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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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.
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
photo: Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee
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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