OffBeat Magazine Febraury 2019

JOURDAN THIBODEAUX LVVRS GALACTIC BIG CHIEF PIE MARLEY GRAS FEST GUIDE P. 28

NEW ORLEANS MUSIC, FOOD, CULTURE—FEBRUARY 2019

Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

THE ZOMBIES RIC AND RON‘S RECORD LEGACY MARDI GRAS PARADE SCHEDULE

JOURDAN THIBODEAUX LVVRS GALACTIC BIG CHIEF PIE BUBBLE BATH RECORDS

PHoto: GUS BENNETT

.BLAST FROM THE PAST

Prima In Famiglia

Backtalk with Irma Thomas

By Robert Fontenot May 2003

Lena Prima: Coming to terms with her musical bloodline. Page 24 THE ZOMBIES

NEW ORLEANS MUSIC, FOOD, CULTURE—FEBRUARY 2019

Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

RIC AND RON‘S RECORD LEGACY MARDI GRAS PARADE SCHEDULE

Letters 6 Mojo Mouth

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Fresh 8 My Music with A.J. Hall of THE GRïD; Five Questions with Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival Director Joel Hitchcock; My Music with Jason Ricci plus more.

Obituaries Todd Duke Alvin Fielder

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Open-minded and Picky

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Bubble Bath Records brings together a community of artists.

Going to Get Me Some Dirt

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Jourdan Thibodeaux gets everybody’s attention.

The One That’s Got the Mojo The Ric and Ron Records legacy.

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I Believe in Rock ’n’ Roll

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River Gibson of LVVRS is not faking anything.

Spirit and Tradition

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The culture is for everybody, says Monogram Hunters Big Chief Pie.

OffBeat Eats

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Restaurant Review

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Michael Dominici reviews Brennan’s.

Reviews 34 Galactic, The Iceman Special, Johnette Downing with Scott Billington, Max Moran & Neospectric, Johnny Sonnier & Jimmy Breaux, L.E.S. Douze, Peter Holsapple, Alex Chilton and more.

Listings 44 Mardi Gras Parade schedule

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Backtalk with Colin Blunstone of the Zombies 53 www.OFFBEAT.com

The Ric and Ron records feature in this issue brings us back to Robert Fontenot’s 2003 interview with Irma Thomas.

“Well, sure enough, he [Tommy Ridgley] came to my house, got me, and took me to Ron records.

Dorothy Labostrie came in and she had “You Can Have My Husband.” She taught it to me that day.”

(To read more this issue can be purchased at http:// www.offbeat.com/shop/ back-issues/2003/offbeatmagazine-may-2003/) FEBRU A RY 2019

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Letters

“Look at the less-hyped categories, year after year, and see some very worthy authentic roots artists get honored and have their careers boosted. (Lost Bayou Ramblers, anyone?)”

—Tom Roche, New Orleans, Louisiana

Bloomington Mardi Gras I would like to give a gift subscription to my brother for Christmas. It is the only thing he wanted and needed. He has had a few really rough years of late. He runs a pub in Bloomington, Indiana called Players Pub, he has all kinds of music playing there from blues, jazz, to open mic night. He just fell in love with your city and Mardi Gras. He even started his own krewe, “Monkeyheads.” We have a Skull and Bones krewe that starts our Mardi Gras off at 6 a.m. and continues at the pub until about 4 p.m. with a sidewalk parade. Pubgoers dress in costumes and come from as far as Vermont to attend every year. He even has bands from the Big Easy like Bonerama and Jason Ricci.

I just want to give my brother something he can look forward to every month. I know he truly enjoys reading it. He consults it like his holy grail when we can afford to come to the Big Easy for Mardi Gras. We come down the weekend the parades start so we can collect beads to bring back to BTown for our parade and party.

—Dena Estivill, Bloomington, Indiana

Banned by the Grammys The following letter is in response to Chris Thomas King’s open letter saying he’s been banned by the Grammys.—Ed. I am a longtime Grammy member/voter and I want to say it honestly pains me to read Chris Thomas King’s open letter on the OffBeat website.

I’m familiar with the workings of Grammy selection committees (but not in the Blues field) with which Chris takes issue. May I help clear the air? These opinions are my own.

Some background: There are around 80 Grammy categories now. That’s well over 300 nominees each year. I urge readers to look over those nominees in total. These nominees and winners are not “continuing a racist trope” in his words. You will not see corporate overlords dictating pop sales. Yes, the larger pop music categories can be popularity contests. I get that. The Rolling Stones did indeed win a Blues Grammy for their recent all-blues album (even after all these decades, only their third competitive Grammy).

Alas, in many creative awards arenas,

marketing/sales efforts sometimes triumph over craft.

But I think the Recording Academy has made the effort to find a balance. Look at the lesshyped categories, year after year, and see some very worthy authentic roots artists get honored and have their careers boosted. (Lost Bayou Ramblers, anyone?)

In the distant past, the Grammys had a few thousand entries each submitted year. This year, 2018, they will sort, categorize, and attempt to apply uniform consideration to over 20,000 recordings. There are 22 screening committees, each with around a dozen carefully vetted experts and musicians in that field, who volunteer their time. There is robust debate. But in the end, I can assure you, there is a strict adherence to fairness and an equal playing field.

There has to be a consistent definition for each genre—again, in the name of fairness. Yet Academy definitions for genres don’t always align with an individual’s definitions. Some fusion artists may even suggest we let go of all the genres. But then what? Whom get honored, and how?

People who commented on Chris’ open letter, after listening to his whole album, say they heard some wonderful blues, but also say they heard an excellent fusion of a variety of non-blues genres, done with creativity and passion. Chris was not “removed from the ballot” or “banished” (his words) from the Grammys. That would be a travesty. While Chris is a blues artist, his current album was deemed not predominantly a blues album, but rather a better fit in the Best Americana Album category.

I respectfully submit this is not an “usurpation of his culture.” It is an equally worthy category, where Rosanne Cash, Levon Helm, Mavis Staples and William Bell have been honored in the past. Let’s talk.

I don’t speak on behalf of NARAS; in the end I’m a fan who holds Mr. King’s artistry in the highest regard. Anyone is welcome to apply to join the Recording Academy and help make a very complicated process run smoothly each year.

I just want everyone to know each committee decision is carefully considered, and race plays no factor. We are music-loving people as passionate as Chris Thomas King, trying to do our best.

—Tom Roche, New Orleans, Louisiana

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

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Louisiana Music, Food & Culture

February 2019 Volume 32, Number 2 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com Managing Editor Joseph L. Irrera, josephirrera@offbeat.com Consulting Editor John Swenson Layout and design Eric Gernhauser, eric@offbeat.com Listings Editor Katie Walenter, listings@offbeat.com Contributors Stacey Leigh Bridewell, Michael Dominici, Herman Fuselier, Jeff Hannusch, David Kunian, Amanda Mester, Brett Milano, Michael Patrick Welch, Paddy Wells, Dan Willging, John Wirt, Geraldine Wyckoff Cover Gus Bennett Web Editor Amanda Mester, amanda@offbeat.com Videographer/Web Specialist Noe Cugny, noecugny@offbeat.com Copy Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, theo@offbeat.com Advertising Sales/Promotions Coordinator Melinda Koslowsky (tutti@offbeat.com) Camille A. Ramsey (camille@offbeat.com) Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Interns Mia Fenice, Lucy Foreman, Catie Sanders Distribution Patti Carrigan, Doug Jackson OffBeat (ISSN# 1090-0810) is published monthly in New Orleans by OffBeat, Inc., 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116 (504) 944-4300 • fax (504) 944-4306 e-mail: offbeat@offbeat.com, web site: www.offbeat.com

/offbeatmagazine Copyright © 2019, 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

Pushy Broads

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his is another “year of the woman”—I mean, women.

There are so many talented women in this world, it’s time that we females put our heads together to come up with some great ideas, and even more importantly, ways that we can work together to capitalize on our strengths.

Kathleen “Kassy” McCall, Monica Kelly and I are now collaborating on an effort to honor local musician icons and do good as well.

Kassy is the creator of the NOLA Til Ya Die merchandise brand. Having been in business successfully for many years postKatrina, she suffered a terrible loss

www.OFFBEAT.com

last year when her retail store and warehouse burned to the ground in Mid-City. I had done business with Kassy and got to know and like her personally, as well as admire her business acumen, so I was also pretty upset with her about the terrible fire.

I had met Monica Kelly through Elsa Hahne, OffBeat’s longtime art director and photographer.

Monica’s a fantastic graphic designer and a muralist who’s worked on several OffBeat covers as well as some t-shirts (which we had sold out).

So what could be better than to combine the talents and strengths of three creative entrepreneurs to create a business that uses all of

By Jan Ramsey our smarts and creative juices?

Thus we created “Music Til Ya Die,” a collaboration where we’ll work together to create merchandise that will showcase local musicians, and also provide them with a potential source of merch and income.

Our first effort was a paean to Professor Longhair. We created a t-shirt that we sold at the Longhair 100th Birthday Tribute at Tipitina’s in December, and we sold out of our first run of shirts. Professor Longhair’s family will receive a percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the shirts.

Our second effort is our tribute to Walter “Wolfman” Washington, and the shirts will be available at

the 2018 Best of the Beat Awards on January 31, as well as on the OffBeat, NOLA Til Ya Die and Monica Kelly Studio websites.

Again a portion of the proceeds will be given to Washington.

We also plan to create a line of merchandise where we can donate to the New Orleans Musicians’ Assistance Foundation (the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic) on a regular basis. We plan to release a new design every month, which you’ll be able to preview online and in the pages of OffBeat. We’d love to work with other musicians who need innovative merchandise, too.

Pretty good idea coming from three pushy broads, right? O

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photo: NOE CUGNY

Soundcheck

Five Questions with Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival Director Joel Hitchcock How did you first become interested in creating events celebrating Caribbean culture?

My father is a professional jazz and blues pianist and my siblings all play instruments, Joel Hitchcock (right) with so my whole life our house always reverberated with rhythm. Throughout stage manager Dorian Francis my life I have been blessed with the (left) and Tikisha Walwynopportunity to travel to and live in New Duquesnay (center).

Orleans and eight Caribbean countries and soak up a varied and holistic view of Caribbean culture. All of the exposure to Caribbean culture formed the foundation for my future endeavors.

Why is it important to you to promote Caribbean culture in New Orleans?

Since its inception New Orleans has been widely considered as the northernmost city in the Caribbean, due to its location and status as a major trading center. This Caribbean vibe can be felt in New Orleans’ spicy culinary menagerie of flavors, infectious music, bacchanalian Carnival, hot, sticky weather, gaping potholes, colorful linguistic stylings, colorful French colonial architecture and the general festive culture and laissez le bon temps rouler attitude. So I don’t feel as if I am so much bringing Jamaican and Caribbean to New Orleans but rather shedding light on something that’s always been here.

What would you say is the most fascinating part about Caribbean history in New Orleans?

To me personally, as a reggae fanatic and New Orleanian, the most interesting historical aspect is New Orleans’ relationship with reggae music. In the 1950s, radio waves carrying tunes from Fats Domino, Jelly Roll Morton, Champion Jack Dupree and Professor Longhair glided across the Caribbean Sea to Kingston. The sweet sounds of New Orleans fused with Jamaican mento to produce ska and rocksteady, the precursors of reggae. If anyone is curious, check out Ernest & Jackie’s version of Fats Domino’s ‘Sick and Tired.’

Who are some Caribbean artists/musicians based in the area you’d recommend to readers?

Alexey Marti, a world-class Cuban born percussionist, has a phenomenal band that creates absolutely infectious rhythms. Ambush Reggae Band, Higher Heights and the Claude Bryant and the AllStars come to mind as the top reggae bands in the city. DJ T-Roy is the Reggae Don Dadda in New Orleans. DJ Raj Smoove, the greatest DJ in the world!

Outside of the Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival, what are some events you organize to celebrate Caribbean culture?

We put on the NOLA Caribbean Festival Experience, which is four days (June 20–23) and consists of eight events including Caribbean pool parties, and a Caribbean Carnival parade. We also put on the NOLA Reggae Fest (October 19) which is going into its second year and Soca Fête Festival (2019 date TBA).

The Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival will be held on Saturday, February 9, at Central City BBQ. —Amanda Mester

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MY MUSIC

With A.J. Hall of THE GRïD

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y father’s a bass player, so I was always around music. I’m one of the few funk/jazz/hip-hop/gospel musicians that didn’t come up from a really early age. I’ve always been musically minded, but I didn’t really start playing until I was 15 or 16.

There’s been a lot of falling in love with music later in life, when you’re a lot more mature. I’m able to keep some distance from the music and look at it from a contrarian perspective. I’m much more even-keeled because I didn’t get into it early enough to be indoctrinated.

THE GRïD is a band I wanted to start because I was hearing bands playing hip-hop music live and it sounded like they hadn’t ever listened to the record before they were told they were going to play it. There are not really a lot of bands that delve into what the record sounds like and are able to recreate what the samples sound like. When you’re playing hip-hop that’s pre-2009, you’re dealing with samples and weird sounds.

I wanted to get a band together who were really in tune to that.

For those who don’t think of hip-hop music as being musical, you don’t have to feel alienated. I’m a white kid who was born in the suburbs. I’m not exactly the poster child for understanding hip-hop music. Take all the glorification of drug culture and street culture off the table. We’ve all watched Goodfellas and The Godfather. People glorify when Sidney Bechet pulled a gun on somebody but, ‘Oh, this rap music is bad.’ Take all that off the table, and it really is just storytelling at its finest. With Nas in particular, it’s imagery. For those who don’t understand hip-hop, you’re talking about songwriting like Leonard Cohen. Nas has that ability to hit you with words and you immediately see a 3D image in your mind’s eye.

There’s moments on hip-hop records that don’t translate well to your musician brain, because we’re all trained and thinking of all this technical stuff that has to do with just our instruments. We get away from what the thing sounds like and feels like.

For the show on February 16, I’ve been trying to calculate how to get into that first downbeat in Nas’ ‘New York State of Mind’—because that’s the most important thing that’s going to happen in New Orleans that night.”

—Amanda Mester A Tribute to Nas feat. Elzhi the Elmatic MC and THE GRïD, Saturday, February 16, 11 p.m. at Blue Nile.

Disclaimer: This event is being produced by OffBeat’s digital editor, Amanda Mester. www.OFFBEAT.com

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Todd Duke

photo: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

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(1970 – 2019)

odd Duke was a fine guitarist and, importantly, a musician who listened.

Those qualities made him a much sought after and appreciated sideman and carried through to his work as a leader. Duke, who spent 20 years backing, recording and touring the globe with vocalist John Boutté, was renowned for his work with bassist/singer George French, and received praise for his tasteful playing on vocalist Germaine Bazzle’s 2017 release, Swingin’ at Snug, died on January 6, 2019 at the age of 48.

“Todd was my legs—he was my support,” a saddened Boutté says. “It’s hard to find an accompanist that knows every bit of your nuances and can straighten up your messes when you mess up.”

Duke, a New Orleans native, began playing guitar at age eight and naturally dug into the rock ’n’ roll of the times, with Steve Cropper being an early influence.

“I liked the sound of the guitar and thought it looked cool and like a lot of fun,” Duke said in a 2009 interview when he was inducted into New Orleans Magazine’s Jazz All-Stars.

The guitarist became more aware of jazz while attending Slidell High School and the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). During that time, he discovered masters of the instrument like George Benson and Kenny Burrell. “Jazz really bit me,” Duke once remembered while crediting guitarist/educator Hank Mackie as offering him a www.OFFBEAT.com

“lifetime of knowledge.”

Duke gained greater recognition on the city’s music scene when he began playing at Donna’s Bar & Grill, especially at drummer Bob French’s immensely popular Monday night gigs. It was at Donna’s that he also met and eventually played with trumpeter Leroy Jones and drummer Bunchy Johnson. Duke credited Johnson with introducing him to Wardell Quezergue, which led to him to getting a spot in the legendary bandleader and arranger’s big band.

“I loved his musicality and versatility,” says Boutté, with whom the guitarist is most associated. Duke was heard on some five-plus albums released with Boutté as leader. “Todd wasn’t stuck in one style because he couldn’t do that with me. First thing I told him was ‘Man, you have to listen to some Danny Barker.’ He adhered to Danny’s advice: ‘Keep all your pockets open—your gospel pockets, jazz pockets, bebop, country western pockets.’ Todd was just able to switch over where some guys are just like, ‘I’m not playin’ that.’ We had so many musical adventures all over the world. He was humble and the best sideman you could get. He just played the music. He tried to chill people out. Our last gig together was at a NOCCA benefit—he was still giving.”

Todd Duke, a well-loved and well-respected man and musician, once expressed his reflections on music by simply saying, “It’s all about time.”

—Geraldine Wyckoff FEBRU A RY 2019

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My Music

Joan of Arc parade 2019

Jason Ricci

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photo: courtesy of the artist

“I

remember my mother singing ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ to me in my crib, along with ‘One Little Indian Boy.’ Then I got into her records—Janis Joplin, Neil Diamond and stuff. But she eventually bought a Howlin’ Wolf record and me and my brother made fun of it because of the cover. But when I finally heard it, I listened to it every night through all of high school.

The Janis Joplin stuff had a huge Jason Ricci impact on me, too. Watching her perform on old VHS tapes definitely touched and shaped how I approach the stage—just all naked and vulnerable.

