OffBeat Magazine November 2016

How Voodoo You Do? Pull-Out Festival Guide Inside

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Bonnie Raitt Soul Brass Band Little Maker Motel Radio Sam Price Charlie Wooton Larry Sieberth Dr. John

LOUISIANA MUSIC, FOOD & CULTURE—NOVEMBER 2016 Free In Metro New Orleans US $5.99 CAN $6.99 £UK 3.50

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The Ongoing Evolutionary Experiment

“Backtalk”

Mutemath’s expansive music. Page 32 LETTERS

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TRUE BELIEVERS

MOJO MOUTH

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New projects are the culmination of a long, colorful journey for bassist Sam Price.

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IDENTITY COHESION

Five Questions with Cindy Scott; NOMAF for Dancers’ Health; My Music with Dave Boswell; The Voodoo Playlist; Presenting Princess Shaw and more.

OBITUARIES Joe Clay Joan Marie Johnson (Dixie Cups) Stanley Dural Jr. (Buckwheat Zydeco) HARD GROOVE

IN THE SPIRIT 12 14 16 18 20

STS9 have even more to say.

KICKING IT IN A NEW WAY

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Derrick Freeman leads the Soul Brass Band.

A HIGHER FREQUENCY

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Motel Radio tunes in and turns on.

MAN OF MANY PROJECTS Larry Sieberth’s long list of collaborations and endeavors.

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Micah McKee, a.k.a. Little Maker, pushes his music forward.

Charlie Wooton’s mission is music.

REBIRTH

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Lisa Nguyen at Seaworthy mixes up the Exploding Heart for King Louie.

OFFBEAT EATS

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Darcy Malone is In the Spot at Blue Oak BBQ and Peter Thriffiley reviews Cafe Henri.

REVIEWS

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Dr. John & Friends, Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Orchestra, Anders Osborne, Randy Newman, the Wee Trio, Mighty Sam McClain, Gary Negbaur, Carsie Blanton, Valerie Sassyfras and more.

LISTINGS

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Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings is Plan A.

BACKTALK with Bonnie Raitt

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By Jan Ramsey May 2002 Bonnie Raitt was asked about recording the Allen Toussaint song “What is Success?”

“I did it because at that point, I told Warners that if I signed with them they couldn’t tell me what to sing and whether there had to be a hit single. ‘What is success? To do your own thing and avoid the rest…’”

(To read more, this issue can be purchased at http://www.offbeat. com/shop/2002/offbeatmagazine-may-2002/) NO VEMBER 2016

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Letters

“I had hung up my walking shoes a couple of years ago but I did the second line down Royal Street and couldn’t believe the crowds and the love the city showed [Pete Fountain].”

—Richard Totter, Las Vegas, Nevada

Radiators Collection I’ve been spending the past couple of months wading through many boxes of Camile’s [Boudin] and my memorabilia. I’m now in the last sorting stage, editing down our own collection and readying materials to go to David Kunian’s new archives [at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint].

The pile marked “Media Coverage” is quite high, and much of the local press over the many years of the Radiators—indeed, the lion’s share—came from OffBeat. Seen in retrospect, and all of a piece, it’s impressive in quantity, depth and quality. Older articles provide primary documentation of the Radiators’ development and stalwart resilience amidst disco, country, the ’90s, and other cultural assaults. Newer pieces remind the reader of the band’s contributions to the New Orleans (and American) musical canon.

This is an especially important service in the context of today’s fluid musical scene.

Thanks to you both for all you’ve done for Camile, for the band, and for New Orleans music. Like Zeke says, “down with history, up with mystery.”

—Missy Bowen, New Orleans, Louisiana

Favorite Festival Your magazine put out an article on Festivals Acadiens et Créoles celebrating its 42nd year.

The photo shows people dancing at the festival with the sun in the background. In the center of the picture is a man wearing a cowboy hat dancing with a girl with long hair looking down at his feet. I’m the girl dancing with the guy, who is my husband. Our names are Brian and Linda Simons. All my friends said to contact you and ask it I could have a jpeg or something I can print out and frame. Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is our favorite festival. We go every year and meet up with people from all over.

—Linda Simons, Lafayette, Louisiana

Pete Fountain I was lucky to receive your magazine with the great story about Pete Fountain.

I became the 28th member of the Half-Fast Walking Club and had to come up with 50

bucks which was a bit of money in 1964. I met Pete at a bar called The Velvet Swing where the club had its meetings. I stuck out my hand and said, “Thanks Mr. Fountain for letting me in your club.” He said, “Rick, my dad’s Mr. Fountain, I’m Pete.” My life changed right at that moment.

Things were pretty loose for the first few years, only a couple of meetings a year. But by 1966 we had more members and we brought in the first doubloons which we called Picayunes.

Problems began with the wives of some of the members and we lost some. So we started things to include wives and kids. A huge Christmas party and picnics at Pete’s ranch in the summer helped. They later started a club, Wives of the Half-Fast.

In 1970 I decided to move to Las Vegas.

I returned many years to walk but it wasn’t the same. I was an out-of-towner and was no longer involved in the day-to-day part of the club. I think I missed that part the most.

The club had grown with 250 members and I only know 5 or 6 from the old days and now Pete’s gone. What a blow. When I received the call I couldn’t believe it or I didn’t want to—the musical heart of New Orleans. I flew home for the funeral; they were not going to bury him without me. I had hung up my walking shoes a couple of years ago but I did the second line down Royal Street and couldn’t believe the crowds and the love the city showed him. It brought tears to my eyes. He was the man. Nothing was too much trouble if you were his friend. Whatever you would ask he would say “Ask me something hard next time.”

Sometimes he would call and say “Just wanna tell you I love you.” That was Pete, the kid from the shotgun house on White Street. I will miss him, the world of music and the City of New Orleans.

Thanks for writing about him in your magazine. It was special.

—Richard Totter, Las Vegas, Nevada

Correction Our headline for Playlist in the October 2016 issue, “Ten Songs You Didn’t Know Were Recorded in New Orleans,” was obviously a blunder since the article points out that several were recorded in Bogalusa.—Ed.

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

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Louisiana Music, Food & Culture

November 2016 Volume 29, Number 12 Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Jan V. Ramsey, janramsey@offbeat.com Managing Editor Joseph L. Irrera, josephirrera@offbeat.com Consulting Editor John Swenson Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Listings Editor Katie Walenter, listings@offbeat.com Contributors Rory Callais, Sam D’Arcangelo, Laura DeFazio, Frank Etheridge, Alison Fensterstock, Robert Fontenot, Elsa Hahne, Jeff Hannusch, Amanda Mester, Brett Milano, Sarah Ravits, Peter Thriffiley, Michael Tisserand, Dan Willging, John Wirt, Geraldine Wyckoff Art Director/Food Editor Elsa Hahne, elsahahne@offbeat.com Web Editor Sam D'Arcangelo, sam@offbeat.com Copy Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, theo@offbeat.com Advertising Sales Camille A. Ramsey, camille@offbeat.com Carver Rayburn, carver@offbeat.com Advertising Design PressWorks, 504-944-4300 Business Manager Joseph L. Irrera Interns Justin Gordon, Brittney Karno, Aidan Soguero Distribution Patti Carrigan, Doug Jackson OffBeat (ISSN# 1090-0810) is published monthly in New Orleans by OffBeat, Inc., 421 Frenchmen St., Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70116 (504) 944-4300 • fax (504) 944-4306 e-mail: offbeat@offbeat.com, web site: www.offbeat.com facebook.com/offbeatmagazine twitter.com/offbeatmagazine Copyright © 2016, OffBeat, Inc. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of the publisher. OffBeat is a registered trademark of OffBeat, Inc. First class subscriptions to OffBeat in the U.S. are available for $45 per year ($52 Canada, $105 foreign airmail). Back issues are available for $10, except for the May issue for $16 (for foreign delivery add $6, except for the May issue add $4). Submission of photos and articles on Louisiana artists are welcomed, but unfortunately material cannot be returned.

MOJO MOUTH

The Real and the Fake

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s I write this, I’m looking out of my Frenchmen Street window watching a “Skull and Bones gang” and a “Mardi Gras Indian” prepare to parade down Frenchmen to Decatur.

Strange time of year, you say?

Strange place to parade?

Well, you must be a native New Orleanian. You know the difference.

We know this is the wrong time and place for this to happen. But these activities are being staged for a movie that’s being shot in New Orleans (reportedly it’s a remake of the classic good-dog film, Benji— and there was a very cute dog running up and down the street).

It’s sort of interesting that the visual manifestations of our culture—Skull and Bones, Mardi Gras Indians, Mardi Gras floats, second line parades, jazz funerals, beads, costuming, French Quarter

www.OFFBEAT.com

By Jan Ramsey

architecture, shotgun houses, Bourbon Street flashing, even stuff like crawfish boils and blackened redfish—are so visually identified worldwide as being “New Orleans.”

Authenticity is arguably the key to what New Orleans and Louisiana is all about. It makes us who we are. It’s the authenticity and sincerity of our people that brings all of this together. Ask anyone about the people here: They’re more friendly; they say hello; they’re concerned about their community and their neighbors. It’s what makes New Orleans a unique place to live, play and work.

But how do we hold onto that “authenticity”?

I’m not suggesting that our culture shouldn’t be used in a movie. That’s been done for years and years, although we seem to be on a high note, media-wise, with

programs that showcase the city such as NCIS: New Orleans and HBO’s Treme, and with the many films that have been shot here and have used New Orleans locations and culture as a backdrop.

Maybe that’s the problem: culture as a backdrop, an incidental for visual “flavor.”

That sort of relegates who we are to a surface commodity. It’s fun and entertaining to watch. Yes, indeed it is, but there are people in our community who take our cultural traditions quite seriously and when that ceases, we’ll be nothing more than another empty Disneyland full of effects.

There was a time in my life when I wasn’t as involved in our local culture—when I was younger— and didn’t understand why it was so important to not only enjoy it, but to recognize the obligation that

we all have to preserve it, and take action to do so.

There are several organizations that are dedicated to doing just this, and one that is dear to my heart is the Backstreet Cultural Museum (www.backstreetmuseum. org). Located in Treme, this small museum holds the world’s most comprehensive collection related to New Orleans’ African-American community–based masking and processional traditions, including Mardi Gras Indians, jazz funerals, Social Aid and Pleasure clubs, Baby Dolls, and Skull and Bone gangs.

If you haven’t already, visit the museum at 1116 Henriette Delille, and help keep it alive by going to a benefit for the museum on Sunday, November 13 at Rock ’n’ Bowl from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Advance tickets are available by calling (504) 657-6700 or (504) 621-8882.

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FRESH

OffBeat.com

Five Questions with Cindy Scott—singer and now full-time faculty at Berklee School of Music in Boston

SWEET TWEETS

C

ongrats! Any idea how many applied for your position?

I’m sure a lot of people applied. I submitted my application on a whim, sort of, the night before the deadline.

How did you convince Berklee that you were “the one”?

I had no idea I would get this job. First I had a Skype interview, and [my husband] Bill helped me prepare for it. We practiced. We figured out the best angle for the camera and drew a line where I’d look the best and what I should wear, and I put on more make-up than usual.

We’re only eight or ten full-time vocal teachers, and about eighty are part-time. It’s exciting to be part of an institution that is turning out the best musicians in the world.

Who are your students?

All in all, there are about a thousand voice students. I have eighteen, all first-years. They’re great! Very international; I have a student from Mongolia and another one from Hong Kong who writes her own songs in Chinese.

I have two students from Korea and one from Brazil, one from Columbia.

Most of them speak great English, and some of them are already stars.

I hear your new job came with some unexpected stress?

While I was here for orientation Bill had some medical tests and they found something on his pancreas. The doctor in New Orleans immediately decided it was cancer and put the fear of God in both of us. So I was here in Boston and he was home. It was this horrible, emotional, crazy moment. I only stayed for the rest of the orientation because Bill told me to. Then he decided the medical care in Boston would be better than in New Orleans. We had planned to gradually move and kind of go between places, but basically we moved in a week. We rented the first place we looked at... Then they determined in the surgery that Bill’s tumor wasn’t cancerous. So we’re okay now. We’re going to be fine.

Having taught in New Orleans, what’s the biggest difference to you as a teacher now that you’re at Berklee?

Berklee has a very strong union. That’s very different from being an adjunct anywhere. The faculty doesn’t seem to work on weekends and nobody gives out their cell phone number. That’s new for me.

Also, I have a great schedule. I can continue to tour and perform and the school even gives grants for touring.

—Elsa Hahne Cindy Scott will perform at Snug Harbor on Tuesday, November 29.

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@bigfreedia If you don’t vote you can’t bitch. So register here: http://ow.ly/RrIP304DaGC @KeithSpera Within two blocks in the French Quarter, saw tourists lose $20 to “Where u got dem shoes,” get in cab w/ flat tire and trip on busted sidewalk. @mpatrickwelch If we are fixing to have a race war coming up here, is there some process I can go through in advance to fight on the Black side? @KermitRuffins The key to a happy life is knowing that you’re never ever in control. @jeffalbert It is impossible to keep a secret in this town. Ok, might be my fault. @srofay (Mary Catherine Srofe) “For every cig you smoke, God takes an hour away from your life and gives it to Keith Richards.”—band at bar in Kenner @KitchenWitchNO We have the largest selection of classical music CDs in the city. Also some vinyl. Pass it on! @AlisonF_NOLA What my mom wants for the new year is Hillary in office and Leonard Cohen to tour again soon. I agree. Good Yom Tov everyone. @nolacampanella Present-day Lee Circle during federal occupation, 1865; building at left is possibly the underlying structure of today’s @circlebarnola.

www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

Johnny Sansone jumps into the crowd at Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest

SOUNDCHECK

FRESH

DANCE WELLNESS

Reducing the risk of occupational injury

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n a move likely to inspire dancers across the city to get up and boogie, the New Orleans Musicians Clinic has launched the Dancer Wellness Program. A community health initiative piloted in 2015 in partnership with the Tulane Institute of Sports Medicine and stakeholders in New Orleans’ professional dance community (burlesque, ethnic, erotic, modern, ballet, indigenous and parade dancers), the Program uses targeted activities to address some of the most pertinent issues facing dancers of all kinds.

Having recently been awarded partial funding from the Emerging Philanthropists of New Orleans 2016 Arts & Culture team, the Program and all of its endeavors aim to assist dancers in their pursuit to keep performing. The brains behind the Dancer Wellness Program are responsible for monthly workshops designed to mitigate poor health and reduce the risk of occupational injury among other things.

The inaugural installment took place in September and focused on the hip, while October’s will place emphasis on the shoulder. The next workshop, which will take place November 21, is open to the public and free to attend, with dancers of all skill levels invited to participate.

As program directors explain to OffBeat, “the idea for the Dancer Wellness Program was born in part out of the diversity of dancers in the city and the unique needs they have. After all, if the arts and culture tourism industry is the most powerful driver of the New Orleans economy, shouldn’t the performers be cared for in ways that recognize their contribution to this sector and value their future participation in it?” Furthermore, the Program embraces the city’s ethnic diversity.

