OffBeat Magazine July 2016

COREY HENRY Sweetest ’bone tone from Treme to Galactic

Essence Fest Prince in New Orleans Cyril Neville Lena Prima Davell Crawford Stephen Marley Cowboy Mouth Leyla McCalla

LOUISIANA MUSIC, FOOD & C U LT U R E — J U LY 2 0 1 6 Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

TALE

usicians’ Bar Guide M L I CKTA O C E H S OF T

fqf satchmo

Treme Funk

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Corey Henry’s universe.

"Davell Crawford Comes of Age"

Page 28

LETTERS

By Jason Berry, December 1995

6

IN THE SPIRIT

MOJO MOUTH

8

Richard Odell mixes up the Dirty Note for Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes at Tujague’s.

FRESH

10

Five Questions with Cyril Neville on playing Essence Festival; New breweries in New Orleans; Music Box Roving Village; Five Questions with Ron Canedo, Director, New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society; My Music with Nick the Swede; Satchmo SummerFest; Ten Prince songs that local artists should cover; Big Chief Walter “Sugar Bear” Landry, Jr.; Jacob Landry of Urban South Brewery and more.

PRIME ROYALTY

BREWER/BASSIST

BAR STORIES OFFBEAT EATS

16

OBITUARY

17 18

REWIND

Michael Sklar

Stephen Marley returns to New Orleans.

20

A local tribute to Prince.

Robin Power Royal and Prince.

26

41

Ann Tuennerman of Tales of the Cocktail is In the Spot at Sukho Thai and Peter Thriffiley reviews Ideal Supermarket.

Royal Southern Brotherhood, Davell Crawford, Dave Jordan and the NIA, Mike Dillon, Alexis & the Samurai, Batture Boys, Bamboula 2000 and more.

FIND THAT GIRL

38

Local musicians report from the drinking front.

REVIEWS

HIS PURPLE MAJESTY

36

Brian “Bruiser” Broussard makes beer and plays music.

Lena Prima follows in her dad’s footsteps.

ROOTS AND BEYOND

34

43

53

Richard “Ricky” Jones—a.k.a. Fiend or International Jones—hits rewind on his 1999 album Street Life.

LISTINGS

54

BACKTALK

61

Leyla McCalla

When Davell Crawford was asked: “What do you and Little Richard have in common?” he laughs. “Well, we’re both living and I don’t have HIV. You can let ‘em know if I ever develop HIV I’ll call everybody like Magic Johnson and let ‘em know.”

To read more this issue can be purchased at www.offbeat.com/ shop/1995/offbeatmagazine-december-1995/.

JU LY 2016

O

5

Letters

“So, it seems, at least one of those structures should be something to honor Louis Armstrong, like an apology for the Jim Crow attitudes of his day…”

—Thomas Balzac, New Orleans, Louisiana

Minos the Saint I loved your feature about one of my favorite Baton Rouge bands, Minos the Saint [May 2016]. John Wirt’s reporting of the band’s creative process was fascinating and the fact about how their keyboardist didn’t show the band his horn arrangements until they were debuted on stage was extremely interesting.

I also had the chance to write about the band for the Baton Rouge blog Jive Flamingo.

My article took a different perspective as it focused on the band’s origins in Baton Rouge and how that created the musical gumbo that is Minos the Saint’s sound.

—James West, New Orleans, Louisiana

Euphonium The following letter is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “Anime Euphonium,” talking about a visit from Koitchiro Enomoto—the Editor in Chief of a Japanese music magazine, Band Life.

I love hearing stories like this about music lovers from around the world sharing their passion. It reminds me of how a Japanese jazz fan traveled all the way to New Orleans to buy a new trombone for a struggling musician in the excellent HBO series Treme.

The anime on the cover of Band Life is an incredible series called Sound! Euphonium.

The graceful, low-key drama and out of this world animation and art is truly amazing to behold. Not to mention how surprisingly progressive the story turns out.

—Branko Burcksen, San Francisco, California

Eagle Saloon The following letter is in response to OffBeat’s news post “Eagle Saloon Initiative Announces First Phase of Historic Building’s Restoration.”

Seems a great idea to restore those music venues, good luck everyone; and it’s great we have Mr. McCusker and other media as watchdogs over the process. Luckily social media is here in these modern times, to blow the whistle when something’s fishy; for instance, will “preservation” of—say

white-plaster walls—be a priority, or are they going to “renovate” not restore? And there’s another thing, about local music clubs taking financial advantage of Louis Armstrong’s connection to New Orleans (which I hope, upon completion they don’t). I think it was Ken Burns who said the reason Satchmo rarely visited his birth City is because the local clubs would not allow his trombone player, the great Jack (“Big T”) Teagarden, to play with African-American musicians. Local late-great sax man Albert Francis “Pud” Brown told me that story too, indirectly in the late ’80s, when I saw him returning from a Bourbon Street gig one night. A longtime friend of the Teagardens, Pud was so excited with a big smile of pride on his face, because—he told me—a club had finally allowed him to perform with the (all–African-American) house band. So, it seems, at least one of those structures should be something to honor Louis Armstrong, like an apology for the Jim Crow attitudes of his day; it can also serve as a reminder that vestiges still remain and—as are these monuments to jazz—a work in progress.

—Thomas Balzac, New Orleans, Louisiana

Not a Side Project I just wanted to thank you for reviewing my band’s album. It means a lot to us that you did that. The review states the band is a side project to me. Rooftop Junkies is not a side project, I haven’t done any solo stuff for about 10 years.

—DJ Ragas, Rooftop Junkies, New Orleans, Louisiana

Corrections Jennifer Odell’s Eat Street: The resurgence of Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard as a prime food hub [June 2016] contained a few inaccuracies. Chef Crispin Pasia was misspelled as Pascia; the original Dryades Market was not called Dryades Street Market and it opened in 1849 not 1894. Primitivo opened several years after Casa Borrega not “shortly after” as mentioned in the feature. We regret the errors.

—Ed.

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.

6

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Louisiana Music, Food & Culture

July 2016 Volume 29, Number 8 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com Managing Editor Joseph L. Irrera, josephirrera@offbeat.com Consulting Editor John Swenson Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Listings Editor Katie Walenter, listings@offbeat.com Contributors Rory Callais, Frank Etheridge, Robert Fontenot, Elsa Hahne, Holly Hobbs, Nora McGunnigle, Brett Milano, Jennifer Odell, John Swenson, Peter Thriffley, Cyril Vetter, Dan Willging, Michael Patrick Welch, John Wirt, Geraldine Wyckoff Cover Elsa Hahne Art Director/Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Web Team Sam D'Arcangelo, sam@offbeat.com Noé Cugny, noecugny@offbeat.com Mary Graci, mary@offbeat.com Copy Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, theo@offbeat.com Advertising Sales Jennifer Forbes, jennifer@offbeat.com Camille A. Ramsey, camille@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Natalie Barman, Jasmine Bethune, Emma Dugas, Ian Monroe Distribution Patti Carrigan, Doug Jackson OffBeat (ISSN# 1090-0810) is published monthly in New Orleans by OffBeat, Inc., 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116 (504) 944-4300 • fax (504) 944-4306 e-mail: offbeat@offbeat.com, web site: www.offbeat.com facebook.com/offbeatmagazine twitter.com/offbeatmagazine Copyright © 2016, OffBeat, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. OffBeat is a registered trademark of OffBeat, Inc. First class subscriptions to OffBeat in the U.S. are available for $45 per year ($52 Canada, $105 foreign airmail). Back issues are available for $10, except for the May issue for $16 (for foreign delivery add $6, except for the May issue add $4). Submission of photos and articles on Louisiana artists are welcomed, but unfortunately material cannot be returned.

MOJO MOUTH

Free To Be You & Me

I

’m writing this now as my puppy is sleeping on the sofa in my office, the AC is on and I’m comfortable at work, and in my own skin; at least I hope I’ve accepted my limitations, weirdness and quirks after all these years.

We at OffBeat have devoted our time and energy since 1988 to produce a magazine, a website, a newsletter, social media and events that we hope that our readers enjoy, read, savor, discuss and use to educate themselves on the vast treasure of music and culture that is New Orleans.

Since I publish this magazine, every month in my column and in my Mojo Mouth blog (online at offbeat.com), I tend to inject my personality and some of my beliefs into what I write as Editorin-Chief of this media.

There are some things I feel very strongly about vis a vis music which I write about regularly; I have tried (mostly, but not always

8

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

successfully) to keep my personal political leanings and agenda out of what I write for the magazine.

OffBeat’s social media page is devoted to keeping our readers abreast of things that we think— as media—are important to our readers. Most of our OffBeat posts are included on our website.

My own personal Facebook page, however, is another story.

Frankly, I rarely post to Facebook; I don’t even look at it daily, as many people do (some many, many times a day), as I’m way too busy trying to keep OffBeat around. As you can imagine, this is not easy when integrity in journalism is becoming a scarce commodity, and when print and digital advertising is being superseded by posts on social media, as if sharing a photo of food or a band is the be-all and end-all of promoting your product. I disagree and think social media has its place in the marketing mix, but that’s for another time.

By Jan Ramsey Therefore, I was shocked and troubled to get an email from an old friend and client who accused OffBeat of promoting a left-wing agenda that threatened his business, country and family.

Admittedly, I have occasionally put up personal Facebook posts in the wake of terrible incidents like the recent Orlando massacre, or as commentary on politicians (remember, these are personal, and not part of OffBeat). OffBeat’s focus is on our music, and will continue to be. Personal politics and OffBeat politics are two different animals.

I do wish my friend could have sat in on conversations and phone calls I had with my dear mother, whose political philosophies differed 180 degrees from mine (we loved each other anyway for as long as she lived).

So my question is: Do my personal Facebook posts have a clear negative effect on our media’s reputation as a supporter

and representative of the local music community? Obviously my personal posts are shared with many on social media, but they do not represent OffBeat’s “political agenda.” OffBeat has no political agenda except where it impacts local musicians and the music community. Then we will speak out, or cover a political event that has an obvious effect on local musicians and the music community.

Aren’t we all free to express our personal opinions in a public forum? Even if our opinions differ radically from someone else’s?

One thought: If my personal opinions have seeped into my OffBeat editorials, that is unintentional. So if you really want to know what I think about politics, follow me personally on Facebook. Or not. Your choice. But please continue to follow OffBeat for information on music. Now if we’re not doing a good job there, I do want to know about that. O

www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

OffBeat.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

Five Questions with Cyril Neville on Playing Essence Festival

T

his is the first time you are performing at the Essence Festival. That seems surprising since it began 22 years ago.

Why do you think you were invited now?

A long time ago, the Neville Brothers did a reception at the House of Blues for the people that put the Essence Festival together. Marc Morial was the mayor and he was there.

I never did understand what happened because when I first heard that the Essence Festival was coming to New Orleans, I got all excited about it thinking, ‘Okay this is something that would benefit the local musicians.’

But it didn’t turn out like that. From the beginning the emphasis was on what some people might call ‘mainstream’ artists.

Why me? Why now? I don’t have any idea. I’ve been keeping up with what was going on to see if it [being asked] would come to fruition but it never did.

I’m thankful for it and glad to have the opportunity. Hopefully some other great local artists will get a chance to play the festival who haven’t before.

You are involved with various groups, so which are you bringing to the festival?

The band is Cyril Neville’s Swamp Funk with Cranston Clements on guitar, Norman Caesar on keyboards, Dean Zucchero on bass, Omari Neville on drums. Gaynielle Neville—Queen G—will be featured doing her own thing.

Have you ever attended Essence Festival?

No. In the last 10 years or so, we’ve been out of town most of the time. It got to the point that you didn’t bother to keep your calendar open because there was no reason because you knew you weren’t going to get the call.

Because of the venue and a rather sophisticated audience that is primarily African-American, will your material change?

I’m me. I’m gonna be doing me. You know I take New Orleans with me everywhere I go. New Orleans is in my veins, in my attitude, in the way I walk, the way I talk. So that’s what I’m going to bring.

My music is aimed at the soul so what skin color you are never really matters to me. We come to make a joyful noise. It’s geared towards people having a good time. That’s what New Orleans is all about.

Do you think you’ll stick around at the Dome the night of your show to check out other acts?

If it ain’t local, I’m not too interested. What I’ll probably be doing the same night that I’m playing Essence is a late-night set at B.B. King’s [Blues Club]. I just had a real nice talk with those guys so I’m going to be doing some ‘Cyril Neville presents’ type of events there and basically take B.B. King’s in New Orleans and make it a New Orleans club.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

10

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

SWEET TWEETS @JohnPapaGros George Porter Jr. has played the most exciting and greatest music of anybody I have ever played with. @BeingNOLA My favorite things: 1. Rock music, 2. Cats (specifically my cat Sylvia), 3. Pizza, 4. Beers at @PalsLounge, 5. Burgers, 6. @JuansNOLA, 7. Coffee. @AlisonF_NOLA Coop’s has one of the top three seafood gumbos in New Orleans.

Fight me. @MusicREDEF The NOLA Hip-Hop and Bounce Archive is canonizing New Orleans rap. @HarryConnickJR Thank you for the honorary doctorate in music @loyola_NOLA! @jonclearymusic Nothing complements plane fatigue better than seeing your suitcase on the carousel busted and underwear exploding all over the customs hall. @djsoulsister Thank you, dad, for making music a priority in my life in so many ways. Happy Father’s Day!

www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: BOB ADAMEK

Bonerama at Michael Arnone’s Crawfish Fest

SOUNDCHECK

FRESH

URBAN SOUTH BREWERY

Cool Brew

“I photo: frank etheridge

love a great stout or porter,” Jacob Landry, founder and president of Urban South Brewery says, “but a beer must be tailored to climate and place. It’s so freaking hot here, a New Orleans beer should be a beer made to satisfy that.”

Chatting while seated at a wooden picnic table inside the nascent brewery’s expansive Tchoupitoulas Street facility, Landry discusses the “hyper-local” trend of recent years. This has spurred the success of home-grown ventures such as Urban South Brewing, Second Line Brewing in Mid-City and NOLA Brewing which celebrated its seventh anniversary earlier this year. “What’s driving the craft beer movement is this desire and demand for handmade products,” Landry explains.

“People like to know exactly where their stuff is coming from.”

The micro-brew bug had “been biting me for a couple of years,” Landry says, and arrived around the same time he and his wife, Courtney, made the decision to move back to their native South. “I had a great career ahead of me in public education, but the politics involved drove me away,” he admits, adding that he and his wife met while working with Teach for America in Hawaii before accepting positions in Seattle. “It’s the breweryscene mecca,” Landry says of the city. “But we were Southerners living in Seattle and just didn’t feel at home. So we starting making plans to move to the South, either Charleston or Nashville or New Orleans or Austin.”

A native of Jeff Davis Parish (“I grew up surrounded by rice fields, crawfish fields”) with a wife from Florence, South Carolina, Landry cites as the allure to move to the South as “the culture and the pace of life here.

The attitude to work hard, but also take every opportunity to enjoy life.”

Landry’s three years of planning led to the team of Urban South Brewery Vice President Kyle Huling and Brewmaster Wes Osier. Together, the trio on St. Patrick’s Day sent off its first beer, the Holy Roller IPA, in cans adorned in aesthetically pleasing artwork, courtesy of local design/marketing firm RapJab. “We do kegs and cans only,” Landry says. “Cans are better, technically speaking, for beer and the stigma of not drinking from a bottle is pretty much gone, especially among younger beer drinkers.”

Despite the banana-republic bureaucracy at City Hall, “there’s no better place to do this than New Orleans,” declares Landry. “In one month’s time, orders more than doubled and we’re now sending out 5,000 cases a week.

With our taproom, we’re trying to create a nice vibe, a great place to visit that’s dog-friendly, kid-friendly. The kind of place we’d like to hang out.”

—Frank Etheridge www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

11

FRESH

10 PRINCE SONGS THAT LOCAL ARTISTS SHOULD COVER

SOUNDCHECK

Photo: frank etheridge

Five Questions with Ron Canedo, Director of the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society

W

hat is the perfect cocktail to you?

It’s an easy one: bourbon. Could be a splash of water if you need it, but bourbon. I come from a Southern family, born and raised in the French Quarter, and my mother, how she grew up, she taught her sons—I have five brothers—that Southern men drink brown liquor. As simple as it is, that is my perfect cocktail.

What qualities constitute a great bartender?

For me, it would be someone who understands the guest. Whether it’s a regular guest or a new face walking through the door. And I think a good bartender should be able to sum up their guests in about 30 seconds. How you greet your guest and how they respond should tell you what relationship you will have with them and you take it from there, whether it’s a drink to go, or dinner and drinks at the bar.

Is Tales of the Cocktail just an excuse for food-and-beverage folks to come to New Orleans and party?

Oh, absolutely not. It’s a reason to get people to New Orleans. That’s where the Preservation Society comes in—we’re creating ambassadors for the city. Our cocktail apprentice program allows for them to become incredible ambassadors for the city. We host them; we take care of their needs during Tales. They learn about our hospitality industry, our way of living. They learn the history—sometimes the music, the architecture. We organize tours. The come from every American state and 13 different countries. They leave with an appreciation for Tales of the Cocktail the event, as well, but also with a real appreciation for the city.

What is the mission of the New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society (NOCCPS)?

We support and promote growth. Right now, it’s the cocktail industry.

The name is culinary but we look to develop more of that in the future. We have something new that’s a health-and-wellness program that provides medical aid for restaurant workers. A lot of them are young, don’t have the right insurance, and can get caught unprepared. That’s the sad end of it.

What do you think makes New Orleans’ style of hospitality so special?

I think the people. I went to school in upstate New York, where I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, and I was not going to move home. I wanted to try something different. It’s the people I work with; it’s the people that walk in the door.

The non-profit New Orleans Culinary and Cultural Preservation Society teams up with Tales of the Cocktail, July 19-24.

—Frank Etheridge

12

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

M

uch as we love “Purple Rain,” we’d hate to see it become the one Prince song everybody starts covering—not when there are so many dozens of buried treasures in the purple vault. Keeping that in mind, this month we suggest a batch of Prince songs and some local artists we’d love to hear doing them. (We even managed to find a few of the original versions on YouTube, despite the artist’s efforts to keep all of his music offline.)

“Money Doesn’t Matter 2 Night”: This slinky, funky groove is one of the more New Orleans–sounding things Prince did—and thanks to the lyrical sentiments, we understand (secondhand, of course) that it got lots of play in Bourbon Street strip clubs. Would be perfect for double bass guitars—Dumpstaphunk, are you listening?

“Funknroll”: This is late-period Prince, from his last above-ground album, Art Official Age. True to its title, it’s hard and heavy funk, and though Prince sings it with a sped-up voice, this mighty groove really calls for a hard-charging band with a commanding lead singer. We’d suggest giving it to Glen David Andrews.

“Girls & Boys”: One of the great Prince dance numbers, this sports lots of percussion, male/female duet vocals, and parts are even sung in French. To these ears it’s got Sweet Crude written all over it.

“I Rock Therefore I Am”: Prince quietly released his rock ’n’ roll album, Chaos and Disorder, while at war with his label. It’s a kick, especially this track with a swampy groove, heavy riff and great shoutalong lyrics. We’d love to hear Dash Rip Rock do it during one of their late-night sets.

“Forever in My Life”: The Prince catalogue is full of homages to classic soul; this track, which closed the double epic Sign O’ the Times, is one of the sweetest. To cover it you’d need a singer who could key into its invitation to a long-term relationship, and could work vocal magic with the word “forever.” Of course it goes to Aaron Neville.

“Jack U Off”: One of the first ways Prince got peoples’ attention was to mess with gender/sexual identity—something he downplayed over time, but this track proves he clearly had a hell of a time doing it.

We’re betting that Big Freedia could do the perfect bounce update.

“Raspberry Beret”: Prince fell in love with ’60s sunshine pop on his 1985 album Around the World in a Day; this hit single was his homage to the love-filled sounds of that era. Who better to cover it in vinyl than Susan Cowsill?

“Condition of the Heart”: Also from Around the World in a Day— which, truth be told, is this writer’s favorite Prince album—comes his most beautiful song ever, a torch ballad to die for. Get the New Orleans Nightingales back together and let them all break our hearts with it.

“Two”: One of his more exotic projects was Madhouse, an alleged jazz quartet that was actually protégé Eric Leeds on sax and Prince on everything else. This upbeat groover of a tune (which like all Madhouse songs is numbered and not named) cries out for a real jazz quartet to take it on—sounds like a job for Astral Project.

“Darling Nikki”: The naughtiest of all Prince songs (and significantly, one in which both partners have a funky good time), this is the one the Moral Majority had the most problems with; Prince himself swore off performing it in later years. We thereby propose an annual holiday during which everyone who plays in town—male, female and otherwise—is obliged to close their sets with it.

—Brett Milano www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

SUGAR BEAR AT THE HOUSE OF BLUES

Mohawks Before Mystikal and More

B

ig Chief Walter “Sugar Bear” Landry, Jr. of the Black Mohawks Mardi Gras Indians has been masking since the early ’50s, when his grandmother’s boyfriend first began teaching the young Landry Indian traditions. Over the next six decades, Landry would see many changes within, and outside of, the Mardi Gras Indian culture. “It taught me,” Landry says with a laugh, “that if you stick with something long enough, eventually you’ll succeed.”

The Black Mohawks are a family tribe, made up of Landry’s sons, grandsons and greatgrandsons, with their own unique sound and traditions. On Friday, July 1, Landry and the Black Mohawks perform in a rare live concert at House of Blues opening for New Orleans rap acts Mystikal, Juvenile and Cupid. “This isn’t a usual thing, Indians performing onstage at House of Blues with rappers,” Big Chief Landry says. “I’m sure we’ll get some static about it from some people but it’s gonna be quite a show.”

www.OFFBEAT.com

Once again at the top of his game, in recent years Mystikal has moved further toward a live band sound, recording 2015’s mega-hit “Feel Right” with super-producer Mark Ronson and performing at Jazz Fest 2016 in front of a soul/funk band. Juvenile continues his rigorous touring schedule as a leading voice in southern rap, performing sold-out shows that meld his Cash Money hits with new songs that display a different side of his musicality. Cupid continues his reign as a dance-centric performer widely in demand both in New Orleans and throughout the South. The July 1 concert, called “Welcome to Our City: New Orleans Unplugged” makes this Essence Fest–edition concert a unique one dedicated to the sounds and cultural traditions of New Orleans. Also joining them onstage are No Limit/Beats by the Pound producer KLC, DJ Captain Charles, comedian Rude Jude, Caren Green, Young Juve (the son of Juvenile) and the Stooges Brass Band.