I fell in love with the harmonica at 14. By 20 I was working professionally.

Little Walter, Paul Butterfield, George ‘Harmonica’ Smith, Junior Wells and James Cotton were big influences early on. Later I met Pat Ramsey, who was one of Johnny Winter's guys. I moved to Memphis to be near him. He became a lot like a father to me. The whole skeletal structure of how I play is basically an audio X-ray of Pat. I just added a lot of bebop glisses and some chromaticism to it. As far as music outside of harmonica, it's been Louis Jordan, Bird, Miles, Hendrix, Joplin, Canned Heat, Monk, Sun Ra, Roland Kirk, Art Pepper.

New Orleans was the first city I ever went to on tour. I was living and eventually touring out of Jackson, Mississippi. We came to New Orleans and were driving around the Quarter—I saw men holding hands, and heard all this funky jazz music. I was in the closet as bisexual/queer so it was liberating just to see that and have it be a backdrop so funky and beautiful, it all looked like a Tim Burton set to me. Later I would come here at least five or six times a year to visit or play. I don't think anyone needs my opinion on the significance of New Orleans music, but music and musicians from here have changed the face of funk, rock, jazz and blues. They changed me, too. Dr John sang ‘Such a Night’ to me from the stage at Jubilee Jam in Jackson—it was beautiful and scary at the same time.

I had to come back to live here. Really live here—especially to live here sober. I wanted to be around it, hear it on ’OZ, be part of it, sleep it, breathe it. Let those beats in the cracks infect every pore of my skin and seep in, that's all I want. Just to be in this magazine since I was 21 years old, I'm 44 now, this is a dream come true.”

—Paddy Wells

SWEET TWEETS James Karst @jameskarst Concept: Choppa Grows Funk.

Michaelpatrickwelch @mpatrickwelch My 9-year-old daughter Cleopatra and I, on bass and guitar respectively, just jammed Rihanna's "Love On the Brain" (a beautiful Irma Thomas rip off, to be sure) for a half hour or more. Amazingly fun for dad. Wow. Quin Kirchner‫@ ‏‬QKirchner Mr. Fielder. You taught me so much. Humility, awareness, deference, respect, tradition. When I think of you, I picture an ideal being.

Always open, willing to discuss & share, teach & listen. You’ll always be a light guiding me. Rest. #AlvinFielder Tom McDermott @TomMcDPiano An old limerick I feel is apropos: Whenever the Saints fall apart It breaks the Orleanian heart.

We feel bereft / cuz all we got left is music and eating and art.

Wendell Pierce @WendellPierce The Rev. Jerome LeDoux, former St. Augustine pastor, dies at 88. A soulful man that touched me very deeply. May God Bless him. Rest In Peace

Rev. Jerome LeDoux

www.OFFBEAT.com

photo: Kim Welsh

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Alvin Fielder

PHOTo: DEMIAN ROBERTS

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(1935 – 2019)

have Max Roach dancing in my head,” drummer Alvin Fielder once said when asked about his approach to his instrument. Fielder, is most recognized for co-founding, along with saxophonist Kidd Jordan, the Improvisational Arts Quintet. It was in Chicago that he gained a reputation for being a founder of the progressive Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) and his work with forward-thinking musicians like pianists Sun Ra and Muhal Richard Abrams, saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell and others.

Alvin Fielder, who was born into a musical family in Meridian, Mississippi, died on January 5, 2019 at the age of 83.

Those hip to Fielder often categorized him as a free jazz or avant-garde drummer. He viewed it differently. “I just call it modern music,” Fielder once said in describing the style of jazz that he and his fellow musicians pursue. “Bebop was the foundation of all of our music. The music was created in New Orleans and everything is an extension of that.”

Surprising, perhaps, is Jordan’s observation on the inner workings of Fielder’s playing.

Fielder was encyclopedic in his knowledge of jazz and one could often hear his references to the history of jazz as he sat behind the drums. Jordan takes it one step further, saying, “Alvin was a bebop drummer at heart.

He played loose but at heart he loved Max Roach and those cats. www.OFFBEAT.com

He came up with the beboppers.”

“The first time Kidd and I played together in 1974 it was like instead of a kinship it was a twin-ship,” Fielder remembered in a 2017 interview. Fielder's pairing with Jordan, a native of New Orleans, was a natural as both explored jazz's outer reaches. However, the longevity of this relationship remained remarkable as Fielder lived in Jackson, Mississippi since returning to his home state in the 1970s to take over his family’s pharmacy after a decade in Chicago.

Fielder spent some time in New Orleans in the early 1950s while studying pharmacy at Xavier University and took this opportunity to seek out instruction from master drummer Ed Blackwell. It was a relationship and friendship that would last a lifetime. “I learned a whole lot from him—musicality, technique and somewhat of a sense of humor,” Fielder said. The drummer then headed to further his education at Texas Southern University and in 1958 pursued his graduate studies in pharmacy at the University of Illinois.

“Alvin brought another vibe than what was happening here,” says Jordan of their initial meeting.

“He had been with the AACM so he had fresh ideas.”

“Alvin had a big heart and he always wanted to play,” Jordan says with affection. “He could play loose with us and tight with other people. He loved music more than anything else in the world. Music was his thing. He was a soldier.”

—Geraldine Wyckoff FEBRUA RY 2 019

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BUBBLE BATH RECORDS

Open-minded and Picky

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ehind every major talent stands some invisible support system—or so the untrue saying goes. In reality, many New Orleans musical acts count only their band’s members as advocates. And most musicians simply can’t pull triple duty as artists, business managers and PR flacks. This is part of the reason why music has become so monetarily devalued in modern society. And it is the entire reason for the existence of New Orleans record label Bubble Bath Records.

“I was working in various studios, playing guitar and doing some production work, and meeting many of our city’s incredible musicians, in particular younger musicians from NOCCA, who were making original music,” says Bubble Bath Records cofounder John Maestas, who moved to New Orleans from Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2012.

“We had a music scene going, but the bands would sometimes be playing on the same nights in different areas of the city. We decided we needed to connect more, so instead of each artist pushing their thing, we put all the original bands under one umbrella and we push the umbrella.

Everyone agreed we could all use a little help and support.”

Maestas longed to serve as his peer group’s support system, and he began working to help his musical comrades and collaborators. Quickly, however, he realized the support system that he hoped to provide also needed its own support system. He decided to assemble a team. “The first person I reached out to was [New Orleans native] Alex Peña,” he remembers.

“We started reading all these books on management together, everything you’d need to know about the music business. We even

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(Back, l-r) Elijah Carroll, Violeta Del Rio, Patricia Moscardó, (Front) Alex Peña, John Maestas went through my notes from music business class, and that all became the foundation and infrastructure of what would eventually become Bubble Bath Records.”

The duo went on to include Violeta Del Rio from Spain as international head of operations.

“Each of us has like three or four bands that we represent. I handle the European bands,” says Del Rio, who also plays keyboards and sings in bilingual Bubble Bath bands Biglemoi and Juan Tigre. “While focusing on international business, I’ve been studying the licensing program, and building relationships overseas in hopes of bringing our bands to Europe next summer.

Goal number one is to bring the music out, so that people who are not from here know about the community vibe that Bubble Bath is bringing.”

Del Rio’s cousin Patricia Moscardo, who moved to New

by Michael Patrick Welch

Orleans in 2014, became Bubble Bath’s in-house graphic designer and, soon after, Elijah Carroll moved to New Orleans from San Francisco, where he’d spent several years working with indie record labels.

New Orleans native son Max Moran’s progressive funk ensemble Neospectric dropped its debut album in October. “People usually think of New Orleans music as traditional jazz or funk like the Meters, and this label has a little of everything,” attests Moran. “It’s provided a platform and a spotlight for our sort of improvisational fusion—if you want to use that term. And then they put us on bills with great bands like Nebula Rosa, who is kind of a rock band and do not sound like us. But the great thing is they can put us on a roster with any of their bands, and we all have similar tastes and can play together.”

Moran says he is thrilled with the many ways Bubble Bath has freed him up to just worry about being an artist. “It is kind of stress-free; they handle the technical side,” he says.

This music business education bent is an important part of Bubble Bath Records. “We teach our artists what they need to know so that they can succeed and set themselves up for a lifetime career,” says Maestas, who explains that the basic Bubble Bath contract is essentially a distribution, licensing and promotional agreement. But then the label also sends their artists to classes and workshops on these subjects. And while the label does not provide monetary support to their bands, “We do bring this community of 20 artists who support one another,” which means members of the Bubble Bath community get special discounts at some local recording studios, and access to classes in publishing, copywriting and other subjects pertinent to working musicians. “This way, when a major label or some bigger opportunity comes around, they know what they’re getting into,” says Maestas, who admits, “We are the incubator label.”

The five partners are always on the lookout for new bands.

Maestas qualifies that his crew is open-minded but also picky: “People send in submissions, and we all decide together what will fit with the catalog of music we have now. Along with this democratic vetting process, we also reach out to bands we’d like to sign on. But we’re all music makers and that’s how we came to it,” Maestas reminds me, “so it’s very important that we have heartfelt relationships with each of the bands on our label.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

photo: courtesy of Bubble Bath Records

Bubble Bath Records brings together a community of artists.

JOURDAN THIBODEAUX

Going to Get Me Some Dirt

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arry Ancelet has heard more Cajun musicians than he can remember.

A retired professor of French and folklore at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Ancelet hosted “Rendez-Vous des Cajuns,” a bayou-style, Grand Ole Opry broadcast, for more than two decades.

But when Jourdan Thibodeaux came over his car radio last year, Ancelet had to park and call the DJ. Weeks later, Ancelet witnessed Thibodeaux have the same effect at a Lafayette night club filled with locals and visitors attending a music conference.

“The Lafayette crowds can be rowdy and talkative, especially in what looks like a bar,” said Ancelet. “He started singing a song and everybody heard him.

“You could have heard a pin drop in there. He got everybody's attention immediately. When he got off stage, I told him, 'Jourdan, that was something. You quieted everybody down.' He said, 'When a pig farmer starts singing, which is one of the lyrics, people have a tendency to shut up.’”

Crowds near and far are shutting up to listen to this French-speaking, fiddle-playing, 32-going-on-72 pig farmer and his debut CD, Boue, Boucane, et Bouteilles (or “Mud, Smoke and Bottles”). Released on Valcour Records, the 12-song, all-original and all-French album swings with Thibodeaux’s downhome stories backed by a stellar band, Les Rôdailleurs, filled with Grammy nominees, like Cedric Watson and Joel Savoy.

The disc grooves out of the gate with “Belle Menteuse,” an encounter with a “beautiful liar”— and her husband—at a dancehall.

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“Blues Reconnaisant,” the tune that made Ancelet park his car on the busiest street in Lafayette, pulls from juré, the call-andresponse hollers at the foundation of zydeco.

Savoy’s guitar solos soothe a lonesome ballad, “Si Je Reviens Pas” (If I Don’t Come Back).

“Cher Créole” is bathed in the

with a song.”

Those songs have helped Thibodeaux land impressive gigs, from Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, the annual Cajun and zydeco music Woodstock in Lafayette, to the Square Roots Fest in Chicago and Grou Tyme 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I love that the people love it,” said Thibodeaux. “It does

influences of Creole fiddling great Canray Fontenot.

“Homme Brisé” tells the story of a “broken man,” too late for forgiveness for his wicked ways.

“Most of the songs are just honest,” said Thibodeaux. “It’s like putting your diary out there in front of everybody. That’s how I feel today and that’s what we’re singing about today.

“I spend a lot of time working, riding in the field or working on a tractor. I don’t play the radio when I’m driving. I set in the quiet. After a while, you get to tapping, you get to singing.

Before you know it, you end up

Jourdan Thibodeaux, left, and Cedric Watson perform at the 2018 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in Lafayette.

by Herman Fuselier

something to you that I can’t explain. It makes you feel good to see people feeling good and to know you’re making them feel good. That I like.

“But at the same time, at the end of the day, I do that for me. I just enjoy it. I’m not trying to be famous or rich. I’m enjoying myself and doing my thing.”

The response is remarkable for music that Thibodeaux thought

would only be a family keepsake.

Diagnosed with throat cancer at the age of 21, Thibodeaux said doctors planned to remove his larynx. Thibodeaux wanted his voice recorded before it totally disappeared.

“I kept singing at the house, but I said, at the minimum, I would record something and give it to my kids,” said Thibodeaux, who lives in Cypress Island, Louisiana. “If ever something would happen and I can’t talk, or if I’m dead, they would at least have something to say, ‘That was Daddy.’”

Now cancer-free with his voice intact, Thibodeaux cherishes his newfound celebrity. But his folksy personality and work ethic remain untouched. When he's not playing music, Thibodeaux raises hogs and chickens on his 42-acre farm. He's an owner and partner in businesses that make the Cajun stuffed sausage known as boudin and other south Louisiana delicacies.

The music, farming and food businesses put Thibodeaux closer to his dream—his own herd of cows.

“Since I turned 11, I wanted some cows. That’s what I wanted for Christmas. We didn’t have money for that and we didn’t have no place.

“I said, ‘Mama, we could put a little cow in the yard and I can cut some hay. I’m going to build me a herd.’ But Mama said, ‘When you grown, get your own damn land, go buy your own damn cow.’

That’s been the goal ever since.

“That’s 21 years ago. Every day of work has been working towards that. I’m going to get me some dirt. I’m going to put me some fence. I’m going to put me some cows.”

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PHOTO: David Simpson

Jourdan Thibodeaux gets everybody's attention.

Ric and Ron Records

The One That’s Got the Mojo

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uring the 2018 holiday season, Shirley and Lee’s 1956 hit, “Let the Good Times Roll,” accompanied Walmart’s Christmas-themed TV commercial. In 2016, Professor Longhair’s 1959 recording of “Go to the Mardi Gras” accompanied Subaru’s “Jr. Driver” spot.

Classics from the golden age of New Orleans rhythm and blues are often licensed for film and TV. That would surprise the musicians, songwriters and producers who created the music. They lived one recording session to the next, never thinking the music would endure into the next century.

Joe Ruffino’s Ric and Ron record labels operated from 1958 through 1962. Despite that brief existence, the 70 singles Ruffino released yielded many local classics. In 1959, Ron Records issued Professor Longhair’s definitive recording of his Carnival anthem “Go to the Mardi Gras.” The following year Ron released Irma Thomas’ debut, “Don’t Mess with My Man.” A regional smash and national hit, it launched Thomas’ nearly 60-year career.

In 1960, Ric Records issued Joe Jones’ “You Talk Too Much.” A novelty item arranged by Harold Battiste, it rose to number three on Billboard’s pop chart. Tragically for Ruffino and his independent labels, he lost the rights to the recording and the financial windfall it generated. Because Jones had previously recorded “You Talk Too Much” for Roulette Records in New York, Roulette’s Mafiaconnected owner, Morris Levy, claimed Ric’s recording of the song after it entered the charts.

Nevertheless, “You Talk Too Much” belongs to the Ric and Ron legacy, joining “Go to the Mardi Gras,” “Don’t Mess with My Man,” Al Johnson’s “Carnival

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Irma Thomas and Scott Billington

Time,” Johnny Adams’ “A Losing Battle” and “I Won’t Cry,” Eddie Bo’s “Check Mr. Popeye” and recordings by Chris Kenner, Tommy Ridgley, Robert Parker and Barbara Lynn.

Feelin’ Right Saturday Night: The Ric & Ron Anthology, released in vinyl and CD formats in conjunction with the labels’ 60th anniversary, features 28 Ric and Ron recordings. Scott Billington, a Grammy-winning producer and former artists-and-repertoire vice president at Rounder Records, coproduced the collection.

Beginning in the 1980s, Billington produced new albums by former Ric and Ron artists Thomas and Adams. “It’s amazing,” he said of the labels’ catalog. “Joe Ruffino was a hustler and he had the sense to hire really good people to make those records.”

The behind-the-scenes talent at Ric and Ron included producerarranger-musicians Battiste, Edgar Blanchard and the future Dr. John, Mac Rebennack. The label also benefitted from local songwriters

by John Wirt

including Rebennack, Reggie Hall and the composer of Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti,” Dorothy LaBostrie.

Ric and Ron also captured New Orleans R&B in transition. “The shift from the Fats Domino era into something that had more funk in it,” Billington said. “The Eddie Bo and Johnny Adams recordings stepped away from the Domino– Dave Bartholomew sound and the ‘studio band’ at Cosimo Matassa’s studio.”

No less than Matassa, owneroperator of the city’s major recording studios, told Billington that Adams was the best singer New Orleans ever produced.

“Johnny was one of those people who had the physical capacity to push his body to the limit and be the best at what he did,” Billington said. “He not only had the physical attributes necessary to be a great, beautiful voice, he had the ear, too.

He could sing anything.”

The Ric & Ron Anthology includes Adams’ Rebennack-produced “A Losing Battle.” “It was the perfect song for him,” Billington said.

“Johnny made great records all along, but Mac really had a handle on who Johnny was.”

Nearly a decade younger than Adams, Irma Thomas was 19 when “Don’t Mess with My Man” reached number 22 on Billboard’s R&B chart. “I was so naïve back then,” she says in the anthology’s liner notes. “But I came in and did my best. I stepped up to the microphone and sang—that was my job.”