According to Program Supervisor Erica Dudas, the Program wouldn’t be what it is without the help of Jamilah Peters Muhammad at the Ashe Cultural Center, where “ethnic dancers are getting behind the effort to see how health and preventative care can bring performers of all backgrounds together.”

But beyond its focus on dancers in New Orleans, another aspect that makes this program unique is its drawing from lessons learned in performance medicine and sports-specific care. As Program Director Lindsay Gastright tells us, “You wouldn’t treat a basketball player the same way you treat a football player,” and that’s the perspective used by the Dancer Wellness Program’s health and medical professionals.

Learn more by visiting http://neworleansmusiciansclinic.org/ community-programs/dwp, or interact on social media using the hashtag #wellnessonpointe.

—Amanda Mester www.OFFBEAT.com

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THE VOODOO PLAYLIST

Dave Boswell, trumpeter and vocalist

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Photo: jose gallois

MY MUSIC

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y goal is that it’s always a quest for more knowledge. I actually started playing the oboe when I was in fourth grade which I continued all the way through college. I got a scholarship to college playing oboe. When I was 13 I had been listening to this piece that my mom had of this flugelhorn player, Chuck Mangione, who was a legit jazz player for a while, but then he got into that fusion jazz movement in the ’70s. My grandparents, who I was living with at the time, had a trumpet in the basement, and I was like, ‘I’m gonna teach myself how to play’ so I could play along with this music I thought was so cool.

And so I taught myself to play trumpet. I started playing in the jazz band at school, and I got me some trumpet lessons, and my teacher introduced me to trumpet players like Chet Baker and Miles Davis. And I was just sort of hooked, from then on out. That was the beginning and the end.

Right now I play with Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, and with Miss Sophie Lee, and Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns. I play with the TomCats, that’s Tom Saunders’ dance band, and Linnzi Zaorski. I sub for a lot of people in different settings. And I’m starting to lead my own group, which is something I’ve really been aiming to start doing for a while. I don’t wanna just be another trad band. I want to do things that are in the New Orleans realm— New Orleans standards—and then some of these soul songs that I sing. But I also would like to bring in some of the hard bop, Blue Note ’60s-era trumpet tenor kind of stuff that I grew up listening to. When I play things that are of a more modern style, I have a more informed approach rhythmically than I used to. Because of having played all this New Orleans music.

I really love the music here. I remember telling Bruce [Brackman, clarinetist], maybe two years or so after I moved here [from Denver], that I felt like this was the music that I always wanted to play but never knew it.

A lot of jazz is really esoteric and intellectual. Some of it’s really cool, but it loses some of that guttural, that visceral effect. The music of New Orleans is, I think, a lot more accessible. And it’s really much more culturally relevant.

Now, I’m trying to marry the two halves of my music. The pre–New Orleans and the post–New Orleans side of music personality.

I think it’s kind of like cooking, you know? You just kind of like try things and if it tastes good—or if it sounds right—then it is. When [Brackman] solos, he plays this very—I mean, it’s not “avant-garde,” but it’s very modern stuff over this old music, but it still sounds right. And I guess that’s what I’m going for. I want it to feel alive, and I want it to speak to people, and I want it to sound right.”

—Laura DeFazio

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ith Halloween and Voodoo both on the way, this month’s playlist looks at the subject of voodoo—not surprisingly, a topic that’s fueled more than a few local classics.

Dr. John “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya”: You could put anything from Dr. John’s early albums—or for that matter, his whole damn catalogue—on this list. But when he released this track—the opener to his first album, Gris-Gris—nothing quite like it had been heard before.

In five beautifully spooky minutes he not only creates the Dr. John persona, but lets you know what those voodoo rituals sound like.

Coco Robicheaux “Louisiana Medicine Man”: The much-missed Mr. Robicheaux had to be the most gifted latter-day practitioner of the deep-swamp school of R&B. This ’90s track has the spooky hoodoo ambiance down, and Irene Sage adds some unearthly chorus wails.

Robicheaux’s voice embodied the character and you know he’s not joking when he resolves to gather all those herbs and use them on you.

The Neville Brothers “Voodoo”: Since Aaron sings it, it’s no surprise that the Nevilles’ contribution to the voodoo repertoire is a funky love song, assuming that the lady who stole his heart must’ve had a black cat bone. When they did this one live, Cyril used to introduce it as “a song about one of New Orleans’ great natural resources.”

Dash Rip Rock “Voodoo Doll”: On the other hand, Dash prefer to use voodoo after the relationship goes south: The guy in the song promptly orders a doll when his lady flies the coop. Between the power chords comes this bit of wisdom: “I’m not even sure if this voodoo stuff works/ But man, it’s great therapy for swearin’ off a jerk.”

The Radiators “Drinkin’ Dragons Blood”: This was the Rads at their grittiest and swampiest, with the band playing a fearsome funk riff and Dave Malone sounding like he hasn’t cleared his throat in a week. Sounds like a great lost Creedence track, but John Fogerty never wrote lyrics like “I thank the dragon for a wonderful treat/ One night I’ll be dragon meat.”

The Bluerunners “Voodoo Mens and Voodoo Dolls”: Something about the topic of voodoo seems to bring out the grit in every band.

These Cajun rockers’ contribution may be the heaviest swamp-rocker in their catalogue, accordions and all. From the Honey Slides album, which is as shamefully underrated as everything else they did.

Ray Davies “The Voodoo Walk”: Even the Kinks’ leader gets into the swamp groove on this tune, written and recorded during his years as a French Quarter resident. True to his wry lyrical style, the song’s really about neurosis, but it has an ominous blues feel that’s fairly unique in his mighty catalogue.

Cowboy Mouth “Voodoo Shoppe”: This nifty rocker has been a mainstay of the band’s sets since it appeared on a post-Katrina album steeped in the mysteries of their hometown. Here Fred LeBlanc points out that life can get strange when you’re living upstairs from such an emporium—short-term renters, take note.

Jimi Hendrix “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”: Can’t overlook the obvious, one of the great bits of mystic imagery in the classic-rock canon. Keep in mind that it was released ten months after Dr. John’s Gris-Gris, which Hendrix may well have heard. If you need another local connection, the funky Meters play it all the time.

LaVern Baker “Voodoo Voodoo”: The greatest voodoo song of ’em all is also late-’50s R&B at its absolute wildest, with a killer sax solo and lyrics about a guy who puts ooblie-ooblie under her bed—we all know that trick works every time. So if anyone asks why you’re misbehaving on Halloween, just make like LaVern and say “It was the voodoo that dood me!”

—Brett Milano www.OFFBEAT.com

FRESH

PRESENTING PRINCESS SHAW

A Star Is Born

“T

his rocks ass.”

A gracious catchphrase greeting her many life-affirming moments in a new documentary about her life and realm of making it big in music, Samantha Montgomery also declares it in response to a standing ovation following the film’s New Orleans premiere in June at the Contemporary Arts Center.

Presenting Princess Shaw adopts Montgomery’s stage name for the title of a heartfelt, expertly executed documentary as raw and vulnerable as it is riveting and victorious. While Princess Shaw uploads both her songs and personal confessions/aspirations to YouTube at night—after Montgomery toils through her day job as a nurse in her native New Orleans—the plot switches upon her discovery online by acclaimed Israeli musician and composer Ophir Kutiel. Known to the world as Kutiman via his 14 million–plus YouTube views and video/art/music exhibitions at New York City’s Guggenheim Museum, his trademark is a mashup of individual musicians to create a seamless synthesis of song. Capturing this connection and its catapult effect on Montgomery’s career, acclaimed Israeli filmmaker Ido Haar (credits include work with Jonathan Demme) tells in triumphant fashion the classic tale of the pursuit of happiness with Presenting Princess Shaw, now released on Magnolia Pictures.

Further addressing her CAC audience following the screening—during a Q&A that revealed her R&B/hip-hop style comes from influences as varied as Etta James and Kings of Leon—Montgomery explains that the year and a half of filming Presenting Princess Shaw involved no re-enactments. An amazing feat, considering the narrative’s arc from “What the fuck is wrong with me?” frustration to frenzied, wall-to-wall crowds at clubs in Tel Aviv, where Montgomery greets Kutiman and company with hugs and “Hey, sugar” before rehearsals showing her vocal scat abilities, on par with the finest vocalists. Over the course of the documentary, one can’t help but root for Montgomery as she faces her many life obstacles.

An open mic night at Café Istanbul falls flat before an empty room that barely notices a poorly mixed PA butchering Shaw’s song “Backwards.” All four tires are stolen from her car. Her voice goes out during try-outs for The Voice.

She visits aunts and cousins in Atlanta—where she finds a vibrant, supportive scene a far cry from her crime-ridden, opportunity-stagnant hometown—and together they talk over the family’s sad secret of rape denial. But with now more than one million YouTube views and a forthcoming album of 12 original tracks, thankfully there’s plenty to cheer for in Presenting Princess Shaw.

“It was nerve-racking at first, but it becomes easier,” Montgomery tells OffBeat after the film, about her sharing many intimate details in it.

“We’re all the same people with all the same struggles. Life goes as it may so I live it without putting too much of an emphasis on anything.”

—Frank Etheridge www.OFFBEAT.com

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IN MEMORIAM

Joe Clay (1938–2016)

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ne of the pioneers of rockabilly, Gretna’s Joe Clay, died September 26 after losing a battle with cancer. He was 78. Clay, whose given name was Claiborne Joseph Cheramie, recorded a handful of explosive tracks in the mid’50s before seemingly falling off the musical map, but by chance resurfaced in 1986 and became a global sensation.

Encouraged by his parents to play music as a child, initially Clay sang and played drums before later learning guitar and bass.

“I started playing with hillbilly bands when I was 12,” recalled Clay. “It was Hank Williams stuff that I was playing since I was ittybitty. We played what we felt.”

Besides Williams, Clay also fell under the influence of Fats Domino, absorbing the New Orleans beat. By the mid-’50s, Clay was regularly playing on local station WWEZ. One of the deejays encouraged Clay to record a demo tape and see if he could shop it to a record label. Clay complied and the tape found its way to RCA. A month after submitting the tape, Clay got a call from RCA who were interested in signing him to their Vik subsidiary. In April of 1956 he was flown to Houston where he recorded the atomic “Ducktail” and “Sixteen Chicks” with Link Davis on guitar.

After this seemingly promising start, RCA arranged for Clay to appear on the Ed Sullivan Show the following month. Clay was set to introduce “Sixteen Chicks” on national television, but at the last minute Sullivan deemed the song too racy and made him substitute it for the Platters’ ballad “Only You.” While he was in New York, RCA arranged a second Clay session employing jazz/R&B heavyweights Mickey Baker on guitar and

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“Don’t mess with my ducktail.”—Joe Clay Leonard Gaskin on bass. The session produced the roaring “Cracker Jack” and “Get On the Right Track.”

Unfortunately, great music initially doesn’t always translate commercially and Clay’s singles fell through the cracks. RCA would let Clay’s contract expire while concentrating on their new prize: Elvis Presley. Ironically, that same year (1956) Clay would fill in with Presley’s band at a Pontchartrain Park gig when Presley’s regular drummer fell ill.

Without a record deal, the Joe Clay persona was abandoned and he became C.J.—a talented and dependable drummer who played the honky tonks on Fourth Street and across the river on Bourbon Street. Along the way he picked up a job driving a school bus by day to help raise his family.

All that would change three decades later. By the mid-’80s, there was a rockabilly revival (remember the Stray Cats) in progress. By chance, some of Clay’s old recordings began surfacing on rockabilly reissue LPs, and reaction with new listeners

was electric. But seemingly nobody knew who or where Joe Clay could be. That would eventually change dramatically.

“I’ll tell you how that happened,” recalled Johnny J, who played guitar with Clay for almost 30 years. “Bobby Brennan was playing bass in a (New Orleans) band called the Rockabyes. They had a gig in New York opening for an English band, Levi and the Rockats at Max’s Kansas City. Levi (Dexter) hired Bobby for a new band he was putting together and Bobby moved to England. Bobby stayed there a year before moving back here. He started playing with me with the Blue Vipers.

“Bobby knew Scott Godeaux who played guitar with Joe. They were part of a clique of musicians that rehearsed and played gigs with each other. Bobby and Scott were in a bar somewhere talking to two English guys that were rockabilly nuts. The English guys were going on about their favorite artists—Sonny Fisher, Sonny Burgess—then they mentioned Joe Clay. It was Scott that said,

‘Oh you mean C.J.?’ The English guys were dumbfounded. One of them said, ‘You know Joe Clay?’

Scott gave him Joe’s number and they went berserk. They passed Joe’s number on to Willie Jeffrey who was a promoter in England.

Joe got booked for around two months of gigs in Europe.

“Then I’m standing in line at the Winn-Dixie and I see this picture of Joe Clay on the front page of the Times-Picayune.

He was standing on the hood of a school bus with a guitar.

Overnight he was a rock star. He was on the front page two days in a row. Ever the entrepreneur, Jimmy Anselmo calls me. I had the only rockabilly band (the Hitmen) then and Jimmy says ‘We gotta do a Joe Clay night at Jimmy’s. Can you back him?’

“Jimmy gave me Joe’s number.

Joe and I talked and a day or so later, he shows up in front of my house in his school bus on Oak Street with a tape of songs for us to rehearse. The Jimmy’s gig went great. We wound up playing all kind of gigs with Joe—Catholic girls’ school cafeteria, a Chuck E. Cheese spinoff restaurant, Joe’s Jungle Bar, even on a Mardi Gras float.”

When asked how he’ll remember Joe Clay, J. paused.

“He could play a backbeat like nobody else. Joe was always happy.

He was a guy with a lot of mirth.”

Dave Clements, who was also a Hitman and backed Clay on bass for nearly 30 years, was equally impressed by the man.

“Joe never mailed it in,” said Clements somberly. “He was totally fearless and full of energy right to the end. He was like a little kid. He was so grateful to get a second chance and loved every minute of it. To Joe it was like getting a Christmas present every day.”

—Jeff Hannusch www.OFFBEAT.com

IN MEMORIAM Johnson (right) with Rosa Lee Hawkins (left) and Barbara Ann Hawkins (center) of the Dixie Cups

Joan Marie Johnson (1944–2016)

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ixie Cups founding member Joan Marie Johnson passed away in New Orleans on October 5, 2016 of congestive heart failure. She was 72.

The Dixie Cups were formed at a high school talent show, when Johnson invited Barbara Ann Hawkins to sing with her. Hawkins later asked her sister Rosa Lee Hawkins to join them. They had all grown up in the Calliope housing projects and Johnson later discovered that Barbara Ann and Rosa Lee were her cousins. Although they didn’t win the talent contest they soon were on their way to New York, discovered by a talent scout who was present in the school audience.

In 1964, the Dixie Cups were introduced to songwriter Ellie Greenwich and her lyricist husband Jeff Barry, who were then working with songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Leiber and Stoller were getting ready to launch their new record label, Red Bird Records.