—Holly Hobbs

JULY 2016

O

13

FRESH

MY MUSIC

Nick the Swede

“I

got my first drum set—if you don’t count the pots and pans my mom let my bang on the kitchen floor when I was a baby—when I was young. Maybe seven years old? My parents bought me one at a garage sale. They tried to start me out on piano, but as soon as I could get out of piano, I got out of it. That was around the third grade, or fourth grade, when we started taking band in school. I knew then I wanted to go into drums. Though I’d say on drums I’m pretty much self-taught.

Being a human metronome? I just think some people, especially the more percussive musicians, are just born with it. Drummers feel it and stay on time. Like a sixth sense, you know?

In electronic music, there’s a lot of tension and build-ups like in heavy-metal music, which I started out playing. The style of electronic music that I do is a little bit more on the aggressive side. There’s an attitude to it. I grew up listening to hip hop—Notorious B.I.G., N.W.A. I remember pulling Dr. Dre’s The Chronic 2001 out from under my parents’ nose.

House is really prevalent here in New Orleans—wouldn’t have thought that coming into a city with so much hip-hop and bounce culture. Though bounce is electronic; it’s a mash-up of electronic music and hip hop.

My go-to tool is the MK2 by Native Instruments; it’s a 16-pad drum machine. Also, I use a lot of ill.Gates, this producer/DJ, I use a lot of his samples because they’re really good. Besides that, I play a little Akai keyboard.

Why produce as well as create? I love to create, but when you produce, you can pull things away and put them back together. Like a puzzle.

When I’m making music, I start off building my drums first. Use that to set up a song, as the immediate idea. It’s just a little bit different way of thinking—not scales and keys, but going on feel instead of relying on musical notes. I like to find a good rhythm match up. It flows together, but it’s also different—something that will shift your level of thinking, but keep the flow and the vibe going.

Second step is looking at the key. When I’m mixing, putting a song to a song, I’m looking for a transition point. It’s definitely a vibe, an inthe-moment thing—you can never reciprocate just any one thing.”

Nick the Swede spins his R Bar residency the second Saturday of every month starting around 10 p.m.

—Frank Etheridge

14

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

THE MUSIC BOX Photo: frank etheridge

Boxed In

“W

e like to do what turns us on artistically,” Delaney Martin, artistic director of New Orleans Airlift, declares of the nonprofit artists’ collective.

Dreamed up amid post-Katrina destruction and delusion, Airlift was formed with the mission “to collaborate to inspire wonder, connect communities and foster opportunities through arts.” To date, the Ninth Ward–based group’s signature project has been the Music Box Roving Village, an avant-garde musical architecture concept, which evolved from word-of-mouth smash success in a Bywater backyard in 2011 to a sprawling showcase in City Park in 2015 that attracted participatory talents including Wilco, Preservation Hall, Solange Knowles, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) and the Caramel Curves, a local ladies-only motorcycle group. Capitalizing on this momentum, Airlift on April 4—following months of negotiation— acquired a 55,000-square-foot space, encompassing an enchanted forest and former metal-fabrication facility, located where North Rampart Street dead ends at the upriver side of the Industrial Canal. “It’s magic,” Martin says of the Music Box’s new permanent home, slated to open in October. “This will allow the community to come to a space without rules, without signage telling you what to do, to experiment and to learn in a way that’s tangible.”

Given that Airlift’s acquisition hinges on an owner-financed mortgage and is envisioned to become “a landmark destination, a cultural center with a vast complexity of programming,” as Delaney describes it, the nonprofit has launched a Kickstarter fundraising campaign.

“The Music Box has involved years of hard work, but it’s been incredibly fun,” says Musical Curator Jay Pennington. “We couldn’t have imaged the success.”

“My yard was easy in terms of creating the prototype,” Pennington continues of the first Music Box installation in 2011. “The street scene it created was awesome. Electric. But it was never meant to be permanent. It was maintenance heavy, requiring constant tweaks on the fly. And one house is obtuse. From the beginning, we saw this as a collaboration to span years.”

Pennington and Delaney, talking while seated around a break-room table in the Music Box Village’s new home, both emphasize that Airlift is open to ideas and input from the community as to the scope and variety of programs the facility will offer. Given that the two previous installations attracted roughly 2,000 local students, educational programming certainly will play a large part. As will evening concerts, with hopes and plans for everything from a Quintron composition to celebrate the opening weekend to a full orchestral performance with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra next spring.

—Frank Etheridge www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

15

LENA PRIMA

Prime Royalty Lena Prima follows in her dad’s footsteps.

L

ena Prima, the singing daughter of New Orleans and Las Vegas music star Louis Prima, is so obviously his musical child. You hear it in her warm and playful alto voice. You see it in the delight she expresses on stage. She’s a natural.

“Being on stage always felt natural,” Prima said during an interview over cheese, crackers and soft drinks at the hospitable home of the president of her fan club, Jack Porobil, and Cathy Quartararo.

“Whenever we traveled with my dad, he always had my little brother (Louis Prima Jr.) and I on stage. We sang and told little jokes. I played piano and my brother played drums. And I loved to dance. I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything else. It’s what I am.”

But a musical life was not what Prima’s mother, the late Gia Maione Prima, wanted for her. Louis Prima’s fifth wife, Gia favored college over music for Lena, even though she’d sung on stage and in the studio with her famous husband.

Obeying her mother, Prima went to college. But she could not deny music. Clandestine singing with Las Vegas rock bands got her in trouble with mom. After all, she’d made her stage debut at 5, as her father’s special guest.

Prima remembers Louis Prima, who died in New Orleans in 1978 at 67, as a cartoon character in human form. “Always a sparkle in his eyes and constantly thinking of something funny to say,” she said.

“Always smiling and laughing and joyful. Always.”

Her father, like Dr. John, Professor Longhair and other colorful New Orleans characters, invented words, Prima added. “That was such a crackup. Especially at home, he had strange, funny words for everything.”

Prima’s musical career took her from rock bands to casino lounges

16

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

to tribute shows to her father.

After the lounge scene dried up in Vegas, Reno and Lake Tahoe, she moved to her father’s hometown.

Arriving in December 2011, Prima and her bassist husband, Tim Fahey, quickly got a gig at the Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar. New Orleans is home now.

“We were gone for 10 days,” Prima said the day after a redeye flight from Vegas. “We were so happy to get back. I was on the plane thinking, ‘Boy, do I know what that “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” song is about now.’”

It’s fitting that Prima, an artist who has such a storied music heritage, recorded her latest album in a surviving, still thriving jazz landmark—the 121-year-old Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Jazz Hall in Old Mandeville.

Live at the Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall, recorded March 5, 2016, came as a blessed surprise. During

By John Wirt

their performance, Prima and her band didn’t know that Dew Drop sound man Dennis “Big D” Schaibly was making a multitrack recording of their Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Jazz Hall debut. Schaibly captured a magical night at a venue that dates to the dawn of jazz. A capacity house inside plus hundreds more on the grounds outside attended the show.

The evening also was a homecoming for Prima. She’d spent some of her childhood living at the house on her late father’s Pretty Acres Golf Course in Covington.

One of her St. Tammany Parish schoolmates, Lisa Thibodeaux Metevier, snapped the album’s inperformance cover photo.

Following the two-hour Dew Drop show in March, Schaibly casually informed Prima and Fahey that he’d recorded the performance.

“We were stunned,” Prima said.

“Because we’d been planning to get

an album together for festival season.

I wanted to record live in the studio, like my dad did. I wanted that kind of sound, rather than track everything.”

Tim Stambaugh mixed Live at the Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall at Word of Mouth Studio the day after the performance. A high-spirited portrait of Prima and the band, the album features New Orleans jazz and rhythm-and-blues favorites and classics identified with Prima’s singertrumpeter-composer dad, including “I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” from Walt Disney’s 1967 animated classic, The Jungle Book.

The Dew Drop album is a big departure from Prima’s autobiographical 2014 studio album, Starting Something.

“That was stuff I had to say,” she said. “This represents my band and the happy, fun energy we have. I still can’t sit down when I’m listening to it. I’m so lucky.”

In addition to Fahey, the Lena Prima Band features Lawrence Sieberth, piano; Cori Walters, drums; Thad Scott, saxophone; Mike Fulton, trumpet; and Justin Pardue, trombone.

Musicians in New Orleans are unlike musicians anywhere else, Prima said.

“Not taking anything away from musicians in other cities, but when New Orleans musicians play, they’re not just playing a job. They’re enjoying the experience. They’re a team. Everybody’s listening to everybody and everybody’s making up parts. You give someone a solo and just let them go. They’ll play until they’re finished saying what they have to say. I haven’t experienced that anywhere but here.”

O Lena Prima and the Lena Prima Band perform Fridays at the Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Bar in New Orleans. They’ll also perform July 23 and 24 at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino. www.OFFBEAT.com

IN MEMORIAM

Michael Sklar (1945–2016)

G

uitarist Michael Sklar passed away after a brief battle with cancer.

Born in New York City, Michael was playing guitar by age five. As a young teenager, hanging out in Greenwich Village, Michael was exposed to the music of the early ’60s, including performances by the young Bob Dylan. Michael hung out in Washington Square Park playing his guitar along with a host of others including Richie Havens, whom he taught to play blues guitar.

Inspired by reading On the Road

by Jack Kerouac, Michael hitchhiked to San Francisco in 1965. He quickly hooked up with the local musicians and found work playing with Percy Sledge, Luther Tucker and Big Mama Thornton. In 1979 he became the guitarist for the Neville Brothers, bringing him to New Orleans, where he moved permanently with his late wife Roberta Gelpi in 1983.

Mike was involved with the New Orleans music scene, playing with countless musicians including J. Monque’D Blues Band, Willie Lockett & the Blues Krewe and his own bands the King Bees and the Hipshakers.

In 1988, while Michael was playing a gig at the Maple Leaf Bar, Bruce Springsteen sat in and played with him.

Musician Ben Sandmel remembers Michael: “I played with Michael during the ’80s and ‘90s, www.OFFBEAT.com

backing up J. Monque’D Band.

Michael was an excellent guitarist, very soulful, and a consistently nice guy who was always kind and friendly. This combination of great talent and a pleasant personality made it a joy and an inspiration to play with Michael.”

Michael was also the bandleader for the late Coco Robicheaux and his Spiritland Band.

Over the years Mike performed with B.B. King, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Tom Jones, Mighty Sam McClain and Ernie K-Doe. Musician and friend Michael Paz shares these recollections: “Michael was a great friend over the years and I loved talking to him about music.

We shared so many laughs together.

He was a great guitarist and I saw him so many times over the years with different bands. It was an honor to know and work with him and he will be greatly missed! Rest in peace my brother and I am sure you are making a joyful noise with Richie, B.B., and a whole Krewe in the sky.”

Michael Sklar is survived by his daughter, Jennifer Sklar Vorkauf, son-in-law Sven Vorkauf, granddaughters Eden Vorkauf and Zoe Gruendler, sister Madeleine Sklar, niece Lila Sklar, nephew Isaac Harrison, great-niece Edrisina Sklar.

—Ed. JULY 2016

O

17

STEPHEN MARLEY

Roots and Beyond Stephen Marley returns to New Orleans.

L

aughter sprinkles through the very amiable Stephen Marley’s conversation.

Though when he speaks about the value of reggae music’s one love, socially conscious and political messages, he becomes quite serious.

“It’s most important,” declares Marley, the eight-time Grammy winner and second son of the music’s legendary purveyor, the late Bob Marley, and his vocalist wife, Rita Marley. “That is the purpose of reggae music—of my music. Where I come from it’s to uplift struggling people.”

Marley, a singer, guitarist, composer and producer who headlines at House of Blues on Sunday, July 24, first visited New Orleans as youngster, accompanying his mother when she came here to perform.

“There was a festival on a boat [presumably aboard the Riverboat President] back in the day,” recalls Marley, 44. “So I’ve been around getting to see the culture and understanding the story and the history of New Orleans. It’s one of my favorite places to play because the people them just appreciate the music and the energy, the vibe and the love.”

Marley arrives in the city with an eight-piece ensemble as part of a tour celebrating the July release of his new album, Revelation Part II: The Fruit of Life. It’s the follow-up to his 2012 recording, Revelation Part I: The Root of Life, which won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album.

The two discs are decidedly different, though decidedly Stephen Marley, and both find him collaborating on vocals with such artists as his brother Ziggy Marley and Capleton (Part I) and Busta Rhymes (Part II).

“The concept of Part II of the series is to try to show the evolution of the music and how other music influenced reggae,”

18

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

By Geraldine Wyckoff

www.OFFBEAT.com

“New Orleans is a big part... its influence was primarily passed down to him from his father and mother.”

Marley explains. “There’s more coloring and flowering than Part I. That was a roots reggae album.”

Marley promises to perform material from both of the releases as well as tunes from Mind Control, the album for which he won his first Grammy as a solo artist. And naturally his set will feature some of his father’s songs. “Most definitely,” he declares. “That’s a big part of me, the roots. I love doing that.”

Musical influences are often a back-and-forth exchange. Over the radio airwaves, Jamaican musicians like the legendary members of the Skatalites were inspired by jazz from the Crescent City and beyond. Vocalists on the island dug the great soul singers like Otis Redding and Jackie Wilson plus the rhythm and blues of Fats Domino.

“New Orleans is a big part in the history of music,” agrees Marley, who says its influence was primarily passed down to him from his father and mother.

“This generation don’t the history. I know some of it— enough to appreciate it.”

In reverse order, Louisiana’s brass, zydeco and rhythm and blues bands plus Mardi Gras Indians have all incorporated reggae in their repertoires, whether covering classic tunes or by simply by bringing in its special laid-back sway. Think of artists like the Neville Brothers (and particularly vocalist/percussionist Cyril), Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, vocalist Deacon John, zydeco leader Terrance Simien and the Hot 8 Brass Band.

“It’s good to see the music influence other genres,” says Marley, who brings rap to Revelation Part II, either performed by himself or by one of his guest artists. He claims that “the whole hip-hop thing comes from Jamaica,” a www.OFFBEAT.com

ST

EN M EPH

EY ARL

statement that finds verification in the style’s history. “Growing up in Jamaica in the late ’70s and early ’80s, what you call rap and we call DJ’ing, was a big part of my—and my generation’s—influence,” he explains, adding that in Jamaica it’s also called dancehall and toasting.

Reggae’s positive lyrics, however, can stand in sharp contrast to the rougher outlook of American hip-hop and especially gangsta rap that often seems to celebrate violence.

“Dem is depicting life that dem live and the struggles that dem face,” Marley philosophically offers. “We go through the same struggles. My parents were shot for politically motivated reasons.

Reggae music is a people’s music— it frees your mind and uplifts struggling people. Sometimes the waters get rough. That’s why our music is so strong and potent and important to the world.”

In the past a number of internationally renowned reggae acts came to New Orleans to perform at both festivals and clubs.

Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers, which featured a young Stephen Marley, were among those who made regular appearances. Stephen headlined here as an impressive keeper of the flame. In his travels, Marley says he doesn’t see a lessening of interest in the music.

“The people will always love reggae music,” Marley declares.

“It’s just us who are representing this music [that] have to make sure we uphold its integrity. It’s a nice movement in Jamaica musically right now. You have a lot of young youths rising up and there are a lot of events and places where you can go and hear live reggae music—more than when I was growing up.

The music is for everyone. It’s God’s music.”

O JULY 2016

O

19

illustration: monika danis

20

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

www.OFFBEAT.com

PRINCE

His Purple Majesty A local tribute to Prince.

H

ere in the world’s music capital, many of us, whether we knew it or not, lived just one or two degrees separated from The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

I myself have always made a point to shake any hand that has shaken Prince’s. Prince meant so much to me in fact that I’ve performed his music in one form or another since 2002, most recently singing and playing guitar in Fleur de Tease’s burlesque tribute to the man I considered the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll musician.

All four of Prince’s grandparents were born in Louisiana, and one of his grandfathers sired 11 children. I once taught a music student who claimed to be Prince’s niece. But rather than attempt to climb Prince’s family tree, I chose to gather memories from New Orleans musicians, and others who have worked with, or even just met, His Purple Majesty.

Michael O’Hara In the ’70s and ’80s, singer Michael O’Hara led legendary New Orleans band, the Sheiks. After moving away for many years, O’Hara recently returned to live in New Orleans. A two-time Grammy and American Music Award nominee, O’Hara wrote for Patti LaBelle, Jody Watley and Bobby Brown, among many others: www.OFFBEAT.com

“Prince’s manager Jaime was a friend of mine from St Louis.

When Prince toured here in New Orleans she wanted me to come see him. But then the night before he actually snuck into Jimmy’s club to see us. Afterwards he told Jaime, ‘Tell him to come to my show and I want to speak with him afterward.’

So I went to the concert and sat with Jaime and afterward she said, ‘Prince wants you to ride in the limo back to the hotel with him.’

Jamie had left with him an 8-track recorder and a tape of his show, and he found the spot he wanted to listen to that said, ‘Down with politicians that want to send us off to war.’ And he kept rewinding it, over and over, to hear that one certain thing: ‘Down with politicians that want to send us off to war.’

To this day I don’t know if he was getting some kind of inspiration…

Whatever was in that statement he made at his concert, it meant a lot to him, and he just kept rolling it back and back and back…

And finally I said, ‘Turn that off.

Talk to me.’

And he just kind of smiled.

He said, ‘I loved your performance last night.’ And he went on to ask me how I wore my sheik scarves and my makeup and stuff like that.

I said, ‘Do you really wanna know?’ And I said, ‘Wash your face.’ Cause he had on makeup.

And I did his face.

I even took my scarves off and put them on him. I showed him how to angle the scarves, and I warned him, ‘It hurts after a while. Those scarves, you have to tie them tight when you’re very energetic on stage like I am.’

He said, ‘When the scarves are too tight, what do you do?’

I said, ‘I take an aspirin. And then I drink five kamikazes and four shots of Jack Daniel’s.’ And he started laughing.

By Michael Patrick Welch

He was very serious about the songs I wrote. We had so much in common, both being black with all white bands—well, his band was more mixed. We talked about Hendrix and we went through all the black rock ’n’ roll pioneers.

We talked about gospel influence.

And he really opened up to me.

We had a really, really good time just talking about life on the road.

This was about 4:30 in the morning. I was sipping Jack. It hurts my soul to think of how he perished but… he was drinking Diet Coke and a lot of water. He ordered a sausage tray and stuff, and we just talked as human beings. He wasn’t a vegetarian yet. But he was very sparing.

And I told him, ‘I am very proud of you for breaking boundaries— for all people but especially for black people, proving that we can do rock ’n’ roll, that we’re the architects of rock ’n’ roll.’

For him to treat me like an equal, it was a very precious moment of my life. Then his next album he was wearing scarves, and makeup like I showed him how to do! He didn’t tie his as tight as I tie mine. I just thought, You go boy, you take this as far as you can.”

Metairie in 2004 when one day a special customer walked in: “It wasn’t crowded, just the bookstore on a weeknight. I happened to be working the information desk, which faces right at the entrance. And the entrance opened and Prince walked in with a huge-ass bodyguard. He had kind of like one of those mandarin-style shirt jacket–type tops that’s all fancy, with gold and dragons and shit on it. And they just walked right up to my information desk.

I greeted him ‘Hi welcome to Borders how may I help?’ or something stupid like that. And he was very polite and soft spoken, and he asked where the biology books were. Which I thought was odd but… I offered to show them where it is, but he said he could find it himself.

They wondered off to find the book but I could kind of track Prince’s progress through the store by his bodyguard’s head, which was up above the magazine shelves.

And then a little while later, I was working the register and saw Prince coming down the stairs.

He went straight out the front door and let the bodyguard pay for some CDs. I don’t remember which CDs, just that he ended up not buying a biology book at all, just some CDs. Unless he shoplifted the book…”

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews

Christian Doyle Christian Doyle worked at Border’s bookstore on Veterans in

Trombone Shorty is a worldfamous New Orleans brass musician who played with Prince on several occasions: “I’ve worked with Prince for the last four or five years. The first time he called me—I don’t think he had a phone, so someone else reached out to me—I went in the studio to JULY 2016

O

21

P R IN

CE

“I remember people were scared to talk to him.

But me being from New Orleans I talked to him regular.”

—Trombone Shorty

play on a project he was producing for another artist named Andy Allo.

It was just myself, Andy, Prince, an engineer and Maceo Parker in the studio. He showed me the chord changes to the song on piano and, I always heard he could play all the instruments, but getting that chance to see him do it live, that was incredible. If he took up the bass, he was the best bass player on the stage—if he picked up any instrument he was the best one on the stage. A lot of people can nibble at a lot of different instruments, but he could play the whole gig on whatever instrument he chose to play.

Two years later, he called me to play a private thing with him in L.A. And sometimes he would show up at our shows. He came to one of our shows a couple years ago in Central Park, just showed up on the side of the stage to watch for 30 or 40 minutes and then he was gone, just like that.

Then playing with him at a soldout Superdome was incredible. It was incredible that, when he got the gig, his people reached out to me to make sure I would be in town. And I got to play with him for probably the biggest crowd I’ve played in front of, and inside the Superdome, being featured like that… I still have that shirt that I wore and, before I ran off the stage, I actually grabbed the set list that had all his hits, and beside ‘Sometimes It Snows in April’ it

22

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

says ‘featuring Trombone Shorty.’

I framed it.

He didn’t treat me like a mentor, but I could tell he respected what I did, as I had been respecting his music as a fan I was a kid. He was just very excited to have different musicians come in, so that he could be inspired also.

Like, whenever Maceo came and played, Prince was always making these faces of excitement. And for him to invite me to be part of those moments like that was an incredible historic moment for myself.

I remember people were scared to talk to him. But me being from New Orleans I talked to him regular. I sat down on the couch with him when we were rehearsing for Essence Festival. He was watching the band, sitting in the audience, and would call songs out, and I was just sittin’ next to him, and we talked. He told me had a big appreciation for New Orleans music. In talking to him I could tell he was a very intelligent musician and a very intelligent person. And some people be lookin’ like you’re actually talking to Prince?! But I never got the feeling that he didn’t want to talk.