Billington later produced Thomas’ Grammy-winning 2006 album, After the Rain. When he listens to her Ron recordings, he said, “I hear this brash young woman in full possession of her creative and vocal powers, just going for it.”

Professor Longhair’s “Go to the Mardi Gras” and Johnson’s “Carnival Time” can both make a claim to being Mardi Gras’ greatest hit.

“The energy in ‘Go to the Mardi Gras’ and John Boudreaux’s drumming really drive it home,” Billington said. “Fess cut that song many times, but this is the one that’s got the mojo.”

Another anthology track, Bo’s “Every Dog Got His Day,” is New Orleans proto-funk. “On Ric and Ron records, you hear the first ruminations of funk in New Orleans music,” Billington said.

The Ric and Ron era ended in 1962, after Ruffino experienced multiple heart attacks. He died just a few years later, at 43. His legacy endures.

“So many musicians in that era—not just at Ric and Ron—thought their music was ephemeral,” Billington said. “They thought it would last as long as it was on the radio. Nobody had any idea that they were making music people would be listening to 50 and 60 years later.”

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PHOTO: courtesy of Concord Records

The Ric and Ron Records legacy.

LVVRS

I Believe in Rock ’n’ Roll River Gibson of LVVRS is not faking anything.

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really came from my heart. I’m into doing what’s in my heart and not faking anything.”

A former music business and public relations student at the University of Louisiana Lafayette, Gibson is taking a strategic approach to LVVRS. He doesn’t

book LVVRS in bars, for instance.

Instead, the band played opening act gigs at venues including the House of Blues in Houston, Texas Club in Baton Rouge and Howlin’ Wolf in New Orleans.

“With this approach, every show just gets better,” Gibson said. “We just opened for the Struts (a rising British rock band) at Howlin’ Wolf.

It was sold out. Instead of playing all the time for 40, 50 people, I’d rather play for 600 people who like music I like.”

Apropos for LVVRS, Gibson, bassist Zac Lyons (previously in Oh, Rhien) and drummer Brenon Wilson formed LVVRS on Valentine’s Day 2018. Gibson hopes LVVRS can bring rock back into mainstream music. “There’s not much rock ‘n’ roll in the Top 40,” he said. “But I

by John Wirt

at 17. Tandem continued until he auditioned in New Orleans for the 2015 season of “American Idol.”

With Harry Connick Jr., Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban judging, Gibson was cut early, during the show’s “Hollywood Week.”

“I would never do it again,” he pledged. “But it was a cool experience. I especially enjoyed Harry Connick Jr. You could tell he cared about people’s passion for music. Maybe the other two did, too, but Harry invested more of himself into it. It was great talking to him and he gave me some good advice.”

After “American Idol,” Gibson briefly pursued a solo career before, burned out and discouraged, he dropped out of music to attend ULL. But college and the full-time LVVRS, from left: Zac Lyons, construction work he River Gibson and Brenon Wilson did weren’t for him.

“I missed music so much,” Gibson said. “So much. and keyboards.

And I never stopped writing “There’s more life in our songs songs. In that time, I wrote 200 in comparison to computer-made songs. But I wouldn’t show them songs, modern pop songs,” he to anybody. Then about midsaid. “The music breathes more.

2017, I had a big group of songs And people are coming back to that. I see it starting to bubble up. I that I felt confident about. I was ready to get this back together want to be there when it does.”

From Texas to Florida, LVVRS has and do it the right way.”

LVVRS has a dozen new songs played in every Gulf Coast state. ready to release. They’ll be issued in The regional reaction to the band 2019 via singles and an EP. encouraged Gibson.

“The cool thing about the “I wasn’t sure how people would songs is that none of them sound react to some of our music,” he said. “But it resonates with people. alike,” Gibson said. “They all have That’s what this is all about for me. different vibes. One song, ‘Iconic,’ you can hear a tinge of Green Day My dream is to inspire people the in it. It’s a rock song. And we have way I was inspired. If my music some Marvin Gaye–esque music. inspires a kid to pick up a guitar, Artistically, there’s no limit on what then I’ve succeeded.”

I’ll do. But as long as it’s me, you Gibson picked up a guitar at 11.

He founded his first band, Tandem, know it’s rock ‘n’ roll.”

O believe in rock ‘n’ roll. It’s important to me to bring rock ‘n’ roll back to the younger audience.”

With the latter goal in mind, LVVRS performs Gibson’s original songs and carefully selected covers using the conventional rock instruments of guitar, bass, drums

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PHOTO: courtesy of the artist

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f former “American Idol” contestant River Gibson played Cajun music, he could be gigging in his native Acadiana every day. But waltzes and twosteps never moved him. Green Day did.

“I appreciate Cajun music,” said the 24-year-old singerguitarist in the modern rock-pop trio LVVRS. “But it never called out to me. Growing up, bands like Green Day and Foo Fighters and Coldplay inspired me.”

Green Day made massive mainstream impact in the 1990s.

Featuring frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, the punk-pop trio from Berkeley, California, captivated Gibson. He listened to Green Day’s Grammy-winning 2004 rock opera, American Idiot, hundreds of times.

He attended every Green Day show in striking distance.

“If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be talking to you now,” Gibson said. “Green Day is the best live band I’ve ever seen. That inspires me because performing is what I enjoy most. I enjoy sharing that experience with the crowd, trying to bring everybody into the show.”

Because Gibson and LVVRS (pronounced Lovers) play mostly original rock-pop songs, they rarely perform in their home region of Acadiana.

“It’s challenging for bands like us,” Gibson said. “People like Cajun music because they can go out and have a good time and drink. They know what to expect every time. But I never dabbled with Cajun music because it never

BIG CHIEF PIE

Spirit and Tradition PHOTO: Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee

The culture is for everybody, says Monogram Hunters Big Chief Pie.

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ambourines ring and sewing needles fly with particular intensity during the weeks leading up to Carnival Day as the Mardi Gras Indians prepare for the holiday. On Sunday evenings, many of the tribes hold Indian “practice” at barrooms across the city where they sing, dance and welcome other Black Indian gangs to their gatherings.

“The practice is a spiritual thing and came from Congo Square,” explains Tyrone Stevenson, Big Chief Pie of the Monogram Hunters. “When we do Indian practice on Sunday we’re doing homage to the slaves in Congo Square where all that began.

Practice will always be sacred and always be on Sunday. Practice for Indians is for you to give and receive—it’s for you to receive the spirit from the Mardi Gras Indians and it’s to give you the spirit so you can go home and sew.”

Big Chief Pie, 50, was only 12 years old when he first masked Indian with the Yellow Pocahontas led by Chief Allison “Tootie” Montana. He spent 10 years in the position of spyboy with the gang and 15 years as a flagboy.

When Stevenson felt ready to pull his own gang, he asked Tootie and his brother Edward Montana, the Second Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas, for permission to use the name Monogram Hunters, a tribe that had long been gone from the streets and that had been led by the Montana’s grand-uncle, Becate Batiste. Batiste, not so incidentally, is credited with having founded and being the Chief of the Creole Wild West, the first Black Indian tribe that’s reported to have hit the streets in the 1880s.

“Tootie and Edward gave us their blessing,” says Chief Pie, who began leading the Monogram

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Tyrone Stevenson, Big Chief Pie of the Monogram Hunters Hunters in 1992. He keeps to oldschool traditions and his ties to the Yellow Pocahontas continue to run deep. Notably, the Chief holds practice in the same building on Pauger and Marais streets, now called the First & Last Stop Bar, where the late Chief Tootie Montana held his practices back in the day.

He remembers being there on some Sunday nights when he was only 11 years old. “When you walk in that bar you can feel the spirit of the Indians in there,” says Chief Pie. “I told the owner, Miss Carol, how much history that building had and she was more than happy for us to have Indian practice there.”

“Everything I do I give homage to where I came from,” the

by Geraldine Wyckoff

Chief continues, adding that the Monogram Hunters also come out of the 7th Ward bar on Mardi Gras day. “With me taking the name of the Monogram Hunters, the whole thing I wanted to do was for everybody to know the history of where this came from. I’m just keeping everything alive. I never wanted to go outside of what I was taught.”

Practices also provide a place for younger Indians to learn the traditional Black Indian rituals and the meanings behind them. “I’m not just an Indian chief—I try to teach the culture first,” Chief Pie explains. “I want you to know why you chant and what you chant. I want to let you know why you dance the way you dance,

why flagboys meet flagboys, why queens meet queens why chiefs meets chiefs.”

“I have lot of tribes come to our practice—the Wild Magnolias, the Flaming Arrows—and we try to use a lot of tambourines like Tootie and them did,” Big Chief Pie offers.

“With the tambourine you can hear what we sing because when you’re singing you’re telling a story about all the years. Us old guys we don’t want to get rid of that. When you get rid of that you’re going to get rid of a whole part of this culture.”

Growing up, the young Tyrone lived right around the corner from Tootie Montana’s home on North Villere Street in the 7th Ward.

“We couldn’t actually go in the street and watch them. We had to www.OFFBEAT.com

www.OFFBEAT.com

watched him and I learned.”

“Like my daddy said, ‘If you want to do this you really have to get into it so you can do it yourself.’ I said, ‘Okay, well next year I’ll make my own suit’ and I did.

I’ve been making suits from that point on.”

The Monogram Hunters will roll with 15 masked Indians including Tyrone’s son, Second Chief Jeremy, and his life partner Big Queen Denise Smith.

“The culture is for everybody— we make the suits for the world to see,” declares Big Chief Pie. “You have to be committed to this thing. It’s a commitment you

PHOTO: Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee

stand on the porch or stoop and Mom and them would hold your hand,” he remembers. “Back then, it was violent. People really feared the Indians—it was like really primitive.”

“I was fascinated by the colors coming down the street,” the Chief continues. “And I’m like, ‘I want to do that. That looks so nice. I hope I get my chance to do that.’”

At 11, Tyrone told his mother and father, who were friends with Tootie, that he wanted to mask Indian. Furthering the young boy’s cause was that his mother had also done some sewing for Chief Tootie, primarily creating ribbons and bows, plus he had an uncle who, decades earlier, masked Indian with Montana. “My uncle made my first suit and I watched,” Chief Pie recalls. “Every time he touched something or anytime he did something I was there so I

have to make and a lot of selfsacrifice. We have to sew when we don’t want to sew. I do a lot of singing at Indian practice. You can’t just mask, you’ve got to be a showman too.”

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Big Chief Pie with his tribe, the Monogram Hunters, at Indian practice.

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For the past eight years, Lena Prima and her band have been doing regular shows at the Monteleone’s Carousel Bar. For those in the know, it’s one of those special things you can only find in New Orleans: The daughter of music royalty doing a personalized take of classic songs, from her dad and elsewhere. Sometimes it’s a crowd of music fans and sometimes they’re outnumbered by the tourists that come in for cocktails and dancing, but Prima doesn’t mind: Being a natural entertainer is one of a few things that run in her blood.

The family history is hard to avoid, not least because Lena’s father Louis Prima did a residency in the very same hotel (in the upperlevel Skylight Room, which is no longer a nightclub) toward the end of his career. Lena seldom does a show without a few of her dad’s greatest hits, at least “Jump, Jive an’ Wail,” “Just a Gigolo” and “Pennies from Heaven”—but her sweeter voice naturally gives them a different spin, and she’ll drop a few nuggets of family history in the song intros. When she includes some of her dad’s humor—say, an ad-lib about ravioli— you can hear her delighting in the absurdity, just as she probably did as a child.

But something subtler been going on through the long residency, and it has to do with Lena finding her footing as her own artist. When she and her husband (and sometime bassist) Tim Fahey moved to New Orleans in 2011, she’d spent many years coming to terms with her musical bloodline—sometimes embracing it and sometimes avoiding it altogether. As a recording artist, she’s been a bit of a chameleon: She’s devoted a couple of albums to her father’s repertoire, but also recorded some nonPrima jazz standards, and done a mostly-original album (2014’s Starting Something) in the entirely different context of locally rooted funky rock. From New Orleans she’s gotten the freedom to try all these approaches; in turn New Orleans has gained a vocalist

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Lena Prima: Coming to terms with her musical bloodline.

by Brett Milano PHOTOGRAPHS BY GUS BENNETT

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“I looked up to him like he was the most

who can do them with personality and joy.

She’s now about to go national, with the new album Prima La Famiglia (her debut for Basin Street) as the calling card. It’s a bit different and a lot more ambitious than anything she’s done before, less a tribute to her dad than a warm embrace of the Italian pop tradition, mostly from pre-rock eras (while her father sang quite a few of these songs, none are obvious signature tunes). Read between the lines and there’s a lot of affection for family and culture, but she’s also claiming a musical niche that’s anything but crowded nowadays.

“I had a strong feeling about taking these songs and passing them on to this generation,” she says. “Italian people definitely relate to these songs. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin always sang Italian songs. Until I moved back here, I didn’t realize how much Sicilian immigration there was in New Orleans and how many ItalianAmericans live here. My dad always addressed the importance of my heritage, and that’s gotten stronger for me over the years. My dad really became a hero to ItalianAmericans because he did these songs. It wasn’t always good to be Italian back then, and he made everyone feel proud about their heritage— which included being able to laugh about it.”

Anyone who grew up with Italian pop will understand how passionate love ballads can sit right alongside novelty tunes; it’s all part of the spirit underlying that music.

Sometimes it’s all in the same song, like her version of “Come on-a My House,” a tune associated with Rosemary Clooney. Lena treats it as playfully sexy, keeping that mood even when she’s singing about pasta fagioli. “That’s the way it is with Italian women— there’s a sexy factor, but the sexy is funny. And every Italian

woman wants to cook for you and have every kind of food you can imagine. The history of that song is interesting because it was presented to Rosemary Clooney and my dad at the same time; they’re so similar that it could be the same arrangement. And I know that Rosemary wasn‘t into the novelty songs, but it ended up being her biggest hit. I really wanted to record that, and we rearranged it so it would have a definite chorus.”

It’s also the largest-scale production of any record she’s made, done in Nashville with co-producer Scott Williamson and with pianist Larry Sieberth (her regular bandleader at the Monteleone) writing the arrangements for a big band with strings as well as horns. “My idea was to take these different songs—some Italian folk songs, some comedy songs and some real swingers—and make them sound modern and unified,” Sieberth said in a separate interview. “It was less about literal transcribing than conceptual transcribing—adding my own twists, sometimes more advanced harmonies, putting in some of that Nelson Riddle-style contrapuntal big-band writing.

The overall question was, How can we make this hip?”

important person in the world, aside from the president. My mom too, I’d watch

her putting on her makeup like she was

a movie star. It was always exciting to go

out with my dad, because he was a joyful, excited guy all the time. We’d drive up

and down the strip and he’d say, ‘Hey,

look where you are right now! Everybody wants to be right here!’”

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Lena was born in 1965, the daughter of Louis Prima and his fifth and last wife Gia Maione, also the singer who replaced Keely Smith as his featured duet partner. As a child Lena lived both in Las Vegas and New Orleans, attending St. Peter’s in Covington and Covington High School. They also lived on Esplanade Avenue for a time, and during the summers she’d accompany her parents to their Vegas residencies—a life that she says wasn’t as glamorous as it sounds. Asked about bring a showbiz kid Lena says, “It’s funny, I never had that feeling at all. I did a show once with www.OFFBEAT.com

some other children of celebrities, like [Judy Garland’s daughter] Lorna Luft and Dean Martin’s son—they all grew up together in Hollywood, and that wasn’t the case for me. My dad lived in Las Vegas but it was outside the actual city, and he had a golf course there. So I never had that showbiz feeling, it was more like growing up on a farm.”

She was, however, a devoted fan of her dad, and keeps affectionate memories of their short time together (he entered a coma when she was ten, and died three years later). “I looked up to him like he was the most important person in the world, aside from the president. My mom too, I’d watch her putting on her makeup like she was a movie star. It was always exciting to go out with my dad, because he was a joyful, excited guy all the time. We’d drive up and down the strip and he’d say, ‘Hey, look where you are right now! Everybody wants to be right here!’”

Though they had good moments together, she also connected to him via TV and radio, and got to know all the Louis Prima records the public largely missed—like his 1968 cover of the Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Bald Headed Lena,” which bugged her because she wasn’t bald.

“The gargling solo was great though—how often do you hear that?” She also remembers the first time she heard “Pensate Amore,” a song she revives on the new album. “I was watching the Flintstones on TV, Fred was singing to Wilma at a tower in Rome, and I swore I heard my dad’s voice dubbed. So I ran to my mom and she said I was mistaken, she said ‘He never did anything for Hanna-Barbera.’” It wasn’t until decades later, when researching a book about her childhood she’s working on, that she discovered via Wikipedia that Louis did indeed sing the song in a Flintstones movie.

“And I loved it. That’s what my dad’s message was—‘Everything is about love. Don’t think about the future, look at the moon.’”

Another tune she resurrected for the album, “See That You’re Born an Italian,” is even more obscure, but there exists a mid-’60s clip (not on YouTube, alas) of both her parents doing it with Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé on the latter couple’s TV show. Her version preserves the bit where the band quotes from “Arrivederci Roma.” Says Lena, “My dad and mom recorded it together, so that was another 45 that I had to search for. It’s such a cute song though, and that ’60s version is just so ’60s.”