“Chapel of Love” was written and recorded a year earlier by Darlene Love with Phil Spector as co-writer and producer. Spector was unhappy with the result and gave the song to the Ronettes, who also failed to get Spector’s approval. He then offered the song to Leiber and Stoller. In April 1964 Red Bird Records’ first release was the Dixie Cups’ “Chapel of Love,” which reached number one on the Billboard Chart, dislodging “Love Me Do” by the Beatles.

Hawkins recalled: “When Ellie and Jeff first played ‘Chapel’ for

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us, we looked at each other, like, ‘You really want us to sing that like that?’ They said, ‘Well, how do you want to sing it?’ So I said, ‘Give us a minute.’ So we went in the corner and started singing. We walked back to them and when we sang it the way it was recorded, they were just, ‘Wow! That was awesome.’”

Their next release was another song composed by Ellie Greenwich— ”People Say”—which hit number 12 on the Billboard Chart.

“Iko Iko” was also recorded in 1964, but was released in 1965.

Barbara Hawkins had heard her grandmother sing the song, first recorded in 1953 as “Jock-A-Mo” by James “Sugar Boy” Crawford. “We were just clowning around with it during a session using drumsticks on ashtrays. We didn’t realize that Jerry and Mike had the tapes running.”

The song was overdubbed with a bassline and percussion, and it was the Dixie Cups’ fifth and last hit.

After two years with the group, Johnson left. She was ill with sickle-cell anemia and frustrated with their manager. Johnson was eventually replaced by Athelgra Neville, Aaron Neville’s sister.

After Hurricane Katrina, Joan Johnson relocated to Texas but returned to New Orleans in 2007.

The Dixie Cups were honored with OffBeat’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Johnson, whose married name was Faust, was divorced and had no children.

—Ed. www.OFFBEAT.com

IN MEMORIAM

Stanley Dural Jr. (Buckwheat Zydeco) (1947–2016)

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Photo: golden g. richard, iii

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riends, family and fans gather at Buckwheat Zydeco’s funeral in Lafayette to honor their hero.

“There lies a national treasure,” Nathan Williams says softly.

Williams gestures to the front of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Historically, this parish has served African-American Catholics of Lafayette, Louisiana.

Today, the pews are filled with a wide spectrum of mourners, attired in an equally wide array of fashions. But Williams, bandleader of the Zydeco Cha Chas, is looking over their heads toward an open casket surrounded by flowers, including a large bouquet in the shape of an accordion.

“I was nine when I first saw him,” Williams continues. “Before he was Buckwheat Zydeco.”

That was when Stanley Dural Jr. and a 15-piece soul revue called Buckwheat and the Hitchhikers played a neighborhood party in St. Martinville and gave young Nathan some of his first ideas about being a musician. Williams also remembered the last time he saw his friend and mentor. Dural had broken a rib and couldn’t play accordion. Williams and Dural sat at Dural’s house all day long, talking about old times. “I just remember how I didn’t want to leave,” Williams says.

As Williams talks, his brother, Sid Williams, owner of Lafayette’s El Sid O’s nightclub, leans over and says a few words to Nathan Williams’ son, Nathan Williams Jr. Like his father, the younger Williams has become a popular musician—another career influenced by the friendship, guidance and good example of Buckwheat Zydeco.

Nathan Jr. stands up next to his father to gently let him know it is time to take a seat. Nathan

Williams looks again toward the front of Immaculate Heart of Mary. He seems reluctant to begin the funeral—as reluctant as everyone else here who has come to say farewell.

Stanley “Buckwheat Zydeco” Dural Jr. died early in the morning on Saturday, September 24. Dural, a lifelong smoker, had suffered from lung cancer. He was 68.

It was a muted end for a gifted and charismatic musician who had taken zydeco further than any before him. Bolstered by a 30-year partnership with his friend and manager, Ted Fox,

Dural performed on talk shows and at presidential inaugurals, shared stages with Paul Simon and Eric Clapton, won both a Grammy and an Emmy, and broke zydeco onto its first major label when he signed with Island Records in 1987. He helped close out the Olympics in 1996, performing “Jambalaya” for more than three billion people, and in 2014 started his own YouTube channel, “Buckwheat’s World,” an engaging mix of performance footage and glimpses of Buckwheat’s colorful offstage life.

The music that Buckwheat Zydeco has left behind will

endure. It is a signature mix of traditional Creole tunes, soul, R&B, reggae and much more; original songs and innovative covers of everything from the Rolling Stones’ “Beast of Burden” to Bob Dylan’s “On a Night Like This,” highlighted by flashing accordion solos and a tight, thundering band.

Dural grew up one of 13 children in a family of farmers in Lafayette. Like everyone around him, he knew hard work at a young age. He picked cotton and used sewing thread to catch crawfish.

But something was different about him, and it wasn’t just the www.OFFBEAT.com

The turn to zydeco came thanks to Clifton Chenier, who on one memorable day pulled his Cadillac off the Interstate and drove up to Buckwheat’s house to offer him a spot in his band. nickname “Buckwheat” that the child reluctantly accepted from his friends. Young Buckwheat announced himself as a musical prodigy. His father relentlessly tried to persuade him to play accordion.

But Buckwheat moved toward R&B, playing keyboards for Sammy and the Untouchables as well as Paul “Lil’ Buck” Sinegal’s band, Lil Buck and the Top Cats. He started Buckwheat and the Hitchhikers in 1971.

By this point, he had changed his hair style to match one of his musical heroes, James Brown.

“He was telling us, ‘This is who you are, don’t be ashamed of it,’” he once explained. “When he made the song, ‘Say It Loud— I’m Black and I’m Proud,’ that meant a lot to me.”

The turn to zydeco came thanks to Clifton Chenier, who on one memorable day pulled his Cadillac off the Interstate and drove up to Buckwheat’s house to offer him a spot in his band. Buckwheat was skeptical.

For longer than he cared to remember, he had been hearing his father tell him to play like Chenier. But one night on the bandstand in Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band was enough to convince him. Here was zydeco that was hard-charging and multi-layered, and Buckwheat sensed there was a place in it for him. After two and a half years with Chenier, he formed his own band and never stopped.

As he honed a rich, funkheavy zydeco sound, Buckwheat drew inspiration from both Brown and Chenier to become an impassioned crusader for his culture. If a festival publicist or an errant music reporter billed him as a Cajun band, they were soon set straight. Buckwheat also served as mentor for more www.OFFBEAT.com

than one upcoming generation of zydeco players, from Nathan Williams to Li’l Brian Terry, who has Buckwheat’s accordion tattooed on his right arm. At Rounder Records with producer Scott Billington, then on Island and on his own label Tomorrow Recordings (named for his daughter), Buckwheat re-shaped zydeco into vital new forms. Once expanded, the music would not return to its original dimensions.

Yet at the same time that Buckwheat Zydeco was touring the world to introduce new audiences to zydeco, his home ties remained strong. This can be seen in the episodes of “Buckwheat’s World,” as well as in a highlight of Robert Mugge’s recent documentary Zydeco Crossroads, during a few moments of warm conversation between Buckwheat and Sid Williams. Williams talks about the day that Chenier showed up for Buckwheat, driving a green Cadillac and wearing a hat tilted to one side. Buckwheat and Williams share a laugh, and they recall the glory days of El Sid O’s, when lines of dancers stretched down the block: Williams: It went a long time.

Buckwheat: Still going.

Williams: Yeah, but it’s not good like it used to be.

Buckwheat: Well, that’s O.K. Williams: You know the saying, nothing good lasts forever.

Buckwheat: What we know back in Louisiana, you got to take the bitter with the sweet.

Williams: I’m like a Timex, when I take a licking and keep on ticking.

Buckwheat: There you go, there you go!

Williams: The buzzard fly high but he got to come down and drink.

Zydeco and the Catholic church have long enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship. It was at church dances that zydeco travelled from Louisiana to Texas and California, making money for parishes while keeping songs and dances alive for Creoles who’d moved out of the state seeking better jobs.

Now, this relationship is about to deepen even more, when Father Robert See steps up to deliver the homily at Buckwheat Zydeco’s funeral.

The priest speaks of moving to Louisiana and learning about a kind of music that “gets into your bones and into your spirit.”

He talks of meeting Dural and how it was like meeting the President of the United States.

“We come today in sadness but I hope that we can leave with joy in our feet,” he says. Then, as the sound of applause begins to echo in the church, he nearly shouts, “Because Jesus loves zydeco!”

Seated near the center aisle, Terrance Simien breaks into a wide smile. So do other musicians around him. The applause grows louder when the celebrant asks all the musicians in the church to stand. C.J. Chenier stands. Steve Riley stands.

The Williams family stands. So do Sonny Landreth, Roddie Romero and Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. More than half of the people assembled in this large church are now on their feet. There is more applause.

Next, Ted Fox walks to the lectern to speak. He brings well wishes from Paul Simon, who recalled joining with Buckwheat the previous year to honor Willie Nelson, and Paul Shaffer, who remembered the 1996 Olympics, and how proud he was that he could “casually pull out my phone book and call the master, Buckwheat, who handily carried

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the segment with his typical genius aplomb.” Fox speaks of Dural’s great musical and professional accomplishments, then adds a few words about a quieter discovery: “As a New Yorker, I tended to just hit the ground running and get right to the point when I’d call him: ‘Buddy, Chris Blackwell wants to sign us to a five-record deal at Island!’ Buck: ‘Hey, Teddy-O, how’s the weather there? Yeah? Been raining for two days here. Can’t get out in my pasture at all. What you making for dinner tonight?’

“Oh, right, I got it. First the personal, then business. He was, as usual, absolutely right. Thanks for the lesson, buddy. You taught me, and you taught the world, that courtliness, decency, manners means a lot—it matters.”

There are nods throughout the church. An organist breaks into a truncated version of “Beast of Burden”—certainly another first for a Catholic funeral—and there is one more round of applause when friends, family and former bandmates wheel the casket down the church’s center aisle.

It would be the final ovation of the day. Outside, musicians gather in small circles to swap stories.

Life is a tour, Buckwheat Zydeco once said, and it’s all about how you decide to get there. On this afternoon in Lafayette, there is agreement that this tour had been a majestic one indeed.

—Michael Tisserand Michael Tisserand is the author of the forthcoming Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White (HarperCollins). His first book, The Kingdom of Zydeco, will be re-issued next month by Skyhorse Publishing, featuring a new preface by Buckwheat Zydeco.

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CHARLIE WOOTON

Hard Groove

Maple Leaf Bar Saturday, November 5 11 p.m.

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estlessly creative bassist Charlie Wooton keeps rows of candles burning.

Along with former Neville Brothers drummer “Mean” Willie Green, Wooton lays the groove down for the New Orleans Suspects. He leads the free-ranging Charlie Wooton Project and funk-and zydeco-based Zydefunk. He’s a co-founder of ZabaDuo and Zabadodat, both of which feature Atlanta-based Brazilian percussionist Rafael Pereira.

And in the past year, Wooton served as producer for three artists at Dockside Studio in Maurice.

A Lafayette native living in New Orleans since 2010, Wooton first worked with the New Orleans Suspects in late 2015. Originally a substitute for the ailing Reggie Scanlan, he’s become an official Suspect.

The New Orleans Suspects played album-release shows at the Maple Leaf Bar on October 14 and 15. Later in October, Wooton performed with ZabaDuo and Lafayette slide guitar master Sonny Landreth at the Live Magic! Festival in Japan.

The bassist’s fruitful 2016 followed his departure from the Cyril Neville–led rock-and-soul band Royal Southern Brotherhood. After four years with Royal Southern Brotherhood, Wooton knew it was time to move on. He’d never aspired to be more than a hired gun, he said.

“Because I have a hard time doing one thing,” said Wooton. “I don’t blame them for asking me to leave.

But I’m grateful for the opportunities the Brotherhood brought me. I got to play with a Neville brother. Some of my best musical experiences were on stage with Cyril.”

Unlike his contract player status with Royal Southern Brotherhood, Wooton is a full member of the New Orleans Suspects. But no matter what the gig, making the music—whatever the circumstances—is his mission.

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“Regardless of what my position in the band is, I’m going to groove as hard as I can,” he said.

Wooton’s transition from the Brotherhood to the Suspects began the day before Thanksgiving 2015.

While Royal Southern Brotherhood was on a break, he posted a Facebook message announcing his availability for December gigs.

Suspects guitarist Jake Eckert responded. Because health issues had sidelined Scanlan, the Suspects needed a substitute for their upcoming bookings.

Wooton followed a weekend gig with the Suspects in December. A trip to Australia followed in January. In the ensuing few months, he subbed with the Suspects as much as possible.

“We had a calendar full of dates,” Eckert said. “Bass players were stepping up to the plate for us, but we didn’t want to take

By John Wirt

a bass player from another New Orleans band. Charlie was going through his transition (from Royal Southern Brotherhood) and, musically speaking, he fit right in.”

Eckert and Wooton already shared some history together.

In 2010, the Suspects’ guitarist gave Wooton his first gig in New Orleans after the bassist moved to the city from Atlanta. Five years later, Wooton was the first of the six bass players to sub with the Suspects during Scanlan’s absence.

Scanlan returned to the Suspects in the spring to play the band’s Jazz Fest–season dates. After that, Scanlan bowed out and Wooton moved in.

“Charlie added something that didn’t exist in the Suspects before,” Eckert said. “He’s more of a funk bass player. Taking nothing away from Reggie. It’s apples and oranges.

But we heard the other five bass players and then, when Charlie was

available again, it was clear that he was the best fit. So Charlie is the bass player now and he’s sounding great.

I’m excited about this chapter.”

“Reggie’s a New Orleans hero,” Wooton said. “He gave me his blessing. That made it easier to step in. These guys in the Suspects, on top of being in a band with them, are my friends. When I look at the New Orleans Suspects, there’s nothing but great players. I’m honored to be standing with them.

It’s easy to go on the road with them. It’s easy to make music with them. It’s fun, something I’d gotten away from for a little while.”

Wooton isn’t featured on the Suspects’ latest album, Kaleidoscoped. Scanlan, despite being frail following cancer treatment, returned to the studio to finish the album early this year.

That means Wooton’s newest recording is the self-titled ZabaDuo, his album with Pereira. A native of São Paulo, Pereira also plays percussion with Janelle Monáe.

“It’s something very close to me,” Wooton said of ZabaDuo. “The right guy playing pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine) can make all kinds of sounds. Rafael knows how to play it.”

Wooton met Pereira during his 13 years in Atlanta. Living in the Georgia capital following seven years in Los Angeles, he worked with various groups, including the samba band Tropicus 22. But all the while, Louisiana kept calling him home.

“I was making a living in Atlanta, but I wasn’t making a career,” he said. “The 20 years I was out of Louisiana, I had these nagging questions in the back of my head: What are you doing? Where are you at? When I got back to Louisiana, that feeling went away. I found my way home.”

The New Orleans Suspects will play album release shows October 14 and 15 at the Maple Leaf Bar. O www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ERIK VOSS

Charlie Wooton’s mission is music.