He was always inviting, especially if I had any questions.

One of my favorite moments was we were rehearsing for Essence at Mardi Gras World, and we played a song and he got his guitar, and he and I went back and forth—guitar then trombone, then guitar then trombone, then guitar—and at a certain point we just smiled at each other because it was that intense. He was pushing me, and I was trying to push him but he’s one of the greatest, so… Just to be able to have that guitar and trombone trade-off with Prince was a dream come true to me.”

Andrew “Goat” Gilchrist Andrew “Goat” Gilchrist first met Prince when his ex-wife, singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco, recorded a song with The Artist at Paisley Park (more on that later). There, Goat also met James Brown’s former sax player, Maceo Parker, who has often worked with Prince, and who hired Goat as his personal soundman.

Though they exchanged very few words, Prince was a looming presence throughout Goat’s dozen years on the road with Maceo: “You’d think when you’d meet him it would be some official thing but we were never officially introduced. I knew who he was and he knew who I was, and I was just sort of around.

There have been a halfdozen times when people were convinced he was going to show up at one of our shows, like somewhere in France, or wherever. Security guys would come first to the venue. Maybe someone brought an extra guitar amp. And then he never actually showed up.

But we were at Hard Rock Vegas once and someone said he might show up and play, so I set up another mic. Then I just forgot about it—until in the middle of

the show, I’m in this little fencedin sound booth in the front of the house, with like one other production person—a really small area. I’m doing my thing and I sense people come in behind me.

I kind of look over my shoulder to see who it might be, and of course it’s one short little guy in a black trench coat with two striking, young women in heels on either side of him, plus a guy with an earpiece in his ear.

And I was like, Oh shit.

Of course I try to be cool and go back to my thing, but I’m painfully aware that this guy is kind of standing behind. I feel like I can feel his breath on my neck.

And as Maceo goes into the next song I feel him tap me on the shoulder.

And he’s like, ‘You know, I kind of think that his vocal could be a little louder.’

And I was like, ‘Yeah! You’re right! It could be!’ And I bring up the vocal, and he kind of steps back. And that was the entirety of the interaction. And he left before the house lights could come on.

But my friend Morris [Hayes] who played keyboards with Prince for a long time, he was [playing with Maceo] and knew Prince was out there. And after the show he was like, ‘Oh, man, how did that go?’

And I said, ‘Oh, it was cool.

Fine.’

He was like ‘What?’

‘Yeah, he just tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I could turn the vocal up.’

And he was like, ‘What?!

Dude!’ And he proceeded to tell me all these stories about how Prince would show up and push the front of the house guy out of the way and be like, I’m here now and I am going to mix the www.OFFBEAT.com

PRINCE

show. So it was beautiful when Morris said, ‘Wow, he didn’t push you out of the way, it meant he actually approved of your mix and didn’t want to mess with you and was giving you the thumbs up.’”

Arden Radosevic Arden Radosevic worked in concert production for Bill Graham Presents and then Live Nation.

Before quitting the music industry and moving to New Orleans, he helped Prince sneak unseen onto the stage: “In 2002 I worked one of Prince’s concerts, and during the sound check, I was asked to clear the whole arena. Then when I came back, I stood and watched him teach his band a new arrangement of ‘Raspberry Beret’ that transitioned into some other song. He walked around and played every musician’s instrument, one by one, and showed them their part. And he was so kind to his people. I got to watch that whole thing for almost an hour.

Then on September 9, 2004—I remember because it was my 40th birthday—I am off work, and my boss gave me tickets to see my favorite artist, Prince. It was his ‘in the round’ tour, where the stage is in the middle of the stadium.

But when I went to the production www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

23

P R IN

CE

“So he started saying shit like ‘I wanna be on Righteous Babe.’

And I was like ‘Wow, you just call me up babe!’

—Ani DiFranco office to get the tickets, they said, ‘We do have one job for you…’

There was no way to get to the stage without going through the crowd. So Prince had to hide in a wardrobe box and be wheeled out. I was told, ‘You’re gonna see Prince before he goes in the box.

You have to wheel him to the stage.’

So I was standing backstage with the box, and I saw him walking up, and I was shaking. He said ‘Arden, hello. Happy birthday, friend. And he shook my hand.’

Then he got in the box—he’s so tiny.

And as I closed the case he winked at me. Then I pushed him out to the center of the show.”

Ani DiFranco Singer, songwriter and transplanted New Orleanian—Ani DiFranco recorded two songs with Prince.

“In the late ’90s, Prince had been bringing me up in the media because it was the year

he was trying to get off Warner Brothers, and writing ‘slave’ on his cheek just I am coming into the public eye with Righteous Babe, becoming Indy Girl USA. So he started saying shit like ‘I wanna be on Righteous Babe.’ And I was like ‘Wow, you just call me up babe!’

So we sort of conversed through the media first.

Then at the height of my infamy, I’m playing at a ballpark in Minneapolis. A white limo pulls up backstage. And everyone’s like ‘Ani! Ani! Come quick!’ And I go up to the tinted window, and it rolls down and there he is like, lounging on white shag. The most vivid purple creature I’ve ever seen: eyelashes for days, lookin’ up at

me. I was done, from moment one.

Before we parted company he said, ‘You want to come and play on my new record tomorrow?’

Cause I had the day off. I was like ‘Sure, if you play on mine.’ Being totally unfiltered is often the best thing in this world, and in that occasion it served me well because he said, ‘Sure.’

The next day was Fourth of July, and we show up at Paisley Park, and his studio guy at the time says, ‘Hang on a minute we’re working.’ I remember there was a skylight, and the symbol was embossed really big on the floor.

I can’t remember if there was a cage with doves...

PARTY LIKE IT’S NINE TO FIVE

A production worker’s view of Prince’s 2014 Essence performance

W

hile most music fans view the live performance as the ultimate escape from life’s daily grind, for a large number of people in the event production industry, a given concert is the daily grind. However, sometimes a truly transcendent artist can reach even the most jaded people in the room.

Andy Smith, Production Manager for Solomon Group (the company handling the physical production of Essence Festival), vividly remembers Prince’s set at the 2014 Essence Festival. “It’s easy to get numb to being around celebrities,” says Smith, “but this was a unique experience. All the talent handlers—people who deal with famous artists for a living—were as excited to see him as the people who paid for a ticket to the festival.”

While the excitement of the Prince performance was palpable among the crew, Smith—whose responsibilities include being the venue liaison to Prince’s management team as well as overseeing all audio, visual, and lighting operations—acknowledged that dealing with an artist like Prince came with certain difficulties. “Prince’s dressing room had to be outfitted with a specific shade of purple for wall draperies and light gel filters,” says Smith. “In fact, the shade was so particular that the company who produces the gel filters made it exclusively for Prince, and they retired it after his death.”

Prince himself seemed to revel in making life difficult for the production team during the show. “Prince did a few things that were forbidden,” says Smith. “He walked out and released a giant bunch

24

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

of purple balloons inside the Superdome. The balloons got caught up on all our lights, screens and speakers. They even got caught in the big Mercedes logo at the very top of the ceiling. We were picking up balloons for about three weeks after that.”

However, any inconvenience Prince caused sprung from his own enjoyment of the show. “He really enjoyed the energy in the Dome; it wasn’t just another way for him to make a couple of bucks,” says Smith. “Working for Essence for several years with several big name acts, I haven’t experienced an artist that’s fed off the energy of the crowd like he did.”

This energy spread to the production team, who, despite the weird demands and the rogue balloons, knew they were witnessing something special. “I realized this was not just any other show when most of my coworkers—again, people who are around this all the time—started to notice that all 60,000 people in attendance had their phones out recording the concert,” says Smith. “It looked like we were in a planetarium.”

Smith himself even grabbed a unique momento, something to remind him of this special event during his own daily work grind. “I made sure to jump on the stage as soon as the show ended and grab the setlist from Prince’s mic stand,” says Smith with a smile. “I still have it under the glass desk top of my work desk, and that’s where it’s going to stay.”

—Rory Callais www.OFFBEAT.com

PRINCE Finally this lady calls us into the studio. Prince has just tracked guitar, piano and vocals on this killer ballad, all solo. And he’s like, ‘Yeah can you play on this song?

It’s in G?’ I am shitting. There’s just shit running down my leg. First of all, I am not a trained guitarist, so I don’t know G from Q, from a hole in the wall. I just sort of make shit up.

And suddenly I am behind the glass—because Paisley Park is this old-school studio—and Prince is at the board. Now I was totally on the spot, and he relished that. I think that was one of his things: He loved to see what people would do when they were in a corner.

So I knew I had precious few moments to figure out what G was. And he presses play and the song rolls for like a few second before he stops it, and he goes, ‘Where were ya?’

And then he starts laughing.

He’s just fuckin’ with me.

My recollection of the session was… it took about the length of the song. I played a little, hanging on for dear life. I was thinking, Just don’t cry, don’t run. Play a couple of notes on the guitar. He rewound the bridge once, and then we were done. Five minutes later I was like, ‘What the fuck just happened?’

Afterwards, since it was the Fourth of July, we went up on the roof and watched the Minneapolis fireworks. Then I saw him pick up the phone and call a couple of his boys in for a jam—they’re kinda on call—and suddenly I am on his sound stage with Larry Graham on bass, Maceo Parker with his horn. I was like, How did I get here?

I’d brought a tenor guitar, a four string, thinking maybe that’s what the jam session needed.

He was rehearsing some of his shit that was going to be on the upcoming tour and he was trying to feel his way through it to see what he wanted to do. He was also just having fun and showing off, jumping from instrument to instrument and running up this riser and sitting at the drums. It was amazing how, everything that he picked up, keyboard, the guitar, www.OFFBEAT.com

the drums, he didn’t just play proficiently, he spoke through it.

It was really a great privilege for me to be there and jam. Prince gave me the nod, which makes you feel extra big.

He later sang on a tune of mine called ‘Providence.’ We recorded his remotely. I gave him no guidelines. I was at least smart enough to just say: ‘Go for it.’ But in retrospect I can’t believe how low he is in the mix! What the

fuck was I thinking?! I shoulda cranked the shit outta what he did, ’cause it was terrific. I have always wanted to go back and re-record that song, keep what he did and bring my performance up to meet it. More lessons learned too late!

My main feeling even when I was in his home was that… He just brought out the maternal side in me; I just so wanted to hug him, because I always had

this feeling like this man deserves unconditional love… There was something about him that was so vulnerable, so fragile.

You could feel how tender his heart really was. It’s so sad, his passing is so sad, and so fucking random and wrong. The best thing I am getting out of it is this outpouring of love we’re all feeling, like holy shit; you can really feel how much people care for him.”

O

JULY 2016

O

25

ROBIN POWER ROYAL

Find that Girl Robin Power Royal and Prince.

T

he singer, rapper, actress, New Orleans resident and model known as Robin Power Royal was known by another name until she met Prince—she became one of the Purple One’s many female muses in the late eighties and early nineties. Now promoting a double CD–DVD package of erotic/spiritual music called Sexy Passion and The Art of Love and Sexuality, on sale at the Louisiana Music Factory, she’s never looked back, but she maintains the icon is still with her in spirit, decades after she starred in his 1990 movie Graffiti Bridge.

Though she’s been in the public eye before, during and after her time with His Royal Badness—you may remember her as the Biker Shorts Girl in Young MC’s “Bust a Move” video, or the woman whose “ass is put to sleep” by Ice Cube’s sexual prowess in his video for “It Was a Good Day”—she was kind enough to talk to OffBeat about her Prince era, which began when she had just graduated high school.

“I met him because I slept outside at one of his concerts in Chicago, which is where I’m from,” she says.

“He played four nights and I was in the front row for every single one.” Prince noticed her up front and started bringing her some very Princely gifts, one per gig, which he made a point of handing to her from the stage: a guitar pick, a tambourine, a carnation and a pair of lace panties. Revolution guitarist Miko Weaver was dispatched to invite her to the after party at the Park West nightclub, and infamous bodyguard Chick Huntsberry got her in despite her age. Prince did little that night but hide behind columns and play peek-a-boo with her. “He didn’t know how old I was at first,” she laughs now. “I assume somebody told him I was 17.”

26

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

They disappeared from each other’s lives for a few years after that encounter; while Robin moved to Los Angeles and pursued her hyphenate career, dancing on “Soul Train” and appearing in movies like Coming to America and House Party. What she didn’t know was that the Purple One had never forgotten her. “I only found out years later that he’d seen the ‘Bust a Move’ video, called a conference at Paisley Park, and told his people to FIND THAT GIRL.” When she finally reconnected at an L.A. party at the age of 21, he pretended he was meeting her for the first time. And then she entered fulltime muse duty: He renamed her Robin Power—“right at the

By Robert Fontenot

same time he named his band the New Power Generation,” she notes—and he quickly shoehorned her into the Graffiti Bridge film, which was already in pre-production, as the girlfriend of Morris Day’s character. “He always had several other young ladies at the same time,” she remembers. “As a bisexual, I was more than cool with it. He liked to be surrounded with beauty.”

For the movie, Prince produced a song for her called “Number One,” which was supposed to be the leadoff for an album by her band, Robin Power and the Uptown Dames. It never materialized, partly because she auditioned an 18-year-old dancer for that band named Tara. When she introduced Tara to Prince,

he renamed her Carmen Electra, and soon she starred to take Robin’s place in the hierarchy. “He disrespected me in the business,” she says. “I deserve respect. I had to put my foot down.” She struck out on her own again, but Motown and Capitol wouldn’t put her album out unless Prince was attached to the project.

Nevertheless, she has nothing but fond memories of the Purple One: “Our relationship was creative, magical, sensual... everything I dreamed it would be.”

They remained friends, but the last time she spoke to Prince was in 2001, when she called the singer to tell him she’d been “speaking with angels.” “Things are happening I really don’t understand,” she told him then, www.OFFBEAT.com

ROBIN POWER ROYAL

“but God told me to follow the music. So I called you.” “I don’t believe in angels anymore,” she claims he replied. “His son had passed on,” she remembers, referring to Boy Gregory, his child with ex-wife Mayte Garcia, who had died at just one week old.

“He was a Jehovah’s Witness at that point. I could recognize the difference in him. I asked him had he spoke to Morris or Jerome [from The Time], and he said, ‘Robin, every time I pull out the Bible, everyone runs away.’” For her part, Robin has kept her muse name and dedicates her erotic dancing, modeling and singing to what she calls “the god of love. There are many different gods. People don’t realize that.”

And like her muse, she likes to lead with her still-fit body before getting her audience into matters of the spirit: “They think what I do is so sexual, then I tell them about the god of love and music and creation, and I say, ‘You weren’t expecting that!’”

O

www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

27

28

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

www.OFFBEAT.com

COVER STORY

Treme Funk Corey Henry’s universe.

By Geraldine Wyckoff // Photography by Elsa Hahne

T

rombonist Corey Henry continually celebrates all that it means to grow up in a musical family and in the rhythmic and melodic incubator that is New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood. It was a spot where a musically curious and lively young man could catch brass bands rolling down the streets and share the experience with his equally eager young friends.

“I was living right next door to my cousin Kabuki [trumpeter Derrick Shezbie] on Treme Street and with the whole Rebirth family—Miss Frazier—lived on the next block,” Henry explains. “You can imagine what that two or three block radius was like. It was crazy. The whole of St. Philip Street was like a party every day.”

The world of brass band music and traditional jazz remains inherent in Henry’s style even as he has moved on to incorporate other grooves as leader of his own Treme Funktet, which just released its hard-hitting debut CD, Lapeitah. (More about the title’s special origin later.) The trombonist also brings his own sound when blowing with the jam/ funk/rock band Galactic.

As a teenager, Henry had the opportunity to play with and listen to some of this city’s greatest musicians. So early on the trombonist understood the importance of musicianship and the tonal quality that today defines his mastery of the instrument.

“When I was probably 15 or something like that, Unc [his uncle, drummer Benny Jones] took me into the Treme Brass Band and I think that was one of the biggest things that could ever happen to me. I was surrounded by super, super bad musicians, some of the baddest musicians in the world—saxophonists Frederick Sheppard, Fred Kemp, Roger Lewis and Elliot ‘Stackman’ Callier. During the ’90s he threw me out there with all those bad cats.”

Henry, who celebrates his 41st birthday on July 14, began playing drums like his Uncle Benny and grandfather Chester Jones. At about age 10, he and a couple of his friends would head to the French Quarter to perform together or by the side of the great Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen in Jackson Square.

“When we first started out we were little kids just kind of hustling for tips,” Henry remembers. “It was almost like going to a university playing with Tuba Fats. You’d be sitting out there learning so much music. He’d call so many songs that you probably never even heard of but he was doing it on purpose because he wants you to learn them— it’s part of the learning process. He’s just dropping more and more information. We have no idea what we’re doing, but we were trying www.OFFBEAT.com

and learning at the same time. He always gave us little tips about playing and would encourage us as little young musicians to keep going in the right direction and [tell us] that we were doing a good job. It was an honor and inspiration to be playing with Tuba Fats.”

Henry was aware of Lacen even before he got to know him better in the Quarter. One of his uncles (his father’s brother), Michael George, played bass drum with Tuba Fats’ Chosen Few Brass Band.

“It was pretty often I got to see Tuba Fats in my neighborhood whether he was playing music with his band or the Olympia Brass Band or just hanging out,” Henry recalls. “He was this 500-pound man, so that was a big attraction for a little kid.”

Lil Rascals Brass Band It wasn’t long before Henry organized the Lil Rascals Brass Band and then about two years later he switched from snare drum to trombone.

“It was a hot instrument,” he simply offers as the reason. “A lot of funky trombone players were doing a lot of good things on the instrument so it made me really want to play trombone,” he adds, mentioning Keith “Wolf” Anderson and Charles Joseph, who were then blowing with the Rebirth and Dirty Dozen brass bands, respectively, plus those from the traditional scene including Waldren “Frog” Joseph, Lucien Barbarin and Freddie Lonzo. “I listened to all those cats. My dad got me a trombone. He knew I wanted to play trombone because he would see me walking around the neighborhood blowing a friend’s trombone. That started everything off right there.”

Though Henry was in band classes at both Joseph A. Craig Elementary School and Andrew J. Bell Junior High School, he didn’t participate in the marching bands and is primarily a self-taught musician.

“I wasn’t into the whole marching thing that much—I was into brass band and traditional music,” says Henry, who, after all, was a denizen of Treme’s historically rich street and jazz scene. Throughout his career, his method to learn the music has been to absorb the sounds around him and study those artists who caught his ear and soul. One such musician was trombonist Fred Wesley, perhaps best known for his work with James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, and George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic. “I heard a CD and [his playing] touched me in a way that nothing had ever touched me,” declares Henry, who had the opportunity to record with Wesley on the compilation album Goin’ JULY 2016

O

29

CO V

ER S TOR Y

“...Kermit Ruffins is Kermit Ruffins. He loved Pops so much that he would do everything like Pops.”

Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino. “I became infatuated with Fred. He’s probably my greatest influence on trombone.”

The Lil Rascals made their professional debut sometime in the late ’80s or early ’90s performing at what Henry describes as a “picnic event” in front of City Hall at Duncan Plaza. “That was our first real paying gig so you can imagine that after that we kind of felt like a band,” he says with a laugh. Henry continues laughing on recalling that the group wore airbrushed T-shirts that proclaimed “Rascals Got Fire” on the front and fisherman-style hats when they rolled on their first second line with the highly respected Young Men Olympian Jr. Benevolent Association.

In 1998, the Rascals released their first album, We Shall Walk Through the Streets of the City. As the name suggests, it contains all traditional numbers. The disc includes classics like “Paul Barbarin’s Second Line” and a Tuba Fats and [trumpeter] Milton Batiste original, the well-known street parade anthem, “Tuba Fats and Half 0.”

“Playing New Orleans traditional music was a big part of our upbringing so we definitely wanted to pay tribute to that genre of music though we were a young brass band and were more inspired by the modern-style music,” Henry explains. “We always knew that we learned so much through traditional.” Next up, in 2001, the Lil Rascals put out

30

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Buck It Like a Horse, which kicked into some hot funk on mostly original material. The disc included the first tune penned by Henry, “Rascals Got Fire,” which continues to be echoed on the streets today.

Kermit Ruffins When trumpeter and vocalist Kermit Ruffins left the Rebirth Brass Band to pursue a solo career in 1992, Henry was blowing with the Lil Rascals, the Treme Brass Band and a few others.

“I would go and sit in with Kermit and the Barbecue Swingers at some of the venues in the Treme,” Henry says. “I was just trying to learn the music and I was loving what he was doing in the style of Louis Armstrong.

Eventually, he hired me for a gig and then I became a part of the band.”

The trombonist played, recorded and traveled nationally and internationally with Ruffins and the Swingers throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s. He’s right there with Ruffins on the trumpeter’s second album on the Justice Records label, 1994’s The Big Butter & Egg Man, and a string of Ruffins’ Basin Street Records releases up until 2002’s Big Easy.

“It was always good because Kermit Ruffins is Kermit Ruffins. He loved Pops [Louis Armstrong] so much that he would do everything like Pops. He made it feel like Pops was next to you.”

www.OFFBEAT.com

V ER CO

RY ST O

“It’s music, you know, and I’m just comfortable playing music in whatever direction we go in.”

C

R OVE

ST O

RY

“I learned a lot from Kermit,” Henry continues. “I learned to lead a band and be professional all of the while having a good time. That’s the thing about Kermit, he knows how to create a nice friendly atmosphere for everybody.”

Fans still reminisce about the special quality of the combined tonalities of Henry’s trombone and Ruffins’ trumpet. “We played well together,” Henry agrees, adding that because of Ruffins’ affinity for Louis Armstrong, he studied the styles of trombonists who played with Satchmo, like Trummy Young and Jack Teagarden. “We both became quite good at that kind of music. We kind of grew into our own through Louis and his band. I knew pretty much where Kermit was going, I just had to jump in and get my position.”

Being a member of Galactic, particularly because of the band’s heavy touring schedule, has expanded his horizons, says Henry.

“Everything is pretty much a growing process,” he philosophically offers. “It’s music, you know, and I’m just comfortable playing music in whatever direction we go in. I just try to find my little place where I can fit in and contribute what I can contribute to the music.”

