KY Busters Apr 14 Asheville NC The Orange Peel Apr 15 Nashville TN Exit Inn Apr 16 Memphis TN The Minglewood IVAN NEVILLE’S DUMPSTAPHUNK Apr 1 New York NY HighLine Ballroom Apr 3 Wilmington DE Big Chief’s
PAPA GROWS FUNK Apr 16 Baton Rouge LA Chelsea’s Apr 21 Lafayette LA Artmosphere REBIRTH BRASS BAND Apr 2 New York NY Sullivan Hall Apr 3 Wilmington DE Big Chief’s Apr 23 Oxford MS The Lyric Oxford RED STICK RAMBLERS Apr 3 Glen Echo MD Spanish Ballroom Apr 8 Asheville NC Grey Eagle Apr 9 Knoxville TN Laurel Theater Apr 10 Holly Springs NC Holly Springs Cultural Center ALLEN TOUSSAINT Apr 9 Bay Shore NY YMCA Boulton Center Apr 10 Sellersville PA Sellersville Theater Apr 12 Nashville TN Belcourt Theater Apr 13 Atlanta GA Variety Playhouse Apr 14 Knoxville TN Bijou Theater Apr 15 Asheville NC The Orange Peel TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE Apr 2 Cleveland OH Beachland Ballroom Apr 3 Columbus OH Lincoln Theater Apr 24 Nashville TN Vanderbilt University Apr 25 Scottsdale AZ McDowell Mountain Music Festival
FESTIVALS APRIL 9-11 Louisiana Strawberry Festival: Celebrate Pontchatoula’s sweet fruit with great food, live music, a parade and plenty of fun. Pontchatoula. (800) 917-7045, LAStrawberryFestival.com. APRIL 9-11 French Quarter Festival: Enjoy one of the largest free music festivals in the South with performances by more than 100 acts on stages throughout the French Quarter. fqfi.org. APRIL 16-23 Dewy Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week: Head to Chicot State Park outside of Ville Platte for a week of Cajun concerts, dances, seminars and workshops. (337) 234-8360, LAFolkRoots.org. APRIL 17-18 Old Algiers Riverfest: This free, fun festival will feature live music by Irvin Mayfield, John Boutte, Dr. Michael White. Banu Gibson, Leah Chase, Hot 7 Brass Band and many more. (504) 362-8813, OldAlgiersMainStreet.com. APRIL 17-18 Angola Spring Rodeo: Come watch hardened convicts battle beasts at this notorious—and dangerous—rodeo. And for the softies, there’s also a fine arts and crafts market outside the stadium. (225) 655-2030, AngolaRodeo.com. APRIL 21-25 Festival International: Skip the first weekend of Jazz Fest and head to Lafayette for a festival that truly lives up to its name and features more than a half dozen stages with over 100 acts. (337) 232-8086, FestivalInternational.com. APRIL 23-MAY 2 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival: Seven exciting days of music, food, culture and fun at the Fairgrounds! Look for OffBeat’s Jazz Fest Bible at the gates. NOJazzFest.com.
APRIL 28 Chaz Fest: Spend a day at the Truck Farm, 3020 St. Claude Ave., with Washboard Chaz for his own festival. Some of this year’s performers include Hot 8 Brass Band, Schatzy, Happy Talk Band, Ratty Scurvics, Brian Coogan Band and more.1210p. Check ChazFestival.com for more information. APRIL 30-MAY 2 Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival: Head to the small Cajun town of Breaux Bridge for a weekend of crawfish, live music and family fun. (337) 332-6655, www.BBCrawfest.com.