STS9

Rebirth

Voodoo Festival Sunday, October 30 South Course 6:30 p.m.

STS9 have even more to say.

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wo years ago STS9 were a band in transition. In the midst of recording their long-awaited follow up to 2009’s Ad Explorata, the group abruptly parted ways with founding bassist David Murphy, sowing confusion among their fans and creating questions about the status of their forthcoming album.

The whole debacle could have been a low point for the band, but instead it became a rebirth. Just a few months after Murphy’s exit, STS9 enlisted longtime friend Alana Rocklin to hold down the low end, sparking a live renaissance that found them diving into songs that hadn’t been played in years and reimagining classics that never left the rotation.

Their fans loved it.

While the lineup change ended up being a long-term boon, the band was still without a new album, though not without new ideas.

After the dust settled, STS9’s five members—guitarist/keyboardist Hunter Brown, percussionist Jeffree Lerner, keyboardist David Phipps, drummer Zach Velmer and Rocklin— began the hard work of capturing their newfound excitement in the studio, a process that culminated in the release of The Universe Inside this past September.

“Obviously we’ve had an interesting last four years,” says Velmer. “We built a new studio and got a new bass player. A lot went into it. Collecting ideas, lots of preproduction and kind of figuring out our intention in putting out our first album in six years with a new bass player. We wanted to take a snapshot of where we are and where we’re going. It was pretty exciting to say the least, but it wasn’t like this record took six years. There was a whole process of us building this new repertoire and playing together.

The record exudes fun, and that fun comes from us playing together.”

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For much of their existence STS9 have primarily been known as an instrumental band, fusing modernday electronica with rock, jazz, funk and hip-hop, all while throwing in some jam band sensibilities for good measure. It’s a unique style that has earned them a devoted set of fans, many of whom travel from city to city to bathe in their dazzling array of sound and light.

Since their 2005 album Artifact, STS9 have also incorporated lyrical elements into their music, often adding guest vocalists to the mix and blending vocal samples into their tracks. The band decided to expound upon this approach with The Universe Inside, bringing lyrics and singers to the forefront as a

By Sam D’Arcangelo

means of making the messages that have always been present in their music more explicit.

“I totally disagree with the idea that this is a new thing for us, and I think the other members of the band would probably say the same thing,” Velmer explains.

“We have a message, we’ve had a message and, with this particular album, we have even more to say, especially considering our last four years and the state of the world today. A lot of these older tracks [with vocals] have been really successful for us.

This is just a continuation and a pushing, artistically, of that.”

New Orleans will get a taste of STS9’s new material, and who

knows what else from their vast catalog, when the band headlines Voodoo Fest’s South Course stage on Sunday, October 30. The hour long performance will be much briefer than most of the group’s shows, which usually include two sets and up to three hours’ worth of music (not unlike plenty of other acts with roots in the jam band scene).

“I like the hour set. Sometimes you get a longer set at a festival and it might not work, but with an hour set we get to really do what we do,” Velmer notes.

“Maybe the set is just four or five songs, but we want to have a little bit for everybody. We want something special for the fans on tour who went to Voodoo, and we want to get new fans too.”

It won’t be STS9’s first stop in New Orleans, either. Not by a long shot. The band has played gigs around many of the city’s major festivals—Jazz Fest, Buku and, of course, Voodoo—in addition to near-annual appearances at places like the House of Blues or Joy Theater. They also put out a remix album in 2008 that raised enough money to build a house in the Lower Ninth Ward through the Make It Right Foundation.

“We’ve always had a strong connection to New Orleans because of the music, the vibe, the people, and that connection grew deeper because of the Katrina thing,” explains Velmer.

“That wasn’t just STS9. It was the fans. It was other artists. We do all kinds of charity work, but it was cool to do something where we could directly see how we made a difference.”

“New Orleans is one of my all-time top three cities in North America,” Velmer adds. “I love the food, the culture and the people. I just feel a connection there.” O www.OFFBEAT.com

SOUL BRASS BAND

Kicking in a New Way

Treme Creole Gumbo Festival Saturday, November 12 6 p.m.

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rummer Derrick Freeman leads the Soul Brass Band, which was formed just a year ago.

Its name was obtained by pure circumstance with no intention of stepping on the toes of the well-established, worldrenowned brassy Soul Rebels.

Here’s how it went down.

A friend of Freeman called him and said that noted rap, neosoul and contemporary rhythm and blues artist CeeLo Green wanted to shoot a video in New Orleans to go with his song, “Music to My Soul.” Freeman, who probably remains best recognized for his many years with trumpeter Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers, as well as now leading his own funky group, Smokers World, was first asked to be a consultant for the project. As it turned out, Freeman was expected to lead a brass band for a jazz funeral shot. “I don’t have no brass band and I don’t have no name,” Freeman remembers uttering, or at least thinking.

Because the word soul was central to the video’s theme, Freeman deemed it appropriate to perform as the Soul Brass Band for the project.

The producers provided the traditional black and white uniforms, caps and a bass drum with the word SOUL prominently displayed on both. Freeman was offered to keep all the brass band paraphernalia, and he thought it might come in handy in the future. He was very content doing his old-school hip-hop thing with Smokers World which, in 2014, released its debut album, DWB (Driving While Black). Freeman, a trap set drummer, wasn’t really interested in entering the brass band scene.

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The Soul Brass Band’s next offer was to shoot a Nike commercial that featured Pelicans star Anthony Davis walking down a French Quarter street. Soon, Freeman was receiving requests to hire the band.

It’s little wonder that the allstar ensemble quickly gained attention considering the line-up: snare man Freeman, bass drummer Aron Lambert, trumpeter Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown, trombonists Michael Watson and Terrance Taplin, saxophonist James Martin, guitarist Danny Abel and tuba player Steve Glenn. After consulting with the Soul Rebels, a group Freeman highly admires, and explaining how the band ended up with the name, the Soul Brass Band was on its way.

Its first gig was in the fall of 2015, opening for Red Baraat at Tipitina’s.

“There’s not many things that I don’t like about playing in a brass band. It’s strange that it

By Geraldine Wyckoff

took me so long to figure that out. I’ve been in New Orleans the whole time [almost 25 years] literally surrounded by brass bands and all my friends are in brass bands.”

Freeman has booked the band at festivals in Ascona, Switzerland and Copenhagen, Denmark for next summer and looks to book more dates to make its visit a full European tour. “Once we get there, we’ll just roll until we run out of gigs,” he says with a laugh.

At the Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival the Soul Brass Band will expand to 9 or 10 pieces, with 2 European musicians who Freeman met on his travels sitting in on trumpet and saxophone. “It’s like a cultural exchange,” he explains, “and they’ll be here for 10 days and do a bunch of gigs.”

Freeman, primarily a trap set drummer, hadn’t really played snare since he attended Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts,

where his focus was on classical percussion.

“At first playing just snare was more of a distraction,” he offers. “It was weird not using my feet and trusting the other guy. But Aron and I have a great chemistry. Now it helps me a lot because I’ve learned to get different sounds out of it. My drum set has benefited greatly from playing snare drum. It’s a different instrument.”

Another twist is that Freeman is the Soul Brass Band’s lead vocalist. “That I sing most of the lead is strange because Michael and Leon are literally my two favorite singers in the world and by far I’m not the best singer in the band,” Freeman says, adding that Michael, Leon, James and Aron all do backup vocals, and each steps out front on some tunes.

Though the Soul Brass Band is well-versed in traditional music its stage shows are more eclectic, as it turns not only to material from fellow brass bands like the Dirty Dozen and Rebirth but also funks it up. Listen for tunes that range from old-school artists like Sly and the Family Stone and the Jackson 5 to hip-hop stars Snoop Dogg and Juvenile.

“The versatility is there to do that,” Freeman proclaims. “We’ll do some traditional songs in the set and just mix it up and mess with people’s heads a little—reel people in and shock ‘em. Expect to be wowed.”

“My love for New Orleans and New Orleans music is genuine,” Freeman says as he turns more serious. “The love that I received from the city over the past 25 years has made all this stuff possible.”

O www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: JERRY MORAN

Derrick Freeman leads the Soul Brass Band.

MOTEL RADIO

A Higher Frequency Motel Radio tunes in and turns on.

“I

t’s where you want to be,” Winston Triolo says of his band’s song, “Palmilla.”

“It’s exactly where you want to be when too much shit is going on.”

His eyes dreamy, his vocal delivery soft but assured, guitarist/vocalist Triolo explains the inspiration behind “Palmilla,” the first single to drop from Motel Radio’s debut EP, before his bandmates chime in.

This lofty locale is actually a beach in Mexico, it turns out, and a tune indicative of the young quintet’s ascent to a captivating sound filled with hypnotic guitar swells, ambient tones and heady pop hooks.

The five band members are sitting around a circular table, sipping from cans of Miller High Life, in a side room at the secondfloor apartment of Triolo and fellow Texas native Ian Wellman (guitar/ vocals). Located a stone’s throw from the Maple Leaf and a de facto Motel Radio headquarters, the splitlevel pad buzzes with the energy of a buddy’s birthday party, the cake and cups and cheerful floating yellow balloons tied to ribbons signs of budding good times. Roughly 18 months into existence and now called by its second name, Motel Radio on this night stands at the cusp of the next big step with the coming release of Desert Surf Films (Roll Call Records). Understandably, the boys are excited about the buzzworthy six songs that form their first label-backed studio effort. “‘Palmilla’ shows the evolution of our sound from a rootsy vibe into more of an indie psych-rock feel,” drummer Eric Lloyd, 25, says. “We first did three tracks at Dockside [Studio, the fabled, now flooded, recording space south of Lafayette in Maurice]. We were listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours the whole time, so those songs have that spacey quality. Then we went out on the road with all these incredible

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indie bands, doing shows with all these bands from Athens, Nashville, Charleston—bands that have been at it a bit longer and that allowed us to learn so much. We came back to New Orleans and cut the final three: ‘Palmilla,’ ‘New Badlands’ and ‘Star of the South.’ You can hear the difference in those two sessions.

You can hear a young band trying to sound themselves out.”

Lloyd was the first of the three Louisiana-bred members (bassist Andrew Pancamo and keyboardist David Hart round out the group) to join Motel Radio. Scattered LSUcentered scenes and mutual friends brought them together in Baton Rouge and a shared obsession with Houndmouth’s 2013 alt-country gem “Palmyra” sealed the deal. The group initially took the name Palmyra spur-of-the-moment when it came time for its first show. However, admittedly never in love with the name—and on the counsel of musicbusiness pros taking notice of the surging talents of dudes in their early twenties—the five decided on Motel Radio by the time they were billed for

By Frank Etheridge

April’s (ultimately rained out) lineup at Hogs for the Cause.

“Motel Radio just had the image—the look, the sound,” Triolo explains. “It was encompassing of what we’re trying to do. Plus, it’s not some lame obscure hipster band name.”

Pancamo began writing songs for the group in October 2014. The band soon made a collective move downriver to call New Orleans home. The quintet coalesced last October when Hart joined them at One Eyed Jacks for a gig opening for sultry songstress Kristin Diable.

Hart was recruited because the band dug his work with the Kid Carsons, and he would apply deft sound-engineering flourishes to the three Desert Surf Films tracks recorded in New Orleans.

With a label, booked gigs, and fans earned from a cross-country spring tour now behind them, the members of Motel Radio feel the energy of something special.

“I can feel when all of us are on a certain level,” Triolo says, “and that’s when things are

born. I mean, of course we have practices that don’t go right and that feeling disappears. But I, personally, am working to be able to block everything out and get into this certain psyche where the songs come through you instead of having to write them.”

Asked what scares them as a band: “What scares me is how good things are working out right now with this group,” Wellman confesses. “The scariest thing is that we’re a bunch of young dudes balancing life, day jobs and figuring out where all this is going, that make-or-break point where you know whether or not it makes sense to go spread this music we believe in. It scares me, but it equally excites me.”

But in that space and time, around the table in the secondfloor apartment hosting the birthday party that is the band’s home, the present moment takes precedent over down-the-road caution. “My financial situation is what scares me,” Triolo jokes. “We need to feed our kitty, Chester. We need Miller High Life, too.”

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LARRY SIEBERTH

Man of Many Projects Larry Sieberth’s long list of collaborations and endeavors.

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awrence Sieberth continuously remains involved with multiple projects. “Yeah, from the very beginning,” agrees the pianist, composer and arranger, who began playing piano at age five and throughout his school years was writing both classical and jazz music. “I was always drawn to the entire musical spectrum,” he said in an interview some 20 years ago.

“It’s important to remain current and to embrace any era and any style because there is so much validity in all kinds of music from all periods of time and all cultures.”

Sieberth often works behind the scenes as an arranger or to accompany some of New Orleans’ most prominent jazz vocalists. This fall he released a new album full of his original material, Silhouettes, leading the Lawrence Sieberth Quartet.

“It’s only been recently that I’ve felt comfortable playing my own music and having the resource of such high-caliber musicians to execute my music,” the veteran artist confesses. “I’ve often been accused of writing rather difficult music both notationally and conceptually,” he says, adding that yes, the accusation is true. “It’s even a challenge for me to play.”

Fortunately, his tunes on Silhouettes are listener-friendly, as is evident on the first, lively cut, “Yokomo.” It initially gets its drive from drummer Doug Belote with Sieberth displaying his ability to simultaneously provide both rhythmic and melodic support.

Rex Gregory, the only permanent member of the pianist’s fluid quartet—which changes musicians to match an album’s or gig’s theme—jumps in, adding to the fun spirit of the song. Gregory beautifully opens another Sieberth-penned selection, “If Only I Had Wings.”

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Sieberth turned to a composition by an old friend and music partner, bassist Ramsey McLean, for one of the disc’s two non-originals, “Payday.” When the pianist first moved to New Orleans from Baton Rouge in 1976 he lived in a house with McLean and saxophonist Charles Neville. Sieberth was in two of McLean’s groups, the Lifers and the Survivors. “Payday” stands as the most New Orleans–influenced tune, boasting a danceable rhythm and a strong bottom well held down by bassist Peter Harris.

“There’s very little swing on the album but it does contain a lot of the New Orleans grooves that have been superimposed with much more contemporary harmonic and melodic material,” Sieberth explains.

The other non-original, “Jay’s Dream,” comes from composer and saxophonist Jerome Theriot, who passed away a year ago. It’s

By Geraldine Wyckoff

a beauty of a straight-up jazz tune that begins softly and gets going with the explosion of Gregory’s horn. Its inclusion is important; Sieberth first assembled his quartet because Theriot wanted to have his songs recorded. The collaboration resulted in three albums: Jay’s Dream—The Music of Jerome Theriot Vol. 1, Old Times—The Music of Jerome Theriot Vol. 2 and Songs of Praise.

“I put together a quartet and I enjoyed that and we all enjoyed that so much, I thought, ‘Well rather than play just Jerome’s music, let’s play my music,’” Sieberth remembers.