Lena made her stage debut at age five, a moment she remembers vividly. “It was at the Sands and I sang ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.’ I remember that I was wearing this little sailor dress, hanging on to the end of my dad’s coat. I remember the spotlight shining in my eyes, and the people up front beaming and smiling at me. Years later someone sent me an envelope of those photos, which was an amazing gift—to see how lit up my little face was, the joy that I felt standing up there. And I remembered the sailor dress—isn’t it like a little girl to remember her fashions?”

The main mystery here is what took her so long to embrace the family legacy and start her career in earnest. The answer to that question is one she’s never really tackled before this interview, and still the toughest one to talk about. But it goes back to her mother’s reservations about her even having a singing career—and to some www.OFFBEAT.com

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She continued trying to summon the

extent, Gia’s unresolved feelings about being a performer herself.

“My mother was part of the ’50s. She was raised in a really strict Italian family where you’re supposed to get married and have children, and still be beautiful so that everyone thinks your husband has the most together wife.

“So when I announced to her that I wanted to be a singer, she didn’t approve. But here’s the part that I didn’t remember before: She said to me, ‘If you’re going to be a singer, you’d better be better than anybody else, or you’re going to be an embarrassment to the family name.’ That’s why I hid out as a singer for so long: I couldn’t in my own mind say that I was absolutely better than everybody. There’s always that thing between mothers and daughters; you don’t want disapproval of a parent. I loved her and she loved me, but my doing this was the denial of the status quo. I decided not to marry [at a young age], not to have children, not to do what my mother did. That was why I didn’t start my career until my late forties. I feel confident in myself now, for the first time ever. And that’s a story I want to tell, for the women who are struggling with it the way I did.”

Her mother bucked the same norms by joining Louis Prima’s band, but Lena feels that Gia never thought of herself as a professional singer. “She was only 20 when she snuck out to audition for the job, without her father’s knowing. She was working as a hostess at the time and the music part was a hobby. And that’s the way she kept it: She was a wife and a mother and a homemaker first, and she sang sometimes; she always told me it was okay if it was a hobby. But I wonder how she really felt about it. That was how that generation worked,

they pushed their passions aside.

It’s completely possible that she had bigger dreams and resigned herself.”

Which is why Lena chose to enter music pretty much incognito; at 19 she joined a cover band that was playing the Vegas circuit. As the featured “girl singer” she sang all the obligatory hits of the time—’Til Tuesday’s “Voices Carry,” Scandal’s “Goodbye to You” and the rest.

“It was the ’80s, so my hair had a magenta tint. I would copy everything—my voice had a similar tone quality to Ann Wilson of Heart, and I did a lot of Journey because that was also in my wheelhouse. I was hiding out, because I still felt that I wasn’t supposed to be a singer. So I could just be the girl singer, working under the band’s name; I felt comfortable doing that. And I stayed that way for 20 years.” Even when a new generation discovered Louis Prima in the wake of David Lee Roth’s cover of “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” (a version virtually identical to the original, down to tempo and nuance), she kept her history under wraps.

The turning point came in the early ’90s, when she did the cruise-ship circuit with the Spiral Starecase (still riding its early-’70s hit “More Today Than Yesterday”). Someone in the ship’s office caught her name and put her up front, to the rest of the group’s chagrin.

“That’s when people started telling me these amazing stories about my dad. One woman told me she’d cut school to see him play. She was sitting in the front row and my dad took a bite of her sandwich, that picture got in the newspaper and she got busted. But she said it was worth it.”

She continued trying to summon the confidence to put on her own show, getting input from some of her dad’s

confidence to put on her own show, getting input from some of her dad’s associates— notably his longtime drummer Jimmy

Vincent and another Vegas connection, Wayne Newton’s piano player Glenn

Smith. “I kept telling him the reasons I

had for not going out on my own, and his response was always ‘Bullshit.’”

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associates—notably his longtime drummer Jimmy Vincent and another Vegas connection, Wayne Newton’s piano player Glenn Smith. “I kept telling him the reasons I had for not going out on my own, and his response was always ‘Bullshit.’ But I really didn’t think I was supposed to be a singer. After my dad died I didn’t have another family member who was supportive about it. But I remember, the night I talked to Glenn, I went back to my cabin and the movie they were showing was Field of Dreams. That struck a chord.”

She finally invested money for an arranger and band, and launched her own show—which would seem a slam-dunk in Vegas, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Bookings got hard to come by, and after a time she was working more in her other line as a jewelry designer. “Vegas really changed. There were nightclubs and DJs, but there weren’t any venues for the kind of music I was doing, my dad’s music.” It was her other hometown, New Orleans, that gave her the kind of reception she couldn’t find in Vegas. She was booked for the Jazz Fest in 2010, where she, her brother Louis Jr. and Keely Smith all played separate sets to celebrate Louis Prima’s 100th birthday (he also got the Fest poster that year painted by Tony Bennett). For Lena it was a pivotal trip that felt just like coming home.

“We booked a couple of dates around that Jazz Fest and it was amazing. WWOZ played the whole show live, I got to play the Louisiana Music Factory and [Irvin Mayfield’s] Jazz Playhouse. It was all a completely different feeling in regards to the music I was playing and what I was. And when we got back to Vegas, there was a distinct difference in the way it felt. In New Orleans there was always music, there was art and a vibe, there was something going on—in Vegas I didn’t have that feeling. It was more about the gambling and the money and the big corporations. So my husband and I just said, ‘Let’s move’. We couldn’t even afford to do it, the market was really bad.

We sold our house to a real estate investor and got half of what we wanted—but we didn’t care.” And it didn’t take long before the move paid off: They took residence in New Orleans on Christmas 2011; the first Monteleone show was on January 6.

The next couple years should involve a lot of moving. Prima has wound down the Monteleone residency for the time being, to concentrate on touring; shows in Vegas and New York are now being planned. The local CD release party is planned for February 7th at the Royal Sonesta Jazz Playhouse from 5 to 7 p.m. She’s also formed a nonprofit, CIAO Women!, which honors Italian-American women who’ve done positive things in their communities. Between that and the album she seems set to carry on the family business of spreading a little Italian-style cheer.

Between that and the album she seems set to carry on the family business of taking Italy to the world. Her band is also ready to take things to the next level. “I think she’s really elevated her performance as well as her individuality, taking it from the bar scene to the concert stage,” says Lawrence Sieberth. “There are a lot of offspring performers out there, and they don’t all have an easy time.

My feeling, and my hope, is that she’s elevated herself to the point where it’s less about her being Louis Prima’s daughter, and more that he was her father.”O www.OFFBEAT.com

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MEDITERRANEAN Mona’s Café: 504 Frenchmen St., 949-4115

MEXICAN/CARIBBEAN/SPANISH Barú Bistro & Tapas: 3700 Magazine St., 895-2225 El Gato Negro: 81 French Market Place, 525-9846; 300 Harrison Ave., 488-0107; 800 S Peters St., 309-8804 Juan’s Flying Burrito: 2018 Magazine St., 569-0000

MUSIC ON THE MENU

AMERICAN Poppy’s Time Out Sports Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St., 247-9265 Port of Call: 838 Esplanade Ave., 523-0120

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

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

CREOLE/CAJUN Cochon: 930 Tchoupitoulas St., 588-2123 Cornet: 700 Bourbon St., 523-1485 Galatoire’s: 209 Bourbon St., 525-2021 Gumbo Shop: 630 St. Peter St., 525-1486 New Orleans Creole Cookery: 508 Toulouse St., 524-9632

FINE DINING Commander’s Palace: 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221 Josephine Estelle: Ace Hotel, 600 Carondelet St., 930-3070 Mr. B’s Bistro: 201 Royal St. 523-2078

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

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

Banks Street Bar & Grill: 4401 Banks St., 486-0258 Buffa’s: 1001 Esplanade Ave., 949-0038 Chickie Wah Wah: 2828 Canal St., 304-4714 Gattuso’s: 435 Huey P Long Ave., Gretna, 368-1114 House of Blues: 225 Decatur St., 412-8068 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 NOLA Cantina: 437 Esplanade Ave Palm Court: 1204 Decatur St., 525-0200 Rivershack Tavern: 3449 River Rd., 834-4938 Siberia Lounge: 2227 St. Claude Ave., 265-8865 Southport Hall: 200 Monticello Ave., 835-2903 Snug Harbor: 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 Three Muses: 536 Frenchmen St., 298-8746

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS Cake Café: 2440 Chartres St., 943-0010 Dat Dog: 601 Frenchmen St., 309-3362; 5030 Freret St., 899-6883; 3336 Magazine St., 324-2226 Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant: 701 Tchoupitoulas St., 523-8995 Parkway Bakery and Tavern: 538 Hagan Ave., 482-3047 Sammy’s Food Services: 3000 Elysian Fields Ave., 948-7361 Tracey’s: 2604 Magazine St., 897-5413 Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683

PIZZA

Midway Pizza: 4725 Freret St., 322-2815 Pizza Delicious: 617 Piety St., 676-8482 Breaux Mart: 3233 Magazine St., 262-6017; Slice Pizzeria: 1513 St. Charles Ave., 525-7437 2904 Severn Ave. Metarie, 885-5565; Theo’s Pizza: 4218 Magazine St., 894-8554; 9647 Jefferson Hwy. River Ridge, 737-8146; 4024 Canal St., 302-1133; 1212 S Clearview, 315 E Judge Perez, Chalmette, 262-0750; 733-3803 605 Lapalco Blvd., Gretna, 433-0333 Mardi Gras Zone: 2706 Royal St., 947-8787 SEAFOOD Crazy Lobster Bar & Grill: 1 Poydras St. 569-3380 INDIAN Deanie’s Seafood: 841 Iberville St., 581-1316; Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797 1713 Lake Ave. Metairie, 834-1225

GROCERY STORES

JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI/THAI Sukho Thai: 4519 Magazine St., 373-6471; 2200 Royal St., 948-9309 Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433

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

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

VIETNAMESE Namese: 4077 Tulane Ave., 483-8899

WEE HOURS Buffa’s Restaurant & Lounge: 1001 Esplanade Ave., 949-0038

www.OFFBEAT.com

Fried Mississippi Rabbit, Creamed Collards, Eggs Over Easy, Pickled Pork Jus

Brennan’s Restaurant Review by Michael Dominici

T

he New Orleans restaurant scene has experienced a spectacular rebirth in the last decade across the board, especially at the high-end grandscale side of that spectrum with R’evolution, Couvant, Cavan, Meril, Jack Rose, Tableau and others, but none are more impressive than the total transformation of the beloved Brennan’s Restaurant.

Before partners Terry White and Ralph Brennan took over the enterprise, Brennan’s had gone into a tailspin that led to a sudden closing in the summer of 2013 that sent shockwaves throughout the restaurant community. After an extensive renovation costing upwards of 20 million dollars, Brennan’s reopened in late 2014 with Mississippi native Slade Rushing as their executive chef.

Rushing has brilliantly re-imagined and elevated the classic Creole cuisine as well as creating a few dishes of his own.

Taking cues from Commander’s Palace, Arnaud’s and Antoine’s, Brennan’s new layout completely dazzles beginning with the Roost Bar that leads to the opulent Chanteclair Room with black and white checkerboard tiles, plush grasshopper-green banquettes and a wraparound tableau of whimsically themed carnival murals.

Ample light pours in from the adjacent courtyard, which is used for receptions and outdoor dining (as well as being a home for the famous turtles that gallivant in the fountains and ponds). There are six additional dining rooms, including the lavishly appointed King’s and Queen’s Rooms, which replicate Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, and the impressive Wine Room that features newly unearthed exposed brick showcasing the original structure built in 1795, and a massive 16 feet by 3 feet wide table carved out of single cypress www.OFFBEAT.com

tree. It is abundantly clear that wherever you are at Brennan’s, you are in the lap of luxury and are there to be pampered, pleased and impressed.

The Brennan experience begins with the “Eye Openers” menu of classic cocktail offerings such as a Caribbean Milk Punch and Cajun Bloody Mary. But the cocktail menu also offers French 417, which is enhanced by Aperol and pomegranate liquor, or perhaps an appealing banana daiquiri with spiced rum and almond. The wines by the glass offerings cover the gamut, even offering Dom Pérignon by the glass, a truly classy touch.

For nearly seven decades Brennan’s was a bastion of the Creole cuisine canon, but lost its luster before it shuttered its doors.

A major part of the renovation and overhaul took place in the kitchen, and finding the perfect fit for the chef to revamp the entire enterprise. Executive Chef Slade Rushing has deep Delta roots and a passion for Creole cuisine imbued in him since childhood, as his parents were both gourmets.

After several ventures with his chef partner and wife Allison VinesRushing, in Manhattan, and locally at Longbranch and MiLa, Rushing accepted the greatest challenge of his career, taking over the helm at Brennan’s. He has successfully

updated, and elevated, the quality of Brennan’s menu with items such as the Eggs Benedict, using housemade English muffins, and featuring house–coffee-cured Canadian bacon and elsewhere replacing BBQ shrimp with lobster to achieve a sublime, and satisfying, result. Similarly, the Tian of Crab appetizer reinterprets the standard crab salad with flourishes of mint remoulade, topped with a savory tomato concasse and a jalapeño-tomato gelée. Baked oysters finished with smoked chili butter and a Manchego crust were outstanding. The sweet potato zeppole with orange-bourbon glaze, sprinkled with powdered sugar, presents a novel twist on the venerable beignet. Weekend brunches also include the added attraction of live jazz from a band that makes the rounds.

Of course, the selection of popular egg dishes made “Breakfast at Brennan’s” an internationally recognized destination, and they do not disappoint. Alongside enduring classics such Eggs Hussarde, Owen, Benedict and Sardou, Eggs Cardinal is a luxurious combination of shrimp boudin, lobster and spinach, topped with black truffle hollandaise.

Steak Diane is also offered for a fabulous tableside presentation with roasted carrots, and eggs cooked however the guest prefers.

Our favorite was a delight from Rushing’s early hunting days: fried Mississippi rabbit, creamed collards, over-easy eggs and pickled pork jus—absolutely incredible!

The dinner menu simply jumps off the page with a full roster of selections such as Chicken Fried Sweetbreads with truffle grits and bacon sherry jus, Shrimp Creole Kimchi, Osso Buco, and several game items: Satsuma Lacquered Duck, Roasted Pheasant, and Grilled Venison Backstrap with chestnut beignets and dried cherry sauce.

Desserts have always been part of the show at Brennan’s and of course Bananas Foster and flambéed crepes are still prepared tableside by members of the service team. The Black Forest Cake gets star treatment, presented as a dark chocolate–crusted black cherry mousse bombe with chocolate “soil” and sautéed cherries—it’s ridiculously good. The big hit though, was the Chocolate Entremet, which included a coffee ganache and buttermilk ice cream—a symphonic ending to a superior dining experience.

Brennan’s Restaurant, 417 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70130.

504-525-9711. Open for breakfast Monday – Friday 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Dinner from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.

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PHOTO: courtesy of Brennan's

DINING OUT

REVIEWS

Reviews

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

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

It’s Already Ready Already

Galactic Already Ready Already (Tchoup-Zilla/Thirty Tigers) By now it’s a given that any Galactic album will sound different than the band does onstage: Live shows for them are about stretching out instrumentally, while studio records are about writing songs and collaborating with a growing list of singers.

Picking up from 2015’s Into the Deep—which, like this album, had multiple singers and a strong R&B slant—the new disc is the least “jam band” thing Galactic have yet done. Though officially an album, it clocks in at 24 minutes, with the longest track a tidy 3:44.

There isn’t an extended groove or solo to be heard, and there are plenty of moments when you wouldn’t necessarily peg it as a Galactic record.

But if the goal was to present good songs in a tasty context, they’ve more than succeeded.

And this short album’s pleasures come from the multi-layered arrangements, which reveal more nuances with each listen. Even the three instrumentals are mini-epics rather than jams: The opening

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“Already” starts out in film-noir fashion with Jeff Raines playing ominous fuzz chords against Rob Mercurio’s bassline. He later takes a brief but furious solo as layers of sound build up behind him, including Stanton Moore’s electronically processed drums.

The sequel track at album’s end, “Ready Already,” is an even denser sound collage with wahwah guitars, sci-fi synths and soprano sax all woven into the mix.

Galactic’s affinity with female vocalists also continues here; of the five featured singers, Revivalist David Shaw is literally the odd man out. Erica Falls, who’s been a highlight of their recent live shows, delivers the goods on “Touch Get Cut,” probably the most old-school soul track here. But the real news is that they’ve included a couple of young artists with underground followings, stretching the boundaries as they did by including Big Freedia 10 years ago. Local YouTube sensation Princess Shaw does a smooth turn on “Going Straight Crazy,” but the high point is the Boyfriend track, “Dance at My Funeral.” It’s the most raucous thing here, and the biggest step outside the usual Galactic wheelhouse.

The ultimate Galactic album would still be one that combines the sonic experiments here with the flowing grooves of their live show. But you can always get that by catching a gig and blasting this on the way home.

—Brett Milano

The Iceman Special The Iceman Special (Independent) The Iceman Special’s Facebook bio says the group transplanted itself from Louisiana swamps to New Orleans. Traces of the swamp appear in the group’s eccentric, sometimes phantasmagoric music.

Prog rock, metal, reggae and disco all filter through the band’s audio collages.

