All the Nominees!
best music of 2018 derek trucks lil queenie spencer bohren
Walter Washington NEW ORLEANS MUSIC, FOOD, CULTURE—JANUARY 2019
Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50
Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement In Music
All the Nominees!
best music of 2018
PHoto: GUS BENNETT
derek trucks
spencer bohren
WALTER WASHINGTON NEW ORLEANS MUSIC, FOOD, CULTURE—JANUARY 2019
Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50
Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement In Music
7
Five Questions with Grammy-nominated accordionist Sean Ardoin; My Music with fiddler David Greely; Billy Iuso celebrates his 50th birthday with music from 1969; Five Questions with Nina Buck of the Palm Court Jazz Café plus more.
12
The 50 best albums of 2018.
The Nominations
Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Culture Bearer): Herreast Harrison 24 Positive Vibrations HeartBeat Award (Musician): Dr. Michael White 26 Lifetime Achievement in Music Education: John Snyder 28 OffBeat Eats
38
Restaurant Review
39
Michael Dominici reviews Saba.
12
The complete list of nominees for the Best of the Beat.
Best of the Beat Lifetime Achievement in Music Business: Doris Bastiansen of the Kerry Irish Pub 22
www.OFFBEAT.com
The Peculiar Reality of Dr. John By Bunny Matthews February 2000
Page 32
Fresh 8
The Best Music of the Year
THE PAST
Walter “Wolfman” Washington
Letters 6 Mojo Mouth
.BLAST FROM
Lifetime Achievement in Music:
lil queenie
Reviews 40 Spencer Bohren, Grayson Brockamp and the New Orleans Wildlife Band, Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band, Little Queenie, Shamarr Allen, Maria Muldaur and more.
Listings 47 Backtalk with Derek Trucks
53
In 2000, our Lifetime Achievement Award for Music went to Dr. John. Bunny Matthews asks the doctor about OffBeat Magazine. “I’ve seen OffBeat’s in weird places. I found people with OffBeat magazines at the North Sea Jazz Festival in England. I’ve seen ’em in other states. I just see ’em here and there.” (To read more this issue can be purchased at http:// www.offbeat.com/shop/ back-issues/2000/offbeatmagazine-february-2000/)
JA N U A RY 2019
O
5
Letters
“Remember Christopher Cross? He won the Album of the Year Grammy, instead of the other nominees: Glass Houses by Billy Joel, The Wall by Pink Floyd, Trilogy: Past Present Future by Frank Sinatra, and Guilty by Barbra Streisand.” —Jef Jaisun, Seattle, Washington
Frenchmen Street Some things you had to say [Jan Ramsey] about Frenchmen Street were on the mark since I’ve been around since the glory days of Uncle Lionel, Coco [Robicheaux], George the broom man, Kenny Holladay, etc. A lot of it is gone, thanks to Uber, pedicabs and even some cabbies. Blame them, not the homeless people. Your worst was picking on unlicensed food vendors. I’ve never been poisoned by them which is more than I can say about some of our better eateries. When people visit, I tell them to get food from the street vendors. Spoken like a true white person. —John Cagney, New Orleans, Louisiana The disenfranchised homeless deserve help, and we recommend services to those who truly need it. We enjoy street food as much as you do, but restaurants, bars and retailers are obligated to pay rent, utilities and taxes, and to buy permits to sell anything. These fees make it possible for police, streets, sanitation, lighting and more. It's not too much to ask for street vendors to obtain a permit and to pay a nominal fee to help to pay for community necessities—then everyone benefits.—Ed.
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. The Stones did a lot to expose young white audiences to the blues. I’ll give them credit for their early efforts, which included covering everyone from Slim Harpo (Baton Rouge) to Irma Thomas (Ponchatoula). I’m not swallowing this latest “blues” album of theirs. It’s almost as though they’re parodying their early work. For nearly two decades Chris has been in the forefront of experimental music he calls the blues. Others of us would not call it that. His rant that rock ’n’ roll was all about whites stealing African American music is mostly B.S. There’s no question some of it happened. Anyone remember Pat Boone’s cover hits of Fats Domino and Little Richard tunes? I do. (File under “Awful Things You Can’t Unhear.”) Etta James once famously said, “I’d better not die, or Georgia Gibbs won’t have a career anymore.”