Another of Sieberth’s projects is the soon-to-be-released CD Estrella Banda. Estrella Banda (Star Band), which includes rhythm masters drummer Ricky Sebastian and percussionist Alexi Marti, was booked at Snug

Harbor two weeks before the Jazz Fest and the performance is captured on the album. Again, Sieberth, on electric keyboard this time out, penned and arranged all of the material though by adding percussion, guitar and two horns to join Gregory, his quartet format grew into an octet.

The five albums mentioned above were all completed in the last three or so years. Meanwhile, Sieberth also arranged all of the music that was performed

by Queen Latifah for her role as Bessie Smith in HBO’s bio-pic Bessie, as well as those sung by the portrayer of Ma Rainey. “That kind of fell out of the sky,” says Sieberth, who initially got a call inquiring about the names of traditional jazz musicians in New Orleans. “Why don’t you put my name in the hat?” he remembers asking. He ended up, as is his way, transcribing—note for note—all of the music to be used in the film from Smith’s and Rainey’s original recordings. Sieberth became the musical director and pianist for the recording sessions and also composed the incidental music that he played throughout the movie.

“I’m 62 going on 19,” exclaims Sieberth, whose long list of collaborations and endeavors includes working with Allen Toussaint to prominent national artists such as trumpeter Randy Brecker. A studious archivist, he maintains folders with his arrangements and/or compositions enclosed for each of the musicians with whom he has worked.

“One of the joys for me is to have been able to maintain my enthusiasm for the art form,” Sieberth says. “My life has been being able to incorporate all of the different aspects of the human condition.”

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SAM PRICE

True Believers New projects are the culmination of a long, colorful journey for bassist Sam Price.

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ince his teenage years, Sam Price has been insatiably curious about all kinds of music. He’s spent his career avidly following the muses wherever they happen to take him, and the result is a pretty diverse resumé. The latest additions are his new band—Sam Price & the True Believers—and a trio side project called Soul o’ Sam. Highlighting his songwriting and allowing him to diversify his modes of creative output, these two projects mark a new level of self-expression for the multi-talented bassist. To borrow his metaphor, Price has built houses all over the map, but he feels like he’s finally laying the foundation for his ultimate musical home.

These days, Price is probably best known for his work with the popular “Bayou Americana” rock group Honey Island Swamp Band, as well as for Otra, the electrifying Afro-Cuban band he founded 15 years ago after being introduced to Latin music by flutist/saxophonist Ray Moore. “[Otra] was definitely where my heart was at for a long time,” Price said. “I fell in love with the Latin rhythm thing—Afro-Cuban music in particular, which wasn’t really represented as much, a little more raw than the salsa stuff.”

Delving into a subgenre of Cuban music might seem like an unlikely move for a white kid from Slidell who grew up listening to “the same thing as other white kids from suburbia” (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, classic rock, heavy metal, garage bands), but then again, Price’s entire career has been somewhat unlikely.

“I didn’t want to be a musician,” Price laughed. “My mom sent me across the street to old Ms. Beale for piano lessons with a $10 roll of quarters, and I got out of there as fast as I could. Man, I’d always wanted to be a football player.”

He lasted one or two preseason games at Slidell High before he

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dropped football and started skipping school to hang out and smoke with the “bad” kids.

“One of them played guitar,” he remembered, “and we’d just get high and hang out at his house while his parents were at work. He’d be playing a Stratocaster—‘Stairway to Heaven’ and Lynyrd Skynyrd stuff—and I just thought it was fascinating. But I never once thought, ‘Ooh, I wanna do that.’ It looked complicated. Guitar, you know?

Those finger positions? Ouch!”

By Laura DeFazio

But one day, one of the guys brought a bass over.

“Those four big fat strings, just playing that groove,” Price remembered. “One note at a time, baby. I was in a trance. I put money down on a cheap Peavey bass that same day.”

Hell-bent on learning everything possible about music, Price and his best friend, guitarist Todd Duke, dove into Duke’s parents’ expansive record collection. They got deep into rock fusion, and

from there, jazz, and eventually formed a band called Spontaneous Inventions, after a Bobby McFerrin Blue Note record from the ’80s.

They also discovered WWOZ, and the radio station became a hallowed source of knowledge and inspiration for the two teenagers.

“We made a pilgrimage one night to Armstrong Park to find the source of this music, you know? And it was nighttime, so the office was locked up, but we could see the light up in the studio window—in the www.OFFBEAT.com

SAM PRICE old WWOZ, the kitchen building in the park. So we’re out there, like, chuckin’ pebbles against the window, until the deejay [Jivin’ Gene] finally heard. And he invited us up and put us on the air. These two 15-year-old kids, man, messing around in the dark! But he could tell that we were so in awe of just being there, because we were learning about music— about New Orleans music.”

If the True Believers is shaping up to be his musical home, he compares Soul o’ Sam to “the funky little studio outhouse in the backyard,” where people look out into the backyard and wonder, ‘What the hell is that?’

(Still on the same property, though.)

Part singer-songwriter set, part experimental foray into creating new sonic landscapes with multi-layered bass loops, Soul o’ Sam is “gonna be the weird one,” Price chuckled.

On the other hand, the True Believers deliver a lush, full sound, with energetic melodies dancing over deep grooves. The lineup includes Ethan Shorter on drums, Conga Mike on percussion, Phil Breen on keys and either Matt Galloway or John Fohl on guitar.

“I’m trying to get to a combination of cool jamming with some positive messages in the lyrics,” Price explained. “I wanna get up there, and put my heart out, and make people dance. And maybe make people think. Feel inspired about life.”

The positive vibes and mindful lyrics reflect a very real commitment to social justice and spreading the message of universal human love.

Anyone who follows Price’s work knows that he’s frequently involved in charitable and community-based events, from the anti–Iraq war effort and post-9/11 peace concert at Cafe Brasil to the recent Bernie Sanders campaign. Back in September, he played alongside Leo Nocentelli and a slew of other talented musicians at the Howlin’ Wolf’s benefit concert for Louisiana flood victims.

Of his True Believers material, Price explained, “I’m mostly trying to communicate human love—the great force of good in the universe, the light against the darkness.”

Price is fairly new to singing lead.

“I feel so confident expressing myself without a bit of hesitation www.OFFBEAT.com

with the bass,” he said. “I’d say every instrumental musician would agree that you absolutely are speaking with your fingers when you play. You’re trying to express your emotions as much as you can. It’s all about communicating.

And that’s what’s exciting for me now about trying to combine the two. Vocals are taking a little more concentration, and I really have to concentrate to do both. But I enjoy the challenge.”

All the while, Price continues to maintain and expand upon his preexisting projects.

“I’ve got this Otra house, and it’s a great house,” Price said.

“I love to visit that house, I love spending time there, and when I’m there, I’m there heart, body, mind and soul. And Honey Island Swamp Band is an amazing house.

I’m so proud of that house that we’ve built together these last 10 years, and I want to be a part of it

forever. But again, there’s a part of my musical soul that’s still looking for my ultimate musical home, my ultimate form of expression. And that’s what I’m hoping to create with the True Believers.”

Price is an emotive, evocative instrumentalist with a powerful lyrical message. From the audience’s vantage point, it’s plain to see that the foundation is down, the walls are going up, and everything is coming together onstage.

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LITTLE MAKER

Identity Cohesion Micah McKee, a.k.a. Little Maker, pushes his music forward.

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PHOTO: GOLDEN G. RICHARD, III

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n many ways, the modern indie artist is diametrically opposed to the standard “working musician.” One toils away on original music and only plays consistently when on tour, with years sometimes separating shows in a given city.

The other’s income is usually tied to playing as much as possible in a particular location, often performing two or three gigs in a single day in the grind to make a living.

Micah McKee, singer/songwriter/ guitarist of local indie-folk/Americana act Little Maker, sees compelling ways to live a musical life in both paths. Bucking the trends of most indie artists, McKee eschews touring and sparse local shows in favor of two residencies in his hometown of New Orleans: every Thursday at the Blue Nile on Frenchmen Street with Little Maker, and most Sundays at Circle Bar for a songwriter showcase where McKee invites friends to flesh out song ideas.

McKee feels he lives in a city uniquely qualified for a more rigorous gig schedule. “New Orleans is not like Austin or New York. You really can play regularly and turn over good crowds here,” says McKee. “Kermit Ruffins does it. Rebirth does it. There are bands that gig a lot in the city, and they do pretty well. If all these brass and jazz and funk bands could do it, why can’t an indie rock band do it? The only thing that separates us from those guys is genre. That’s it. Yet there’s this huge phobia with indie rock bands playing too much. If we can get over the stigma of oversaturation, I think a lot of really cool stuff could happen.”

Not only does McKee see an opportunity with a working musician’s gig schedule, but he also sees benefits for Little Maker. “We’re a band of folks that have a lot of other commitments and are in other bands, so going on tour 100 or 200 days out of the year is simply not feasible,”

says McKee. “But when we do tour, I talk to people after we’ve been on the road a couple of days and they say it sounds like we have been playing every day for the last three months. We usually say ‘Well, we kind of have been!’ We just sleep in our own beds instead of a van.”

Compacting time and rearranging the conventional wisdom of what an indie act “should” do has shaped Little Maker’s full-length, The Salty Seas We Used to Know. The process of writing, recording and releasing the album has taken nearly three years. While most may consider that a frustratingly long amount of time, McKee sees inherent value in taking his time and allowing Little Maker to discover its identity. “A lot of bands form their identity over the course of several albums, and I feel like we did that in only one. I’m stoked about that because I don’t have to go through a few shitty albums to get to the good one,” he adds with a laugh.

By Rory Callais

During those three years of developing his artistic output like a working musician, McKee has conversely used his creative tendencies to fuel his money gigs, primarily his 1960s soul/R&B tribute act the Essentials. “Our trombone player Luke Huddleston came to me one day and said he wanted to get the guys in Little Maker and form a wedding band,” says McKee. “I have to admit I was skeptical, but he told me, ‘We’re going to bring Little Maker’s passion, flavor and feel to it, but it’ll just be other people’s songs.’ We had six or seven months of rehearsals before we played a single note live, and by the first show, I was smitten.”

That love has directly improved Little Maker’s musicianship. McKee acknowledges that performing songs by Otis Redding, Sam Cooke and Van Morrison has tremendously aided his growth as a vocalist. He also sees how learning the tricks of the greatest rhythm sections of all time has a substantial impact on how Little Maker writes and

performs rhythms. But aside from the obvious musical benefits of playing vintage soul classics, McKee has learned another lesson from playing in such a crowd-pleasing act: the value of pleasing a crowd.

“The importance of showmanship and spectacle is a bit more tangible in Little Maker now,” says McKee. “One of the things I learned from being in a ten-piece, showbiz-based, glitz and glamour kind of band is that you have to be a showman.

It’s definitely made Little Maker, intentionally or unintentionally, about being present with the audience.”

Of course, the artists honored by the Essentials were exactly the type of musicians McKee has become: songwriters and original artists who were also session musicians putting in a day’s work and playing as much as humanly possible. By taking cues from a time before the “indie artist” versus “working musician” divide, McKee has found a way to move past the binary and push himself and his music forward.

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Voodoo Festival Friday, October 28 Altar Stage 3:30 p.m.

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www.OFFBEAT.com

COVER STORY

The Ongoing Evolutionary Experiment

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warfed by skyscrapers and distracting glittering billboards while surrounded by throngs of international tourists in the middle of New York’s Times Square, drummer Darren King of Mutemath experienced a profound, if not surreal, moment that reflected the electronic-rock group’s burgeoning music career.

The date was July 17, 2007, and he and his band, which at the time included frontman Paul Meany, bassist Roy Mitchell-Cárdenas and guitarist Greg Hill (who left the band in 2011 and was replaced

by Todd Gummerman) had recently emerged from a hotel bar where they’d been viewing their performance on The Late Show With David Letterman, recorded earlier that evening. At the end of the track, the studio audience cheered wildly—matching the band’s own enthusiasm—with Letterman offering his commentary: “How about that drummer!? Look at that guy!”

The host’s longtime band director and sidekick, Paul Shaffer, drummed up his own praise: “He’s a monster!” he bellowed affectionately.

In the band’s breakout song “Typical,” from their self-titled debut album, Paul Meany sings earnestly, almost wistfully: “But how long should it take somebody/ Before they can be someone?/ ’Cause I know there’s got to be another level/ Somewhere closer to the other side/ And I’m feeling like it’s now or never/ Can I break the spell of the typical?”

That performance—and the band’s rapid ascension of the charts that summer—answered the question. The song was penned by Meany and King in 2003, who were essentially just two music geeks interested in new methods; four years later, it became a hit.

As they strolled with a newfound swagger through Times Square back to their tour bus, MTV serendipitously chose that moment to broadcast their “Typical” music video—which would later earn them a Grammy nomination—for the throngs of visitors and partygoers.

Nine years later that moment, like so many others they would experience on the road, brings back fond memories. “That was a crazy night where we felt really on top of the world,” says King, a small-town Missouri native who was barely 25 years old at the time.

“That will always stand out.”

Early Influences Frontman Paul Meany grew up in Kenner. The Brother Martin graduate, who also studied at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (where Jason Marsalis and Irvin Mayfield were among his peers) developed a love for music early on.

“My dad was very musical. He was a guitar player, singer, bass player … I grew up backing him in church. I played drums or whatever my dad needed. He reminded me a lot of the guy from Blood, Sweat and Tears [David Clayton-Thomas]. He had a gruffy voice and was a groovy base player. He taught me a lot about getting started.”

The radio also influenced Meany in his formative years: “I remember being in the carpool every day driving in from Kenner, listening to B97 FM, and I just remember fantasizing about being on the www.OFFBEAT.com

Mutemath’s expansive music.

radio. I wanted to figure out how to make songs to get there.” At the time, he especially admired hits by Paula Abdul and Fine Young Cannibals.

As a sophomore in high school, Meany, now 40, obtained his first keyboard and began to experiment with samples. “I heard that’s how Beastie Boys were making their beats,” he says. “So I spent the whole summer making tracks like that.” He describes the summer of discovery as a “chase to make my own beats… I never pictured myself as a traditional musician. I studied all that. I really enjoyed it because it was an eye-opening experience learning theory [at NOCCA]—what makes music—and that laid the foundation.”

Drummer King, 34, wasn’t too far behind, and the pair eventually met in the early aughts while playing in a Christian band called Earthsuit. Raised in Marshfield, Missouri, King’s early introduction to music also came from his father.

“I had a strange taste in music because of my dad’s cassette collection,” he muses. “So whatever was in his cassette collection influenced me: Beastie Boys, Surf Rock, Mozart… There was Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa.”

King learned how to play drums in his high school marching band. “I was pretty self-taught, but I just did a lot of watching and standing over someone’s shoulders. It was pretty much all drums, and I didn’t mess around with melodic instruments until my early twenties.”

The day after King graduated high school, he packed his bags for New Orleans, an experience he likens to Dorothy arriving in Oz. But his career and family life have also brought him through Texas and Tennessee (where he is now based).