“We’ve been traveling around the world and playing in a lot of different venues and festivals, meeting a lot of great people and working with a lot of different artists. Playing with Galactic has given me more of a platform to do Corey Henry–style music as well.”

Galactic

Henry put together the Treme Funktet in 2012, primarily to perform at the Candlelight Lounge when the owner, his cousin Leona “Chine” Grandison, wanted to expand the club’s music schedule and bring more live music back into the Treme. The following year, the Funktet took over Ruffins’ popular Thursday night gig at Vaughan’s.

“He turned it over to us and we’ve been holding it down ever since,” Henry says. “We appreciate that because that was a big step for us as a band—thanks to the great Kermit Ruffins.”

Henry’s Galactic connection began with saxophonist Ben Ellman, who when he first arrived in New Orleans, played with the Lil Rascals.

In 2000, the Rascals opened for Galactic on a cross-country tour.

“Since then, we were pretty connected,” says Henry, who became a member and has recorded three albums with the band since around 2009. The discs include 2011’s The Other Side of Midnight, 2012’s Carnivale Electricos and its latest, 2015’s Into the Deep.

www.OFFBEAT.com

Treme Funktet

JULY 2016

O

31

CO V

ER S TOR Y

“We do our own style of New Orleans Treme funk, that consists of funk, New Orleans brass band music, a little bit of hip-hop–inspired music, a little bit of soul and R&B.”

Henry incorporated his rich background plus fresh influences on his new release, Lapeitah (A Treme Cultural Dance).

The unusual title, Henry explains, is a name given by the Royal Players’ leader, Anthony Bennett, to the style of steppin’ his father, Oswald “Bo Monkey” Jones, does when acting as a second line grand marshal.

“We’re mainly about horns blazing and funky grooves,” Henry says of the music heard on the album, which could be described as the Funktet meets New York. It was produced by Brian J of the Big Apple’s Pimps of Joy Time; the multiinstrumentalist also co-wrote with Henry eight of the disc’s original tunes.

“We do our own style of New Orleans Treme funk,” Henry continues. “That consists of funk, New Orleans brass band music, a little bit of hip-hop–inspired music, a little bit of soul and R&B. We try to mix everything and keep it real New Orleans.”

Plenty of talent from here and afar fills the tracks of Lapeitah, an album that stands as an ode to the Treme. New Orleans resident, vocalist Cole Williams possesses the right grit to take on the horns on tunes like “Tell Ya Mamma Nem” and “Baby C’Mon.” Corey Glover of Living Colour comes in for a soulful version Jimi Hendrix’s “If 6 Was 9.” His passionate vocals are matched by Henry’s moaning trombone. Brian J brings on a burning guitar solo on this well-chosen cover.

The Henry/Brian J original “Get Funky” does just that, with the help of P-Funk’s saxophonist Greg Thomas and some hip group vocals. Trumpeters Maurice Brown and Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill turn up on the street-ready “Treme Life” on which Henry’s rap references New Orleans’ classic people, places and unique customs without being overly clichéd.

The album, recorded over the last several years, is dedicated to Hill, a member of the Funktet who is heard on five tracks. He tragically died on May 4, 2015 at the age of 28.

“My parents and my grandparents, they pretty much set the stage for us,” concludes Henry, speaking of himself and others in his musical family. That family goes beyond bloodlines to all those who’ve been touched by the music and musicians from the neighborhood.

32

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

With all of the wild sounds goin’ on throughout the album—horns, vocals, keyboards, percussion and more—Henry’s trombone and presence stand strongly at the center of the mix. Lapeitah represents Corey Henry’s Treme universe, a world he’s always known, loved and shared.

O www.OFFBEAT.com

EATS

photos: Elsa Hahne

Richard Odell/Tujague’s

R

ichard Odell, bartender (RO): I’m Richard.

Marc Paradis, musician (MP): That’s my middle name!

RO: Dick in the middle. Got it. [laughs] Well, come on back here.

Just remember that this bar is 160 years old, so at your own risk...

MP: What did you make for us?

RO: For Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes, I was thinking, what’s dirtier and stankier and funkier than a 60year-old construction worker? See, there’s this guy who comes in every day and drinks his tequila and an IPA. That sounds terrible, I know...

MP: Awesome!

RO: So I thought, naturally I’d make this drink that fancy, and call it the Dirty Note. It looks like a dirty, stinky martini.

MP: Do you mind? Fellas? [grabs glass and sips] RO: It’s kind of a margarita with a floral hop note...

MP: The olive goes good with it.

RO: I actually haven’t tasted it myself.

34

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

MP: You should! I would not have guessed that hops would get along with tequila, but it’s actually cool—even if on paper it sounds gross.

RO: When you make the Hopitoulas syrup, you should use just plain white sugar. People like to fool around with turbinado, and it does have a beautiful flavor, but hops are surprisingly delicate and you want them to shine through. Also, I didn’t apply any heat to this. I didn’t simmer it. It just takes a while for the sugar to dissolve. I stuck it in a hot water bath for a second, half sugar and half beer—couple of pinches of salt—and made it no more than body temperature.

RO: I’ve talked with other bartenders about their creative processes. I tend to be either right on the money or I abandon the entire idea, because the other option is to sink a lot of time into it and end up screwing your drink up by making it really complicated.

By Elsa Hahne

I tend to keep it simple. There really are only 10 or 15 great cocktails in the world.

RO: I’ve been here at Tujague’s for a year and a half. Before this I was at Doris Metropolitan. I’ve been bartending in the Quarter for five or six years—time’s slipping...

Tujague’s has America’s oldest continuously operating stand-up bar, dating back to 1856. The Dirty Note isn’t connected to any of them, but some classic cocktails were created here at Tujague’s, like Philip Guichet’s Grasshopper and the Whiskey Punch. He won the Early Times [National Mixed-Drink] Competition with his Whiskey Punch in 1956.

RO: So, why Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes? I’ve always enjoyed their music. Good, funky, jazzy stuff; very much a New Orleans band. I have lots of memories of seeing them with my brother, sneaking into Tipitina’s. I was probably underage. Don’t tell anyone.

The Dirty Note 1/2 ounce falernum 1 1/2 ounces blanco tequila 1/2 ounce salted NOLA Brewing Hopitoulas syrup (see story) 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Nick and Nora glass, or coupe. Garnish with a green olive. www.OFFBEAT.com

EATS

Brewer/Bassist

B

rian “Bruiser” Broussard has had a foot in both the beer and music worlds since he was a teenager.

He began brewing at Abita on his 19th birthday, and went on to brew at Covington Brewhouse, NOLA Brewing and then back at Covington Brewhouse as a coowner.

While working by day at Abita, he’d drive to New Orleans and hang around the music scene, at one point setting up Abita sponsorships for several local bands. In 2001 he joined the roots rock band Dash Rip Rock and played bass with Bill Davis and company until 2007. He’s also played with several other bands before signing on with Cowboy Mouth in 2014.

Except for the six years he toured with Dash Rip Rock, Broussard has “balanced” his brewing and musical careers by throwing himself fully into both.

“I don’t settle,” Broussard reflects.

“I do what I want to do. I like making beer and I like playing music, so I do both. I’ve luckily worked myself into a situation where I draw a salary from both. It was a lot of hard work that got me here.”

Broussard reminisces about his days of couch surfing and musician-style poverty with a grin.

“I don’t regret a second of it,” he says wistfully. But after six years, he felt it was time to have a slightly more anchored lifestyle. Coming home to the Northshore, he sought employment at Covington Brewhouse—then called Heiner Brau—which he helped build between tour dates in his Dash Rip Rock days.

At that time, Broussard was the only brewer; he and one other employee did all the production work. By the time he left in 2012 to live in New Orleans and work at NOLA Brewing for a year,

36

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Covington Brewhouse had grown significantly.

Of course, during all this time he was still playing music—often with more than one band. He played with hard rock band Supagroup while fronting his own group, Bruiser’s House of Surf, and playing and recording with Christian Serpas & Ghost Town. In 2011, he recalls, he played with Cowboy Mouth’s Fred LeBlanc in Jello Biafra & the New Orleans Raunch & Soul All-Stars: “The idea for the whole show was to get musicians from a bunch of different New Orleans bands. We had the horn section from Egg Yolk Jubilee, we had Mojo Nixon’s piano player. We had Pepper Keenan from Down and Corrosion of Conformity. It was this massive mixture of people that just don’t go together.”

When Broussard returned to Covington Brewhouse and a change in ownership happened shortly afterward, he became a part owner of the brewery. Of

By Nora McGunnigle

course, that’s when Fred LeBlanc called him with an offer to play with Cowboy Mouth.

For the past two years, Broussard has divided his time between running a brewery and touring all over the country with Cowboy Mouth.

“I’m always working for the brewery, whether I’m here or not,” he says emphatically. “I’m on the road with my laptop, making production schedules, making calls, ordering ingredients, paying attention to what’s going on.”

Even with that constant connection, he admits it’s nice to get away and lose himself in the rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

“The thing I like about traveling with Cowboy Mouth is there’s zero stress level with that job. It’s really easy, we have a crew that sets everything up for us, and I just have to fly there and play. It’s nice to have that release.”

Cowboy Mouth plays approximately 5–8 gigs a month.

Broussard points to an app called

Master Tour, which tells him everything he needs to know, like when load-in is, when sound check is, what hotel they’re staying at, and who he’s rooming with (spoiler alert: it’s Fred). The app is necessary because he can’t focus on our minutia while he’s running the brewery.

“The Delta curbside guys know me, so when I drive up, they tell me where I’m going half the time, because I didn’t even look at the app, I just know I need to go to the airport. The plane’s going to take me where I’m going.”

You’d think Cowboy Mouth would be swimming in Covington Brewhouse beer, but Broussard can’t fly with it since his luggage is stuffed with merchandise to sell at the shows. On his way home, however, he can bring brews from wherever he plays—if he’s sold enough T-shirts.

Exploring the beer culture where he plays is important to the point that his piece of the band’s rider requires local craft beer to be stocked backstage. He drinks what he can, and brings the rest home.

He’s noticed a certain commonality between his beer and the beer he drinks on tour, saying that the beers he’s been exposed to reflect the portfolio of many other small breweries, including his own.

“I think we’re in this business because we have the same mindset, and I notice a lot of smaller breweries like us just fighting to keep our head above water.”

Walking into the Brewhouse’s taproom, a custom-wrapped Peavey guitar hangs on a maroon wall, and music is always playing, mostly classic rock and occasionally disco, which Broussard is a fan of. “’Disco Inferno’ is one of the greatest songs ever made,” he says, without hesitation.

The taproom is managed by Broussard’s wife, Erin Brennan www.OFFBEAT.com

PHOTO: NORA MCGUNNIGLE

Brian “Bruiser” Broussard likes making beer and playing music.

EATS

Broussard. She’s put out the welcome mat to the community to join Covington Brewhouse’s rock ’n’ roll family. Yoga classes meet one Sunday a month and the class fee includes two post-yoga beers.

It’s the same deal for the weekly aerobics classes on Saturday mornings. If it’s too early for “beer for breakfast,” Kombucha Girl Living Beverages is also brewed at the Brewhouse and served on tap.

The brewery’s summer seasonal beer, Rock & Roll Summer Farmhouse Ale, depicts the outline of a musician playing a guitar. It’s easy to imagine that Broussard served as inspiration for the design.

For the always-on-the-go brewer/ bassist, he’s happy to keep a tight grip on the neck of his bass, as well as a beer bottle.

O

NEW NEW ORLEANS BREWERIES

Seven and Counting

A

lot has happened in the city of New Orleans in the beer brewing world.

Crescent City Brewhouse has been here since 1991, Gordon Biersch opened in 2004, but it wasn’t until 2009 that NOLA Brewing opened to fill the production brewery void left when Dixie closed in 2005.

In 2014, Courtyard Brewery opened in a tiny warehouse space just off Magazine Street on Erato by the overpass. A different business model, Courtyard is a nano-brewery, meaning it brews very small batches, and brewer Scott Wood’s beer is only served on-site. Courtyard also serves beer from other breweries, which makes the tiny, DIY-style space unique in the New Orleans area.

In the past year, more production breweries have opened in Orleans Parish. Second Line Brewing opened in Mid-City in September 2015, and owners Mark and Karen Logan distribute IPA, Pale Ale, Batture Blonde and Rte 47 Red IPA to neighborhood bars and restaurants. They also serve a variety of test batches in their beer garden, which is set up in the brewery parking lot and open Wednesday through Sunday.

In March of this year, Urban South Brewing opened on Tchoupitoulas Street just down the street from NOLA Brewing’s brewery and taproom.

The brewery immediately released its two flagship beers, Charming Wit wheat beer and Holy Roller IPA on draft and in cans to bars and stores throughout the city. Demand has been so high they’ve had to order more tanks, effectively doubling their output.

Urban South’s summer seasonal, Delta Momma, is the brewery’s first seasonal and will be available on draft and in cans. It’s a clean, refreshing German-style lager, dry-hopped with fragrant Citra hops.

The taproom at Urban South is open Thursday through Sunday.

This summer will see the opening of Wayward Owl Brewing in Central City, in the restored Gem Theater. Owner and brewer Justin Boswell will have a taproom for his IPA, gose and krystalweizen wheat beer.

—Nora McGunnigle www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

37

EATS

Bar Stories PHOTOS: Elsa Hahne

Local musicians report from the drinking front.

Salvatore Geloso is likely to come to his favorite bar, Big Daddy’s, to drink whiskey and ginger ale on his birthday, July 8.

N

Ron Rona, Managing Director at

ew Orleans musicians, on average, spend lots of time in bars, both playing and drinking. Here, OffBeat serves up a dozen stories, shaken and stirred.

Salvatore Geloso, singer-songwriter/guitarist and harmonica player, band leader of Up Up We Go Bar: Big Daddy’s Bar In the glass: Whiskey and ginger ale “My regular haunt is Big Daddy’s at the crossroads of Franklin and Royal. There have been many moments that I have forgotten and have no memory of at all and others that I wouldn’t dare print in a magazine, but something unforgettable was witnessing a friend get attacked by a drunken angry security guard and all the bar patrons fighting off the security guard and bringing forth social justice by refusing to witness an innocent person be a victim of power abuse and getting the security guard fired for crossing the line and harming a regular patron.”

38

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Preservation Hall and performer (a.k.a.

Ronnie Numbers) in The New Orleans Bingo! Show Bar: Molly’s at the Market In the glass: Jameson “In many ways, shots of Jameson at Molly’s at the Market were the very shaky foundation of most of my personal and creative relationships since I moved to New Orleans in 1997. Before social networks, Lower Decatur was where you expected to run into your people and we confirmed (and sometimes damaged) our friendships nightly by toasting, tapping and knocking back a few overpoured shots of Irish. The camaraderie of Jameson crossed over into my creative life shortly after; the next thing I knew I was onstage dressed in a tuxedo wearing face paint and over-theatrically sipping the stuff from little ceramic espresso cups. And the crowd went wild. Long story.”

By Elsa Hahne

www.OFFBEAT.com

EATS

“I love their Bloody Marys. It’s all about the mix and adding olives and pickled green beans or okra.”

—Dave Malone

PHOTO of craig klein by kim welsh, photo of dave malone by jeffrey dupuis

Big Queen Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Guardians of the Flame Bar: Snug Harbor In the glass: Ginger Ale, 7-Up or Sprite (“I’m usually driving.”)

“My brother, Donald Harrison, Jr., invited my dad, the late Donald Harrison, Sr., up to do a traditional Mardi Gras Indian chant backed by his jazz band. This was before cell phones, but I carried a small camera with me (elementary school teacher and always wanted to be ready). My dad had on a woven Kente cloth shirt I brought him from Ghana, and I always think of him as bridging the divide/gap between NOLA and our ancestral homeland in that moment.”

Craig Klein, trombonist in Bonerama Bar: Spotted Cat In the glass: NOLA Blonde or Abita Amber (“Equally preferred.”)

“I play at the Spotted Cat every Monday with the Vipers.

It’s funky; people are there for the music and the drinks, which they make good ones they tell me. I’m a beer drinker.

I should have a NOLA Blonde beer endorsement... We always get really good dancers in the Spotted Cat. One Monday night we had some young ladies in there at about 1:30 a.m. and they were dancing in front of the band as most people do. One of them kept lifting up her dress in front of the band to show the guys and girls her commando style of no underwear. I think she was an exhibitionist...

“I also remember the night when the electricity went out on Frenchmen Street. Since the Vipers are an acoustic band we didn’t have to stop playing and lots of folks turned on their phone’s flashlight app and shined it on the band as we kept on swinging that music.”

Scott Billington, producer and musician Bar: Dorothy’s Medallion Lounge (closed) or Ale In the glass: Crown Royal (not!) or any India Pale Ale “My favorite story of drinking at www.OFFBEAT.com

a bar (or, in this case, not drinking) was at Dorothy’s Medallion Lounge on Orleans Avenue in the mid-1980s. I’d gone with my friend Tom Smith to see Johnny Adams and Walter Washington—his group was called the Solar System Band at the time. Walter invited me to sit in on harmonica for a couple of songs. When I got back to my table, the entire surface was covered with drinks, and a wiry 50-year-old woman was waiting with an invitation for me to leave the club to party with her, after complimenting my playing with an unprintable comment to the effect that my blues playing was reminding the club patrons “where they came from.” Had I consumed all that Crown Royal, they would have had to carry me out on a stretcher. I also declined the invitation to what might have been the partying experience of my life.

Dorothy’s, which featured two Rubenesque go-go dancers in cages, was smoky and lit with Christmas lights—the kind of all-night New Orleans bar you don’t often find these days.

“Now, we like to go to Ale, around the corner on Oak Street. I almost always order an IPA, they have an ever-changing selection. The fried pickles are excellent, too!”

Dave Malone, singersongwriter and guitarist Bar: Molly’s at the Market In the glass: Bloody Mary “I don’t really hang out in bars anymore. Back in the day my (and Ed Volker’s) favorite bar was Cooter Brown’s... But now I’d probably have to say Molly’s at the Market.

It’s owned by my cousins Jim and Alana Monaghan (I’m Irish and French). I love their Bloody Marys. It’s all about the mix and adding olives and pickled green beans or okra.

“Not long ago, I was a guest/celebrity bartender there along with my buddy Papa Mali. It was a really fun night. Problem was, I don’t really know how to make any cocktails. So, no matter what anyone ordered I would make them a Jack and Coke. Oddly enough, not one person complained.”

James “Jimbo” Walsh, pianist, guitarist and composer Bar: Snake and Jake’s In the glass: Tanqueray and tonic “We went there for the Christmas Lounge on Christmas Eve after midnight mass for a nightcap. Had such a good time we didn’t leave until 10 a.m. on Christmas Day. A very merry Christmas indeed...”

JULY 2016

O

39

“Jack Daniel’s and ginger ale is the drink of champions; that’s what we all drink, like the whole band.”

—Aaron Wilkinson June Yamagishi, guitarist Bar: Snake & Jake’s In the glass: Bud Light and Chivas Regal “I didn’t hang out to drink recently, just stay home and watch crazy Japanese comedy show on YouTube. But I used to hang out every single night at Snake & Jake’s ’til the morning come. Then my old friends wanted to make an original cocktail called the Yamagishi Special!

That was some Bacardi, Cointreau and pineapple juice.”

Aaron Wilkinson, guitarist, Honey Island Swamp Band Bar: Robert’s Bar In the glass: Jack Daniel’s and ginger ale “Okay, disclaimers: I love way too many bars to have one favorite, and almost every memorable thing that’s happened to me in a bar is unfit to print. That said, when the Saints kicked a field goal in overtime to go to the Super Bowl, I tackled our bassist Sam Price through the wall in celebration. Major damage, but everybody was so hysterical I don’t even think they noticed. And if you’ve been to Robert’s Bar, a hole in the wall would not come as a surprise. It’s a ‘hole in the wall’ kind of place. Especially that night!

“Jack Daniel’s and ginger ale is the drink of champions; that’s what we all drink, like the whole band. That, and tequila—straight, silver, preferably Hornitos or Don Julio. I guess once you hang out long enough you all start to drink the same thing. Plus it’s on the band’s rider so that’s what’s backstage every night.”

Spencer Bohren, singersongwriter and guitarist Bar: Tipitina’s In the glass: Dixie beer “The fact is, I’m not a drinker anymore, but I have a great tale about a meeting at Tipitina’s sometime back in the late 1970s. I don’t remember who was playing that night, but I went to the bar to bring back a round of Dixie beers

40

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

for my out-of-town guests and found myself standing next to a diminutive man with several large rings on his fingers and a big gold wristwatch. I knew that I should know who this guy was, so I took a chance and said something like, ‘Excuse me, but aren’t you Earl King?’ He looked up at me with a smile on his face and replied, ‘Domino’s my name. Fats Domino.’

Then he bought me the first of two Dixie beers and we talked about a variety of things until my friend came to see what had happened to me. No matter how hard I insisted, she wouldn’t believe the little man I introduced her to was Fats Domino.”

Tarriona “Tank” Ball, singer, Tank and the Bangas Bar: Vaso In the glass: Rum punch “It was ladies’ night. The streets were filled with the usual barbaric sounds of drifters and heavy music, but this night was special. This was the first time Tank got drunk! After the show, I wasn’t feeling my performance but my fans and friends were in a celebratory mood, so the drinks were flowing!

I ended up in a friend’s backseat yelling out, ‘Okay, it’s time to come DOWN now... DOWN now...’ It was that night I realized that my limit on rum punches was three cups. No more.”

Don Bartholomew, producer Bar: Spice Bar & Grill In the glass: Ciroc Apple and Watermelon Pucker “I guess the most intriguing thing there for me would be that people always notice me off of HBO’s Treme and want to take pictures, and then some actually sing and rap for me, and offer me free drinks...”

Stephie Whitesox, punk singer Bar: The HiHo Lounge In the glass: Madras cocktail (vodka, craberry juice, orange juice) “I used to be not Evel Knievel, but Awful Knawful. Sometimes, I’d get too irate, start kicking the tables. I’m known for getting my plug unplugged, let’s put it like that.

They remade the Madras for me. All vodka, with a shot of juice.