Finally, for F sake, Chris, it’s the Grammys! The people who gave one to Milli Vanilli, the organization that made Christopher Cross a 4-award winner in 1981. Remember Christopher Cross? He won the Album of the Year Grammy, instead of the other nominees: Glass Houses by Billy Joel, The Wall by Pink Floyd, Trilogy: Past Present Future by Frank Sinatra, and Guilty by Barbra Streisand. That same year Stephanie Mills took the female R&B Grammy from Aretha Franklin, Minnie Riperton, Roberta Flack and Diana Ross. There’s a trend here. Some people will always be hacks, and that includes voting members of the Recording Academy. If you pin your hopes and dreams to those characters you’re bound to be disappointed. Just go out and play to the people who appreciate you. They’re the ones who count. —Jef Jaisun, Seattle, Washington
Dave Bartholomew A decade or so ago, I broached the idea to Cosimo Matassa and Allen Toussaint about posing with Dave Bartholomew in a photo shoot together—a portrait of the three architects of New Orleans R&B and rock ’n’ roll. They both agreed, and both said, “We’d better do it soon, Dave’s getting old.” I never got the shoot together and now, ironically, Dave has outlived the other two. Happy Birthday, Mr. Bartholomew! You surely changed the sound and direction of popular music. —Scott Paton, Sunnyvale, California
Jamie Lynn Vessels I was quite pleased to not only see the review of Jamie Lynn Vessels’ Storm Coming [October 2018] but also that it was rightfully a strong one. We were lucky to have Jamie play a house concert in California earlier this year where Jamie and I stayed in touch for four years to ultimately make it happen: just her, her guitar, that killer voice and great attitude. Jamie Lynn Vessels is simply one of the nicest people I have ever run into and hopefully/deservedly she will take it to the next level. She made a ton of friends that day and hopefully we will have her back. —Jim Rauh, Santa Clara, California
OffBeat welcomes letters from its readers—both comments and criticisms. To be considered for publication, all letters must be signed and contain the current address and phone number of the writer. Letters to the editor are subject to editing for length or content deemed objectionable to OffBeat readers. Please send letters to Editor, OffBeat Publications, 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116.
6
O
J A N U A RY 2 0 1 9
Louisiana Music, Food & Culture
January 2019 Volume 32, Number 1 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 Michael Dominici, Herman Fuselier, Holly Hobbs, Brett Milano, John Swenson, Christopher Weddle, 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 Camille A. Ramsey, camille@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns James Bittner , Devorah Levy-Pearlman 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
Best of the Beat Is a Labor of Love
P
ublishing a print magazine in this day and time—a website, the Weekly Beat newsletter, social media, videos... well, it’s a lot of work for a small company. It is definitely a labor of love. Every year I take this opportunity to thank the OffBeat team: Joseph Irrera, Amanda Mester, Noé Cugny, Camille Ramsey, Katie Walenter, Eric Gernhauser, Theo Schell-Lambert and of course, our unparalleled crew of writers and photographers, and our distribution team, for the many hours they put into making OffBeat possible. And, of course, there are the musicians and music businesses and last but certainly not least, our subscribers and advertisers who are the people who support our mission
www.OFFBEAT.com
of promoting and celebrating our music, cuisine and culture. One can listen to our musicians in various ways—by streaming, downloads, physical product like CDs and on the radio. But there are stories behind the music that are threads woven into an intricate tapestry that’s forever growing bigger, more colorful and richer as years go on. That’s where OffBeat comes in. It’s up to us to keep that tapestry fresh and add to it on a daily basis. You may love listening to our musicians, but dig a little deeper and find out what has influenced and changed our music throughout our city’s 300-year history. What OffBeat “records” isn’t just about the music—music is an
By Jan Ramsey ever-evolving, ever-fascinating art form and it’s crucial to learn about who makes the music and why they create it. Humans are complicated beings, and music is ultimately a manifestation of human intellect, skill, emotion, art and love. In this issue of OffBeat, we present a compendium of the artists who we feel have made the best music this year; we also present nominations for the musicians and artists who we have determined are worthy of accolades this year. Our nominations for the Best of the Beat Awards take months to prepare, getting opinions from musicians, readers, local music aficionados, club owners, talent bookers and many more. Now it’s