He and Meany had carried on their long-distance collaboration, eventually, officially forming Mutemath in 2003. King tells a story that illustrates their inception: “The other day my daughter got my CD wallet out and she asked, ‘What’s this?” he says. “I explained ‘that plays music, like a record.’

She knew what a record was but she had never dealt with a CD. It was a blank disk and she pulled it out and it turns out it was the first demo I ever did. I used to go to the library so I’d get like, 20 vinyl records, take them home, sample them on this archaic little sampler.

I made a disk and mailed it to Paul; he sang on it and mailed it back to me.” Thinking that maybe this would turn into a side project, the pair continued to collaborate. “From the very beginning there’s been a long-distance collaborative process,” explains King, who is now based in Nashville, while Meany still makes his home in the Greater New Orleans area.

“I discovered Roy’s record collection: Bjork, Beastie Boys and Beck [records were] waiting for me, along with a lot of other great records, like Asian Dub Foundation, Portishead. I learned what a sampler was.” Another pivotal moment in his life came when he discovered DJ Shadow, whom he refers to as more of a “composer” than a disc jockey.

After recording an EP—and performing at New Orleans’ One Eyed Jacks, the now-gone TwiRoPa and other various local music venues, the band’s aforementioned debut LP helped them establish a fan base outside of New Orleans.

By Sarah Ravits

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“The one thing you can control is the songs you write, and the songs you make, so enjoy that, do it well, because no one can take that away from you.”

Experimental Roots Mutemath has always been rooted in experimentation—even its own inception was the outcome of trial, error and collaboration.

The band’s latest release, Changes, is a spinoff of last year’s Vitals.

The group draws influences from a wide range of musical genres— psychedelic, alternative, jam bands—and they go heavy on the synthesizers that they developed a fondness for so long ago, along with other electronic instruments like the keytar.

“It seemed like an interesting idea,” says Meany regarding the release of Changes. “For us it was something new… We’ve done a lot of remixes over the years so we thought it would be fun to challenge ourselves. We kind of end up remixing albums live anyways so we just decided to make a record of it, so we called up some friends. It was a monumental task so we included our own remixes and it was fun to reimagine the album and it gave us a new excuse to put out a record.”

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These days, the group is entirely independent, using their own label, New York–based Wojtek Records, to release their music. Vitals was the first album that they released on the record label last year.

Mutemath also own their publishing and have an administrative partnership with Kobalt, the largest independent music publisher in the world.

“I love it,” says Meany. “I’ve really been enjoying this part of our career. We were all a bit shook and unsure; we didn’t know what to do. We had identified as being a part of Warner Brothers, so you know, after a few days we mourned the loss of that era. We moved into this independent part of it, but we quickly began to be invigorated by the new circumstance. We do whatever we want. We wanted a remix album, we did it, we made it, we put it out.”

Meany’s advice to younger musicians is: “The one thing you can control is the songs you write, and the songs you make, so enjoy that, do it well, because no one can take that away from you.” www.OFFBEAT.com

COVER STORY King knows not to take anything for granted. “Whenever I look back on a decade’s worth of being in the band, there are moments where I’ve thought to myself, ‘It might not get better than this,’” says King. “It might not need to. I’ve certainly learned that whatever your situation is, it’ll change.”

Nine years after their pivotal moment in Times Square, the group experienced another iconic summer of touring, with 21 Pilots. “It’s so fun to get to do that type of tour and play those types of venues,” King says, referring to the arenas and giant music halls. “Their tour sold out before they even announced we were going to be a part of it.

They had a meteoric rise; it’s been incredible to watch.”

Still, he admits he was daunted by the experience of opening for such a popular group. “You have to work really hard; you feel like you’re the new kid,” he says. “I couldn’t believe how fun their fans were, how fun the band was. I was astounded by how well it went! It was a good match-up.”

It was a humbling experience for both bands, though. Says Meany, “I learned from them that they had been to so many of our shows. They had been genuine fans; we were some start of their inspiration. That was pretty flattering and it was important to us.” The mutually beneficial tour, he says, was “an amazing thing for us to be a part of. There were moments where I watched them playing, soaking it in—I’ve never seen a crowd more engaged. I realized this was a really special moment in music…

We’re at a game-changing moment.”

The group now looks forward to getting back to their New Orleans roots at the Voodoo Music Experience, where they will perform on Friday, October 28 at the Altar Stage. It signifies an important homecoming for them, as well as a chance to show their fans what they’ve been doing and how they’ve evolved. www.OFFBEAT.com

“Voodoo Fest is the best possible time of year,” says King. “The weather is so nice.

The location is absurd… It’s always been one of my favorite festivals. I’m going to eat a lot, drink a little. At that point I’ll be celebrating the birth of my second daughter. That’s the last show of the year before I get a bit of a paternity leave.

I’m pretty pumped and excited to do this show. I might have

to bring out the old T-rex [Halloween] costume,” he teases.

The group will also play a show at House of Blues on October 27.

After a hard-earned break, the band will work on a new album, which they hope to release by the end of the year. Always inventive and experimental, each member— Meany, King, Gummerman and

Cárdenas—will be in charge of producing three tracks for it. According to Meany, it will reveal how each member perceives making a record.

“Everyone in the band is a stand-up producer,” he says.

And as they expand their repertoire and new methods of making music, Meany says the group’s mission will remain the same: “We intend to be authentic.”

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photos: Elsa Hahne

Lisa Nguyen/Seaworthy

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’m from New Orleans and I met King Louie [Bankston] when I was 24. I was dating a friend of his at the time, and he was such a crazy character. I loved running into him; I hated running into him. But he was always kind and friendly to me and he’s like a mad scientist when it comes to music.

I was involved with New Orleans’ garage rock and punk scene and he was someone I ran into all the time, fascinated by how crazy he was, or how talented. For my 25th birthday, he brought me two records—my second and third record!—and that started a wildfire of record collecting.

They were from a band he was in called the Exploding Hearts. I didn’t know much about them, but to this day I listen to those records at least once a week. They’ve become such a big part of what I identify with musically. I wanted to dedicate this cocktail to him because he’s very unexpected and I like that about him.

One of my favorite things to do when I make cocktails is to play a trick on people. I like them having a certain

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perception about how something is going to taste and then go in the completely opposite direction.

People in New Orleans don’t talk much about the punk scene or the rock ‘n’ roll scene, but it’s got deep roots and it’s good stuff. They only talk about jazz and blues and some of the funky folk music, but when I think of New Orleans, I think about rock ‘n’ roll and punk rock and the people I’ve met here over the years.

I worked at Delachaise for a while and then with Neal [Bodenheimer].

I helped open Cure and I was also working for the City Council and fielding all the fun phone calls about pot holes and broken streetlights for Jackie Clarkson, and it was on the weekends that I got to work at Cure. I loved working in the service industry so much that I didn’t want to just do the 9-to-5 job.

In 2011 I moved to Chicago. Such a wonderful art scene. I worked at Big Star and then helped open a place called Analogue. They said we had an identity crisis, but we knew exactly what we wanted to

By Elsa Hahne

do: craft cocktails and Cajun food and live shows and art and we were a bit of a community center with people getting married, anniversaries, record releases...

Fun stuff! But it was challenging communicating all of that. People asked, ‘Are you a restaurant?’ ‘Are you an art space?’ To us there was no conflict, but people were confused. It just wasn’t a concept you could put in a box and present to people.

What we do here at Seaworthy is very rooted in classic cocktails.

With the place being so new, I think it’s important to offer products that are well made and not too fussy or esoteric. A cocktail has to be made exactly the same way every time.

That doesn’t happen, of course, but if it’s not perfect it doesn’t go out to a customer. I’ll stand at the end of the bar and taste every single cocktail. It gives the bartenders so much anxiety, but it really has taught them to refine their skills, which they can take with them wherever they go.”

The Exploding Heart 2 fresh strawberries (save one for garnish, cutting it into the shape of a heart) 1 fresh blackberry 1/2 ounce lemon juice 1/4 ounce simple syrup 1/2 ounce Cappelletti Sfumato Rabarbaro Amaro 1/2 ounce Cocchi Rosa aperitif wine 3/4 ounce Palo Cortado sherry Muddle the berries (crush them, basically). Shake everything in a cocktail shaker with ice, strain, and pour into a rocks glass. Pile on crushed ice. www.OFFBEAT.com

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

Howlin’ Wolf’s Wolf Den: 907 S. Peters St., 529-5844 Le Bon Temps Roule: 4801 Magazine St., 895-8117 Little Gem Saloon: 445 S. Rampart St., 267-4863 Maison: 508 Frenchmen St., 289-5648 Mid City Lanes Rock ‘N’ Bowl: 4133 S. Carrollton Ave., 482-3133 Palm Court: 1204 Decatur St., 525-0200 Rivershack Tavern: 3449 River Rd., 834-4938 Southport Hall: 200 Monticello Ave., 835-2903 Snug Harbor: 626 Frenchmen St., 949-0696 Three Muses: 536 Frenchmen St., 298-8746 Three Muses Uptown: 7537 Maple St., 510-2749

GERMAN

NEIGHBORHOOD JOINTS

FRENCH

Jaeger Haus: 833 Conti, 525-9200

ICE CREAM/CAKE/CANDY Aunt Sally’s Praline Shop’s: 2831 Chartres St., 944-6090 Bittersweet Confections: 725 Magazine St., 523-2626 La Divina Cafe e Gelateria: 621 St. Peter St., 302-2692 Sucré: 3025 Magazine St.,520-8311 Tee-Eva’s Praline Shop: 4430 Magazine St., 899-8350

INDIAN Nirvana: 4308 Magazine St., 894-9797

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

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

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, 3325 Severn Ave., Metairie, 885-4068

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 K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen: 416 Chartres St., 524-7394 Mulate’s: 201 Julia St., 522-1492 New Orleans Creole Cookery: 508 Toulouse St., 524-9632 Restaurant Rebirth: 857 Fulton St., 522-6863

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

FINE DINING Bombay Club: 830 Conti St., 586-0972 Broussard’s: 819 Conti St., 581-3866 Commander’s Palace: 1403 Washington Ave., 899-8221

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

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

ITALIAN

Chiba: 8312 Oak St., 826-9119 Mikimoto: 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., 488-1881 Seoul Shack: 435 Esplanade Ave., 417-6206 Sukho Thai: 4519 Magazine St., 373-6471; 2200 Royal St., 948-9309 Wasabi: 900 Frenchmen St., 943-9433

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

VIETNAMESE Namese: 4077 Tulane Ave., 483-8899

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

Darcy Malone hits the

Adolfo’s: 611 Frenchmen St., 948-3800 Little Vic’s: 719 Toulouse St., 304-1238

JAPANESE/KOREAN/SUSHI/THAI

PIZZA

Spot

When was the first time you came?

My love affair with this place began when they were inside Chickie Wah Wah. Whenever we played there I would get the brussel sprouts. I was just obsessed with them. When I heard they were opening their own actual restaurant, I freaked out. We came over here immediately and we probably still come at least once a week. It’s right by the park, too. I love this place.

I take it you’re still not over the brussel sprouts?

For somebody like me who’s on a high-protein diet, this place is great. All I eat is meat and vegetables now. I have lost over 40 pounds in 13 weeks. I’ve struggled with weight forever and I’ve tried so many different things and this was the first time something’s actually stuck. And I don’t feel deprived!

—Elsa Hahne Blue Oak BBQ Darcy Malone & the Tangle will open 900 N. Carrollton Ave. for Bonerama at Tipitina’s on Wednesday, (504) 822-2583 November 23. www.OFFBEAT.com

Photo: ELSA HAHNE

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

Ye Olde College Inn: 3000 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-3683 Warehouse Grille: 869 Magazine St., 322-2188

DINING OUT

Cafe Henri The opening of Cafe Henri signaled a change of pace for owners Neal Bodenheimer, Kirk Estopinal and Nick Detrich, the trio best known for their ambitious beverage programs at Cure and Cane & Table. Although their newest venture caters to an audience much wider than twentyand thirty-somethings who don’t hesitate to pay $15 for a handcrafted cocktail, that same clientele can be found at the bar at Cafe Henri seated next to the longtime Marigny resident in his sixties who can’t help but smile at the young parents bribing their toddler with French fries in order to buy a few more minutes of tranquility while they finish their burgers. A neighborhood restaurant, Cafe Henri offers the warm embrace of a welcoming dining experience across all demographics, plus remarkably uncomplicated and delicious food.

Painted sky blue and surrounded by large picture windows, the corner building that houses Cafe Henri underwent a much needed transformation to expel the demons of its former

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tenant, the now defunct “blogstraunt” Booty’s Street Food. White subway tile and light wood replaced the ominous black unicorn mascot and faux patina, and the globally-inspired street food smorgasbord has been succeeded by an eclectic but familiar bistro menu. Start with an order of johnny cakes served warm in a cast iron pan, or a bowl of gumbo loaded with turkey necks, crab, shrimp, sausage and giblets. More substantial preludes include an amphibious salad of fried oysters and beef carpaccio (an idiosyncratic combination that pairs wonderfully) and avocado kissed by the grill for warmth and texture and then dressed with an oily and salty mix of sautéed shallots and bacon.

Main courses include a simple pan-seared salmon filet resting atop snow peas and a thick, juicy burger on a brioche bun slathered in Russian dressing. Lasagna is constructed of fresh sheets of pasta layered with tender brisket and a restrained amount of tomato sauce and cheese. The classic steak frites is an eight-ounce flat iron drizzled with chimichurri and served with fresh-cut fries (hint: ask for a side of aioli or Russian dressing for dipping). A standalone weekend brunch/lunch menu begins with crumbly drop biscuits or cast iron cornbread smeared with butter whipped with cane syrup and progresses with an expertly executed omelet with a daily selection of fillings

Photo: RENEE BIENVENU

EATS

and a buttermilk fried chicken biscuit with enough restorative power to cure the worst of hangovers.

The cocktail list harkens back to the days before bartenders were called mixologists and most drinks had fewer than five ingredients. Patrons can indulge in a properly made Manhattan (with the house bourbon blend), a rum and (Mexican) Coke, or a (frozen) Negroni. Desserts focus on comforting favorites such as a slice of pie, chocolate tart, or warm cookies fresh from the oven. Going back to the basics has never tasted so good.

—Peter Thriffiley 800 Louisa St.; 11a–11p; 504-302-2357

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

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

The Mojo is Working

Dr. John & Friends The Musical Mojo of Dr. John: Celebrating Mac and His Music (Concord) All-star tribute albums are necessarily a mixed blessing.

Even at their best, they’re such a logistical nightmare to carry off that the real magic winds up in short supply. For instance, even though there are no real clunkers on Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, nobody ever names it as one of the essentials in the Dylan catalogue.