The Iceman Special’s album debut is a 13-track voyage to the music of the 1970s and ’80s and this quartet’s genre-splicing present. Band members William Murry, Charlie Murry, Steve Staples and Hunter Romero share songwriting credits. The band’s composition-by-committee is easy to believe because the songs are all over the musical universe— opening song “Time 1:44” blends psychedelic flourish and dense ’80s, alt-rock production. The keyboard solo in “Time” would have been nice, but it’s too low in the mix. “Expectations” turns neodisco with a riffing horn section, wah-wah guitar and chorus of vocals. True to its title, “Zydeco Radio” features that indigenous

southwest Louisiana genre’s driving rhythm. “Zydeco Radio” also transitions into reggae and spacy electronic and guitar excursions. Somehow, all of that variety within a single song works. The song also shows that the members of Iceman Special, like their prog-rock ancestors, are skilled musicians.

“Losing Your Crazy” and “Kraut Ruckus” find the Iceman Special coming on strong with INXS-style funk-rock. Emulating Yes, Genesis and Wishbone Ash, the changing tempos and contrasting sections in a trio of songs (“Hey Get Up,” “School Boy,” “5PM”) emphasize the band’s prog-rock chops. The most curious example of the Iceman Special’s versatility surfaces in the brisk “Tour Thru Ecuador”: a surf guitar solo.

Although exceptional singing hasn’t been a requirement for popular music for many decades, the Iceman Special’s vocals don’t match the band’s musicianship.

They’re not in the same league as such precedent-setting voices as Yes’ Jon Anderson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s and King Crimson’s Greg Lake. The band’s nationwide performance calendar suggests it’s successfully finding a national following.

—John Wirt

Max Moran & Neospectric Neospectric (Bubble Bath) Max Moran is best known as a member of the Bridge Trio as well as a bassist who’s much-called www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

Neospectric finds its strength from Moran’s superior compositions played by some of New Orleans’ most accomplished musicians.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

up on the New Orleans jazz scene.

His most prevalent environment is straight-ahead, post-bop jazz.

Therefore, on Neospectric’s first cut, it comes as a surprise to hear Fiend, a hometown rapper, declare, “Welcome to the funk,” over the band riffin’ on a beat laid down by drummer A.J. Hall.

The large ensemble here is also horn-heavy with the arrangements provided by alto saxophonist Khris Royal. Trumpeter Nicholas Payton steps out for a hip solo that is both jazz-wise and funky.

Throughout the album, musicians vary as do the styles of the material all coming from Moran’s pen. Rhythm plays an important part of the overall sound as drummers Hall, Alfred Jordan, Jamison Ross, Peter Varnado and Joe Dyson swap out the seat with percussionist Weedie Braimah. This emphasis makes sense as most would agree that there’s nothing more important to a bassist than solid drumming.

The atmosphere quiets on “Summer,” a ballad sung by Moran. It’s probably safe to say that few knew the bassist’s talents as a vocalist. He comes to the microphone again, with background vocals by Dyson, on the smooth groove of “Continuation” with Shea Pierre on organ and special guest alto saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr. A few cuts seem to lose the bass in the clutter of electronics though the collective group does find their way to a mutual understanding. When the horns are on board, as heard on “Revenge”—with Moran back on vocals—their true tones take the sound back home.

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Johnny Sonnier & Jimmy Breaux A Tribute to Aldus Roger & More (Swallow Records) On Johnny Sonnier’s first recording since 1992, he and Jimmy Breaux pay homage to the “King of the French Accordion” Aldus Roger, who led the Lafayette Playboys and starred on a weekly television show from 1955–1970.

10 of these dozen tracks are Roger staples (“KLFY Waltz”), including “Not Lonesome Anymore” and “One More Chance,” which were the first Cajun French songs ever written by swamp pop legend Johnnie Allan.

Since leaving BeauSoleil in 2012, Breaux hasn’t recorded much on accordion, until now, and his masterful, impeccable playing is worth the price of admission alone. Breaux-led instrumentals “Hick’s Wagon Wheel Special” and “Johnny Can’t Dance” are nothing less than throttling cruises in danger of attracting the next ticket-writing highway patrolman. He really pops on “Lacassine Special” while Sonnier nails some pretty driving rides himself. And speaking of Sonnier, he’s a rarity in that he sings and plays steel guitar concurrently, something most steelers don’t do since it requires your entire body, even knees, to play. Altogether, it’s good www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

throwback dancehall stuff that flows on the marching waltzes and features great interaction on the swamp popper “Marie.”

Originally, Sonnier intended this to be 10 songs but Swallow Records’ Floyd Soileau preferred a dozen so Sonnier added early tunes “Chere Alice” and honkytonker “A Baby Again,” where he sings with the swagger of a young Johnny Paycheck. Hearing the present day and vintage Sonnier indicates his voice has weathered over time but it’s still unvarnished and genuine as can be.

—Dan Willging

Jim Pharis High Mileage (Independent) Folk-blues singer-guitarist Jim Pharis keeps it simple on High Mileage. Most of the songs on his made-in-Lafayette album feature Pharis’ fingerstyle acoustic guitar playing and

www.OFFBEAT.com

deadpan, rather odd but amiable singing sans accompaniment.

When A.J. Primeaux steps in for a few harmonica guest spots, it’s a nice touch.

For High Mileage, Pharis performs several of his original songs and some blues and gospel standards, including the late New Orleans singer-guitarist Snooks Eaglin’s “I’m a Country Boy.” Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ may be the most famous contemporary examples of the acoustic folkblues style Pharis pursues in High Mileage. Pharis’ influences include

the folk boom of the 1960s, Nashville guitar master Chet Atkins and the guitar lessons that familiarized him with the art of classical guitar.

Pharis’ rolling, fluent guitar is his High Mileage strong suit. So, including “Mule,” an instrumental, on the album was a good choice.

Otherwise, Pharis’ instrumental skills are mostly used to accompany his vocal performances, albeit he does play impressive guitar solos in the songs.

Pharis writes humorous, selfeffacing songs, including the age-related “High Mileage” and a song about an anxiety-prone girlfriend, “Five Alarm Fire.” “I got myself a little girl,” Pharis sings. “She looks like a model and she’s so very fine. But she’s a little jumpy. Like a cat that’s watching a snake. She thinks there’s a fivealarm fire when it’s just a candle on a birthday cake.”

Pharis’ interpretations include Tampa Red’s much-recorded

“When Things Go Wrong with You (They Hurt Me Too)” and a lively, countrified rendition of Blind Boy Fuller’s “Step It Up and Go.” His take on Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above My Head I Hear Music in the Air” is a High Mileage highlight, including some of the album’s fanciest picking.

—John Wirt

Old Riley and the Water Biting Through (Independent) Before succumbing to ALS, Lead Belly recorded an original “Old Riley” that refers to his protagonist walking on water while fleeing to freedom. Hence the inspirational namesake for guitarist Sean Riley, who recorded this flowing debut featuring six originals with drummer Ray Micarelli (Video Age) and bassist Andrew Landry (Sexy Dex and the Fresh). But really Riley’s brand of blues has nothing to do with

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Hughie Ledbetter unless the folkblues legend was born 70 years later and played in a suburban garage rock band as a zit-faced teenager.

But even with Riley’s penchant for dirty mics and fuzzed-out distortion, it’s still a form of the blues, with the hellacious hangover tale “Blues Walking” being the most Delta-sounding. “Trouble” sports a chugging Jimmy Reed backbeat and producer Joshua Cook’s wicked harmonica lines.

“Try and Understand” contains that sly humor blues is famous for: “I just wanna be your lover/ don’t wanna be your old man.” The lone cover “Howlin’ For My Darlin’” finds Riley affecting Howlin’ Wolf’s guttural vocals.

But better yet, Riley hooks his listener with varied guitar riffs that are part of his signature. He goes all out on the title track, pushing his vintage equipment to bombastic heights while repeating the catchphrase “biting through” throughout the chaos. Based on this, it’ll be interesting to hear what comes next in the life of Riley.

—Dan Willging

is like throwing in your laundry, ordering a High Life, and tuning in to the crazy.

This two-disc highlights album cobbles together fragments of two years’ worth of songs, stories, inside jokes and memories from the show’s rowdy cast of characters, who often come bearing squirrel, alligator, rabbit and catfish dishes to share. It has some great musical performances and stories from folks you’ll be familiar with if you’ve spent any time hanging around New Orleans in the last 20 years. Folks like Jamey St. Pierre, Red DeVecca, Nervous Duane, Mike Darby, Curtis Casados, Judy Hill, Big Chief Kevin Goodman, Pizza Mike, Shawn Williams, and probably one of the last recordings of Washboard Lissa Driscoll.

Just to name a few. It’s a time capsule and an incredible act of documentation, meticulously linernoted and edited by show host and frequent OffBeat contributor Laura DeFazio. All album proceeds go to supporting WHIV and the New Orleans Musician’s Clinic.

—Stacey Leigh Bridewell

Various Artists

Confessin’ The Blues (BMG)

WHIV Radio - Live from New Orleans: Musicians, Mentors & Barroom Heroes (Independent) When writer/rabble-rouser Laura DeFazio talks about her WHIV 102.3 FM radio show, “Musicians, Mentors, and Barroom Heroes,” she usually describes it as, “like being in your living room, if your living room was Checkpoint Charlie’s.” If you’ve ever spent a night out at Frenchmen Street’s most notorious dive bar, you’ll find this album

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Various Artists

This is a 42-track blues anthology of material that became early influences on a certain British rock band. While the music here is outstanding, the premise of this collection is somewhat annoying. The Rolling Stones did not introduce the blues to white America. There were plenty of Brylcreemed, blue jeaned American kids diggin’ B.B. King, Slim Harpo and Muddy Waters well before the Brits recycled their music. Even in

remote Southern Ontario, there were kids like me wearing out Rockin’ With Reed and Two Steps From The Blues before England’s Newest Hit Makers reached these shores. The bulk of these tracks justifiably came from Chicago’s Chess Records vault. One could argue that Little Walter is the centerpiece here as four of the songs are from his repertoire, including the demonic, chromatic

driven “Blue and Lonesome.”

Walter also blows up a storm on Muddy’s “I Just Want to Make Love to You.” Other Chess artists include Wolf, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Dale Hawkins. Note that Hawkins and Walter are from Louisiana. Also tapped here are Buddy Guy, Slim Harpo and Lightnin’ Slim. Unfortunately, a feeble remake of Lightnin’s “Hoodoo Blues” made the cut here, not the gloomy original.

Earliest recordings here are by Robert Johnson as the Stones covered “Love In Vain” during their prime. Interesting inclusions here are the two Eddie Taylor tracks, Little Johnny Taylor’s “Everybody Knows About My Good Thing” (but not “Part Time Love”) and Boy Blue’s whiskey-fueled “Boogie Children.” Most blues veterans will

Everyone should listen to this album Johnette Downing with Scott Billington Swamp Romp (Wiggle Worm Records) The new record by nationally recognized children’s music maven Johnette Downing and harp player Scott Billington (whose second career as a music producer has been our reward) is entertaining for both adults and kids. For adults, the music is well recorded and features a great cast of stellar musicians including Irma Thomas (in a beautiful duet with Downing) bassist James Singleton, drummer Doug Belote, the Savoy brothers, and members of the Rebirth Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, the Tin Men, and the New Orleans Suspects. It covers blues, second line, swamp pop, Cajun rock, and other hybrids that are so familiar to music fans in South Louisiana with a warm, friendly atmosphere. It also doesn’t fall into the trap of being too precious or cloying. The songs “Mudbug Boogie,” “Crawfish Etouffée” and “Bamboula Rhythm” would be regular adult songs if you heard them on any other record. Much of the music in this part of the world appeals to kids as well as adults anyway. And kids will especially like “It Wasn’t Me (The Possum Song)” and “Mississippi River.” But don’t take this critic’s word about that. When asked about the record, this critic’s daughter, nine-yearold ’Lil C. (a tough critic herself) reported, “It was good. There were songs for fourth graders, second graders and younger kids. It was funny too. Five stars.” Her sister, seven-year-old Double LL, quipped, “I liked it a lot. The Mississippi song helped a lot. All the songs had some education in them. Everyone should listen to this album.”

—David Kunian www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

already own most of this material, but it’s nice to have them collected in one place so not to root through your collection for hours.

Confessin’ The Blues is a stellar listen on an iPod or for running errands in the Volvo.

—Jeff Hannusch

Sjöstrand moves to soprano for the lively “Everyone Should Have It,” which features the happy, dancing rhythms of Marti. The saxophonist displays a bit of her more exploratory nature on the cleverly titled “Purple Snow.”

The Deal swings out on the New Orleans–inspired “On the Riverwalk” with co-leader Turner doing some strolling on his bass tastily accompanied by guitarist White. The saxophonist and the rest of the band sound like they’re enjoying the musical view and their companions.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

Kari Sjöstrand & Larry Turner The Deal (Karisma Muzik) Swedish tenor and soprano saxophonist Kari Sjöstrand knows how to best use the talent in her band, including co-leader bassist Larry Turner as well as the New Orleans musicians that enrich her compositions. It’s Turner’s electric bass and the congas of Cubanborn Crescent City transplant Alexey Marti that set the sway of the opening title cut. Sjöstrand’s rich tenor moves the groove to swing then it traverses between that and a Latin tinge. Hometown guy, trumpeter Ashlin Parker blows a fine, sharp yet mellow solo with the lead taken over by trombonist Paul Robertson, known by many for his work with the Soul Rebels and various other brass brands.

It’s interesting how much Sjöstrand employs the trombonist throughout the album. He’s way up front on “Waltz for the Earth,” on which she comes in with a very soulfully delivered tenor solo. Sjöstrand is well matched in musical temperament here with trumpeter Parker. Guitarist Matthew D. White rounds out the tune with drummer Adam Everett adding significant embellishment.

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Peter Holsapple Alex Chilton The Death of Rock: Peter Holsapple vs.

Alex Chilton (Omnivore)

Peter Holsapple Game Day (Omnivore) Master songwriter Peter Holsapple has been fairly quiet since moving back to North Carolina post-Katrina, reappearing mainly for short-lived reunions of the dB’s and the Continental Drifters. These twin releases—the first a lost 1978 session, the second his first solo www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

album in two decades—mark a welcome return to action.

The billing of the Holsapple vs.

Chilton album reveals what’s going on: One of these two people cared deeply about Chilton’s previous band Big Star, and it sure wasn’t Chilton. Thus Holsapple was trying to craft resonant pop hooks while Chilton was stomping on them; his covers of “Train Kept a-Rollin’” and Bo Diddley’s “Hey Mona” both lean toward the chaos of his next proper album, Like Flies on Sherbert; and the two Big Star remakes sound like attempts that didn’t get very far (Chilton’s reinvention in New Orleans was

quite a few years away). They connect better on Holsapple’s tunes: “House Is Not a Home” is a sharply melodic (and yes, Big Star–ish) ballad; “Bad Reputation” is far more British Invasion than the later dB’s version and possibly better. If nothing else, there’s a sense of adventure here that both carried into their future.

Holsapple’s best songs have always had an emotional double edge—the dB’s Repercussion remains one of the most exhilarating albums of miserable songs you’ll ever hear—and he’s only sharpened it on Game Day. The title track nods to John

The Perfect Weekend Read Randy Fox Shake Your Hips: The Excello Records Story (BMG Books)

bookmark

Although Excello Records was located in the “Record Center of the South”—Nashville—its success was largely dependent on the “Sound of the Swamp,” a sound incubated and perfected in “The Rice Capital of Louisiana”—Crowley. It was in J.D. Miller’s tiny Crowley studio that Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester, Lightnin’ Slim and Lonesome Sundown recorded that unique Louisiana sound. For over a decade Miller supplied a steady flow of masters to Excello which then comprised the majority of the Excello catalog. Not surprisingly, the book’s title was borrowed from a Slim Harpo hit. But one can’t tell the Excello story without detailing the history of Ernie’s Record Mart and Nashville radio station WLAC, which it does. Excello was founded by Ernie Young, who like many indie record men got into the wholesale/retail business via the jukebox business. Without detailing all of Excello’s fascinating history here, the book captures the rise and demise of what was one of the most important and hippest post-war blues labels. The author has fastidiously gathered source material from other historians and interviewed several musicians, producers, DJs’ and individuals with direct or indirect ties to the label. Most interestingly, Shake Your Hips will introduce the music fan to the labor pains of the music business along the way. The book certainly would have benefitted from a more expanded photo session, but it’s certainly going to be a valuable research tool for many years. At 170 pages, it’s the perfect weekend read while you’re listening to a Slim Harpo or Lazy Lester CD, or even better, a stack of those great orange and blue 45s.

—Jeff Hannusch

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Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” replacing its wide-eyed optimism with a more dogged kind, and posing the question “Do I still have what it takes to pull this off?” during a chorus hook that proves he does.

Elsewhere the songs look at the complications, and occasional downright messiness, of life at a certain age. A couple of them settle old scores with friends and lovers, and it doesn’t get more unflinching than “Inventory,” about cleaning up after a death in the family—this one rivals Jason Isbell’s “Elephant” as lump-in-throat material. Yet this isn’t a depressing album overall; most tracks lean toward a garage-y update of the dB’s era.

Even without a full band present (Holsapple plays most everything),

tracks like “Yelling at Clouds” and “The Smartest Thing I’ve Ever Done” evince a scrappy joy that undercuts the crankiness in the lyrics.