O www.OFFBEAT.com

PHOTO of JUNE YAMAGISHI: kim welsh, photo of AARON WILKINSON: RICK MOORE, photo of stephie whitesox: golden g. richard,iii, OTHERs: ELSA HAHNE

EATS

899-8221 Kingfish: 337 Chartres St., 598-5005 Mr. B’s Bistro: 201 Royal St. 523-2078 Restaurant R’evolution: 777 Bienville St., 553-2277

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

FRENCH

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS

GERMAN Jaeger Haus: 833 Conti, 525-9200

ICE CREAM/CAKE/CANDY Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop’s: 2831 Chartres St., 944-6090 Bittersweet Confections: 725 Magazine St., 523-2626 La Divina Gelateria: 3005 Magazine St., 3422634; 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692 Tee-Eva’s Praline Shop: 4430 Magazine St., 899-8350

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

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

Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797

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

ITALIAN

JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI/THAI

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

COFFEE HOUSE

LOUISIANA / SOUTHERN

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

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

CREOLE/CAJUN

MEDITERRANEAN

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

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

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

www.OFFBEAT.com

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

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

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

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

SEAFOOD Basin Seafood and Spirits: 3222 Magazine St., 302-7391 Crazy Lobster Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St. 569-3380 LeBayou Restaurant: 208 Bourbon St., 525-4755 Pier 424 Seafood Market: 424 Bourbon St., 309-1574 Royal House Oyster Bar: 441 Royal St., 528-2601

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

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

VIETNAMESE Namese: 4077 Tulane Ave., 483-8899

WEE HOURS Buffa’s Restaurant & Lounge: 1001 Esplanade Ave., 949-0038 Clover Grill: 900 Bourbon St., 523-0904 Mimi’s in the Marigny: 2601 Royal St., 872-9868

Ann Tuennerman hits the

Adolfo’s: 611 Frenchmen St., 948-3800 Little Vic’s: 719 Toulouse St., 304-1238 Chiba: 8312 Oak St., 826-9119 Mikimoto: 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., 488-1881 Seoul Shack: 435 Esplanade Ave., 417-6206 Sukho Thai: 4519 Magazine St., 373-6471; 1913 Royal St., 948-9309 Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433

BARBECUE

Biscuits and Buns on Banks: 4337 Banks St., 273-4600 Cake Café: 2440 Chartres St., 943-0010 City Diner: 3116 S I-10 Service Rd E, 8311030; 5708 Citrus Blvd., 309-7614 Cowbell: 8801 Oak St., 298-8689 Dat Dog: 601 Frenchmen St., 309-3362; 5030 Freret St., 899-6883; 3336 Magazine St., 324-2226 Live Oak Cafe: 8140 Oak St., 265-0050 Parkway Bakery and Tavern: 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047 Phil’s Grill: 3020 Severn Ave., Metairie, 324-9080; 1640 Hickory Ave., Harahan, 305-1705 Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361 Tracey’s: 2604 Magazine St., 897-5413 Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683

PIZZA

[of Tales of the Cocktail]

Spot

What are you ordering?

I’m going to get the yellow curry. I haven’t ordered it here before, but I had some a week ago someplace else and I wanted to try it here.

How often do you come?

Once every two weeks, sometimes more. I’m bad about cooking, honestly. I go through phases where I try to bring my lunch [to work], but it never tastes as good as whatever I’m thinking about having.

Where’s work?

We’ve been in this neighborhood since ’07. When we first moved down here, there was really only Cake Café, and that was about it.

There wasn’t Satsuma or Sukho Thai or Pizza Delicious.

We have so many options now.

What do you like about Sukho Thai?

The prices are good and you always have leftovers. And it’s so nice to be able to walk. I might not get here quick, but it’s more relaxing.

—Elsa Hahne

Sukho Thai 2200 Royal Street (504) 948-9309 JULY 2016

O

41

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

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

Warehouse Grille: 869 Magazine St., 322-2188

DINING OUT

Ideal Supermarket The immediate influx of Latin American workers after Hurricane Katrina has had and will continue to have an indelible impact on New Orleans culture. Similar to the African and Caribbean influences on French culture centuries ago, the flavors of Latin America have infiltrated the gumbo of contemporary New Orleans cuisine to the point where some locals lament that tacos may soon overtake po-boys as the local’s preferred lunch. At Ideal Market, a small chain of grocery stores scattered around the metro area, the foods of Latin America are on offer in their full, unadulterated display for both natives longing for a taste of home and adventurous locals who are undeterred by a language barrier.

Like so many other modern food markets, Ideal includes a grocery, butcher, baker and deli all under one roof. The produce selection is a colorful cornucopia

42

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

of fruits, vegetables and legumes indigenous to Latin America and difficult to find elsewhere in the city. Need yucca for Sunday supper? Not a problem.

Looking for masa harina and corn husks for tamales? Got you covered. Similarly, the dairy aisle is chock-full of Mexican queso fresco, Salvadoran crema and other tangy treats.

In the butcher case, chicken breasts, leg quarters and beef flank steaks all glow with a red hue from a fiery marinade that seals their fate of a one-way ticket to a hot grill. Thinly sliced pork chops are stacked high beside a mountain of ground chorizo molded into a pig’s head at the top. Over in the bakery, a dizzying array of tres leches cakes in all shapes and sizes share space with fresh fruit tarts crowned with lightly whipped cream. Self-serve display cases overflow with cookies, pastries, muffins and other freshly baked goods—some filled with lightly sweetened cream cheese and others with fruit jams.

Most native English speakers first connect with Ideal Market by ordering from the deli, where the look-point-smile ordering method can work wonders. At breakfast, the Honduran baleada is the most popular

Photo: renee bienvenu

EATS

selection—a thick, freshly made flour tortilla smeared with refried beans and filled with eggs, grated cheese and crema. At lunch and in the evening, the options can include fried chicken leg quarters, whole fried fish and slow-cooked pork carnitas, but a mainstay is the slow-braised beef known as barbacoa, which is the perfect filling for the soft, slightly sweet bolillo bread that are sold by the pair for a dollar. What results is a sandwich that has much in common with your favorite roast beef po-boy, which is just another delicious example of common interest between old and new New Orleans.

—Peter Thriffiley 250 South Broad St., New Orleans, 4421 Airline Dr., Metairie, 653 Terry Pkwy, Gretna; laidealmarket.com

www.OFFBEAT.com

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

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

A Rock Album Worth Blasting

Royal Southern Brotherhood The Royal Gospel (Ruf) No getting around it: I’m writing this review in the wake of the latest (at press time) horrific mass shooting, and the Brotherhood’s topical “I’ve

Seen Enough to Know”—which opens with the line “Brothers killing brothers, where’s it gonna end?” is sounding like a tonic. Cyril Neville’s vocal hits all the right notes: weariness, outrage, and a final plea to come to our senses—and the band gives it a suitably ominous funk groove, with a keyboard part that sounds like a siren in the distance. The last verse’s “If we all pull together, we can break the chain” is the most hopeful thing you’re going to hear on the subject, and Neville is a forceful enough singer to make it resonate.

On their fifth album in four years, the RSB sports a reshuffled lineup: Co-founders Mike Zito and Devon Allman are gone, but there’s still a second-generation star in Tyrone

Reissuing R&B in New Orleans John Broven Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans (Pelican Publishing)

www.OFFBEAT.com

slinger—but it’s the final track, “Stand Up,” that lives up to the CD title: It’s a gospel workout with Neville in his best preacher mode, making one more plea to come together with the help of choral vocals and some hot guitar trade-offs. This is a rock album worth blasting, and it might get you a little healing as well.

—Brett Milano

Dave Jordan and the NIA No Losers Tonight (Independent) Dave Jordan was the bassist and frontman of the late, lamented Dubya-era local jam band known simply as Juice, but his new band has only

to name just a few, for the music; and great looking, sharp dressed men like Chuck Willis, Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, Chuck Carbo, Johnny Adams, Larry Williams and Larry Darnell (great pic in the book!), just to name a few, for the style and decorum. Broven, born in small town England, didn’t carry that baggage, so he approaches this chronicle with an open mind and an open heart. He relates the joyful, sometimes sad adventures of the pioneers of the rock genre. People like Fats, Dave Bartholomew, Tommy Ridgley, Huey Smith (see also John Wirt’s compelling biography of Huey Smith: Huey “Piano” Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues), Lee Allen, Red Tyler, Earl Palmer, “Hungry” Williams, Smokey Johnson, Cosimo Matassa, Herb Hardesty, Harold Battiste, the late, great and lamented Allen Toussaint, Wardell Quezergue, Deacon John Moore, Mac Rebennack, Professor Longhair… I could go on for a while here but I’ll stop and highly recommend the reader soak it up in person.

Broven also faithfully records the impact of the original record industry wildcatters (his father-in-law was one). Men like Lew Chudd, Art Rupe, the Braun brothers, Syd Nathan, the Bihari brothers, Johnny Vincent, Jerry Wexler, the Chess brothers, just to name a few, mostly Jewish entrepreneurs and businessmen who created the independent record business and exploited, in both the positive and pejorative sense, the mostly black writers, producers and artists who flourished in NOLA and who made those outsized contributions to the seminal conventions of the genre.

So before I make this a legal brief or a graduate thesis, let’s just say that Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans is a fabulous, moving and thorough paean to some of the giants of the rock genre whose contributions might sadly be overlooked.

A book to be read and re-read.

—Cyril Vetter

bookmark

John Broven’s newly revised, expanded and updated Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, originally issued as Walking to New Orleans, is the definitive, go-to source for anyone interested in the deep origins of the rock ’n’ roll genre. While it’s fair to say that the genre’s origins are distinctly American, it’s also fair to say that a large number—if not the majority— of its early conventions percolated up in in post-war New Orleans. Broven’s encyclopedic knowledge, his painstaking research and his unabashed love for all things NOLA give Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans a fascinating combination of academic rigor and fanboy praise. South Louisiana is very different from the Bible Belt South.

The combination of European, African, Caribbean and some would say “alien” immigrants makes it unique, and the music made in New Orleans in the post-war period up to the mid-’60s reflects that difference.

I grew up in a small South Louisiana town on the river south of NOLA where the received wisdom was a kind of semi-benign racism, modulated down from the hard-core racism of the Bible Belt South. But it was hard to even be a “benign” racist when your childhood heroes were all black. Fats Domino, Little Richard, Roy Brown, Smiley Lewis, Ray Charles, Shirley and Lee, Irma Thomas,

Vaughan (son of Jimmie, nephew of Stevie Ray). But the band’s mission is about the same—to work deep soul and blues flavors into a band largely based in rock. Neville gets most of the vocal space this time around; the fine soul ballad “Face of Love” and the family groove “Blood Is Thicker Than Water” are the kind of songs that used to highlight Neville Brothers albums. The Austin blues-rock influence was always there, but it comes forward more with Vaughan’s addition; “Everybody Pays Some Dues” brings good memories of rootsy Austin bands like Storyville and Arc Angels.

There’s a lot of full-throttle arena rock here as well—the opener “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire” is an unqualified riff-

JULY 2016

O

43

REVIEWS

been an aggregate of floating musicians until this moment.

Yes, the real Neighborhood Improvement Association is finally meeting, creating what he himself hopes will be a new strain of “New Orleans Rock.” Gone is the straight country of his debut, These Old Boots, or the delightfully flippant country rock of the follow-up, Bring Back Red Raspberry. With this new lineup, Jordan ironically inches just a little bit closer to finding his own voice.

The result isn’t exactly the swampy Tom Petty mutation they claim they were going for, though: In its quiet moments, and they dominate, Jordan’s new group taps into that rootsy subgenre of ’70s soft-rock that has sly Southern Gothic narration and a delicate, almost spooky touch. It’s the sound running through Matthews’ Southern Comfort to Dire Straits to Atlanta Rhythm Section, and it can’t be a coincidence that the song which feels the most like Poco’s “Heart of the Night” is called “Pontchartrain.”

The opening “Southern Girl” rides an ordinary one-four-five, failing in its attempt to lyrically repurpose “American Girl,” but “This Time Around,” with its fat, crunchy Southern-rock hook and smartass take on everything from exes to preachers, comes close to prime Heartbreakers meat-andpotatoes loner rock, as do the shifting moods of a travelogue like “Boot to Your Neck.” Jordan’s decision to ground everything in fiddle, accordion and organ gives the harder stuff an epic sweep too rare in Americana, and one which nicely sets off his usual Westerbergian view of the world.

This one will do. (Now let’s have us a champagne jam.)

—Robert Fontenot

44

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors When That Morning Comes (Independent) The personality and the strong inner character of Big Chief Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi Yi Yi, really comes through on When That Morning Comes. Surrounded by his gang, the Mandingo Warriors, members of the Black Indian Nation, longtime friends and a wealth of fine musicians, the Chief feels comfortably at home as he tells his tales through chants and the spoken word. “Big Chief got eyes like an eagle, foot like the wolf,” he proclaims on “Sing My Song,” which he wrote with drummer/vocalist Jaz Sawyer. That tune surprisingly opens with a blast of horns that is reminiscent of the big band era. The guys in the section include trumpeter Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, saxophonists Derek Douget and Khari Allen Lee and trombonists Delfeayo Marsalis and Wessell Anderson III. They stand among a long list of guest artists.

A special element of the album is how naturally the cuts of traditional Mardi Gras music, which simply utilize chanting and percussion instruments, flow into material that brings in a whole band. The history and storytelling by Harris, Backstreet Cultural Museum’s curator Sylvester Francis and others offer a look into the passion and soul that is an essential part of the Black Indian heritage.

The traditional and modern meet head-to-head on a version of the Indian prayer, “Indian Red (Won’t Bow Down).” It starts off conventionally until Ronald Markham comes in with some

piano triplets and Kipori Woods steps in for a soulful guitar solo.

The unity of New Orleans’ Black Indians and the music community is fully displayed on When That Morning Comes. After all, both originated in Congo Square and thus the African continent. The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi knows no divides.

—Geraldine Wyckoff Disclaimer: Geraldine Wyckoff wrote the album’s liner notes.

Lena Prima & the Lena Prima Band Live at the Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall (Aftergroove) Louis Prima’s shadow is a tough one to escape, but Lena Prima— daughter of Louis Prima and his last wife and singer, Gia Maione— seemed to be managing it on her last album, Starting Something, which aired her own considerable

gifts as a singer and songwriter and featured some of the city’s best players as backup. Playing her regular Hotel Monteleone gig around that time, she managed to have it both ways, pleasing the crowds with the Louis songs and not losing them when she snuck in one of her own.

So it’s curious that her followup is a live album devoted almost entirely to her father’s repertoire.

The good news is how well she works with it, and there’s nothing

Full of Life Batture Boys Muddy Water (Independent) Add together one subdude and one Continental Drifter (that is, Tommy Malone and Ray Ganucheau) and you get this debut EP by the Batture Boys, a duo who, perhaps predictably, combine the jam-band loose rootsiness of the former band with the jangle-pop angst of the latter. It’s a great combination of styles—these two Crescent City rock warhorses are a little older, a little slower, and a little wiser, but they’ve learned to tone it down when they’re getting strident and use a solid groove to set off a fascinating emotional atmosphere. The best of both worlds, really.

These six originals mostly work the country side of Americana, happily set off by Appalachian harmonies and also by Wilco producer Jim Scott. Half of them have water as their theme (uh-oh), but they never come off maudlin or enervated. Vocally and lyrically, Tommy and Ray combine Bruce Springsteen’s workingman’s righteousness and keen eye for emotional detail with just a touch of Elvis Costello cynicism, so their portraits of everyday life feel hyperreal. That goes for “The Mighty Flood,” which is about what you think it is (“Making peace with a broken levee in your backyard”), and “Deep Water Horizon,” which ditto (“Corexit/ Will fix it”). And they’re equally adept at taking very personal pain and translating it for everyone, like the wry addiction saga of “You Had a Problem” and the gentle closing processional “Send the Bones Back Home.” Like the water itself, this debut is deep and surprisingly black—yet still full of life.

—Robert Fontenot www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS stale or tribute band–like in these arrangements; the band has three hot horn players who step out on a couple of instrumentals. Vocally she sounds like neither of her parents, but her warmth and swing are well in the family tradition. And she has a natural elegance that she holds on to, even when singing the goofy ravioli and meatball lyrics that her dad stuck into “You Rascal You” (part of the disc’s “Basin Street Medley”). She can do something as timeworn as “What a Wonderful World” without sounding like she’s going through the motions (and the version here has a nice moment where a fan howls after the “I love you” line, causing her to briefly crack up). Still, the best moments are the less obvious ones, whether it’s a Louis deep cut like “Scuba Diver” or a borrowed rocker like the Gary U.S. Bonds hit “New Orleans.”

Best of all is “Frog Legs Man,” which I don’t believe the elder Prima ever did, where she and the band clearly savor the chance to get a bit raunchy.

One hopes she hasn’t abandoned the originals (there are none here), but as a live souvenir this will do nicely.

—Brett Milano

Creole String Beans Golden Crown (Independent) If you’ve never been fortunate enough to get a ladies’ choice dance to these guys, know that the Creole String Beans are the city’s best wedding band, which of course means they’re one of the country’s best. That’s really what they keep their focus on despite their solid originals, which must mean that they either a) like to keep themselves humble or b) know that covers of obscure swamp pop don’t necessarily get you on the radio.

The CSB are out there spreading the gospel of Crescent City soul nevertheless, making it feel fresh and free and actually meaningful while giving mawmaw good memories of her prom.

What’s unique about the Beans’ melange of New Orleans musical history is what’s left out: no trad jazz, www.OFFBEAT.com

no gypsy jazz, no klezmer, just the sound of a highly influential rock, R&B and soul scene that started at the Dew Drop Inn and petered out at Jazz City Studios. They do for boogie-woogie, New Orleans piano, swamp pop and Gulf Coast soul what other great party bands like the Boogiemen do for ’70s party R&B. The Sacred Heart CYO Dance, in other words, come back to life: the straight jump of “Let the Money Drop” (money dance!) and the proto-soul of “Hotline Baby” (with a Fess intro) and even some rockabilly and ska for variety.

Those are just the originals, too: Here’s Smiley’s “Someday” and Dorsey’s “Holy Cow” and some obscure Aaron, Brother Ray and Tommy Ridgley. Their originals are so in the pocket you don’t even notice the occasional clunkiness of the lyrics—okay, maybe on the Fats-style shuffle of the title track. But so what? Weddings are celebrations, not poetry. And celebrating the nation’s most historically underrated rock ’n’ roll scene? That’s one you wanna respond to.

—Robert Fontenot

René Marie Sound of Red (Montema Music) On her 2013 Grammynominated album, I Wanna Be Evil—With Love to Eartha Kitt, vocalist René Marie relied on material associated with the exotic Kitt, such as her signature tune “C’est Si Bon” and Cole Porter’s romantic “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.” Marie, like Kitt, often sings with a certain attitude in her voice and both have been known to speak their minds. (continued on page 48) JULY 2016

O

45

REVIEWS

Davell Crawford Piano in the Vaults, Vol. I (Basin Street Records) “This is the bare bones of Davell Crawford,” declares the Piano Prince of New Orleans on what listeners can expect from his newly released Piano in the Vaults, Vol. I. The unique album is the first in a series of six to be put out by Basin Street Records. The recordings capture the brilliant pianist and vocalist performing solo in various studios during the period from 1996 to 2013. The material on this initial disc includes five Crawford originals, several of which remain rarities; two tunes written by his grandfather, vocalist/pianist James “Sugar Boy” Crawford; one composition by Jelly Roll Morton and more.

Early on in his career, Crawford, 40, had the insight to preserve his work, though his intention wasn’t necessarily for the resulting products to reach the public.

“I’ve never stopped documenting myself—I think that’s important for an artist always to do,” Crawford says, adding that he took advantage of a bit of self-imposed down time to go into the studio and create.

“At one time, I had stopped touring and stopped making a lot of public appearances in New Orleans and I also knew that I wasn’t going to release a record for quite some time. I just wanted to rest and have some privacy.”

He laughingly mentions that he has a cassette that he recorded when he was 12 years old on which he played a Casio keyboard that offered multiple functions, like bass, drums and strings. By using two cassette players, he

46

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

was able to get the desired result of instrumentally accompanying himself on vocals.

Volume I opens with two tunes from Crawford’s pen, “Song for James” and “Booker Days,” that it would logically be presumed were written in honor of New Orleans pianist/vocalist/composer genius James Booker. “’Song for James’ was originally written for my grandfather but it sounds more like James Booker than James Crawford, who was a helluva piano player,” Crawford explains.

“That song kind of took on a life of its own. ‘Booker Days’ was written for Booker though I performed it [by changing the lyrics] as a tribute to Ray Charles when he passed. I create the art and I give it to you to analyze it.”

It could also be assumed that these two tunes were chosen to lead off the CD because of their reference to Booker, whose music was certainly an influence on Crawford and who is among those who make up New Orleans’ great lineage of piano players of which Crawford is also a part.

Again, that was, says Crawford, not the case. “I create a play list by considering specific factors—the energy of the song, the key of the song and the mood of a song,” he offers.

“Davell presented it to us and we said that sounds great,” says co-executive producer and Basin Street Records owner Mark Samuels. “I generally trust our producers to get things done and Davell is an excellent producer.

Everything is in Davell’s hands.

I’ve paid the bills to mix and master this work to [engineer] David Farrell.”

“I gave it to David first,” Crawford says. “I didn’t want Mark Samuels to hear anything until he got a master that was ready to go and be shipped off.

Some of the recordings weren’t the best of all. David cleared up what he could—get the hissing out, add a little bottom and level out the whole recording.”

The results are outstanding with the piano on tunes like Jelly

Roll Morton’s “Buddy Bolden’s Blues,” on which Crawford offers his take on a stride style and ends with a surprising flourish of notes, retaining the rich, full sound of the acoustic instrument.

His gospel-influenced vocals on Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone to Love” clearly ring out with the heartfelt request.

Crawford initially mentioned the Piano in the Vaults recordings to Samuels when he first signed with Basin Street Records in 2011. “I knew one day I would release some of them,” Crawford remembers, “and I wanted a record company that knew the value of this particular kind of music and that its basic fan base loved this kind of music. In the

“So he was sitting on all these recordings—these great assets,” says Samuels, adding that they are actually still owned by Crawford.

“We are licensing them for a 10year period and doing everything we can to get people to be aware of them and hopefully buy them.