But this Dr. John tribute, recorded at the Saenger two years ago, avoids most of the pitfalls and manages to put some magic in the mix. Recording it at home during Fest season makes all the difference, since the band is great (with two Meters in the rhythm section) and everyone involved—from the local favorites up to Bruce Springsteen, who sounds suitably gritty on “Right Place Wrong Time”—recognizes the importance of the man and the material. And it’s the locals who do the best job of capturing the Doctor’s various incarnations: the deep soul from Irma Thomas, the Indian roots from Cyril Neville and Monk Boudreaux, the funky swagger from Dave Malone.

Shannon McNally adds a haunting

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note when she dedicates “Street People” to Rebennack’s late partners Herman “Roscoe” Ernest and Bobby Charles; and John Boutté treats the Earl King–written “Let’s Make a Better World” as the healing potion that it is. When the guest of honor hits the stage for “Such a Night”—probably the most joyful version since The Last Waltz—you know the mojo is working.

The only real complaint is that only about half the set is actual Mac Rebennack songs; the rest comes from his extensive book of covers. Fair enough, but this could have been an occasion to air some of his rarely-heard gems; the two that are here (“Back by the River” done jauntily by Ryan Bingham, and “Familiar Reality” jammed spaciously by Widespread Panic) are among the highlights. They might have gone more deeply into his early New Orleans R&B, and I’d walk quite a few miles to hear “Storm Warning” as done by this crew.

—Brett Milano

Mighty Sam McClain Time and Change: Last Recordings (City Hall) As the title indicates, former New Orleans resident “Mighty” Sam McClain is sadly no longer with us. He was a vocalist with an impressive deep soul pedigree, via tough 1960s singles like “Sweet Dreams,” “Bad Mouthin’,” “I Who Have Nothing” and “Good Humor Man.” Unfortunately, McClain fell on hard times after the classic period of soul waned, and he eventually found himself musically inactive. He drifted for nearly a decade. After resurfacing in the Crescent City during the

Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra Make America Great Again!

(Troubadour Jass Records)

mid-1980s, McClain’s career was revived via gigs at the 544 Club and stellar recordings on the Orleans and Black Top labels. With his career back on track, thanks to a global R&B revival, McClain eventually resettled in New England where he would record prolifically and tour extensively (60 countries).

Like his more recent CDs on AudioQuest, Time and Change is a highly personal and an honest statement. McClain produced and arranged this CD and co-wrote all but one song. He even wrote a portion of the liner notes. Even at 72, McClain retained the mighty voice one heard on those scratchy Amy/Bell 45s. That’s evident on the opening track, “Let’s Talk,” which sports an attractive, choppy, mid-tempo groove. The same can be said for the title track, “You Broke My Heart” and “Here I Come Again.” As introspective as most of this CD is, “Around Every Corner” and “Touch Somebody” are old-school, absolutely playful and superb. Outside of that, this set really covers a wide musical scope. Of course R&B dominates but there are also noticeable traces of hip-hop, reggae, gospel and jazz in the arrangements. However, the overriding plus on this release is McClain’s majestic voice, which sadly has now been silenced.

—Jeff Hannusch

Okay, the title of Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra’s debut CD, Make America Great Again!, certainly deserves a “Say what??” response. Naturally, the trombonist/bandleader and composer didn’t choose the campaign slogan of a particularly controversial candidate to bolster the man’s prospects for election.

On the contrary, Marsalis’ essay of the same name, which is delivered in the rich voice of actor Wendell Pierce, speaks to the contradictions in the “pragmatic proposition.” It’s all accomplished backed by the swinging big band with the upbeat voices of the Uptown Theatre Choir. The album also surprisingly opens with a soft, drumless version of “Star Spangled Banner.” Okay, another “Say what?” might be in order.

The orchestra, filled with some of New Orleans finest musicians, gets back to its more usual, hometown turf on the Dirty Dozen’s rollin’ “Snowball.”

It starts up appropriately with the baritone saxophone of Roger Lewis, a longtime member of the Dirty Dozen and the orchestra’s eldest member. A musician with a flair for putting a modern jazz edge on whatever the style—brass band, traditional jazz—Lewis struts his singular stuff when he takes the first solo—a great version of a great song.

Marsalis, the founder of the child-oriented Uptown Music Theatre, has a penchant for www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

theatrical productions, which is on display several times on the album. His original “Back to Africa” starts off sounding much

like a Broadway musical with the choir singing the theme. Up steps New Orleans rapper Dee-1 praising New Orleans music, food and culture and its debt to Africa. Modern jazz stylings take over as Delfeayo’s brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, makes a guest appearance. The rhythmic force stems from the combo of drummer Joe Dyson and percussionist Alexey Marti.

Delfeayo takes front and center for a beautifully classic version of the standard “Skylark.” Each note from his trombone is flawlessly

Gospel Glory Mahalia Jackson Moving On Up a Little Higher (Shanachie) By the time Mahalia Jackson signed with Columbia Records in 1954, the New Orleans native had been a gospel star for six years. 44 years after her death, she’s still regarded as gospel’s greatest artist. Moving on Up a Little Higher, a new collection of Jackson’s in-performance and rehearsal recordings, offers more evidence of her gifts.

Jackson’s 1948 single, “Move On Up a Little Higher,” became the best-selling gospel record up to that time. By the early 1950s, she was famous in Europe, too. By 1954, she had her own CBS gospel radio program and a contract with Columbia Records.

Jackson’s Columbia recordings cast her in pop-friendly productions featuring choruses and orchestras. But there’s no studio sheen in the 22 non-studio performances on Moving On Up a Little Higher. Jackson is heard in gloriously expressive form. Eleven of the performances are from the William Russell Jazz Collection, which is housed at the Historic New Orleans Collection. 9 performances are from the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival.

The Newport recordings and the rehearsals Russell recorded at Jackson’s home in Chicago offer the collection’s best audio quality. Jackson sings most of rehearsals a cappella. Her rich contralto, heard without accompaniment, is even more obviously than usual a magnificent instrument.

Jackson’s blues influences, especially early blues star Bessie Smith, color this collection. She transforms the sacred through the secular, enhancing her crossover appeal. The singer’s blues-touched gospel made her the ideal act for George Wein’s Newport Jazz Festival. Accompanied by pianist Mildred Falls and organist Dickie Mitchell, the 44-year-old singer made her Newport debut in 1957 as a headliner. For “Keep Your Hand on the Plow,” “When the Saints Go Marching In,” “Didn’t It Rain” and more, Jackson’s singing and shouting, her conviction, sound too much for headphones or speakers to contain. And her Newport performance of “Jesus Met the Woman at the Well” sounds every bit as commercial as one of the era’s Ray Charles recordings.

Many Moving On Up a Little Higher tracks capture Jackson in her prime gospel glory.

—John Wirt www.OFFBEAT.com

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REVIEWS and emotionally articulated. Here, and through much of the album, the rhythm section includes Crescent City pros, with Kyle Roussel on piano, David Pulphus on bass and Herlin Riley on drums.

The horn sections are also loaded with talent such as saxophonists Khari Allen Lee and Roderick Paulin, trumpeter Andrew Baham, trombonist Terrance Taplin and more.

“The identity of the band has been shaped into something that is completely unique and very much New Orleans,” Delfeayo has said. The city’s and Delfeayo’s personalities, including the leader’s musical acumen, often barbed wit and political outlook, fill Make America Great Again!

—Geraldine Wyckoff

Gary Negbaur Alive in New Orleans (Crazy Bird Productions) Gary Negbaur comes from the piano tradition, but it’s not necessarily the NOLA one—he’s a Berklee-trained, classically jazzbased New York singer-songwriter, and his traditions run more towards Cole Porter and George Gershwin than Fess and James Booker. Yet here he is at Cafe Istanbul, serving up standards and witty originals alike while exploring the Crescent City jazz roots in his Tin Pan Alley approach. As such, you get versions of both “St. James Infirmary” and Toussaint’s “Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues),” both “When the Saints Go Marching In” and “Basin Street

Guitar Excursions Anders Osborne Flower Box (Back on Dumaine Records) Anders Osborne is on a creative tear latterly: This is his second album this year and, if you count the one with North Mississippi Allstars, his third in 18 months.

And the most telling thing about Flower Box is that it’s a full-length album with only eight songs on it.

His live shows are going more into free-form guitar excursions; here he brings that to the studio.

This in effect is a live album with new songs and no audience. On the opening “Different Drum,” you can hear the room ambiance and the space between the instruments, as Osborne and co-guitarist Scott Metzger take turns cutting loose. The two extended tracks (eight and nine minutes) are the closest to his live shows: “Born to Die Together” starts off as a reggae-tinged rocker before heading into the mystic—Osborne takes to a slide-guitar solo that floats and wails, as the wordless chorus vocals add a Pink Floydian feel. “Old Country” begins in a laid-back mode before Osborne steps on the wah-wah and unleashes an absolute corker of a solo, probably the most blazing one he’s yet captured.

His usual introspection isn’t gone entirely, but this album finds him in a more upbeat mood: On “Different Drum,” he’s missing his Mid-City home while coming in on a flight to Honolulu; the song’s about feeling torn between cities but finding something to love in all of them. That tune and “Old Country” bring up his Swedish roots, evincing more peace of mind than “Tracking My Roots” from a few albums back.

The track that goes deepest is “It Can’t Hurt You Anymore,” sung to a woman with an unnamed trauma in her past. If his words don’t reassure her, the Neil Young–channeling guitar solo probably will.

—Brett Milano

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REVIEWS Blues,” a jump-blues take on Willie’s “Whiskey River” and “You Are My Sunshine” delivered with a heavy nod to Brother Ray Charles.

As for his originals, they’re playful explorations of trad-jazz and boogie-woogie that lyrically stagger down the same dark Quarter alleyway as any number of local rock-funk bands. “Piety or Desire” is not about streetcar stops, and “Eat at Home” is not about food; songs like “Even the Ugly Ones Are Pretty” sum up that strange mix of freedom and regret that defines the local party scene. It’s unfortunate that as a songwriter, he sings like a songwriter—his melodies don’t come off half as colorful as his settings. Yet it’s lots of fun anyway: Like drinking and dating, you gotta pick your battles.

—Robert Fontenot

Courtney Granger Beneath Still Waters (Valcour Records) Courtney Granger has always had one of the purest voices in Cajun music, making him a sought out vocalist and fiddler known for his role with Balfa Toujours, the Pine Leaf Boys and Ray Abshire.

While he’s revered in his cultural genre, his rendition of George Jones’ “You’re Still on My Mind” on Joel Savoy’s Honky Tonk MerryGo-Round release made many realize that he was just plain good—period, regardless of genre and language. Fast forward a few years later and Granger is even better and more seasoned on this stone hard country album. Though several selections come from the canon of Jones (“Mr. Fool”) and Keith Whitley (“She Never Got Me Over You”), Granger pulls off these emotionally heavyweight selections as if he were channeling the spirits of the aforementioned.

His deep, major league pipes make these heartbreakers seem like his disappointments and tragedies, not those of some songwriter along Music Row. He’s compassionate towards the deranged protagonist on “Dance With Me Molly,” who uses the www.OFFBEAT.com

bottle to slip into a happier oblivion, and the guy in “My New Year Starts Today” who finally moves forward after hitting rock bottom. The title track paints a picture of a lonely, dimly lit barroom where a jukebox plays in the corner to solitary, silent patrons lost in their thought and drink. Whether it’s Granger or some celebrity hat act they’re listening to really doesn’t matter.

He feels their pain anyway and it’s them he’s singing to. Real stuff.

—Dan Willging

Carsie Blanton So Ferocious (Independent) Though she sits squarely in the singer-songwriter mode—enough to make both Paul Simon and Loudon Wainwright approve— Carsie Blanton has, through half a dozen or so albums, evolved from just another jazz-folkie hotwiring Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan into twee to a pure pop butterfly able to go toe to toe with anyone on adult alternative whatever radio. Yet what really sets her apart is her sexual stance, best personified by her logo: a topless humanoid in panties standing in front of a huge but equally amorphous lion. She’s her own lethargic pixie dream girl, oozing sensuality offhandedly but on her own terms. Which makes her perfect for this town.

Carsie is by this point on a mission to own her sexuality, using it as a tool to make the patriarchy uncomfortable, as if titles like “Ravenous,” “The Animal I Am,” “Lovin Is Easy” and the title track didn’t already make that obvious.

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of seduction but defiance: “You don’t scare me,” goes the hook of one of the better songs here.

If she had a vagina monologue, it would likely be a rant, albeit an admittedly coquettish one.

She’s liberated herself not just from being an object but being a subgenre: This is her slickest, poppiest record yet, completing her transformation from coquette to libertine with some uptempo rock on “Ravenous,” dance-pop on the title track, and even some Motown on “Scoundrel.” Think of her as Amy Winehouse without the demons. Yet she can’t help but be as free with her heart as she is with her sexuality, which is why the anthemic ballad “To Be Known” tenderly examines why people put not just their genitals but also their feelings (and vocals) out there for examination.

—Robert Fontenot

One Love Brass Band Too Big to Fail (Independent) The name of the ensemble, One Love Brass Band, and its concept of Jamaica’s genres of reggae and ska meeting New Orleans’ own unique cultural brassy sound, are both ace. After all, ska music was influenced by New Orleans jazz heard over the radio airwaves in the island nation and reggae has definitely made its way into this city’s brass band realm.

The album gets off to a good, happy start on saxophonist’s David Bode’s “Working on Getting Right,” with some poppin’ drums by Boyanna Trayanova.

This number certainly should get a crowd movin’ in a good direction. The closer the group

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stays to its brassy reggae/ska intent the better things move and groove. One of the best cuts is a tune by saxophonist, pianist, organist and melodica player Kyle Cripps, “I Ain’t a Poacher.”

With Cripps as the lead vocalist, it screams honesty and authenticity instrumentally, lyrically and melodically. It offers a message, a point of view that has been an essential part of reggae and much of Jamaican music. Cripps also pens the next ska-suggestive cut, “Ringo (The Bear),” which takes advantage of the wealth of instruments available in the group including Bode’s baritone saxophone and guest artist Scott Frock’s trumpet.

When One Love veers too far from the mission suggested by its usually descriptive name—One Love from Bob Marley’s reggae classic; Brass Band indicating the instrumentation including tuba—it loses some of its identity and verve.

Jamaican ska, reggae and rocksteady have long been a natural marriage with Louisiana music—brass bands, Mardi Gras Indians, rhythm and blues, zydeco.

On Too Big to Fail, One Love Brass Band has the potential to further the union.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

previously performed), guitarist Nir Felder and pianist Fabian Almazan. Those into modern jazz get that these guys are superb instrumentalists.

Each of the members of the Wee Trio takes pen to hand for an album full of very individualist compositions. This plus the addition of the guest artists brings an ever-changing quality to the recording. The virtuosity of Felder stuns on the opening cut by Loomis, then Westfall’s cleverly

named “Titan Up” jumps out of the box with Almazan’s piano and Westfall’s vibes bobbing and weaving. Credit drummer Schonig for the drive.

Fans of Payton will dig his blowing throughout, from his playful swagger to swing on Loomis’ “Sabotage” to the beauty of his soft blowing and subtle slurs on the wonderful “No Justice.”