The two highlights are both love songs, if unconventional ones: “Don’t Ever Leave” is a gentle plea addressed to an unspecified musical hero that the singer couldn’t bear to lose—a sentiment that rings especially true after the past couple of years. And “Continental Drifters” is an affectionate and beautifully sung look back at their time together, done in full Drifters style with accordion and mandolin.

It should be just as affecting for people who loved that band as for people who were in it.

—Brett Milano

Dark Side of the Cajun Moon L.E.S. Douze The Stoned (Nouveau Electric Records) In the beginning of the summer of 2016, Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Michot’s Melody Makers had a residency at one of the centers of forward thinking and avant-garde music, the Stone on the Lower East Side of New York City. Michot played many different types of music with different aggregations during this residency, and this one by L.E.S. Douze marks the first release of these performances (Michot plans to release the others also). The record consists of one song lasting 44 minutes that makes its way through various permutations. There are aspects of Cajun music and Irish music, but stretched out and contorted into different sonic shapes. Drones bubble up and settle down over and under fiddles, tin whistles, T-fers and guitars. At times the notes sound like they are turning themselves inside out. It is druggy music, but from back when such music was positive and psychedelic and designed to take your mind places to open it up and gain new perspectives. Sometimes it sounds like Dark Side of the Cajun Moon or In a Silent Cajun Way. Fans of ambient or industrial music might find some common ground with this record. Experimental music like this can sometimes bore the audience, but that never happens here. There is always a forward motion even if it is like fiddling through molasses. When the group sample what sounds like TV quotes or radio shows, it seems to open a window or looking glass to another world, maybe like ours and maybe different in minor or major ways. In our attention-deficit-hypnotized-by-devices world, this is musical art that goes on its own journey at its own pace. This is not casual listening, but it is rewarding listening.

—David Kunian

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

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC

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

THURSDAY JANUARY 31

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Trio (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Doyle Cooper (JV) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Shamar Allen and the Underdawgs (JV) 7p d.b.a.: Jon Cleary (JV) 7p, Lynn Drury, Mia Borders (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Generations Hall: OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Awards feat. Sean Ardoin, Cha Wa, Iceman Special, Gregg Martinez and the Delta Kings with T.K. Hulin, Water Seed, Nesby Phips and others (VR) 7p Hi-Ho Lounge: John Paul Carmody: Unpluggery (SS) 6p, “Guitar Joy” Clark (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Old Point Bar: Valerie Sassyfras (RK) 8p Palm Court Jazz Cafe: Duke Heitger and Crescent City Joymakers (TJ) 7p Polo Club Lounge: John Royen (JV) 6p Saturn Bar: Alex McMurray and his Band (RK) 8p Siberia: Eastern Bloc Party: Blato Zlato (KZ) 9p SideBar NOLA: Mark Bingham plays Hoagy Carmichael (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: James Singleton Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Starlight: Oscar Rossignoli (PI) 5p, Sam Price and the True Believers (RK) 9p

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Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Lilli Lewis Project (JV) 9p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Arsene DeLay (VR) 8p Tipitina’s: Singing For Spencer Benefit feat. Anders Osborne, George Porter, Jr., Johnny Vidacovich and many others (VR) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p UNO Lakefront Arena: Winter Jam feat. Newsboys United, Danny Gokey, Mandisa, Rend Collective, Ledger, Newsong, Hollyn (VR) 7p Vaughan’s Lounge: DJ Black Pearl 504 (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 1

Buffa’s: Davis Rogan (VR) 6p, Greg Schatz (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Joy Clark (VR) 4p, Dana Abbott (VR) 7p, Higher Heights (RE) 10p Circle Bar: Natalie Mae (CW) 7p, Lowbrau (PK) 9:30p Contemporary Arts Center: Andrew Ondrejcak’s Landscape and Figures (VR) 7:30p d.b.a.: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 6p, Cedric Watson (BL) 10p Dos Jefes: Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 11p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Biglemoi, Midriff, North by North, the Light Set (ID) 10p Gattuso’s: Breland Brothers (VR) 7p Hi-Ho Lounge: the River Dragon (RK) 6p, Cole Williams (SO) 11p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Jake Landry and the Right Lane Bandits (BL) 7p House of Blues (the Parish): Inferno: Burlesque (BQ) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Quarx, Dusty Diets (BL) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: LSU Sigma Open Mic Night (SS) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Kerry Irish Pub: Tim Robertson (FO) 5p, Will Dickerson and friends (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Rechell Cook and the Regeneration Band (RB) 7:30p Maison: Rhythm Stompers, Swinging Gypsies, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers, Buena Vista Social Latin Night, DJ FTK (VR) 10p New Orleans Museum of Art: Shawn Williams (SS) 5:30p One Eyed Jacks: DJ Soul Sister presents Soulful Takeover (FK) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Will Smith (TJ) 8p Siberia: Holy Knives, Hydra Plane (ID) 9p SideBar NOLA: Mark Bingham, Sarah Quintana, Kathy Randels and Lilli Lewis (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy Forest Treaux (JV) 2p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 6p, Doro Wat

Jazz Band (JV) 10p Starlight: Shaye Cohn and Dr. Michael White (JV) 5p, Michael Watson and the Alchemy (JV) 8p, Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Big Easy Brawlers (BB) 9p, Ali BEA (HH) 11p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Darcy Malone and the Tangle, Noisewater (RR) 10p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 2

Buffa’s: Red Hot Brass Band (JV) 11a, Marc Stone (BL) 6p, Soul O’ Sam with Sam Price (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Joy Clark (VR) 4p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (SO) 7p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (JV) 10p Contemporary Arts Center: Andrew Ondrejcak’s Landscape and Figures (VR) 7:30p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (FK) 11p Gasa Gasa: Robyn Hitchcock (RK) 10p Gattuso’s: Cypress (VR) 7p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Three Rivers Trio (JV) 7p House of Blues (the Parish): Pet Fangs (ID) 8p House of Blues: Sevendust (ME) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Tiny Dinosaur and the Gravity Wells, Pucasan, Toby O’Brien (FO) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Big Sam’s Crescent City Connection (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mike Kerwin and Geoff Coats (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Styk (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, MainLine, Next Level Nightclub Experience feat.

DJ Dizzi, Higher Heights (VR) 10p New Orleans Creole Cookery: Ed Barrett Trio (JV) 6p NOLA Cantina: Co & Co Travelin’ Show (JV) 12p Palm Court Jazz Café: Greg Stafford and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Brass feat. Mark Braud (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Siberia: Planchettes, Dummy Dumpster, Mea Culpa (PK) 10p SideBar NOLA: Cyrus Nabipoor (VR) 7p, Jonathan Freilich Presents (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and BGQ Exploration (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Fighting for Frequency (VR) 7p; Deck Room: Misled, Tomb of Nick Cage, A Hanging, Jak Locke, Lucy Fears Goats, Dustin Cole and the Deadmen (VR) 6p Spotted Cat: Antoine Diel and Arsene DeLay (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, the Catahoulas (JV) 10p Starlight: Glenn Hartman (VR) 5p, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 7p, Siren Series with Liz DeVito and Alex Bosworth (SS) 10p, Lauren Stefanski (VR) 11p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Cha Wa (MG) 9p, DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11:30p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Mia Borders (JV)

6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. and the Wild Magnolias (MG) 10p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 3

Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 11a, Pfister Sisters (JV) 3p, Super Bowl on the Big Screen (VR) 5p, Steve Pistorius Jazz Quartet (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Teresa B. (RB) 6p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Ecirb Muller’s Twisted Dixie (VR) 6p, Vegas Cola (JV) 10p Chickie Wah Wah: Ever More Nest (FO) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: TBC Brass Band (BB) 7p Little Gem Saloon: Cynthia Girtley (GS) 11:30a Little Tropical Isle: Styk (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (VR) 9p Maison: NOLA Jitterbugs, Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 10a, Royal Street Winding Boys, Opulence Hour Burlesque, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Our Lady of Guadalupe: Jazz Mass (JV) 9:30 & 11:30a Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Siberia: Gertrude, Tattered Rabbit, Coco Cruse and friends (ME) 9p Snug Harbor: Doug Belote Quartet (JV) 9 & 11p Spotted Cat: Aurora Nealand and the Mind Reeders (JV) 2p, Robin Barnes and the FiyaBirds (JV) 7p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Starlight: Gabrielle Cavassa Sessions (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Ben Step (VR) 9p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Roland Cheramie and friends (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

MONDAY FEBRUARY 4

Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Noggin (VR) 6p, Soul Project NOLA (VR) 10p Civic Theatre: Peter Murphy: 40 years of Bauhaus feat. David J (RK) 8p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p Gasa Gasa: Midriff, Calliope Musicals, Baby in the ‘90s (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Jimbo Mathus (FO) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): Like a Storm (RK) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Beth Patterson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC

Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p One Eyed Jacks: Devotchka, Neyla Pekarek (VR) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters with Leroy Jones (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat.

Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Instant Opus Series (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Flaw, Farewell to Fear, the Absence Project (VR) 7p Spotted Cat: Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 10p Starlight: Joe Krown (BL) 5:30p, Shindig with Allison McConell and Ted Hefko (VR) 8:30p, Keith Burnstein and Amanda Walker (SS) 9:30p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Steve Yamada (HH) 7p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Joe Cabral (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robinson Band (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky (JV) 7:30p Bombay Club: John Royen (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: 4 Sidemen of the Apocalypse (VR) 6p, John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 10p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Dos Jefes: Tom Hook and Wendell Brunious (JV) 9p Gasa Gasa: Daniel Romano, Buxton (CW) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: CommonTone Music Series: Unanimous Sources (MJ) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Jacye Guerin (VR) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Alicia Renee aka Blue Eyes with Shannon Powell Trio (JV) 7:30p One Eyed Jacks: Kristin Diable (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Siberia: Piano Night: Greg Schatz (PI) 9p SideBar NOLA: Mahmoud Chouki, Georgiy Petrov and Sam Dickey (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Bert Cotton Monk Trio with Johnny Vidacovich and Matt Perrine (JV) 9 & 11p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Starlight: Tom McDermott (PI) 6p, Jesse Ethorin and Karen Kunkel (VR) 9p, Goodnight Starlight with Asher Danziger (VR) 10p Three Muses: Sam Cammarata (JV) 5p, Josh Gouzy (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, F.A.S.T. (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 6

Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Café Negril: Maid of Orleans (VR) 6p, Another Day in Paradise (VR) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 8:30p Circle Bar: the Iguanas (VR) 7p, Caboose (BL)

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9:30p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RR) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dos Jefes: Carl Leblanc and Ellen Smith (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: World Vybz Wednesdays feat. DJ FTK (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Dancehall Classics with DJ T-Roy’s Bayou International Soundsystem (RE) 11p Gasa Gasa: the Canarys, Wakai, Lia Flannery (RK) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Michael Liuzza (JV) 6p House of Blues (the Parish): Kongos (RK) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Big Sam’s Crescent City Connection (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Beth Patterson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Loa: Lynn Drury and Ted Hefko (SS) 6p Maison: Baby Giants Jazz Band, Jazz Vipers, Big E Brass Band (VR) 4p Marigny Brasserie: Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band (JV) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Mark Braud (TJ) 8p Siberia: Henry and I, Matron, Mosquito Eater (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: Keith Stone with Red Gravy (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 9 & 11p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Starlight: Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Tuba Skinny (JV) 8p, Nahum Zdybel’s Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 7

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Steve Lands’ Kota (JV) 7:30p Buffa’s: Gumbo Cabaret (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Shamar Allen and the Underdawgs (JV) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Claude Bryant and the All-Stars (VR) 6p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 10p Circle Bar: Dark Lounge feat. Rik Slave (VR) 7p, Sleepspent, Top Nachos, Gools (PK) 9:30p d.b.a.: Little Freddie King (BL) 10p Dos Jefes: A Tribute to Todd Duke with the Todd Squad (JV) 9:30p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: the Suffers (RB) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Jeremy Joyce Trio (JV) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 8:30p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (FK) 11p Little Gem Saloon: John Mooney and Marc Stone (BL) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Maison: Dinosaurchestra, Sweet Substitute Jazz Band, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Ogden After Hours feat. Christian Winther Quartet (JV) 6p Palm Court Jazz Café: Duke Heitger and Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars DECEMBER 2 018

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PARADE SCHEDULE

2019 MARDI GRAS PARADE SCHEDULE FEBRUARY 9 Krewe of Chewbacchus (Marigny) 7p

FEBRUARY 15 Krewe Boheme (French Quarter) 7p

FEBRUARY 16 Krewe of Bilge (Slidell) 11a Krewe of Poseidon (Slidell) 6p Krewe du Vieux (Marigny/French Quarter) 6:30p KreweDelusion (Marigny/French Quarter) 7p

FEBRUARY 17 Krewe of Little Rascals (Metairie) 12p Krewe of Slidellians (Slidell) 1p Krewe of Pearl River Lions Club (Slidell) 1p Krewe of Perseus (Slidell) follows ‘tit Rex (Marigny) 5p

FEBRUARY 22 Krewe of Cork (French Quarter) 3p Krewe du Kanaval (French Quarter/Congo Square) 3p Oshun (Uptown) 6p Cleopatra (Uptown) 6:30p Excalibur (Metairie) 7p Krewe of Eve (Mandeville) 7p

FEBRUARY 23 Krewe of Paws (Slidell) 10a Adonis (West Bank) 11:45a Krewe of Tchefuncte (Madisonville) 1p Knights of Nemesis (Chalmette) 1p

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Pontchartrain (Uptown) 1p Choctaw (Uptown) 2p Freret (Uptown) 2:30p Sparta (Uptown) 5:30p Krewe of Olympia (Covington) 6p Pygmalion (Uptown) 6:15p Krewe of Titans (Slidell) 6:30p Caesar (Metairie) 6p

FEBRUARY 24

Krewe of Selene (Slidell) 6:30p Original Krewe of Orpheus (Mandeville) 7p

MARCH 2 NOMTOC (Westbank) 10:45a Iris (Uptown) 11a Tucks (Uptown) follows Endymion (Mid-City) 4:15p Krewe of Isis (Metairie) 6:30p

Femme Fatale (Uptown) 11a Carrollton (Uptown) 12p King Arthur (Uptown) follows Alla (Uptown) follows Krewe of Dionysus (Slidell) 1p Barkus (French Quarter) 2p Krewe of Kings (Metairie) 5:30p

MARCH 3

FEBRUARY 27

MARCH 4 (Lundi Gras)

Druids (Uptown) 6:30p Nyx (Uptown) 7p

FEBRUARY 28 Knights of Babylon (Uptown) 5:30p Chaos (Uptown) 6:15p Muses (Uptown) 6:30p

MARCH 1 Bosom Buddies (French Quarter) 11:30a Hermes (Uptown) 6p Krewe d’Etat (Uptown) 6:30p Morpheus (Uptown) 7p Centurions (Metairie) 6:30p

Okeanos (Uptown) 11a Mid-City (Uptown) 11:45a Thoth (Uptown) 12p Bacchus (Uptown) 5:15p Athena (Metairie) 5:30p Pandora (Metairie) 6:30p Reds Beans (Marigny) 2p Dead Beans Parade (Mid-City) 2p Proteus (Uptown) 5:15p Orpheus (Uptown) 6p

MARCH 5 (Mardi Gras) Zulu (Uptown) 8a Krewe of Lyra (Covington) 10a Rex (Uptown) 10a Elks Orleans follows Rex Cresent City follows Orleans Argus (Metairie) 10a Krewe of Elks Jefferson follows Argus Jefferson follows Elks

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Siberia: Alex McMurray and Luke Spurr Allen (SS) 6p, Eastern Bloc Party feat. the Salt Wives (KZ) 9p Snug Harbor: Oscar Rossignoli Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Starlight: Ornette Coleman, Johnny Griffin and Eddie Lockjaw Davis Tribute feat. Willie Green and Leland Baker (VR) 10p Starlight: Gabrielle Cavassa and Ryan Hanseler (JV) 5p, Greg Schatz (EL) 8p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Dilla Day NOLA (HH) 9p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Arsene DeLay (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Best Wishes Benefit feat. Miss Mojo, J and the Causeways, Roadside Glorious, Sam Price and the True Believers, Baby Grand, Kathryn Rose Wood (VR) 7:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10:30p

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8

Buffa’s: Meryl Zimmerman (JV) 6p, Calvin Johnson and Native Son (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes Brass Band (BB) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Shawn Williams (VR) 4p, Dana Abbott (VR) 7p, Higher Heights (RE) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 9p Circle Bar: Natalie Mae (CW) 7p, sunrise:sunset (RK) 9:30p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Jonathan Boogie Long (VR) 10p Dos Jefes: the Funky Frenchmen (JV) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gattuso’s: Austin Sicard and the Medics (VR) 7p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Kennedy Kuntz and the Men of the Hour (FO) 7p House of Blues (the Parish): Steel Pulse, Koe Wetzel (RE) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Porch): Marley Gras Pre-Party with DJ Raj Smoove and DJ T-Roy (RE) 11p Jazz Playhouse: Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 5p, Patrick Cooper and friends (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Rechell Cook and the Regeneration Band (RB) 7:30p Mahalia Jackson Theater: New Orleans Opera Association presents Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio (CL) 7:30p Maison: Rhythm Stompers, Swinging Gypsies, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Gene’s Music Machine, Buena Vista Social Latin Night (VR) 10p Mardi Gras World: Cirque de 610: 610 Stompers Ball (VR) 7p New Orleans Creole Cookery: the Cookery 3 (JV) 6p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (RK) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Night of 1,000 Stevies (VR) 10p Orpheum Theater: Pod Tours America (VR) 8p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Will Smith (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Marcello Benetti (VR) 7p, Papa Mali’s Solo Adventures in Song (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy Forest Treaux (JV) 2p, Andy Forest and St. Louis Slim Band (BL) 6p, the Catahoulas (JV) 10p