SPECIAL EVENTS THROUGH JUNE 9 Wednesday at the Square: The weekly workday concert series brings Louisiana artists to Lafayette Square every Wednesday from 5-7:30p. Check the OffBeat daily listings or WednesdayAtTheSquare.com for a schedule of performers. APRIL 1-29 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. APRIL 1-MAY 27 Bugs, Buds and Bands: Head down to Fulton Square every Thursday and enjoy Budweiser beer, crawfish and live music from 5-8 p.m. Become a Harrah’s Total Rewards member and you’ll get your crawfish at a special price. HarrahsNewOrleans.com. APRIL 16 Concerts in the Courtyard: Take a trip out to the Historic New Orleans Collection for the monthly concert series. This month features a performance by the Preservation Hall Hot 4. Historic New Orleans Collection. 6p. (504) 523-4662, hnoc.org. APRIL 16 Chippendales: Ladies (and some guys) will pack Harrah’s Theatre when the famous male hardbody Chippendales come to town. 7 & 10 p.m. HarrahsNewOrleans.com. APRIL 16-17 War Peace, The One Drop Rule: Witness a youth driven hip hop theater piece that imagines the Bay Area as a potential war zone in a time of protracted drought. Contemporary Arts Center. 8p. (504) 528-3800, cacno.org. APRIL 17 Bywater Art Market: The fun art market features paintings, pottery, glass, furniture and more. 9a-4p. BywaterArtMarket.com. This month will also coincide with the Bywater Bark Market which will feature special products and services for dogs. APRIL 23 & 30 Joints Jumpin: Back by popular demand, this musical extravaganza brings you an A-list of New Orleans musicians that play hits by Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, Christ Kenner, Art Neville, Irma Thomas and more. HarrahsNewOrleans.com.
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BACKTALK
talks back
P
icture the cliché college movie scenario: a professor asking you to look to the left and then the right before intoning “One of you will not make it through this course, and one of you will go on to great things.” If that same formula applies to scrappy little college bands, Vampire Weekend is in the latter bracket. The band plays the House of Blues on April 9, but four short years ago they were playing campus parties at Columbia and in that time they have become a quintessential success story. Some feel they were a story before they were a success—they were shot for the cover of Spin before their debut album came out—while others think they have a good Afro-beat you can dance to, enough so that their second album Contra debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Are they sons of privilege engaged in the age-old practice of pillaging impoverished cultures, or are they four dudes that made it on the merits of catchy tunes? We caught up with drummer Chris Tomson to straighten it out.
How does it feel to be the drummer in the “it” band right now? (Laughs) It feels the same as being the drummer in the non-”it” band two years ago and our band a year ago. I mean, it’s cool. Right now it’s our first tour in North America; we just played out first show in the States for a while in Missoula, Montana. That’s kind of the point—the opportunity you have to see how people react and how people like the songs.
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By Alex Cook
The subject matter of a lot of the songs on Contra seem very anecdotal, specifically about living in New York City. Is that what your songs are about? Well, Ezra (Koenig) is the main lyricist and I often help as well, but I do think when we talk about it, a lot of it. But not everything is about New York and that is going to inform our world view and how we experience things because it’s where we live and when we’re not on tour, its where we spend most of our time.
The band formed in 2006, correct? What kind of music did you play at campus parties when you were students at Columbia? Honestly, we played the same music we do now, just a bit more sloppily. You were playing your own songs then? The first show we actually played “Walcott” and “Oxford Comma,” which we play in our shows to this day. Ezra had some songs he’d written before that we learned and arranged, but from the beginning it was very important to us to play our own music. We have played the occasional cover, but by and large, we felt more excited about playing original music. Was the African influence in your songs there from the start? Yeah, that is something we all talked about, that we all had in common from the very first practice and the very first time we played. “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” is one of A PRI L 2010
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Photo: SOREN SOLKAER STARBIRD
Vampire Weekend
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We were inspired by African music, inspired by reggaeton, inspired by classical music, so I think that, ideally, even if we disagree with things, we don’t like things, we don’t want to be against anything.