It didn’t require us to make any payments to studios or musicians though there are always plenty of costs in making a record. Davell probably has a lot of other material he’s sitting around on though I had to stop at six CDs. That’s a lot of music.” (Piano in the Vaults, Vol. I boasts 13 selections. Multiply that by six albums and you’re talking about close to 80 tunes.)

Crawford reveals little stories about and special reasons for each

“He laughingly mentions that he has a cassette that he recorded when he was 12 years old on which he played a Casio keyboard that offered multiple functions, like bass, drums and strings. By using two cassette players, he was able to get the desired result of instrumentally accompanying himself on vocals.“ middle of the negotiations, I called Mark and said, ‘I’d like for you to release my Piano in the Vaults. He immediately said, ‘Well, sure—yes.’”

The project didn’t come to fruition until Crawford was in the studio recording his wonderfully epic 2013 album and Basin Street debut, My Gift to You. “I woke up one morning and said, ‘I guess I’ll send them the masters,’” Crawford remembers. “I guess I could have done it a long time ago.”

of the songs appearing on volume one of the series. For instance, the tune “Fine Brown Frame,” the only non-solo cut, is the first song that Louisiana-born vocalist Carol Fran, a good friend of his and his grandmother, showed him on the piano. The singers enjoy a humorous exchange on this lively number that demonstrates their caring compatibility. The great R&B legend Ruth Brown taught a young Crawford the standard “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” “Morning www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS Star,” which is performed as an instrumental, was written

by Sugar Boy Crawford for his wife, Davell’s grandmother.

It is Sugar Boy’s pen that also contributes the rhythm and blues selection “Baby Please Be True.”

Crawford’s first recollection of the classic “Make Me a Pallet on the Floor” was hearing guitarist/ banjoist/vocalist Danny Barker perform it. “After that I heard Lady BJ [Crosby] and Lillian [Boutté] sing it,” Crawford says.

“I learned the majority of songs that I know from our people.”

In many regards, the music heard on Piano in the Vaults, Vol. I more closely represents what one might enjoy at one of Crawford’s live performances than that heard on his expansive My Gift to You. Thus future audiences will have the opportunity to figuratively bring home what they have just experienced.

“After 2005, I geared my shows to New Orleans music, period,” Crawford explains.

www.OFFBEAT.com

“My Gift to You is a beautiful statement of my life and admiration for Louisiana. It was not recorded in the tradition of New Orleans—that’s what I wanted. This [Piano in the Vaults] reaches a certain audience, a more mature audience and any audience that just loves roots music.”

“Just from a commercial standpoint, it gives him the opportunities to do more solo shows that are certainly more viable,” Samuels offers. “And then he has a fresh product of what he just performed.”

“The beautiful thing about music today is that it isn’t a situation that you have six months of shelf space for a product and then you have to stop selling it because you can’t distribute it,” Samuels continues, offering examples of the stillstrong sales for older albums by other Basin Street musicians such as trumpeter/vocalist Kermit Ruffins and the Rebirth Brass

Band. “Fortunately our artists, as popular as they are in their world, are not [recording] pop music. So we haven’t exhausted people. So there are always more people out there who need to get turned onto it. Davell has a world in front of him. He’s got a whole world of potential fans.”

Piano from the Vaults, Vol. 1 was released in New Orleans just before the second weekend of the 2016 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Its official street date for distributors is July 8, 2016. “As soon as we could push the buttons we had digital platforms all over the world with high resolution on our download for those people who say they don’t buy CDs anymore,” Samuels says. “With six volumes, we said, ‘Let’s put it out there!’”

“It’s like giving birth, one would assume,” says Crawford of finally releasing this material. He laughs when he adds, “Of course I’ve never given birth. I’ve held

these [recordings] for so long and I have gone through happy moments listening to them. I’ve gone through ‘It wasn’t good enough; I hate my piano, I hate my voice and what was I thinking of at this time?’”

“I had to get over that,” he continues. “I have to remind myself every now and then that I don’t record music or perform music for myself. I never have.

I am here for the people and I record music for the people—for my fans and for my future fans. This is what this is about.

It’s about preserving our great piano legacy in New Orleans and Louisiana and roots music as a whole. This is all a part of my gift to you—giving this gift to them. This is part of our heritage in Louisiana and I think it’s my responsibility to keep it alive.”

Davell Crawford will be celebrating the release of Piano in the Vaults, Vol. I at Snug Harbor on Friday, July 29.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

JULY 2016

O

47

REVIEWS (continued from page 45) This time out, Marie turns inward for a disc of all original material that is primarily autobiographical. She’s said that it “attempts to cover the spectrum of human emotion.”

The album opens in good form with Marie in a typical sultry state of mind on the title cut, “Sound of Red.” Saxophonist Sherman Irby joins in the mood, adding some edgy punctuations to a tune that stands as the highlight of the album. Marie chuckles a bit in appreciation of his solo.

The trio of bassist Elias Bailey, drummer Quentin E. Baxter and pianist John Chin provide solid backing for Marie’s vocal explorations. Chin really impresses with his range of ideas and multinote executions on “If You Were Mine.” He takes it to a toe-tapping experience that gets a bump from trumpeter Etienne Charles.

Storytelling is definitely a strong element of Sound of Red, though occasionally the wordy lyrics become a distraction. Marie surprisingly goes country on “This Is (Not) a Protest Song,” which talks about homelessness.

René Marie is in an unexpected mode on Sound of Red. As always, she has something to say, but this time out she offers her thoughts with less punch and more poetry.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

Boogie Kings Legacy (MTE Records) Legacy is the long-lost Boogie Kings record that was nearly completed in 2009. But when bandleader Ned Theall unexpectedly passed away in January 2010, its future became questionable. Last year it finally got the push it needed; the remaining session work was completed and a dark, mysterious chapter began to see the light of day.

Despite having no originals on these 11 tracks, the song selection is strong. The swooning interpretation of Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” is its best-known cover; “Don’t Pull Your Love Out On Me,” a chart-topping 1971 hit for

48

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, closely follows the mid-tempo Sam & Dave version. The rest are lesser known, ranging from the magical “I Won’t Cry” to uncovered treasures (“You Left the Water Running”) to more contemporary blue-eyed funk (“Blind, Crippled & Crazy,” “Boogie Ain’t Nuttin’”).

While the horns stroll, strut and even sneak around in places, this is really a singer’s affair. Parker James and Gregg Martinez are nothing less than exceptional. They harmonize well together, trade licks and alternate lead vocals. James has a G.G. Shinn–influenced soul swagger about his crooning; Martinez exudes innate power. When Martinez grabs a hold of a slow one like “At This Moment,” forget it, it’s over, just surrender because you’re already a hostage. It’s an extraordinary performance that’s knocked into orbit with Martinez’s hurricane emotion. For a record that wasn’t supposed to be, it’s a fine coda to a long-lasting legacy.

—Dan Willging

Bamboula 2000 Up from Congo Square (Independent) Bamboula 2000, formed in 1994, certainly lives up to its name in presenting rhythmic music with its roots in the past and taking it to the present. There are a lot of modern sounds on Up from Congo Square—some funk, some neo-soul, a touch of smooth-style jazz—while it continues to look back to the African continent of its origins.

That core remains strong primarily due to the presence and dedication of Bamboula’s leader, percussionist Luther Gray. Gray was, of course, central in getting

Congo Square recognized as a historic site. The area, now located in Armstrong Park, was unique in the United States as slaves and people of color were allowed to play their drums and dance there on Sundays. Their spirits live on in all of New Orleans music, a point of emphasis for Bamboula 2000.

When bassist Cheryl Woods is onboard as lead vocalist, as she is on the opener, “All We Got,” the musical vibe is of today. That’s also true of trumpeter/vocalist Jeremy Thomas, who helps in successfully bringing the old and new worlds together on “Kakilambe,” with the African tradition upheld by vocalist Jamilah Peters Muhammad.

With its unique mix of styles and instrumentation, Up from Congo Square stands as an album

that could only be born of New Orleans.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

Will Porter Tick Tock Tick (Ace Records) This CD is so good I don’t know where to start. So I’ll start

Subtlety and Grace Alexis & the Samurai Move Into View (Independent) Gorgeous melancholy is one of those qualities that makes indie pop go round, and Alexis & the Samurai’s latest is practically awash in it. The gorgeous part is what you notice first, with all those rich melodies and the crystal purity of Alexis Marceaux’s vocals.

She and Sam Craft, both multi-instrumentalists, complement both with their canny arrangements, whether it’s a Fleetwood Mac piano/brusheddrum groove on “Stuck,” layered Eno-esque electronics on “Peel Off the Wax”, or a full wall of Spector/Belle & Sebastian sound on “Swamp Fire.” The latter makes good use of something that’s either a theramin or a saw, soaring into the heavens alongside Marceaux’s voice.

But it’s the album’s haunting undertow that really gets under your skin. Consider their version of the familiar Fats Waller tune, “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.” Nearly every version that’s been recorded, from Sinatra to McCartney, has been a bit jolly. But the lyrics are totally miserable if you take them at face value—after all, the poor singer is sitting there writing to herself—and that’s how they treat it; Marceaux’s vocal is full of heartbreak and gets spookily distorted in the last verse. “You Alone” and “Shut Up” are both about women at loose ends; her jump into the high register on the line “I’m at my wit’s end” is the song’s emotional payoff.

Not that some of these tunes aren’t happier, or at least funnier. “Pots and Pans” and “Stuck” celebrate living in creative squalor and running your car into a ditch, respectively, and there’s a worldbeat take on the Cajun tune, “Parlez-Nous a Boire” (the same arrangement that the pair do live with their other band, Sweet Crude). But even these footstomping moments maintain the album’s feel of subtlety and grace.

—Brett Milano www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

with the fact that it’s part of the great New Orleans arranger Wardell Quezergue’s last project, a voluminous series of recordings featuring Quezergue’s protégé Will Porter. Porter is a magnificent singer, a baritone in the Lou Rawls mode, with a great sense of swing, unique phrasing and that ineffable quality of soul that all the greats possess.

Quezergue produced Porter’s excellent first album, Happy. It’s not surprising that Wardell wanted to work with Porter again.

I first heard these recordings in 2012, the year after Wardell passed. They were part of a series of what were essentially rough mixes that included numerous Dr. John songs, some of which had never been recorded. My understanding was that Wardell and Dr. John wanted to release an album that would emphasize Dr. John’s talents as a songwriter rather than as a performer. Porter was selected to be the voice that fronted the material.

Two of the Dr. John songs from those sessions are on this album— the previously unreleased title track, which Wardell thought was a potential hit, and a stupendous version of “When The Battle Is Over,” co-written by Dr. John and Jo Jones. It’s wonderful to hear Dr. John’s unmistakable voice in the background on the former, but the vocal interaction between Porter and the Womack Brothers, Curtis and Friendly Jr., on the latter must be heard to be believed. The Womacks join Porter on vocals for 7 of the album’s 11 tracks and are the secret weapon on the brilliant record.

Other highlights of this exchange include Ike Turner’s “I’m Blue” and the album closers “Tear It Up” and “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.” www.OFFBEAT.com

Guitarist Leo Nocentelli guests on “I Can Do Bad By Myself,” another standout track, and Porter shows his strength as a composer of ballads on “This California Sun” and “Why Do We Get Blue?” again backed by the Womacks. But wait, there’s more! Porter and the fantastic Bettye Lavette join forces for the unlikeliest of readings of a Bob Dylan song, “Make You Feel My Love.”

Wardell Quezergue’s loving touch is obvious throughout, but particularly on the string arrangements that grace Porter’s ballads. Misha Kachkachishvili’s engineering, mixing and remaster turned those rough mixes I heard into aural gold here. I can only hope that someday we get to hear the rest of the Dr. John material that was included in the sessions that produced this great album.

—John Swenson

Keith Stone The Prodigal Returns (Keith Stone Music) As one might surmise by the title, Keith Stone left the Crescent City only to return with an even greater appreciation for his native city. Eventually producer/ bassist David Hyde convinced Stone to record his songs, hence this debut that includes such luminaries as pianist Dr. John, background vocalist Elaine Foster and accordionist Sunpie. Naturally there’s an autobiographical theme, given the title track and “Take Me Home,” but New Orleans itself is also an immense part of his sonic DNA. He pays homage to his city on various levels, most notably by bookending the proceedings with Dr. John’s eloquently played “Prelude” and a moving interpretation of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”

Other indigenous references are perhaps more subtle and embedded, such as the swanky uptown instrumental “Buster’s Place,” a nod to the long-shuttered restaurant Buster Holmes. A few songs synthesize elements of classic songs to be relatively familiar-sounding. The beatcrazy “Make Me Feel Alright” JULY 2016

O

49

REVIEWS

is quite the hybrid: a guitar part paralleling Fats Domino’s “I’m Walkin’,” a zydeco bass line and Dave Bartholomew–like tenor sax growling.

Given that Stone was a sideman for most of his career, he plays well with others, seamlessly melding in with a tight horn section and avoiding guitar hero histrionics (though he does get his sinewy licks in) just because it’s his show.

The touching “New Orleans Moonlight” is when things really hit their stride. The performances get stronger, suggesting that Stone’s future as a frontman is a promising one indeed.

—Dan Willging

The Relatives Goodbye World (Luv N’ Haight) The Relatives were a surprise sensation at Ponderosa Stomp in 2010, and in some ways they were that festival’s dream band: a regional Dallas family group, formed in 1970 and steeped both in gospel and vintage funk. Their set that night was one of the all-time Stomp highlights, a simultaneous ride in a heavenly chariot and on P-Funk’s mothership.

This is the second Relatives album since their comeback, and considering its title and backstory, the album can’t help feeling a little somber. The group’s founder, Reverend Gean West, was fighting cancer and fell into a coma during the recordings, but heard God calling him back and managed to rally for one more session. That’s the long opening track “Rational Culture/Testimony,” where he preaches movingly about the “little more work” he had to do, and the

50

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

world’s need to accept God and get its act together. West is heard again at the end of “The World is Moving Too Fast,” preaching this time about the scourge of gun violence. It’s all the more affecting when you realize he died the day after the session.

Not that there isn’t some joy to be found here. Producer/ guitarist Zach Ernst (ex-Black Joe Lewis) keeps the sound absolutely faithful to the ’70s origins, and the return of original Relatives guitarist Charles Ray “Gypsy” Mitchell makes for plenty of funk; the wah-wah driven “What You Say” is positively Meters-esque (though it’s not the Meters song of that title). Closing with more funky transcendence on “Can’t Feel Nothin’” and a doo-wop benediction on “Forgive Me Now,” this one’s good for the soul.

—Brett Milano

Johnny Winter with Dr. John Live in Sweden 1987 (MVD Visual CD and DVD) This is a professionally recorded live set from 1987 cut in Stockholm’s Sonet recording studio before an audience of about 100 people. Though Dr. John doesn’t play on the whole set, the recording has plenty of Louisiana and Mississippi roots.

Following an interview section that accompanies the band’s entrance into the studio, Winter starts off with a blazing version of “Sound the Bell,” by Louisianaborn Cajun guitarist Clarence Garlow, whose 1950 hit “Bon Ton Roula” helped introduce zydeco to the mainstream. Winter’s version is classic JW, lightning-fast ostinatos

backed by the powerful bass playing of John Paris and sturdy drumming from Tom Compton.

The next song, “Don’t Take Advantage of Me,” is a funky blues from Lonnie Brooks, who was born Lee Baker, Jr. in Dubuisson, Louisiana. Winter lets his rock ’n’ roll side emerge here, quoting from Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love” in the turnarounds to both of his solos. Of course with Winter you’re basically listening to a nonstop series of solos broken up by the occasional verse. It’s a testament to the uniqueness and inventiveness of his playing that he never sounds like he’s overdoing it.

Winter whips out his slide for J.B. Lenoir’s “Mojo Boogie.”

Mississippi-born Lenoir played in New Orleans in the early 1940s before moving to Chicago in 1949, where he established himself with the minor hit on Chess Records, “Korea Blues,” as J.B. and His Bayou Boys. Winter draws a line from Lenoir through Elmore James, J.B. Hutto and Hound Dog Taylor with his greasy slide work.

Dr. John joins in on keyboards and vocals to sing his own “You Lie Too Much.” Mac is in fine voice and takes a really good piano solo while the band backs him with gusto on this straightforward blues. Mac sticks around on keys while sharing vocal duties with Winter on a spirited version of Muddy Waters’ “Sugar Sweet,”

Deconstructing Elliott Smith Mike Dillon Functioning Broke (Royal Potato Family Records) The breadth and sheer number of different voices Mike Dillon has at his command is impressive in just about any setting. On his new solo recording, inspired largely by the music of Elliott Smith, it’s downright staggering—and not just because he plays marimba, xylophone, timpani, orchestral bells, tubular bells, tabla, congas and vibes, although that helps.

The way Dillon deconstructs and reconstructs Smith’s music gives individual song elements—from melody to repeated tension and resolution to harmonic subversion—their own, audible identities, magnifying some of Smith’s most gratifying qualities as a songwriter. On top of that, Dillon approaches his instruments with open ears, tweaking expectations about their sound and use to coax kaleidoscopes of color and lyricism out of each one.

The result is an intensely focused set of music that avoids getting tethered to the anguish Smith is often associated with. The opener, “Half Right,” is darkly pretty in all the right places but also satisfying and anthemic in a way the original version only hinted at. The warm buzz that envelops the intro to “Christian Brothers” casts that Smith classic in a new light, too (as does the lack of lyrical “F” bombs), while “Alameda” provides a jazz-meets-pop interlude that mixes things up.

The non-Smith half of the album features a handful of originals, including the playful “Friendship,” whose appealing staccato thwunks are more in line with Dillon’s self-described “punk jazz freak funk” than the finespun Smith arrangements, and a short yet hypnotizing tabla meditation.

Neil Young’s heroin elegy, “The Needle and the Damage Done,” makes an appearance. And Dillon—who recorded this material between Primus tours more as a fun personal exercise than an intentional album—really sinks his teeth into Exotica lounge master Martin Denny’s “The Enchanted Sea,” dragging what sounds like a thumb against a drum skin in a way that recalls Dillon’s own spoken word/rap voice.

—Jennifer Odell www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS which features another good piano solo and more guitar moves from Johnny. Mac really shines during his vocal part on Willie Dixon’s slow blues “Love, Life and Money.”

Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, of course, were two more Mississippi musicians who moved to Chicago to make their reputation recording for Chess.

The set closes with the only song without Deep South roots, Winter’s raucous cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” It’s a great finale for Winter’s guitar pyrotechnics.

The DVD includes a bonus track of Winter playing “Prodigal Son” in 1972 with Johnny Winter and featuring guitarist Rick Derringer, a nice piece of lagniappe.

—John Swenson

The Nouveau String Band The Great American Road Trip (Pu-Pun Dreams) After a litany of departed marquee female vocalists, the Nouveau String Band (NSB) has focused on being its own entity with the addition of Lafayette’s omnipresent drummer Danny Kimball. On its sophomore effort, the revised lineup really hits its stride, culling material from western swing, country, blues, bluegrass, gospel, jazz and even R&B where a dozen instruments, including piano and trumpet, are played between five guys.

Whether it’s a Hank Williams tune transformed into western swing or the Louvin Brothers’ “Cash on the Barrelhead” done with boogie textures, with quick stops and nimble-fingered solos, clever arrangements are a strong suit of NSB. When it comes to jazz, NSB excels in adapting hornpowered chestnuts from Count Basie and Louis Jordan into its own homegrown format. Pianist Oscar Peterson’s “Topsy” is recast à la “hot club’ with Dave Trainer’s and John Buckelew’s searing fiddles and Lee Tedrow’s splendid picking over a chugging rhythm foundation.

Though the whole concept is following the great American musical roadmap in search of www.OFFBEAT.com

the next sonic oasis, NSB starts its own footpath by unveiling Buckelew’s swinging “Star Around Town.” It’s one of the album’s best performances as Buck practically belts his heartfelt dedication to Abbeville’s unsung troubadour Garland Thompson. With this splendid release in hand, it’s a safe bet that there are plenty of miles left on this road trip.

—Dan Willging

Various Artists Zydeco: Black Creole, French Music & Blues 1929–1972 (Frémeaux & Associés) Though there are many paths to take when examining zydeco’s evolution, it’s hard to imagine a more comprehensive compilation than France’s Frémeaux & Associés’ Zydeco: Black Creole, French Music & Blues 1929-1972. The 48-track collection is divided evenly between two discs and features over 30 artists who recorded from its embryonic genesis to its first generation maturity.

Disc one features five numbers recorded between 1929 and 1934 by iconic figureheads Amédée Ardoin (accordion) and Dennis McGee (fiddle), an influential, racially mixed duo who were cornerstones of Creole and Cajun music. This talented accordionist injected such a raw, impassioned bluesy feel into his music that his performances are still bone-chilling decades later.

Zydeco’s catch phrase “zydeco sont pas salés” or its root “les haricots sont pas salés” (“the snap beans aren’t salty”) is a subtheme of sorts, first emerging in this collection as the frenetic juré “J’ai fait tout le tour du pays,” performed by Jimmy Peters as part of the 1934 Lomax archives.

JULY 2016

O

51

REVIEWS The phrase is prevalent in other selections as well, including those by accordionists Sidney Babineaux and Albert Chevalier of the early ’60s. According to Babineaux, the phrase already existed towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Disc two focuses on zydeco’s founding father Clifton Chenier on 10 tracks. Some selections (“Ay Te Te Fee,” “Hot Rod”) are houserattling rockers; others (“Clifton’s Blues,” “Where Can My Baby Be”) are among the most gut-wrenching, tear-soaked blues ever recorded.

While Clarence Garlow’s oftheard, calypso-charged “Bon Ton Roula” is featured here, also included are two Garlow rarities (“Za Belle,” “Make Me Cry”), the first to be recorded with alternating French and English verses.

Interestingly, the collection features early incarnations of famous songs, such as Douglas Bellard’s 1929 waxing of “Moi j’connais la cause que je suis condamné” that’s known today as “Les Flammes D’Enfer.”

Ardoin’s “Two Step de Prairie Soileau” is better known as “Quoi Faire.”

Perhaps the most unusual track is “Zydeco (Zolo Go),” which was Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins’ stab at zydeco. It’s sans accordion but instead features an organ— one you might hear at a hockey match—attempting to emulate the sound of an accordion.