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Starlight: Cristina Maria (VR) 5p, Tiffany Pollack Trio (VR) 8p, the Ramshackle Revival (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): DJ Nice Rack (VR) 11p Three Muses: Davis Rogan (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 9

Buffa’s: Red Hot Brass Band (JV) 11a, Freddie Blue and the Friendship Circle (JV) 6p, HG Breland (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Shawn Williams (VR) 4p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (VR) 7p, Another Day in Paradise (VR) 10p Central City BBQ: Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival (VR) 1p Contemporary Arts Center: SweetArts Gala (VR) 6:30p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Soul Rebels (FK) 11p Dos Jefes: Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gattuso’s: Short Circuit (VR) 7p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Khromethesia (RB) 10p House of Blues: Jacob Banks (JV) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Kerwin Claiborne (CO) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Cyril Neville and Swamp Funk (JV) 8:30p Joy Theater: Iliza Shlesinger (CO) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 5p, Lynn Drury (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Eight Dice Cloth, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Big Easy Brawlers, Next Level Nightclub Experience feat. DJ Dizzi, Soul Project (BB) 10p New Orleans Creole Cookery: Ed Barrett Trio (JV) 6p NOLA Cantina: Co & Co Travelin’ Show (JV) 12p Old Point Bar: Misfit Toys (RK) 9:30p Orpheum Theater: the Adventure Zone (VR) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Will Smith and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Portside Lounge: Egg Yolk Jubilee (BB) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation All-Stars feat. Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Siberia: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: Johnny Sansone (VR) 7p, Marc Paradis and Sage Rouge Get Sketchy (VR) 9p Smoothie King Center: Panic! at the Disco, Two Feet, Betty Who (RK) 7p Snug Harbor: Davell Crawford and Company (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, James Martin Band (JV) 10p Starlight: Ingrid Lucia (JV) 5p, Shawan Rice (JV) 8p, Old Riley and the Water (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): NOJO 7 (JV) 9p, Chris Stylez (HH) 11p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 10

Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 11a, Steve DeTroy (JV) 4p, Steve Pistorius Jazz Quartet (JV) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Ecirb Muller’s Twisted Dixie (JV) 6p, Vegas Cola (JV) 10p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Lil’ Glenn and Backatown (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p DECEMBER 2 018

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Generations Hall: Nuit de la Musique Fundraiser feat. Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet, Ani DiFranco, Squirrel Nut Zippers (VR) 5p House of Blues (the Parish): Magic City Hippies (PO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: TBC Brass Band (BB) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Irish Session (FO) 5p, Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Cody Crettet Sextet (JV) 11:30a, G’s Corner (JV) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Styk (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (VR) 9p Mahalia Jackson Theater: New Orleans Opera Association presents Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio (CL) 2:30p One Eyed Jacks: Marina Orchestra (VR) 9p Orpheum Theater: My Brother, My Brother and Me, Shmnanners (VR) 7p Our Lady of Guadalupe: Jazz Mass (JV) 9:30 & 11:30a Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Gregory Agid CD-release party (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: John Lisi and Delta Funk (JV) 2p, Robin Barnes and the FiyaBirds (JV) 7p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Starlight: Neal Todten (PI) 4p, Gabrielle Cavassa Sessions (JV) 8p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Bad Penny Pleasuremakers (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Roland Cheramie and friends (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p

MONDAY FEBRUARY 11

Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Maid of Orleans (VR) 6p, Soul Project NOLA (VR) 10p Circle Bar: Dem Roach Boyz (RB) 7p, Gene Black and friends (JV) 9:30p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Jimbo Mathus (FO) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Paint Nite NOLA (VR) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Two Sheets to the Wind (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (JV) 4p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters with Leroy Jones (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat.

Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Instigation Fest feat. Mars Williams, Joe McPhee and others (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Starlight: Brad Webb Trio (JV) 5:30p, Shindig with Gina Marie Leslie and Brett Weller (VR) 8:30p, Keith Burnstein and Amanda Walker (SS) 9:30p Three Muses: Joe Cabral (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p

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Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, F.A.S.T. (RK) 9p

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12

Buffa’s: Joe Krown (VR) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: 4 Sidemen of the Apocalypse (VR) 6p, John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 10p Circle Bar: Zac Maras & Cactus Thief (CW) 7p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Matthew Bartels and Nick Ferreirae (VR) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Alicia Renee aka Blue Eyes with Shannon Powell Trio (JV) 7:30p Maison: Gregory Agid Quartet, Gene’s Music Machine (VR) 6:30p One Eyed Jacks: Kristin Diable (VR) 8p Orpheum Theater: Glenn Miller Orchestra (CL) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation AllStars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Siberia: Piano Night: Andre Bohren (PI) 9p SideBar NOLA: Cyrille Aimee and Oscar Rossignoli (VR) 7p, Simon Lott amd Andrew Elmo Price (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Jason Marsalis and the 21st Century Trad Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Starlight: Tom McDermott (PI) 6p, Duke Aeroplane (VR) 9p, Goodnight Starlight with Asher Danziger (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Think Less, Hear More (VR) 8p Three Muses: Keith Burnstein (JV) 5p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, F.A.S.T. (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13

Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Café Negril: Maid of Orleans (VR) 6p, Another Day in Paradise (VR) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 8:30p Circle Bar: the Iguanas (VR) 7p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RR) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dos Jefes: Carl Leblanc and Ellen Smith (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: World Vybz Wednesdays feat.

DJ FTK (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Dancehall Classics with DJ T-Roy’s Bayou International Soundsystem (RE) 11p Gasa Gasa: Slothrust, And the Kids (RK) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Michael Liuzza (JV) 6p Kerry Irish Pub: Tom Marron and Kevin Specht (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Loa: Lynn Drury and Carolyn Broussard (SS) 6p Marigny Brasserie: Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band (JV) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Mark Braud (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Carmela Rapazzo amd Oscar Rosignolli (VR) 7p, Brad Webb and Ryan-Scott Long Percussion Jungle (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: In Flames, All That Remains, All Hail the Yeti (VR) 6p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New

Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Starlight: Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Tuba Skinny (JV) 8p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 14

Buffa’s: Marla Dixon Blues Project (JV) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Shamar Allen and the Underdawgs (JV) 7p Café Negril: Claude Bryant and the All-Stars (VR) 6p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 10p d.b.a.: Omari Neville Birthday Bash feat. Cyril Neville and Swamp Funk, the Fuel (FK) 10p Dos Jefes: Matt Lemmler Trio (JV) 9:30p Dragon’s Den: Crescent Fresh Stand-Up (CO) 7p, Ladies Night with DJ Jess (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Hasizzle Bounce Night (BO) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Shawan Rice (RB) 6p House of Blues: Whiskey Myers (RK) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (FK) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Maison: Royal Street Winding Boys, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 7p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Ogden After Hours feat. the Light Set (FO) 6p Orpheum Theater: the LPO presents Visions of Vienna and Salzburg (CL) 7:30p Palm Court Jazz Café: Duke Heitger and Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p SideBar NOLA: Helen Gillet Presents (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Topsy Chapman and Solid Harmony Valentine’s Show (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Starlight: Keith Burnstein (SS) 5p, Josh Paxton (JV) 8p, Tarrah Reynolds and Amani Black Pearl (VR) 10p, Shawan Rice (JV) 11p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p Tipitina’s: G. Love and Special Sauce, Ron Artis II and the Truth (VR) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10:30p

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15

Buffa’s: Carmela Rappazzo (JV) 6p, Keith Burnstein (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Shawn Williams (VR) 4p, Dana Abbott (VR) 7p, Higher Heights (RE) 10p Crescent City BBQ: Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes (FK) 8p d.b.a.: Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 6p, Big Chief Juan Pardo and Al “Carnival Time” Johnson (MG) 10p Dos Jefes: Rick Trolsen and the Po’ Boys (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 11p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p Fillmore: Foo Fighters, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Ave. (RK) 7p Gasa Gasa: Hydra Plane, Kuwaisiana, the Ivory Sons (RK) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Jake Landry and the Right Lane Bandits (BL) 7p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Valerie Sassyfras, Dirty

Rotten Snake in the Grass (ID) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Shannon Powell Quartet (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat.

Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Joy Theater: Krewe Bohome’s Absinthe Ball (VR) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Hugh Morrison (FO) 5p, Van Hudson and friends (FO) 9p One Eyed Jacks: Murder By Death, J Roddy Walston and the Business (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Portside Lounge: Crazy Whiskey Album-release show (FO) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Will Smith (TJ) 8p Republic: Brasstracks (EL) 10p Siberia: Friday Night Soul Dance Party with the Essentials (SO) 10p SideBar NOLA: Alex McMurray and Glenn Hartmann (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Herlin Riley Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 6p, Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band (JV) 10p Starlight: Shaye Cohn and Dr. Michael White (JV) 5p, Michael Watson and the Alchemy (JV) 8p, Balkanique (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): G-Cue (RB) 11p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Performing Arts Center: New Orleans Gay Men’s Chorus (VR) 7:30p Vaughan’s: Morning 40 Federation, Egg Yolk Jubilee, Rough 7, the Planchettes (RK) 7p

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16

Buffa’s: Red Hot Brass Band (JV) 11a, Royal Rounders (VR) 6p, Marina Orchestra (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Joy Clark (VR) 4p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (VR) 7p, Dana Abbott Band (VR) 10p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Fillmore: Foo Fighters, Preservation Hall Jazz Band (RK) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Schaefer Llana (RK) 10p Gattuso’s: Andy Hymel and the All-Stars (VR) 2p House of Blues: Insane Clown Posse’s Juggalo Weekend (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Clear Soul Forces, Proper Channels, the Essence, Sic Hop, GPC, Prosper Jones (HH) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Kash Doll (HH) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Chucky C and Clearly Blue (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p NOLA Cantina: Co & Co Travelin’ Show (JV) 12p One Eyed Jacks: Naughty Professor Annual Krewe Du Vieux After Show (VR) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Will Smith and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Brass feat. Mark Braud (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat.

Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Smoothie King Center: Fleetwood Mac (CR) 8p Snug Harbor: Johnny Sansone Blues Party (JV) 9p Spotted Cat: Russell Welch Band (JV) 2p, Ecirb Muller’s Twisted Dixie (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Starlight: Glenn Hartman (VR) 5p, Heidijo (PI) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Muevelo, Mambo Orleans (LT) 9p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Esther Rose

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: Arlo Guthrie with Sarah Lee Guthrie (FO) 8:30p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 17

Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 11a, Al Farrell and Jerry Jumonville (VR) 4p, Steve Pistorius Jazz Quartet (JV) 7p Café Negril: Ecirb Muller’s Twisted Dixie (VR) 6p, Vegas Cola (JV) 10p Circle Bar: Micah McKee, Blind Texas Marlin (FO) 7p d.b.a.: Khris Royal and Dark Matter (FK) 10p Dos Jefes: Troi Atkinson (VR) 9p Dragon’s Den: Open Jam Session with Anuraag Pendyal (JV) 7p, Beats Per Minute with DJ Kidd Love (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p House of Blues: Insane Clown Posse’s Juggalo Weekend (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Porch): Thomas Erak and the Shoreline (ME) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Hugh Morrison (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Cynthia Girtley (GS) 11:30a, G’s Corner (JV) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Styk (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (VR) 9p Maison: NOLA Jitterbugs, Afrodiziacs (JV) 10a, Swinging Gypsies, Opulence Hour Burlesque, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Old Point Bar: Shawan Rice (JV) 3:30p, Sunday Night Jazz (JV) 7p One Eyed Jacks: Jonathan Richman (VR) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Siberia: Sam Doores Presents For the Sake of the Song (SS) 8p Smoothie King Center: Valentine’s Love Jam feat.

Tyrese, Monica and others (RB) 7p Snug Harbor: Betty Shirley Tribute to Bessie Smith and Nina Simone (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Giselle Anguizola and the New Orleans Swinging Gypsies (JV) 2p, Robin Barnes and the FiyaBirds (JV) 7p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Roland Cheramie and friends (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p

MONDAY FEBRUARY 18

Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Noggin (VR) 6p, Soul Project NOLA (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Monday Night Swing feat. Little Coquette (JV) 8p, AudioDope with DJ Ill Medina (VR) 9p Fillmore: Coheed, Cambria (VR) 6:30p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Jimbo Mathus (FO) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Sunshine Nights (BU) 9p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters with Leroy Jones (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-

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Stars (JV) 6p, New Orleans Swing Consensus (JV) 10p Starlight: Lulu and the Broadsides feat. Dayna Kurtz and James Singleton (JV) 6p, Shindig with Ian Wellman and Shelby Kemp (VR) 9p, Keith Burnstein and Amanda Walker (SS) 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 19

Bacchanal: Raphael Bas (JV) 12p, Mark Weliky (JV) 7:30p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: 4 Sidemen of the Apocalypse (VR) 6p, John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 10p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Fillmore: Duran Duran (RK) 7p Gasa Gasa: Guitar is Dead, Novagolde, Hard to be Human (VR) 9p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Rich Collins (VR) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Blood Orange (RB) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Tom Marron and Kevin Specht (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Margie Perez (JV) 7:30p Maison: Baby Giants Jazz Band, Gregory Agid Quartet, Gene’s Music Machine (VR) 4p One Eyed Jacks: John Maus (VR) 9p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Siberia: Terra Terra presents Guitar Night (RR) 9p SideBar NOLA: Brad Walker, Rurik Nunan and Doug Garrison (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Starlight: Greg Schatz (VR) 6p, DJ NeNe Full Moon House (VR) 10p Three Muses: Sam Cammarata (JV) 5p, Josh Gouzy (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Lee “Scratch” Perry, Subatomic Sound System (RE) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, F.A.S.T. (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 20 Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Maid of Orleans (VR) 6p, Another Day in Paradise (VR) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 8:30p Circle Bar: the Iguanas (VR) 7p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RR) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: World Vybz Wednesdays feat.

DJ FTK (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Dancehall Classics with DJ T-Roy’s Bayou International Soundsystem (RE) 11p Fillmore: Duran Duran (RK) 7p Gasa Gasa: Mozes and the Firstborn (RK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Beardsley (BL) 6p, BateBunda (VR) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Michael Liuzza (JV) 6p Jazz Playhouse: Big Sam’s Crescent City Connection (JV) 8:30p Joy Theater: Rainbow Kitten Surprise (ID) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Alicia Renee aka Blue Eyes

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with Shannon Powell Trio (JV) 7:30p Loa: Lynn Drury and Susan Cowsill (SS) 6p Maison: Jazmarae Beebe, Jazz Vipers, Sam Friend (VR) 4p Marigny Brasserie: Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band (JV) 7p One Eyed Jacks: the FleshEaters (VR) 8p, Vixens and Vinyl (VR) 10p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat.

Mark Braud (TJ) 8p Siberia: Alex Massa’s Fat Trio, Brian Haas and Justin Peake (FK) 9p SideBar NOLA: Aurora Nealand Presents (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra with Delfeayo Marsalis (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Starlight: Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Tuba Skinny (JV) 8p, Nahum Zdybel’s Hot Jazz band (JV) 11p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Schatzy (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Performing Arts Center: Weiss Kaplan Stumpf Trio (CL) 7p

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 21

Buffa’s: Leslie Cooper and Harry Mayronne (JV) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Shamar Allen and the Underdawgs (JV) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park):

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Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Claude Bryant and the All-Stars (VR) 6p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 10p d.b.a.: Deltaphonic (FK) 10p Dragon’s Den: Crescent Fresh Stand-Up (CO) 7p, Ladies Night with DJ Jess (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Hasizzle Bounce Night (BO) 10p Fillmore: Blackberry Smoke (VR) 7p Gasa Gasa: Juice (HH) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 8:30p Joy Theater: Bert Kreischer (CO) 6 & 9p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Creole Stringbeans (VR) 7:30p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Ogden After Hours feat. Peter Bradley Adams (SS) 6p Palm Court Jazz Café: Tim Laughlin and Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat. Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Siberia: Eastern Bloc Party feat. G-String Orchestra (KZ) 9p SideBar NOLA: Brad Walker, Matt Booth and Paul Thibodeaux (VR) 7p, Reggie Scanlan, Tom Worrell and Lionel Batiste Jr. (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Warren Battiste Quartet with Steve Masakowski and Martin Masakowski (PI) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Starlight: Ingrid Lucia (JV) 5p, Josh Paxton (JV) 8p, Anne Elise Hastings and Frankie Boots

(VR) 10p, Baby Boy Bartels (VR) 11p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Arsene DeLay (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10:30p

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22

Buffa’s: Jamie Bernstein and Dave Easley (VR) 6p, Joe Krown, Johnny Sansone and John Fohl (VR) 9p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Shawn Williams (VR) 4p, Dana Abbott (VR) 7p, Higher Heights (RE) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 9p Circle Bar: Natalie Mae (CW) 7p, Borealis Rex (RK) 9:30p Civic Theatre: Kanaval Ball feat. Boukman Eksperyans, Michael Brun, Major Lazer’s Diplo and Jillionaire, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, DJ Windows 98, DJ Jubilee (VR) 9p d.b.a.: Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses (JV) 6p, Feufollet, Michael Hurtt and his Haunted Hearts (VR) 10p Dos Jefes: Vivaz (LT) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 11p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p Fillmore: Gucci Mane (HH) 10p Gattuso’s: Soul Express (VR) 7p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Jake Landry and the Right Lane Bandits (BL) 7p Jazz Playhouse: Nayo Jones Experience (JV) 7:30p, Trixie Minx’s Burlesque Ballroom feat.