the first songs we arranged all together each sitting at our instruments. How did you get interested in that kind of music? We all came about it in different ways. For me, personally, I saw a band called Antibalas who are from Brooklyn and are a very dedicated and specifically Afro-beat band. I think some of them actually play as a Broadway show right now about Fela. I saw them in high school in New York and I’d never heard of them and never heard that music. From there I went to Fela and King Sunny Ade. In New York more than in, say, Missoula or a lot of other places, you are exposed to a lot more different cultures. Did that feed in to the polyrhythmic feel Vampire Weekend has? I think that’s both yes and no. I think it’s true that you can walk around New York, especially in Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan—you can go to a neighborhood that’s entirely Indian or entirely Caribbean. Those are certain things that I’ve experienced and try to experience more when I’m there. But at the same time, a lot of it is being able to search out and hear this music and take it on your own terms, be that through the Internet or by buying records and CDs. I guess it’s probably a little of both. People can, even if it’s not firsthand, experience culture via the Internet anywhere they are, be it Missoula or wherever. How do you address the perceptions that you guys are privileged kids engaging in cultural appropriation, which has become a common backlash against the band? I think we all choose to say nothing because we are all very aware it’s not true and we are very much doing our own thing. We take inspiration in a lot of things, certainly, and when we’ve talked to various African musicians, no one has ever seemed pissed off. They’ve all seemed kind of excited that we’ve taken inspiration from it. Music is global. I think in New Orleans, you have one of the ultimate examples of how music is such a global passageway; it’s never a one-way street. American music influences African music, African music influences Western music the same, and I think in New Orleans you get that in jazz, which is a very obvious point of reference. We are people and musicians that have a lot of things at our fingertips and we hear a lot of
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things and are influenced by a lot of things, but at the same time, we don’t steal anything, don’t rip anything off. We are doing our own thing. I think at that level, we feel good about what we’re doing and that’s all we can control. When I first heard Vampire Weekend, the thing that came to mind were the bands from the ’80s that did those kinds of things like the Specials and the English Beat, the Sandinista! years of the Clash and then in the ’90s, No Doubt and Björk’s poppier side. Do you think you fit in that lineage of people who are looking for things outside of their immediate culture to build into a musical framework? I think so, but then I think like any of those bands, we don’t have any one specific goal other than to make songs that we like and try to be inclusive. At the same time, especially when we were making Contra, bands like No Doubt and Sublime were very inspirational to us. They were huge when we were coming of age in high school and whatnot. If something is interesting or exciting to you, you can make it your own as long as you’re faithful and do it honestly and don’t try to rip someone off and pass it off as your own. You can internalize it and make it your own that way. When you recorded the first record, you’d just graduated and were working day jobs. Yeah, well three of us except for our bassist Chris Baio graduated in 2006. We recorded the drums for “Oxford Comma” at school, actually, at Columbia. Most of it we did in the year after we graduated while working our different day jobs. What did you graduate in? I double-majored in music and economics. Where were you working? Did you have a corporate post-collegiate job? None of us were headed for careers as bankers or lawyers or anything. It’s not where our hearts laid after Columbia, Vampire Weekend or not. I was working in the archives of WBNG, a pretty classic entry level position where I would help organize and corral stuff from the archives for various projects as they were needed. I grew up in the ’80s and the word “contra” has very specific connotations with Ollie North and the Iran-Contra affair. What does “contra”
mean in the context of this record and specifically the song ‘I Think Yr a Contra?” We were obviously very well aware of the different connotations. Some people think of the Iran-Contra affair. Some people think of the video game, but for us, we took it at its very basic level which is the general concept of “against.” I think the way a lot of people react to our music, there is a lot of us vs. them, me vs. you, black-andwhite. I think our music reflects that it’s never that cut-and-dry. That dichotomy is never so concrete; there’s a lot of gray area. What is Vampire Weekend against? From the beginning, part of the idea of Vampire Weekend was to not be against anything. We wanted to be as inclusive as possible. We were inspired by African music, inspired by reggaeton, inspired by classical music, so I think that, ideally, even if we disagree with things, we don’t like things, we don’t want to be against anything. Where do you see Vampire Weekend headed? You’ve had a pretty remarkable trajectory over the last couple of years. It’s hard to say. Right now we’re very focused and excited to be touring and playing shows. We worked hard on Contra and we’re excited to play these songs and ones from the first record, especially very psyched to come to New Orleans. After that, you don’t want to be too specific. When it comes time to work on the next album, I’m sure we’ll have a bunch of stuff saved up from soundchecks and touring. The arrangements on Contra and your first album are really tight and intricate. As you’ve gained some experience as a live band can you replicate all that sequencing and turns and layers in concert? It definitely took some practice. Contra is a different beast. Vampire Weekend was written and arranged as the four of us at our instruments. Those songs were made to serve a live show because that’s what we were doing, how we were learning about our instruments. On Contra, songs like “Taxi Cab” or “Diplomat’s Son” came together more as a construct of the studio. It took a bit to learn, and while we don’t play all of our songs, we play most of them. I think it’s going well. We all feel good about it so I hope the answer is yes, we can. O www.OFFBEAT.com