There’s a lot to be said about the merits of this collection, especially with the inclusion of many lesser known stalwarts who also contributed to zydeco’s evolution.

The authoritative 48-page bilingual liner notes make for essential reading, just as this is essential listening for the zydeco curious.

—Dan Willging

Various Artists I Wanna Sing Right: Rediscovering Lomax in the Evangeline Country Part Four: Good Women and Bad Girls (Valcour Records) Valcour Records closes out its four-part series of reinterpreting jewels from the Lomax Archive with no shortage of surprises.

Givers’ Tiffany Lamson probably has the most contemporary

52

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

arrangement of the series, with the southern Appalachian–rooted “The Orphan Girl.” Instead of relying on proverbial stringed instruments as one might expect for a ballad of this nature, her breathy, syncopated vocals are built on an austere foundation of hand clapping, electronically-generated tabla beats, chimes and drones.

Courtbouillon’s “La Fille de la Veuve” is another head-turner, a straight-up Cajun dance hall track following the melody of “Jolie Blonde.” Lyrically, it’s not the same, and is possibly an antecedent of the Cajun national anthem, suggesting that the melody is older than both songs.

“Liza Jane” is an interesting selection of the Lomax Archive since it was widely circulated in early jazz and blues circles, recorded by the Mississippi Sheiks for one. (Today it’s heard in bluegrass and New Orleans’ brass band music.) The Lomax version, performed by black string band Stavin’ Chain, rocks with innate, raw power, while this rendition— featuring Cedric Watson and brothers Wilson and Joel Savoy—is more rollicking and loose, with a few improvised lyrics.

The remaining three songs, sung by Kristi Guillory and Megan Brown, bring out the aesthetics of these ballads, especially with Joel’s rolling fingerpicking on “La Fille de Quinze Ans.” If you’re patient enough to endure several minutes of silence on the hidden track, the Lomax field recording of “The Orphan Girl” eventually surfaces. It’s insightful to hear the source version juxtaposed with Lamson’s modern take to bring the evolution full circle and close out a splendid series.

—Dan Willging www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

Richard “Ricky” Jones—a.k.a. Fiend or International Jones—hits rewind on his 1999 album Street Life, which reached number one on Billboard’s R&B/ Hip-Hop albums chart.

Fiend Street Life (No Limit/Priority)

“I

released my album Street Life on July 6, 1999. I had just celebrated a birthday and had just come back from Europe. I had gotten to see what rocking 30,000-seaters with Snoop Dogg looked like. I grew up in Hollygrove.

I grew up four houses away from the place where bounce music was invented. So just think about the typical urban youth, I had parents who loved me but sometimes you just can’t run from what your surroundings are. And suddenly I was standing on the Eiffel Tower, running around Rome, in Milan for fashion parties. Just taking in what American music has done for people around the world. What we’ve done. It united people. I loved it. I came back a different person.

The ability to make Street Life and especially my song ‘Talk It How I Bring It’ on that album, it was so refreshing. I got a chance to talk about some things that were a little different from what other people were talking about at the time. And the album got rave reviews.

I’m so happy I stuck to my gut and was in a place of comfort in my own skin to do this project.

Street Life had ‘Talk It How I Bring It’ and ‘Mr. Whomp Whomp,’ two songs I think the kids still know me for. I had a few naysayers at the time, which was one of the reasons I wanted to get into the studio and record ‘Talk It How I Bring It’ with one of my favorite producers, KLC. We had a young lady in the studio by the name of Porsche, she’s the one that you hear on that song. She did the melodic part under the horns, and it made it something special, something New Orleans. Putting together that song was invigorating; it was really me coming into my

own sound. I was confident and excited and relieved that I could have a single that represented where I was at in my life so fully and at the same time, have it be single-worthy. Radio stations were saying, ‘Man, this song is perfect for radio.’ And since the song was short, we combined ‘Talk It How I Bring It’ and ‘Mr. Whomp Whomp’ into one video, which I hadn’t really seen other people doing until we did it. That video, it did a lot for me. I hadn’t had a chance to shoot a national video in New Orleans yet, it was my first since my career went national. We shot it in Hollygrove, too, so it was a win-win for me.

I wrote the majority of Street Life while I was in Europe and recorded it in Baton Rouge at KLC’s house and Craig B’s house from Beats by the Pound, some of it in Atlanta, too. When I was in Europe, I had seen a lady hanging clothes on a clothesline outside of her project balcony. It made me realize that it was a ghetto everywhere.

I wanted Street Life to consist of the good and the bad. Times of losin’ and choosin’ to regain your faith. Testimonial moments in everyone’s life. I didn’t want to offer another No Limit compilation album.

I wanted it to be heard that I could handle my own, that I could front a project that would be successful.

In 1999, the climate was full of stars. Roc-AFella, DMX, Jay-Z, Bad Boy, Rap-A-Lot. People and brands were at the pinnacle of their careers. I wanted to walk with these people, surpass them, but at the same time, to have a complete grasp of my own identity. To be true to myself and where I came from.”

—Holly Hobbs

“When I was in Europe, I had seen a lady hanging clothes on a clothesline outside of her project balcony. It made me realize that it was a ghetto everywhere. I wanted Street Life to consist of the good and the bad.“

www.OFFBEAT.com

JULY 2016

O

53

Find complete listings at offbeat.com—when you’re out, use offbeat.com/mobile for full listings on any cell phone.

Listings

EXPRESS

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

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

MJ Jazz

Contemporary TJ Jazz Traditional JV Jazz Variety KR Karaoke KZ Klezmer LT Latin MG Mardi Gras

Indian ME Metal RB Modern R&B PO Pop PK Punk RE Reggae RC Rockabilly RK Rock RR Roots Rock SS Singer/

Songwriter SK Ska PI Solo Piano SO Soul SW Spoken Word SP Swamp Pop SI Swing VR Variety ZY Zydeco

FRIDAY JULY 1

Ace Hotel: Soundbytes with PJ Morton (RB) 9p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Raphael Bas (JV) 5p, Willie Green (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Ugly (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Peter Harris (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Simon Burke (JV) 5p, Jane Harvey Brown Trad Jazz Stars (JV) 8p, Laelume (JV) 11p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Erica Falls (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p Creole Cookery: Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 5p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Funk Monkey (FK) 11p Dos Jefes: Joe Krown Trio (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): Curren$y (HH) 8p House of Blues: Mystikal, Juvenile (HH) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Piano Professor Series feat. Joe Krown (JV) 5p, Shea Pierre (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p, One Tailed Three (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Broadmoor Jazz Band, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 4p, Big Easy Brawlers, TK Groove (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Pirate’s Choice feat. the Crescent City Horns (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Truman Holland and the Back Porch Revival (RK) 9:30p

54

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Brass Band feat.

Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Soul Track Mind, the Benchwarmers (RB) 9p Siberia: Hot Fire DJs Anita Bump and Lil Blasta (VR) 6p, Lost Bayou Ramblers, Daikaiju, Liquor and Lies (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 9p Time Out: the Touchy Knob Situation (SO) 12p Tipitina’s: Brass-A-Holics, the N’awlins Johnnys (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY JULY 2

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Red Organ Trio (JV) 4p, Jasen Weaver Band (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Thunderosa (VR) 7p, the Bills (RK) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Jazz Brunch (JV) 11am, Jon Roniger (JV) 5p, the Royal Rounders (VR) 8p, Keith Burnstein (VR) 11p Carrollton Station: Debauche (GY) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Bobby Charles Tribute feat. Dave Malone, Jake Eckart, John Gros, Reggie Scanlan (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Shaaz Spring (RE) 12p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 5p d.b.a.: Watson’s Theory feat. Caren Green (FK) 11p Dragon’s Den: Eight Dice Cloth (JV) 7p, Crooked Vines (FK) 10p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Fritzel’s: Red Hot Brass Band (JV) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Jessy Lanza, DJ Taye (VR) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Close Me Out (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Victor Atkins (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 5p, Crossing Canal with Ruby Ross and Patrick Cooper (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillainaires, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Kumasi, No Good Deed (VR) 10p Maple Leaf: Danny Abel’s Birthday Blowout with Gravity A and friends (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Diablo’s Horns (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Kristina Morales and Inner Organ Trio (JV) 8:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Karma (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Donald Harrison Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Antoine Diel and Arsene DeLay (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Davis Rogan (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 6p, Tyler Thomson Experience (JV) 9p Time Out: the Bouvier Crewvier (VR) 12p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY JULY 3

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance (SI) 12p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p

Banks Street Bar: Kyle Smith Band (SO) 4p, Chilled Monkey Brains, Joystick, I’m Fine, Name Calling (RE) 8p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Steve DeTroy (JV) 4p, Twerk Thomson Quartet (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Pat Flory and friends (VR) 6p Crazy Lobster: Shaaz Spring (RE) 12p Creole Cookery: Messy Cookers (JV) 5p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (JV) 6p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: the Gentlemen Commoners (RK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p, Vice Is Right (BQ) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Oscar Rossignoli (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (SI) 10a, Slick Skillet, Too Darn Hot (JV) 1p, Leah Rucker, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Gregg Martinez (RK) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: South Jones (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Siberia: Valerie Sassyfras Birthday Blowout with Daria and the Hip Drops, Batebunda, Plan Z (VR) 8p Spotted Cat: Pfister Sisters (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Salvatore Geloso (JV) 8p Time Out: Shabram and the Fam (VR) 12p Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music Workshop feat. Johnny Vidacovich Trio (VR) 1p Trinity Episcopal Church: Albinas Prizgintas performs patriotic music on organ (CL) 5p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY JULY 4

Ace Hotel: Messy Cookers (JV) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Helen Gillet (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (PI) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Davy Mooney (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay and the Firecrackers (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falleta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 9p Circle Bar: Manatees (PK) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 12p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a Dos Jefes: John Fohl (BL) 9p Dragon’s Den: Russell Welch Hot Quartet (JV) 7p, DJ Ill Medina (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (MJ) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson and friends (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Brass Lightning (VR) 4p

Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old Point Bar: Hill Country Hounds, Rick Trolsen (CW) 8p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars with Bobby Love and Miss Judy (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Time Out: the Funky Fourth (FK) 12p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robinson Band (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s: Prince Albert “the Dog Man” and his Royal Knights (RB) 3p

TUESDAY JULY 5

Ace Hotel: Baaba Blacksheep (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Doc Lovett’s Louisiana Remedy (RB) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Anderson, Chute and Easley (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Nyce (JV) 6p Columns Hotel: Washboard Chaz and John Rankin (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Treme Brass Band (BB) 9p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Adonis Rose Quintet (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Kian ‘n’ JC (VR) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Organami (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Joe Lastie (TJ) 8p Siberia: Phargo, Name Calling, Variants, the Painted Hands (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Davy Mooney Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Rhythm Stompers (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Trinity Episcopal Church: Organ and Labyrinth with Albinas Prizgintas (CL) 6p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY JULY 6

Ace Hotel: Helen Gillet (MJ) 8p Algiers Ferry Dock: Wednesdays on the Point feat.

Motel Radio, Amanda Shaw (VR) 5:30p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Jesse Morrow (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Dave Hickey and Jacob Tanner (VR) 6p Circle Bar: All People, Hemingway, I’m Fine (ID) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p

www.OFFBEAT.com

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Khari Allen Lee (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Jam (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Paintbox with Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Noah Young Trio, Jazz Vipers, Mutiny Squad (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Charlie Wooton Project feat. Jason Ricci, Doug Belote, Keiko Komaki, Jamison Ross, James Southwell (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (SI) 8p Southport Hall: Copeland’s Chicken Jam Benefit for ACF feat. Me and My Friends, Bag of Donuts (VR) 5p Snug Harbor: Terrance Taplin and Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 4p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p W XYZ Bar (Aloft): Micah McKee (SS) 5:30p

THURSDAY JULY 7

Ace Hotel: Honor Thy Mother (BQ) 9p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, the Courtyard Kings (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Gate Band (FK) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Chloe Feoranzo (JV) 8p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chiba: Charlie Dennard (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p Civic Theater: Kansas, Darcy Malone and the Tangle (RK) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Jack Oblivion and the Sheiks, the Angry Lovers (VR) 10p Dos Jefes: Todd Duke Trio (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Stripped Into Submission (BQ) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, Amber Matthews (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Sweet Substitute, Dysfunktional Bone (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 6p Old Point Bar: Gregg and James Martinez (RK) 9p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Margie Perez and Muevelo (LT) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Chris Ardoin (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Mark Brooks Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Jazz Band Ballers (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Tommy Sciple Quartet (JV) 7:30p Tipitina’s: Robert Earl Keen (VR) 8:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s: Corey Henry and Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY JULY 8

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Raphael Bas (JV) 5p, Willie Green (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Kill Ida Belle, Mad Misters, Self-Help Tapes (RK) 10p

www.OFFBEAT.com

Bombay Club: Scott Myers (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Gumbo Cabaret with Rebecca Leigh and Kelley Dixson (VR) 5p, Lynn Drury (SS) 8p, Nyce (JV) 11p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Paul Sanchez and Caleb Guillotte (VR) 8p, Danny Abel and friends (VR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 6p, Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band (ZY) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Piano Professor Series feat. Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx with Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11:59p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Rubin/Wilson Folk-Blues Explosion (FO) 5p, Patrick Cooper (FO) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Tom Worrell (PI) 7p Little Gem Saloon: Running of the Bulls Kick-off Party feat. Los Po-boy-citos (LT) 5p, Britney Chauntae (JV) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Shotgun Jazz Band, Crooked Vines, Street Legends (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: 101 Runners (MG) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a New Orleans Museum of Art: Marc Stone (BL) 5:30p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamie Lynn Vessels (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Sturmlandia (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Supercharger (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p Tipitina’s: Foundation Free Fridays Concert (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY JULY 9

Ace Hotel: Val Hollie (VR) 9p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Red Organ Trio (JV) 4p, Jasen Weaver Band (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Claude Bryant & the All-Stars (RB) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Mark Braud (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11am, Jenna Guidry (VR) 5p, Sherman Bernard and the Ole Man River Band (VR) 8p, Gettin’ It (VR) 11p Circle Bar: Thee Commons, Boyish Charm, Jared Leibowich (PK) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (RE) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY) 10p Dragon’s Den: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p, Sexy Back with DJ G (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Brown Improv (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Wes Williams Band (SO) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Glow Rage Paint Party (EL) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Wessell “Warmdaddy” Anderson (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Speed the Mule (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p

JULY 2016

O

55

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Louisiana Music Factory: Ben Hunter (VR) 2p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillainaires, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers, Jesse Smith Project (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: The Quickening (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Isla Nola (LT) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Kristina Morales and Inner Organ Trio (JV) 8:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rivershack Gretna: Green River Band (BL) 9p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Flow Tribe, the Hip Abduction (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Astral Project (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Tooloji (ME) 9p Spotted Cat: Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier (VR) 11a Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY JULY 10

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance (SI) 12p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Kyle Smith Band (SO) 4p, Kenny Triche Band (SS) 8p Bombay Club: Tom Hook (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Pat Flory and friends (VR) 6p, Malcolm Holcomb (VR) 8p Circle Bar: Micah McKee and friends, Blind Texas Marlin (FO) 6p, Action Beat, Opening Bell, Sunrise:Sunset (RK) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Louisiana Hellbenders (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 7p, Night Beats, the Mystery Lights (VR) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Luneta Jazz Band (JV) 10a, the Business (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Brint Anderson Trio (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Gregg and James Martinez (RK) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: South Jones (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Siberia: the Salt Wives (GY) 6p, Attrition (IL) 10p Snug Harbor: Jeff Albert Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Yvette Voelker and the Swinging Heathens (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Willow: Tulane’s Musicians for Men Benefit Concert feat. Chee-Weez, Michael J. O’Hara and Resurrection, PaperChase (VR) 1p

MONDAY JULY 11

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Helen Gillet (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (PI) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falleta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p

56

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dmac’s: Danny Alexander Blues Jam Session (BL) 8p Dos Jefes: John Fohl (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Kala Bazaar Swing Club (JV) 7p, DJ Ill Medina (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (MJ) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Miggs, Noon, E.T. Ayotemi, DJ ADK (HH) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Resident Aliens (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars with Bobby Love and Miss Judy (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Saenger Theatre: Flight of the Conchords (CO) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Washboard Rodeo (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY JULY 12

Ace Hotel: Inspektor Sodapop (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Todd Smith Band (BL) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. WATIV (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Nyce (JV) 6p, the Asylum Chorus (VR) 8p Columns Hotel: the Neoclassic Jazz Trio with Clarence Johnson III, Charlie Fardella and John Rankin (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Treme Brass Band (BB) 9p Dos Jefes: Tom Hook and Wendell Brunious (JV) 9p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Adonis Rose Quintet (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, the Key Sound (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-Stars feat. Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Trinity Episcopal Church: Organ and Labyrinth with Albinas Prizgintas (CL) 6p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY JULY 13

Ace Hotel: Roar (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Jesse Morrow (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Dave Hickey and Jacob Tanner (VR) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p

Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Brahms and Wine with Dr. Jee Yeoun Ko and guests (CL) 7p House of Blues (the Parish): Jet Lounge (HH) 11p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Rod Melancon (FO) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Jeronne Amari Ansari (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Jam (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Tim Robertson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Dinosaurchestra, Jazz Vipers, Willfunk (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Charlie Wooton Project feat. Jason Ricci, Doug Belote, Keiko Komaki, Jamison Ross, James Southwell (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Jerry Embree (SI) 8p Snug Harbor: Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 4p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY JULY 14

Ace Hotel: Viva L’American Death Ray (VR) 9p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, the Courtyard Kings (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: the One Percent (RK) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Marla Dixon Trio (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Carrollton Station: Andrew Duhon Trio (RR) 7p Chiba: Mike Meeks (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, James Singleton and Dave Easley (VR) 8p Circle Bar: Jeremy Joyce (FO) 7p, Canadian Waves, US Nero, Helen of Choi (ID) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: John Lisi and Delta Funk (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p, Soundclash (HH) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Blues and Brews with Bill Van (BL) 7p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, the James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Tobin (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Lynn Drury (SS) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Eight Dice Cloth, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Players Ella and Louie Tribute Band (TJ) 6p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Margie Perez and Muevelo (LT) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Geno Delafose (ZY) 8:30p Siberia: Crazy Whiskey, Kelcy Mae (FO) 9p Snug Harbor: Morgan Guerin CD-release party (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Brett Richardson (JV) 5p, Dr. Sick (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s: Corey Henry and Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY JULY 15

Ace Hotel: Baaba Blacksheep (VR) 12p, Michael Watson (VR) 9p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Raphael Bas (JV) 5p, Willie Green (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Chris Zonada (SS) 7p, Tangerine Dreams (BQ) 10p

Bombay Club: Todd Duke (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Greg Schatz Trio (VR) 5p, Ruby and the Rogues (VR) 8p, Vanessa Carr (VR) 11p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Champions Square: Josh Groban, Sarah McLachlan (SS) 7:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p Circle Bar: Rik Slave’s Country Persuasion (CW) 7p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 6p, Honey Island Swamp Band (RR) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues: the B-Side Players Tribute to Curtis Mayfield (JV) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Piano Professor Series feat. Tom Worrell (JV) 5p, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx with Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11:59p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Ferguson (FO) 5p, Van Hudson and friends (FO) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Jeff “Snake” Greenberg (PI) 7p Little Gem Saloon: Lynn Drury (SS) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Up Up We Go, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Soul Project, Big Easy Brawlers (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: call club (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a New Orleans Museum of Art: Bastille Day Fete feat.

Giselle Bonfair, Lost Bayou Ramblers (VR) 4p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamie Lynn Vessels (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Sturmlandia (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rivershack Gretna: John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 9p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Groovy 7 (VR) 9:30p Siberia: Creepyfest feat. Big Deal Burlesque with the Unnaturals (BQ) 7p, 45 Grave, Pallbearers, Die Rotzz, the Velostacks, Death Church (PK) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Foundation Free Fridays Concert (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY JULY 16

Ace Hotel: Caddywhompus (VR) 9p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Red Organ Trio (JV) 4p, Jasen Weaver Band (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Retro Electro’s CD-release party (RK) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Trio (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11am, Yvette Voelker and the Swinging Heathens (JV) 5p, Joe Lastie and the New Orleans Sound (JV) 8p, Stuart McNair (JV) 11p Circle Bar: Short Street Band (VR) 6p, SS Boombox, Nap and the Secret Wands, Ground Water Mafia (ID) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Brass-A-Holics (BB) 11p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY) 10p Dragon’s Den: Eight Dice Cloth (JV) 7p, Organami (FK) 10p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Esme Patterson (SO) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: TV Pitchers Comedy (CO) 8p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues: Slippery When Wet Tribute to Bon Jovi (CR) 9p

www.OFFBEAT.com

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Shane Smith and the Saints (FO) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Benjy Davis (FO) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Sasha Masakowski and Amber Matthews (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p, Sista Slick (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Louisiana Music Factory: Lilli Lewis (VR) 2p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 3p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillainaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (TJ) 7p, Miss Mojo, Brass Lightning (VR) 10p Maple Leaf: Mike Dillon Band (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Kristina Morales and Inner Organ Trio (JV) 8:30p Orpheum Theater: Jude-Sounds of New Orleans Benefit feat. Robin Barnes, Irvin Mayfield and friends, Brass-A- Holics (VR) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Deacon John and the Ivories (RB) 9p Siberia: Burlypicks NOLA (BQ) 6p, A Living Soundtrack, Static Masks, Glassing, Capra (RK) 9p Snug Harbor: Herlin Riley Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Egyptian Lover (VR) 8p Spotted Cat: Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Sasha Masakowski (JV) 10p Three Muses: Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier (VR) 11a Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY JULY 17

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance (SI) 12p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Kyle Smith Band (SO) 4p, Simple Sound Retreat (VR) 8p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Nattie Sanchez’s Songwriter Circle (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Sweet Olive Duo (VR) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Soul Brass Band (BB) 10p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Big Business, Andy the Doorbum (ME) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band, Porky’s Groove Machine (FK) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Dinosaurchestra (JV) 10a, Too Darn Hot, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Isla Nola (LT) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: South Jones (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: James Singleton Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Alien Ant Farm (RK) 7p Spotted Cat: Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music Workshop feat. the Revivalists (VR) 1p

www.OFFBEAT.com

Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY JULY 18

Ace Hotel: Messy Cookers (JV) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Helen Gillet (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (PI) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Tom McDermott (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falleta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dmac’s: Danny Alexander Blues Jam Session (BL) 8p Dos Jefes: Carl LeBlanc (RB) 9p Dragon’s Den: New Orleans Oneironauts (JV) 7p, DJ Ill Medina (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (MJ) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Fat Ballerina (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars with Bobby Love and Miss Judy (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY JULY 19

Ace Hotel: Inspektor Sodapop (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: the Cold Water Electric (RK) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Khari Allen Lee and the New Creative Collective (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Nyce (JV) 6p, Matt Perine and Tuba Trinity (VR) 8p Civic Theater: Fitz and the Tantrums, Zella Day (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 9p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Buy Out (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Cool Nasty (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-Stars feat. Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Dick Deluxe’s Wheel of Misfortune (SS) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Trinity Episcopal Church: Organ and Labyrinth with Albinas Prizgintas (CL) 6p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY JULY 20

Ace Hotel: Motel Radio (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Jesse Morrow (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Dave Hickey and Jacob Tanner (VR) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 8p

JULY 2016

O

57

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Circle Bar: the Iguanas (RR) 6p, Turnip King, What Nerve, the Re-Counts (EL) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Dos Jefes: George French Trio (RB) 9p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Dylan LeBlanc, McGregor (SS) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Brahms and Wine with Dr. Jee Yeoun Ko and guests (CL) 7p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Davy Mooney (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Jam (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Honey Savage, Jazz Vipers, Banku Brass Band (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: T-Beauxn and the Rhythm Makers (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (SI) 8p Saenger Theatre: Bring It! Live with Miss D and her Dancing Dolls (VR) 8p Snug Harbor: Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 4p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Schatzy (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Nickie Hill Band (VR) 8p Circle Bar: Rik Slave’s Country Persuasion (CW) 7p, the Two Tens (RK) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Rebirth Brass Band (BB) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Piano Professor Series feat.