Romy Kaye and the Mercy Buckets (BQ) 11p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Van Hudson and Will Dickerson (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Rechell Cook and the Regeneration Band (RB) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Styk (RK) 9p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Shawn Williams (RK) 9:30p Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Will Smith (TJ) 8p Siberia: Sabine and the Dew Drops, Max and the Martians, Big Cedar Fever (VR) 9p SideBar NOLA: Jimmy Robinson and Michael Skinkus (VR) 9p Smoothie King Center: Kiss (CR) 7:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (BL) 6p, Soul Brass Band (JV) 10p Starlight: Shaye Cohn (PI) 5p, Cristina Maria (VR) 8p, Kings of the Small Time with Alex McMurray and Glenn Hartman (VR) 10p Three Keys (Ace Hotel): Raj Smoov (HH) 11p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Doro Wat Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tipitina’s: John “Papa” Gros 4th Annual Carnival Kickoff (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 23

Buffa’s: Red Hot Brass Band (JV) 11a, Camile Baudoin (VR) 6p, Asylum Chorus (VR) 9p

www.OFFBEAT.com

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Joy Clark (VR) 4p, John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 7p, Higher Heights (RE) 10p Carver Theater: Jeff Floyd, Lacee the Blues Singer (BL) 9p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 7p, King James and the Special Men (RB) 11p Dos Jefes: Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (ZY) 10p Dragon’s Den: Mahmoud Chouki (JV) 7p, Primetime feat. DJ Legatron Prime (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p, Saturdays are LIT with DJ Jess (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Where Y’acht (RK) 10p House of Blues: Thunderstruck (VR) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Cyril Neville and Swamp Funk (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Hippie Sabotage (EL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 5p, Paintbox with Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Wanda Rouzan (JV) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Styk (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Leah Rucker, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine, Next Level Nightclub Experience feat. DJ G (VR) 10p NOLA Cantina: Co & Co Travelin’ Show (JV) 12p Palm Court Jazz Café: Will Smith and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Brass feat.

Mark Braud (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Siberia: Alex McMurray (SS) 6p, Up From Here, the Bummers, the No Shows (ID) 9p SideBar NOLA: Mahmoud Chouki, Alex Massa and Yakou Daniel N’guessan (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Germaine Bazzle and Larry Sieberth Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Dark Effects, Stepping Sideways, Arsonwave, Rogue (VR) 7p Spotted Cat: Jazz Band Ballers (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 10p Starlight: Tom McDermott (PI) 5p, Shawan Rice (JV) 7p, Derrick Freeman Quartet (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 24

Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 11a, JeanneMarie Harris (JV) 4p, Steve Pistorius Jazz Quartet (JV) 7p Café Negril: Ecirb Muller’s Twisted Dixie (RK) 6p, Vegas Cola (JV) 10p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Dos Jefes: Joplin Parnell (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Jenna McSwain (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: TBC Brass Band (BB) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8p Little Gem Saloon: Cynthia Girtley (GS) 11:30a, G’s Corner (JV) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Styk (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (VR) 9p Maison: NOLA Jitterbugs, Bon Bon Vivant (JV) 10a, Royal Street Winding Boys, Opulence Hour Burlesque, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band

www.OFFBEAT.com

feat. Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Brian Charette Quartet with Melanie Scholtz from South Africa (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (JV) 2p, Robin Barnes and the FiyaBirds (JV) 7p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Starlight: Gypsy Stew (VR) 4p, Tango with Valorie Hart (LT) 7p, Gabrielle Cavassa Sessions (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Roland Cheramie and friends (KJ) 5p, Faubourg Ramblers (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

MONDAY FEBRUARY 25

Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Colin Davis and the Night People (VR) 6p, Soul Project NOLA (VR) 10p Circle Bar: Dem Roach Boyz (RB) 7p, Gene Black and friends (JV) 9:30p d.b.a.: John Boutte (JV) 7p Fillmore: Cypress Hill, Hollywood Undead (HH) 8p Gasa Gasa: Ron Gallo, Post Animal (RK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Jimbo Mathus (FO) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): Dorothy (RK) 8p House of Blues: the Zombies (CR) 8p Jazz Playhouse: Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Fred Armisen (CO) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 4p Preservation Hall: Preservation Jazz Masters with Leroy Jones (TJ) 5p, Preservation AllStars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Starlight: Anuraag Pendyal (JV) 5:30p, Shindig with Mahmoud Chouki and Rosalynn De Roos (VR) 8:30p, Keith Burnstein and Amanda Walker (SS) 9:30p Three Muses: Andrew Duhon (JV) 5p, Washboard Rodeo (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 26

Buffa’s: Tom Worrell (VR) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: 4 Sidemen of the Apocalypse (VR) 6p, John Lisi and Delta Funk (FK) 10p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p House of Blues (Foundation Room): BraunWood Duo (FK) 6p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Jazz Playhouse: James Rivers Movement (JV) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p One Eyed Jacks: Kristin Diable (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p

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Siberia: Ever More Nest (VR) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Unamused Dave, Hey Thanks, Kawaii AF, Rich Octopus (VR) 7p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Starlight: Dayna Kurtz (VR) 6p, Joanna Tomassonni and Morgan Orion (VR) 9p Three Muses: Esther Rose (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Car Seat Headrest, Naked Giants (ID) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Wild Card (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, F.A.S.T. (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 27 Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Maid of Orleans (VR) 6p, Another Day in Paradise (VR) 10p Carousel Bar (Hotel Monteleone): James Martin Band (JV) 8:30p Circle Bar: JustinBobby’s BobbyRock (RK) 11p Civic Theatre: Welcome to Night Vale (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Tin Men (RR) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dos Jefes: Carl Leblanc and Ellen Smith (JV) 9:30p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Summer Hart, Brothertiger, Rareluth (PO) 9p House of Blues: Stephen Marley (RE) 7p House of Blues (Foundation Room): Michael Liuzza (JV) 6p

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Jazz Playhouse: Brass-A-Holics (BB) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Parsons (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: the Function, Jazz Vipers, B Miller Zone (VR) 4p Marigny Brasserie: Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band (JV) 7p Palm Court Jazz Café: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Joe Lastie’s New Orleans Sound (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat.

Mark Braud (TJ) 8p Siberia: Nick Shoulders, Pete Mouton (CW) 9p SideBar NOLA: Helen Gillet Presents (VR) 9p Snug Harbor: Michael Watson and the Alchemy (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Starlight: Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Tuba Skinny (JV) 8p, Nahum Zdybel’s Hot Jazz band (JV) 11p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Mia Borders (JV) 8p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 28

Buffa’s: Harry Mayronne and friends (JV) 5p, Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 9p Bullet’s: Shamar Allen and the Underdawgs (JV) 7p Café Beignet (Musical Legends Park): Steamboat Willie Jazz Band (TJ) 10a Café Negril: Claude Bryant and the All-Stars (VR) 6p, Sierra Green and the Soul Machine (VR) 10p Circle Bar: Mod Dance Party with DJ Matty and DJ Kristen (RB) 11p

Fillmore: Dan and Shay (CW) 6:30p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Year of the Horse, Berlin Taxi (RK) 10p Hi-Ho Lounge: John Paul Carmody: Unpluggery (VR) 6p, Valerie Sassyfras (PO) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p, the Grass Is Dead (CR) 10p Jazz Playhouse: Shannon Powell Quartet (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Sam Price and the True Believers (RK) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Maison: Eight Dice Cloth, Good For Nothin’ Band, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Palm Court Jazz Café: Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 7p Preservation Hall: Preservation Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 5p, Preservation All-Stars feat. Lucien Barbarin (TJ) 8p Saenger Theatre: Needtobreathe (RK) 7p Siberia: Eastern Bloc Party feat. New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars and Zhenya of Red Elvises (KZ) 9p Snug Harbor: Mitch Woods and the Rocket 88s (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Michael Watson and the Alchemy (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Starlight: Oscar Rossignoli (PI) 5p, Josh Paxton (JV) 8p, Nick and Luke Band (VR) 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p Tipitina’s: Rakim (HH) 10p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p,

Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s: DJ Black Pearl (VR) 9p, Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10:30p

FESTIVALS Feb. 9 The Marley Gras Jerk Chicken Festival at Central City BBQ fuses Jamaican musical and culinary traditions with those of New Orleans.

MarleyGrasFestival.com

SPECIAL EVENTS Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27 The Crescent City Farmers Market holds a weekly produce market with live music every Wednesday at Piety and Chartres streets (foot of Rusty Rainbow bridge) from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. FrenchMarket.org Feb. 10 The New Orleans Rock and Roll Marathon is followed by an after party with headliners Preservation Hall Jazz Band. RunRocknRoll.com Feb. 14 The Foo Fighters and The Fillmore at Harrah’s Casino present the Krewe du Foo Broken Hearts Social Club Parade set to roll at 7 p.m. from Howard Avenue. Masquerade Nightclub at Harrah’s will host an official post-parade party. FillmoreNOLA.com Ongoing The “Drumsville!: Evolution of the New Orleans Beat” exhibit is on display at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. NolaJazzMuseum.org

www.OFFBEAT.com

BACKTALK

Colin Blunstone of the Zombies talks back

Colin Blunstone, far right

PHOTO: courtesy of the artist

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n a cosmic twist of fate, March 29 is a twice-special date for the Zombies. On March 29, 1969, the British invasion band’s “Time of the Season” reached number one in the United States on the Cashbox Top 100. On the fiftieth anniversary of that achievement, March 29, 2019, the Zombies will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“It’s going to be a double celebration for us,” Zombies singer Colin Blunstone told OffBeat in December, the day after the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees were announced.

Things do come to those who wait. The Zombies have been eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 1989.

In December, having been on the ballot four times, the Zombies learned they will join their 1960s British peers the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks and the Who in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In 1964, the Zombies released their hit debut, “She’s Not There.” “Tell Her No” followed in 1965. In 1969, 15 months after the band had broken up, “Time of the Season” charted high across the world. No

one was more surprised by the song’s belated success than the disbanded Zombies.

Appreciation for the group’s second album, Odessey and Oracle, came later. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in 1967, the album was ignored upon its release in 1968. It now ranks alongside the era’s masterpieces.

After the Zombies’ breakup, keyboardist and songwriter Rod Argent formed Argent (“Hold Your Head Up,” “God Gave Rock and Roll to You”). Blunstone continued recording, too, releasing charting songs in the United Kingdom and Europe and recording with Dave Stewart and the Alan Parsons Project.

As the years passed, the Zombies’ original recordings influenced decades of musicians, including Eminem, Post Malone, Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Fleet Foxes, She & Him and the Arctic Monkeys.

Blunstone and Argent reunited in 2000 for an intended six concerts only. But the reunion never ended, carrying on with international touring and new recordings. In 2015, the Zombies made their decades-in-the-making New Orleans debut. They return February 25 for a show at the House of Blues.

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By John Wirt

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced yesterday that the Zombies are 2019 inductees. You’ve probably been doing nonstop interviews.

It has been constant. Rod and I both have been doing quite a lot of interviews.

I’m happy to be talking to people in these wonderful circumstances. We’re very lucky and we feel honored to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For the Zombies at the moment, it’s all good news.

And you know what this business is like.

There are many times when it isn’t good news. There’s lots of, I always say, peaks and troughs. So, it’s nice to enjoy a wonderful peak. And long may it last.

Speaking of troughs, did the Zombies break up in 1967 because you all thought no one cared anymore?

In a way that’s true. In our defense, we had no help. No support. Our management didn’t have an overview of where our career was going. And it’s typical of bands in the ’60s. Especially in the U.K., where managers had very small minds. They were just trying to make a quick profit. They didn’t think in FEBRUA RY 2 019

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“Most musicians come into the business because they love to play music. That certainly was true in the ’60s and the ’70s. And sometimes, yeah, the conversation did change to money. What most musicians want is what we call a “fair crack of the whip.” It’s not that they want to be fantastically rich. It’s just they don’t like to see other people taking money that rightfully should come to them.” terms of careers.

Ironically, you recorded Odessey and Oracle, your masterpiece, and then you broke up.

At the time we perceived ourselves as being unsuccessful. Even just a few years afterwards, we realized that from ’64 to ’67 we always had a hit record somewhere in the world. And maybe we were all a bit tired.

We’d been working nonstop. We probably needed to take a break, just go away and think things through, and then see where it can go from there. But that’s not what happened. Everybody went off and got involved in fresh projects. For the most part those projects were successful. So, we can’t really look back with too many regrets.

I recently spoke to Peter Asher, one of your British Invasion peers. With the duo Peter and Gordon he released many hits.

But he said no musicians made money in the ’60s.

It’s true. Every band that I know from the ’60s didn’t make any money during the ’60s.

I remember talking to John Entwistle from the Who. He said, that before Tommy, they didn’t make any money.

But it’s funny to talk about musicians and money. Most musicians come into the business because they love to play music. That certainly was true in the ’60s and the ’70s.

And sometimes, yeah, the conversation did change to money. What most musicians want is what we call a “fair crack of the whip.” It’s not that they want to be fantastically rich. It’s just they don’t like to see other people taking money that rightfully should come to them.

That’s when things can get difficult, when you see money being diverted away from you. It’s a bit heartbreaking, really.

The news is still fresh, but has the upcoming Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for the Zombies sunk in yet?

It’s almost beyond my imagination. To be honest, I don’t think it’s really sunk in. I always remember us as these five young boys getting together, way back in 1961. I remember our humble beginnings with no instruments and

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no equipment. And to think that through this long journey we’ve been on, we’ve arrived to a point where we’re being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In online voting, more than 330,000 fans voted to induct the Zombies. The Zombies placed fourth out of fifteen nominees, behind Def Leppard, Stevie Nicks and Todd Rundgren and ahead of Janet Jackson, Radiohead, the Cure and the others.

It is quite mind blowing, really, that we should be in this situation. Firstly, we have this wonderful, loyal and tenacious fanbase.

And then that our peers, musicians who have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame, they voted for us as well.

After you got the news, how soon did you speak to Rod? Immediately. He’s incredibly excited as well.

I’ve had a phone call from Chris White, the original bass player. He’s thrilled. I had an email from Hugh Grundy (the drummer). He’s thrilled. Hugh said he’s so glad that his life changed that day back in 1961. All our lives changed in 1961, when we met as 15-yearsolds and discussed putting a band together.

Sadly, the fifth member, Paul Atkinson, the guitarist, passed away in 2004. Of course, we’re remembering Paul. He was a very important part of the original Zombies. He went on to be a powerful record executive.

In many ways, he was the most successful of all of us.

At the House of Blues this February, you’ll be playing only the second New Orleans show of your career.

I remember, way back in the ’60s, when we came very near to New Orleans. I was so disappointed that we didn’t play there in our first incarnation. All musicians want to go to New Orleans. But we played there in 2015 and I got out and had a good walk around.

The reanimation of the Zombies happened in 2000, nearly 20 years ago.

Ironically, the first edition of the Zombies was a professional band for only three years.

When you’re young, three years seems

like an eternity. So, this new band has been together nearly seven times as long as the original Zombies. We got back together again, originally, to play six dates. I don’t think Rod wanted to commit to being full-time. He was very successful as a producer. But he loved it so much that here we are, still playing.

“Time of the Season” became an international hit in 1969. Can you say why that song is so mesmerizing?

If you could bottle that knowledge, you would have continual hits. But it has got a very infectious rhythm to it, which is enhanced by the handclap and breath. Rod did the handclap and breath on the spur of moment in the studio. Pure genius. The handclap and breath make the song stand out. Otherwise, it’s just very well-crafted.

But there are so many strange things about “Time of the Season.” For one thing, it was never a hit in the U.K., but it was the Zombies’ biggest hit ’round the world.

Another thing is, when people make films and TV series about the ’60s, they often go to that song as a sort of summation of the ’60s.

It’s been in countless films and commercials.

Actually, it’s in a commercial right now in America. Applebee’s pies or something.

Didn’t you and Rod almost come to blows during the recording of “Time of the Season”?

It was the last song we recorded for Odessey and Oracle. Rod finished writing it in the morning before the afternoon session. I wasn’t fully prepared to sing it because it had only just been written. I was having trouble getting the phrasing completely correct. Rod was coaching me from the control room and I was in the live room. And I was watching the clock right in front of me, with the red light above it. We had a minute recording budget.

It was getting more and more tense. While I was singing “It’s the time of the season for loving,” Rod and I were having a fierce row, with very bad language and shouting.

Remembering that always makes me laugh.

The Zombies play at the House of Blues February 25. www.OFFBEAT.com