your turn to choose the winners of the 2018 awards. We’ll put the nominations online just after Christmas. Voting will conclude on January 15, 2019, and will culminate in our annual Best of the Beat Music Awards on January 31, 2019 at Generations Hall (see the back cover of this month’s magazine for more information). We will also present the Lifetime Achievement Awards as well as the Music Business Awards on January 24, 2019 at a special event at Loyola’s Roussel Hall. This event is intended only for the musician and music business community, by invitation only. Congratulations to our Lifetime Achievement recipients. Thank you! O
JA N U A RY 2019
O
7
32
O
J A N U A RY 2 0 1 9
Best of the Beat
Lifetime Achievement in Music
W a lt e r
Wolfman
“
”
Wa s h i n g to n
b y J o h n Sw e n s o n
•
P HOTOGR A P HS BY G U S BENNETT
All but a few of the direct links to the days when New Orleans R&B ruled the world have passed, but Walter “Wolfman” Washington still provides a window into that world on a regular basis. Washington, still vital at 75, plays frequently in New Orleans with two different groups—the long running Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters, a Wednesday night fixture at d.b.a.; and a trio with organist Joe Krown and drummer Russell Batiste Jr. at the Maple Leaf. Washington’s discography includes numerous recordings with those bands along with his crucial work with Johnny Adams, Eddie Bo, Lee Dorsey and others. His new album recorded with a different group of musicians, My Future Is My Past, is an intimate collection of acoustic performances showcasing Washington’s sensitive, emotional baritone and plaintive falsetto. The recording, produced by Galactic’s Ben Ellman and featuring a gallery of New Orleans musicians including Irma Thomas, Ivan Neville, Jon Cleary, Stanton Moore, James Singleton and David Torkanowsky, has brought Washington to the attention of a new generation of fans. I caught up with
Washington next door to Tipitina’s right at the moment when Galactic was about to complete the purchase of the club and days before Washington was set to celebrate his 75th birthday with a concert at the storied venue. The affable Washington, resplendent in his trademark dark red suit and jaunty cap, carried on an eccentric and fascinating conversation full of elliptical reminiscences and philosophical observations. Washington talks like he sings, hovering through an intimate, sotto voce monologue then leaping unexpectedly into exclamations, usually accompanied by sweeping, arching hand gestures and a comic tilt of his head. Walter’s conversational style is not linear, but it is revealing because it contains so much of his personality. You must listen closely when you speak with this gentleman. We started by talking about his family, parents Marie and Edward Washington and assorted uncles and cousins, and how the instruction he learned from them growing up in Central City directed his life. In Walter’s extended family there were many musicians including his cousin Ernie K-Doe and uncles Lightnin’ Slim and Guitar Slim.
You just had a big Thanksgiving celebration at your house. Yes. We like to have members of the band over and some friends every Thanksgiving. Is this a tradition that goes back to your own family history? Yes. We had some big gatherings. There was 14 on my mama’s side. I had an adopted sister. They had me at a time when I came along they weren’t expecting to have any children. My dad was in World War II. I didn’t hear too much about it. He was in combat but he didn’t want to talk about it when he came home.
My mama she sung in the choir. We had a group called the True Love and Gospel Singers. That kind of got me interested in music. I had an uncle and a couple of cousins in that group. But I wasn’t playing guitar then. How did you start on electric guitar? K-Doe had bought an electric guitar and amp and he tried to learn how to play it but that didn’t work out so he gave it to me. From then on I played electric guitar. I had learned how to play chords. It just came to me natural when I picked it up and started to play. I learned by watching people. Because I knew how to sing it was easy for me to play a chord. At first I had it tuned to open chords. Growing up in Central City you must have seen the Mardi Gras Indians. JA N U A RY 2 019
O
33