Joe Krown (JV) 5p, Michael Watson Quintet (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Slick Skillets, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, the Business, Big Easy Brawlers (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: call club (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a

PLAN A: Fitz and the Tantrums Michael Fitzpatrick and his Tantrums come to the Civic Theater on July 19 for what is expected to be a high energy night. The Civic Theater crowd will move to hits like “Don’t Gotta Work it Out” and “Winds of Change,” and that’s usually a opening assault.

Fitz and the Tantrums formed in Los Angeles in 2008, with their debut album Pickin’ Up The Pieces reaching number one on the Billboard Heatseekers chart in 2010.

SUNDAY JULY 24

THURSDAY JULY 21

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, the Courtyard Kings (JV) 7:30p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Jenna Guidry (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Antoine Diel (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chiba: Riccardo Crespo (LT) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, Lily Kiara and Jimmy Robinson (VR) 8p Circle Bar: Jeremy Joyce (FO) 7p, Swamp Motel (RK) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Little Freddie King (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, Amber Matthews (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Asylum Chorus, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Sweet Cecilia (FO) 6p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Margie Perez and Muevelo (LT) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Leroy Thomas (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: John Mooney and Uganda Roberts (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Miss Sophie Lee CD-release party (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, St. Louis Slim (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

FRIDAY JULY 22

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Raphael Bas (JV) 5p, Willie Green (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Deady Fists of Kung Fu, Prince Tribute (RK) 9p Bombay Club: David Harris (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Jason and Geovane (VR) 5p, Arsene DeLay (VR) 8p, Carolyn Broussard (VR) 11p

58

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Andrew Baham Birthday Bash (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Glen David Andrews (JV) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillainaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Street Legends (BB) 10p Maple Leaf: call club (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Kristina Morales and Inner Organ Trio (JV) 8:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Sabotage (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Sasha Masakowski (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: Nigel Hall Band (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

New Orleans Museum of Art: Banu Gibson (VR) 5:30p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Liberators (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Sturmlandia (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Topcats (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Shannon Powell and the Treme All-Stars (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Gal Holiday (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Walter “Wolfman” Washington (BL) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (CW) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY JULY 23

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Red Organ Trio (JV) 4p, Jasen Weaver Band (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Lynn Drury (SS) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Larry Scala (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11am, Suzy Malone (VR) 5p, Leslie Cooper and Music Street Jazz Band (JV) 8p, Jeremy Joyce (JV) 11p Circle Bar: the Nightcallers (CW) 7p, Sam Vicari, Crescent Lights (ID) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 8p, Lost Bayou Ramblers with Spider Stacy (KJ) 11p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Jamil Sharif Trio (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Rip Off Show (CO) 7p, Hustle feat.

DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues: Todrick Hall (VR) 8:30p

They are currently on tour—billed as the Get Right Back Summer Tour—in support of their 2016 self-titled album.

“HandClap,” from the new record, is a horn-and-beats powered track capturing promise and danger that new romance holds.

With his yell-sing style, Fitzpatrick’s vocals recall classic rock singers.

Backed and joined on vocals by Noelle Scaggs, her powerhouse voice makes this a fun band to see live.

The saxophonist James King, who is a co-founder of the band, generates glowing pop sheen, giving the band its Motown sound.

Expect covers of the Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and the Raconteurs’ “Steady as She Goes,” and of course their big hit, “Out of My League.” If you like to dance and move your hindquarters to saxophone-bathed funk/pop, Fitz and the Tantrums are a must-see.

—Ed. Fitz and the Tantrums with Zella Day play the Civic Theater on Tuesday, July 19. Doors at 7 p.m, show at 8 p.m. Tickets $32.

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance (SI) 12p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Kyle Smith Band (SO) 4p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Haruka Kikuchi (JV) 4p, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Sweet Olive Duo (VR) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 8p Circle Bar: Micah McKee and friends, Blind Texas Marlin (FO) 6p, Country Night with DJ Pasta (CW) 9:30p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Mark Coleman (PI) 9p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p House of Blues: Stephen “Ragga” Marley, Erika Newell, Ranoy Gordon, Rochelle Bradshaw, Nicholas Laraque (RE) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (JV) 10a, Dinosaurchestra, Soul Project (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (JV) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: South Jones (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Fais Do Do with Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Snug Harbor: Tom McDermott plays Scott Joplin (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY JULY 25

Ace Hotel: Inside Voices (VR) 6p, Messy Cookers (JV) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Helen Gillet (JV) 7:30p

www.OFFBEAT.com

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Banks Street Bar: Lauren Sturm’s Piano Showcase (PI) 7p, South Jones (RK) 10p Bombay Club: Tom McDermott (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falleta (VR) 6p, Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dmac’s: Danny Alexander Blues Jam Session (BL) 8p Dos Jefes: Rick Trolsen (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Russell Welch Hot Quartet (JV) 7p, DJ Ill Medina (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (MJ) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Resident Aliens (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars with Bobby Love and Miss Judy (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Siberia: Omni (RK) 9p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Joe Cabral (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass Duo (KJ) 4p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY JULY 26

Ace Hotel: Inspektor Sodapop (VR) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky Trio (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Short Street Band (JV) 9p Blue Nile: Open Ears Music Series feat. Bruce Menesses and the Offensive Jazz Quartet (MJ) 10:30p Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Nyce (JV) 6p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Treme Brass Band (BB) 9p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Baio (ID) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Adonis Rose Quintet (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Willie Green Project (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall-Stars feat. Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Siberia: Skully’z Records Rock-N-Roll Trivia w Alex F. (VR) 6p, Heavy Children, Ghandi Castle, Year of the Vulture, Dentist Rodman (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Phil DeGruy (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY JULY 27

Ace Hotel: Colin Lake (BL) 8p Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Jesse Morrow (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Major Bacon (BL) 10p Bistreaux: Aaron Lopez-Barrantes (SO) 7p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Dave Hickey and Jacob Tanner (VR) 6p Circle Bar: the Iguanas (RR) 6p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (BL) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RK) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 5:30p Dmac’s: Holly Rock (VR) 8p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Marissa Nadler, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Muscle and Marrow (SS) 8:30p

www.OFFBEAT.com

Hi-Ho Lounge: Shamarr Allen, DJ Chicken (FK) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: TJ Norris (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield and the NOJO Jam (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Roamin’ Jasmine, Jazz Vipers, Mutiny Squad (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Charlie Wooton Project feat. Jason Ricci, Doug Belote, Keiko Komaki, Jamison Ross, James Southwell (FK) 9p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a, Krewe du Two (VR) 1p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Johnny J. and the Hitmen (SI) 8p Snug Harbor: Terrance Taplin and Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 4p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Sarah McCoy (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajungrass (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY JULY 28

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, the Courtyard Kings (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Peezy n Dem (RK) 9p Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Marla Dixon Trio (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chiba: Keiko Komaki (PI) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, Bass Sonic with Reggie Scanlan (VR) 8p Circle Bar: Jeremy Joyce (FO) 7p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Young Seminole Hunters Gang (MG) 10p Dmac’s: Outlaw Country Jam with Jason Bishop (CW) 7p Dragon’s Den: the Ill Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p, Black Wall Street (HH) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Sufficients CD-release party (VR) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Blues and Brews with Brint Anderson (BL) 7p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Ashlin Parker Trio (JV) 5p, the James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Vincent Marini (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Slick Skillets, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Margie Perez and Muevelo (LT) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Lil Nathan (ZY) 8:30p Siberia: Solstice, Faetom, Warsenal, Tombstalker (ME) 8p Snug Harbor: Bessie Smith Tribute with Betty Shirley and Will Thompson Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 4p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Brett Richardson (JV) 5p, Tommy Sciple Quartet (JV) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Nonc Nu and Da Wild Matous (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

FRIDAY JULY 29

Ace Hotel: 1 Stage, 2 Queens, 3 Keys (VR) 9p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Raphael Bas (JV) 5p, Willie Green (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Lagniappe Brass Band (BB) 10p Bombay Club: Banu Gibson (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Jerry Jumonville (VR) 5p, the Asylum Chorus (VR) 8p, Michael Liuzza (VR) 11p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p Circle Bar: Rik Slave’s Country Persuasion (CW) 7p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 6p, Colin Lake (BL) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dos Jefes: Tom Fitzpatrick and Turning Point (JV) 10p

Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues: DigiTour Summer feat. Baby Ariel, Jake T. Austin, Dylan Dauzat, Weston Koury, Rickey Thompson (VR) 6:30p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Piano Professor Series feat. Joe Krown (JV) 5p, Irvin Mayfield Quintet (JV) 8p, Burlesque Ballroom feat. Trixie Minx with Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11:59p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Ferguson (FO) 5p, One Tailed Three (FO) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Jeff “Snake” Greenberg (PI) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Luneta Jazz Band, G and the Swinging 3, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Los Po-boy-citos, Resident Aliens (VR) 10p Maple Leaf: Dirty Bourbon River Show (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a New Orleans Museum of Art: Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 5:30p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Steve Mignano (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Sturmlandia (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Davell Crawford CD-release party (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 4p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Glen David Andrews (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons feat. Maggie Havens (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: Shinedown, Halestorm, Black Stone Cherry, Whiskey Myers (RK) 6:30p

SATURDAY JULY 30

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, Red Organ Trio (JV) 4p, Jasen Weaver Band (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Saint Roch (RK) 10p Blue Nile: Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 7p Bombay Club: Matt Johnson (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11am, Harry Mayronne (VR) 5p, Gentilly Stompers with Catie Rodgers (JV) 8p, Rebecca Zoe Leigh (JV) 11p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a, the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Creole Cookery: the Tradsters (JV) 11a d.b.a.: Shag Fest feat. Gravity Mali with Gravity A and Papa Mali (VR) 10p Davenport Lounge (Ritz-Carlton): Jeremy Davenport (JV) 9p Dragon’s Den: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues: Beatles Fest feat. the Topcats, Chuck Credo IV, Randy Zackson, Rockin’ Dopsie and others (CR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): A Tribe Called Quest/U.G.K Tribute (HH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Space Oddi-Tease: A Burlesque Tribute to David Bowie feat. Sweet Crude, Vox and the Hound, Little Maker, Exports (BQ) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Glen David Andrews (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Paul Ferguson (FO) 5p, Invisible Cowboy Band (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillainaires, Maggie Belle Band, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers, No Good Deed (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Chris Klein (RK) 9:30p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: Kristina Morales and Inner Organ Trio (JV) 8:30p

Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Eric Lindell (BL) 9:45p Siberia: Alex McMurray (SS) 6p, Brother Jac (RK) 9p Snug Harbor: Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Jazz Band Ballers (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: Squirrel Nut Zippers (SI) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY JULY 31

Ace Hotel: Bon Bon Vivant’s High Noon Dance (SI) 12p Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p Banks Street Bar: Kyle Smith Band (SO) 4p; Terra Terra (FK) 8p Bombay Club: Tom Hook (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Jazz Youth Showcase (JV) 4p, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Crazy Lobster: the Gator Baits (VR) 11a, Poppy’s All-Stars (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Shag Fest (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Inter Arma, Withered, Something’s Burning (ME) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Little Tropical Isle: Frank Fairbanks (RK) 5p, Mark Parsons (VR) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs (SI) 10a, Eight Dice Cloth, Asylum Chorus, Brad Walker, Higher Heights (VR) 1p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Amanda Walker (PI) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: South Jones (RK) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Saenger Theatre: Ray LaMontagne (SS) 7p Snug Harbor: Jazz Camp Faculty All-Stars (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music Workshop feat. Naughty Professor (VR) 1p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

FESTIVALS JUNE 30-JULY 3 The annual Essence Festival includes an empowerment conference and live music. Essence.com/Festival

SPECIAL EVENTS JULY 4 Go 4th on the River at the French Quarter riverfront features fireworks set to patriotic music.

Go4thOnTheRiver.com JULY 15 The Bastille Day Fete at the New Orleans Museum of Art includes French music, cooking demonstrations, cuisine, kids’ activities and a French dog costume contest.

BastilleDayNola.com JULY 28-30 Festigals is a girlfriends’ getaway weekend in New Orleans featuring a women’s conference, brunch, second line and more. Festigals.org

JULY 2016

O

59

BACKTALK

Leyla McCalla

photo: sarrah danzinger

L

eyla McCalla, a singing, songwriting cellist and former member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, once aspired to being a classical musician laboring in the rarified world of chamber music. She earned a degree in cello performance from New York University in 2007. When she moved to New Orleans in 2010, J.S. Bach and his cello suites were her music foundation. Taking up the busking life, she performed Bach and the music of his Italian Baroque contemporary, Antonio Vivaldi, at Royal and Conti Streets.

But a pre–New Orleans encounter with the creatively borderless cellist Rufus Cappadocia had already diverted McCalla to an exploratory path. Her move to eclectic, rootsy New Orleans provided more new ideas. And then she grew tremendously during a twoand-a-half-year membership in the Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Grammy-winning black string band–inspired group featuring Rhiannon Giddens and Dom Flemons.

In 2013, McCalla released her ecstatically received solo album debut, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes. It features musical settings of Hughes’ poems, original compositions and Haitian folk music. VariColored Songs made international impact. The New York–born daughter of Haitian immigrants found especially responsive audiences in France.

A Day for The Hunter, A Day for The Prey, McCalla’s second solo album, appeared in late May. Like its predecessor, it’s inspired by socially, politically shaped writing, specifically Gage Averill’s 1997 book about music, power and politics in Haiti. The album includes original songs, Louisiana Creole and Cajun music, Haitian songs and American folk music.

McCalla recorded most of A Day for The Hunter, A Day for The Prey at Dockside Studio in Maurice.

Her band, featuring the singer’s husband, guitarist Daniel Tremblay, and violist Free Feral, was joined by guests Rhiannon Giddens, Louis Michot of Lost Bayou Ramblers and New Orleans musicians Sarah Quintana, Aurora Nealand and Jason Jurzak.

Following spring appearances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette, McCalla, Tremblay and Feral will tour the U.S., France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom through 2016. 24 of the dates are in the Frenchspeaking nations of France and Switzerland. www.OFFBEAT.com

France embraced you from the time you released your first album.

It was wonderful. I did so many interviews.

And it’s been a big place for me to go back to.

The audience is super supportive. I get spoiled over there. I think the language is a big part of it. And there’s such history shared by Haiti and Louisiana and France. A lot of the music I’m working on ties all those things together.

Were you aware of your Haitian heritage from an early age?

Both of my parents worked in human rights. They were socially and politically active.

I always knew that Haiti was a troubled place with many inequalities. My parents were forthright with me about that.

When I was 10 years old, I spent the summer in Haiti with my maternal grandmother. At 10, I was interested in a career in journalism—or so

By John Wirt

talks back

I thought. My grandmother took me on walks to interview kids in the streets. I wish I still had that notebook. There must be some incredible stories in there.

Haiti has a big influence on me. I knew I was from there and I felt at home there. In many ways, I wanted to stay there.

What about Haiti resonated with you?

I loved the food. I liked speaking Creole.

I loved the weather and being by the beach and living with the land. It’s the hippie ideal.

And I felt free in Haiti. I really felt like I belonged there, whereas I struggled to find that when I was growing up in New Jersey.

When did you start learning and performing Haitian music?

Probably 2011, 2012. New Orleans pushed me further into my Haitian heritage.

JULY 2016

O

61

B AC

KTA

LK

“I’m following my ears, my instincts. That’s what I’ve been doing since I started playing cello.”

When you visited New Orleans, before you moved here, did you sense connections between Haiti and New Orleans?

Absolutely. I was in New Orleans going, ‘Ah, red beans and rice.’ In Haiti we call it sos pwa.

And the subtropical environment feels like Haiti.

The way people are so laid back reminds me of Haiti. I read a book called The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square [by Ned Sublette]. It blew my mind how intertwined the history of Haiti and Louisiana is.

In your band, you play cello alongside Free Feral’s viola. So there are two lowpitched classical string instruments in your group. These bowed instruments plus the strummed and plucked guitar and banjo produce a distinctive string blend.

Cello and viola match the music we’re playing—even the interpretations of traditional music. Eventually, I’ll add a bass instrument and another soloist, because Daniel and I play mostly rhythm. It’s fun finding different ways for these arrangements to happen.

As far as the creative channels you took after you became disenchanted with classical music, did you have a light bulbover-your-head moment?

I met Rufus Cappadocia. He plays a selfdesigned, five-string electric cello. I saw him performing with a Haitian roots-music band when I was 18 years old. That moment changed my life.

I’d always wanted to follow the thing that I loved, chamber music. But then I was feeling like, ‘Okay, I’m in New York City. All of these amazing musicians experimenting with different things. I want to improvise, too. I don’t want to only play classical music.’

I had certain goals, but I didn’t know how they were going happen for me. I was also feeling, especially at NYU, out of line with the culture of classical music. Right notes. Wrong notes. Strict interpretation. I was bored with it. And it felt so colonial. That frustrated me.

Being a minority was a big part of my experience in the classical world. I felt separated from that world. Then meeting Rufus Cappadocia and seeing him bring out all of these things that I wasn’t learning at school, I felt like, ‘Okay, I believe in those things, too.

They have a place in the world as well.’

62

O

J U LY 2 0 1 6

Did Rufus become a mentor?

He still is a mentor to me. He saw that I understand the mental and spiritual aspects of music, rather than just the physical and technical.

The demands of playing technically demanding classical music can be allconsuming. And classical musicians are supposed to be entirely faithful to the composer’s score. Did you want to be free from that?

I had to be free—because the thing that I love about playing music is playing it with other people. But I’d look around at school and say to myself, ‘I don’t think I really want to be around these people. With all due respect, these are not my people.’

What were you doing during your postNYU years in New York, from 2007 to 2010?

I was bartending and waitressing. I played at weddings. I taught cello. Sometimes I played at the Baptist church in Brooklyn. I was wearing so many hats and getting so burnt out.

A big hustle. You had no time for contemplation?

It was a weird hustle that didn’t fulfill me. It felt more like the rat race.

When did New Orleans enter the picture?

I visited New Orleans in 2007 and was like, ‘Huh, this is a weird touristy place.’ I came again in 2009 and stayed for a month. I was given a bicycle and a place to stay and a gig playing in the street with Tanya [Huang] and Dorise [Blackmon]. They’re part of that whole busking culture in New Orleans.

I went to Jazz Fest, heard some incredible music and ate incredible food. Music was happening everywhere I went. Every night.

People dancing. You don’t get that in New York. Even now, I go places and I’m like, ‘People don’t dance here.’ Everyone is afraid to move their body. Whereas in Louisiana it’s a given. Everyone dances. That’s part of life. And I fell in love with the city. Things were so fluid with music and creativity. I felt at home here.

Why did you finally move to New Orleans?

It was a big deal for me to leave to New York.

All of my family is there. I have lots of friends

there. But I knew that New York wasn’t going to be the place where I can write music. I need silence and space. I didn’t have that in New York.

It was like, gig here, gig there, do this, do that, do all of it—just to make enough to pay the rent.

And then I finally made the move in August 2010. It was the best decision. I was ready for a change. And I knew that I could make some money playing in the street. I played on Royal and Conti in front of the police station. That was so fun. I connected to my cello playing in a way that I hadn’t done in years.

Later, Tim Duffy, a manager of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, found you on Royal Street. He recruited you for the band. How formative were your years with the Chocolate Drops?

Joining the Carolina Chocolate Drops forced me to get myself in gear and work on my solo album in a serious way. Before I even joined the band, I’d started playing tenor banjo. All of a sudden we had these conversations in the band about the significance of the banjo in American musical history and its origins in West Africa. All these things started colliding.

The pieces came together. You found your way.

I don’t know how I ended up playing on Royal Street when the manager of the Carolina Chocolate Drops approached me.

But I knew music was going to bring me somewhere. I wanted to be somewhere.

At the end of the day, it’s about connecting with people. That feeds this whole thing.

That makes me believe in it. And I feel like I’m doing something important. That’s all I really care about. I’m following my ears, my instincts. That’s what I’ve been doing since I started playing cello.

Now I find myself thinking a lot about what to say next. There is so much to say. I think about my own struggles as a new mom.

We’re a small family juggling everything in our lives. A lot of the songs that I’m writing are coming out of that place. Sometimes I think, ‘Ah, maybe this is too real.’ But it has to get personal for people to really get you.

So I’m giving myself permission to write these personal songs. It’s so much about me, but it’s also about all of us.

O www.OFFBEAT.com