Westfall’s New Orleans residency definitely shows on his original, “Belle Femme de Voodoo.” It boasts a Latin-tinged second line rhythm that is laid down by the drums with the rest of the trio joining the parade led by Payton’s trumpet.

Wee + 3 holds many provocative moments, though even at its most intense the music remains accessible. Talent will do that. The name the Wee Trio might sound diminutive but the musicianship is giant.

—Geraldine Wyckoff

Right to Shine Valerie Sassyfras Sassquake!

(Independent)

She started out as a duo act with her late husband Johnny Donald, a more or less straight zydeco thing with elements of rock and country and funk. Now The Wee Trio in the middle of her solo career, Wee + 3 Valerie Sassyfras has chosen to (Bionic Records) reinvent herself as a one-woman James Westfall stands as the New show, working through the loss by hauling a laptop on stage and Orleans connection to the Wee Trio; singing about nothing more or less profound than good old sex. And the vibraphonist, a Houston native, it’s empowered her in the strangest way, making her a local hero in the came to the Crescent City to attend LGBTQ and wider neo-hipster community.

Sassyfras is the kind of outsider camp that defies all critical theory, the University of New Orleans sort of like all three Del Rubio triplets crammed into one (it’s no and spent some 14 years here on coincidence that Tim and Eric somewhatstar David Liebe Hart appears the jazz scene. Thus this special group, with bassist Dan Loomis and in one of her videos), but she’s no joke—when she stands onstage at Tip’s with her accordion, or dances (but does not strip) behind drummer Jared Schonig, returns her ever-present burlesque scrim, or does her otherworldly dance quite often to renew the tie. (The band hits the Snug Harbor stage on moves while performing at the world’s last Piccadilly Cafeteria out on Jefferson Highway, she’s affirming her right to shine. And her debut Saturday, November 19.) album reflects that perfectly, from the oddly matriarchal come-on of As the title Wee + 3 indicates, “Babysitter” to the Princely funk of “Wicked Love” and the straight this time out the talented glam of “Rollercoaster.” Only attitude can explain how her saucy croak threesome invited some equally could replace Donna Summer’s three-octave mezzo-soprano on “Hot gifted musicians to join them, Stuff.” And the closing cover of her husband’s “Somethin’s Brewin’” is including New Orleans trumpeter un-ironically touching, even when taken out of context.

Nicholas Payton (with whom —Robert Fontenot both Westfall and Schonig have www.OFFBEAT.com

REVIEWS

Randy Newman Songbook (Nonesuch) It’s not often that music can be great and unnecessary at the same time, but that’s the case here. Randy Newman inaugurated his solo-piano Songbook series in 2003; a second volume followed in 2011. This year brings Volume 3, plus a vinyl box set that collects everything on four LPs. Taken together it’s a major slice of Newman’s mighty catalogue— not just the “hits” (technically, he only ever had two of those) but

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also deep cuts, movie songs and a couple of uncollected ones— all of it lovingly redone and warmly recorded, with Newman alone at the keys throughout.

My quibble as a fan is that Newman is also a savvy arranger, and the instrumental settings on the original albums are often crucial to the songs’ intent—whether it’s the ambitious orchestration on his debut, the Southern ambiance on Good Old Boys, or his ironic appropriation of new wave and California soft-rock later on.

And since Newman never tours with a band or orchestra, those arrangements only live on the original albums. Strip down to voice and piano and some of the colors are lost. On a song like “Dixie Flyer,” the original setting (with cinematic synths and Mark Knopfler’s guitar) worked as much as the lyrics to evoke his boyhood in New Orleans.

Ditto “It’s Money That I Love,” where the use of a gospel choir

gave the satiric knife an extra twist. Or even “Short People,” where he cast the Eagles as the voice of small-mindedness and somehow got them to go along with it.

On the plus side, Newman has lived with many of these songs for decades, so his vocals necessarily have more depth; “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today” has a world-weariness that he could only suggest in his twenties, and “Love Story” sounds more poignant from the other end of life. There’s some angrier nuance in “Louisiana 1927”—he’s well aware of what that song’s come to mean after Katrina—and in “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country,” even though the original of that was only eight years ago. What the world needs, though, is an all-new Randy Newman album, and the good news is that we’re apparently getting one next year.

—Brett Milano

Adam Crochet Real Good Love (23 Ducks Records) Adam is the guitarist for Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, but on his own he practices something he likes to call “Louisiana smooth blues.” And that’s just what he’s got on his debut EP, which is mostly electric and mostly concerned with nothing more than that good old blues standard of love gone bad. (It’s pretty much impossible to tell what he’s going on about in the opening track... something about a Times-Picayune editorial.)

But the groove is doing most of the talking anyway—funky on the bottom, laid back, with a touch of soul in his vocals and guitar hooks strictly from the Delta tradition. Crochet even does a pretty good job with a Resonator on the high-stepping “You Don’t Know” and the closing instrumental “Oh My

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REVIEWS

Isaiah B Brunt A Moment in Time (Independent)

My.” He takes an interesting, jazzy left turn on “My Heart Is Yours” to boot. Urban, relaxed, and a little gritty, Crochet’s brand of blues is the kind you’d only expect to find in New Orleans, even though its virtues are geographically boundless… and timeless.

—Robert Fontenot

Fly Molo Fly Molo (Independent) If this were 20 years ago (okay, fine, more like 25), Fly Molo would have everything it takes to be all over alternative radio: the loud-soft dynamics of Nirvana by way of the Pixies, the fat powerpop hooks of Nirvana by way of Cheap Trick, the tribal drums and jam band white funk of just about everybody, not to mention a little blurry jangle pop from R.E.M. punked up like Hüsker Dü.

There is of course a little angst in there that could be Trent Reznor or maybe Kurt Cobain, but it’s all smoothed out in the mix.

This is in no way a slight on what these guys do with their debut EP; in fact, it’s to their credit that the seams are pretty much invisible. This is pure alternative ear candy, but it’s the good stuff, like Stone Temple Pilots at their peak. Fly Molo is a pop-rock band at heart, wisely sacrificing the strutting cock-rock for the fat hook, and with a few production tweaks the six songs here could even be updated for a new century. As it is now, it’s at least balm for those of us who didn’t realize how much they’d miss Scott Weiland.

—Robert Fontenot

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Sometimes you gotta follow your muse, even if it means trekking around the globe and jumping across hemispheres.

Growing up with the household sounds of Satchmo, Australian bluesman Isaiah Brunt realized his drifty, spacious originals had a natural Big Easy affinity and thus recorded two albums—this being his second—at George Buck’s Audiophile Studios with producer David Stocker. This time out, the studio band included such luminaries as bassist George Porter Jr.; pianist Mike Lemmler; drummer Doug Belote; harmonica player Smoky Greenwell and New Orleans Suspects’ saxophonist/ session arranger Jeffrey T. Watkins.

It’s more upbeat and funkier than 2014’s Just the Way That It Goes, with full, groove-bound arrangements; sharp, snazzy horns and rollicking ivories. Brunt alternates between electric and lap steel guitar, often striking crunchy, jagged notes, quick-throbbing pulses and stinging steel riffs.

Yet, with the aforementioned New Orleans icons, don’t think of this as a fantasy baseball camp where Brunt only hobnobs with the stars. As a songwriter, he holds his own, sometimes delivering a zingy last line (“Still Waiting”) or an unexpected lyrical twist at the end. “Travel Back in Time” ingeniously juxtaposes rolling firstline snare beats and a swooning Dixieland riff while Brunt ponders time travel and seeing a younger version of his parents madly in love.

Overall, it feels more like a mind-bending odyssey than just a listen, with each track differing from its predecessor.

The hammerin’ “Party Late All Night” artfully downshifts into the lazy shuffle of “Same Old Road,” which brakes even more for the cinematic title track and its humanitarian message about how love and kindness are immortal.

Intriguing stuff.

—Dan Willging www.OFFBEAT.com

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

Listings

EXPRESS

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

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

MJ Jazz

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

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

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

FRIDAY OCTOBER 28

Bombay Club: Russell Welch (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Alexandra Scott and Harry Mayronne (VR) 5p, Blake Amos (VR) 8p, Gumbo Cabaret (VR) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Paul Sanchez (RR) 8p, Harold Lopez-Nussa (VR) 10p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Honey Island Swamp Band, John Mooney and Bluesiana (RR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): the Coldwater Electric albumrelease party (RK) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p, Mark Hessler and friends (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Cullen Landry and Midnight Streetcar feat. Johnny Pennino (VR) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Shynola, Broadmoor Jazz Band, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 1p, Ballers Ball feat. Mannie Fresh and guests (HH) 10p Maple Leaf: Eric Struthers, Ike Stubblefield and Herlin Riley (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band with Karl Budo (TJ) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat.

Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Colin Lake (BL) 10p Saturn Bar: Valparaiso Men’s Chorus (FO) 10p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (JV) 9p

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Tipitina’s: the Jayhawks, Folk Uke (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p W XYZ Bar: Jon Roniger (SS) 5:30p

SATURDAY OCTOBER 29

Blue Nile: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Bombay Club: Bill Solley and Kim Prevost (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Davis Rogan (VR) 5p, Royal Rounders (VR) 8p, Swamp Kitchen (JV) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Susan Cowsill’s Covered in Vinyl Series presents ABBA (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: Monster Jam Mash-Up feat. Eric McFadden, Papa Mali, Simon Lott, Ron Johnson, Queen Delphine, Margie Perez, DJ Quickie Mart, Lantz Lazwell and the Vibe Tribe (VR) 11p Dragon’s Den: Swinging Gypsies (JV) 7p ;Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p, Graveyard Smash Bash with DJ G (VR) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Wait, What? Comedy (CO) 8p, Hustle feat.

DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): See Brights Lights, Paris Ave., Campground (PK) 9p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Irvin Mayfield (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Monsters of Funk feat. Bernard Purdie, Ivan Neville, Leo Nocentelli, Oteil Burbridge, Dirty Dozen Brass Band Horns, the Motet (VR) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Parsons (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Dinosaurchestra, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Miss Mojo, Big Easy Brawlers (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Flow Tribe (FK) 11p Mardi Gras World: Hell’s Gala feat. Steve Aoki, Mija, Bleep Bloop, Wuki, Klutch, P-TAB, Sunsabetches, LoMeyn, Zupparty, Dino Brawl, B2B, C-LAB (VR) 9p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Maid of Orleans (RK) 9:30p Palm Court Jazz Café: Brian O’Connell and Palm Court Jazz Band with Ernie Elly (TJ) 8p Pontchartrain Vineyards: Jazz’n the Vines feat. Roddie Romero and the Hub City All-Stars (KJ) 6:30p Preservation Hall: Joint Chiefs of Jazz feat. Jamie Wight (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Bonerama (BB) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ike Stubblefield (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (JV) 12p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Time Out: Andre Bouvier and the Royal Bohemians (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: Galactic, Gravy (FK) 11p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY OCTOBER 30

Banks Street Bar: Stuff N Things (FK) 4p Bombay Club: Oscar Rossignoli (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot! (TJ) 10:30a, Doyle Cooper Jazz Band (JV) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Pat Flory and Mike Kerwin (BL) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 8p Civic Theater: Here Come the Mummies, Peelander-Z (RK) 9:30p Columns Hotel: Chip Wilson (JV) 11a Crazy Lobster: the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Dragon’s Den: Jazz Jam (JV) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p

Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p, Bate Bunda (AF) 10p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Germaine Bazzle (JV) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Royal Street Winding Boys (JV) 10a, Nickel-A-Dance feat.

Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 4p, Brad Walker, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Batiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Café: Lucien Barbarin and Sunday Night Swingsters with Tom Fischer (TJ) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: James Singleton Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: John Lisi (JV) 12p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Tipitina’s: Sunday Youth Music Workshop feat. Stanton Moore Trio (VR) 1p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

MONDAY OCTOBER 31

Banks Street Bar: Dignity Reve’s Piano Showcase (PI) 7p, Lilli Lewis (RB) 9p Bombay Club: John Royen (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Café Istanbul: Rumer Willis (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Benny Maygarden and Thomas “Mad Dog” Walker (VR) 6p, Alex McMurray (SS) 8p d.b.a.: Morning 40 Federation (RK) 10p Dragon’s Den: Kala Bazaar Swing Society (JV) 8p, DJ RQ Away, DJ Otto, DJ Jubilee (HH) 10p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Natalita, Tasche and the Psychedelic Roses, Spare Change (PK) 10p Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse: Irvin Mayfield and Purple Disrespect (JV) 8p Joy Theater: Big Gigantic, Illenium (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson and friends (FO) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses (JV) 4p, Full Orangutan, Brass-A-Holics, Soul Company (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Sexual Thunder (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars, Bobby Love (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 12p, Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Tipitina’s: the Funky Meters (FK) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila, and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Deutsches Haus: Kulturabend feat. Tom McDermott on Louis Moreau Gottschalk (PI) 6p Ellis Marsalis Center for Music: Daniel Oestreicher (JV) 6:30p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p

House of Blues: Pennywise, Strung Out, Unwritten Law, Runaway Kids (PK) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Marc Stone (BL) 7p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, R&R Music Group (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (RK) 11p One Eyed Jacks: Kishi Bashi, Laura Gibson (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY NOV. 2

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Civic Theatre: Straight No Chaser (VR) 7:30p d.b.a.: Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Turnstile, Angel Dust, Krimewatch, Big Bite, Locals Mercy Kill, Piece of Me (PK) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Dante Graziani (VR) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): American Murder Song (FO) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: David L. Harris Duo (TJ) 7p Maison: Eight Dice Cloth, Jazz Vipers, In Business (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Robin Barnes’ Birthday Bash (VR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (SI) 8p Sandbar at UNO: Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Tony Dagradi (JV) 7p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Three Muses Maple: Dr. Sick Duo (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY NOV. 3

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: David Hull (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and friends (JV) 8p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, LadyFest feat. Margie Perez, Joy Clark, Cole Williams, Lili Lewis (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Blake Amos presents Dirty South Samba Soul (LT) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (VR) 8p; Upstairs: Biglemoi, Nebula Rosa, B-Side (VR) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Garrett Klahn (PK) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Tre-G Album-release party (HH) 9p House of Blues: Corey Smith (CW) 7:30p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Joy Theater: Phantogram, the Range (VR) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Gem Saloon: Reid Poole Duo (JV) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good For Nothin’ Band, Sweet Substitute, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: LPO String Quartet (CL) 6p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Orpheum Theater: Esperanza Spaulding presents Emily D (MJ) 8p Palm Court Jazz Club: Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Louis Ford (TJ) 8p the Rat (Tulane University): Jazz at the Rat presents A Tribute to Alvin Batiste with Jesse McBride and the Next Generation (JV) 7p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Chris Ardoin (ZY) 8:30p Saenger Theatre: Lindsey Stirling (VR) 8p Smoothie King Center: Sia, Miguel, Aluna George (SS) 7p Snug Harbor: Carlos Malta Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Up Up We Go (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Messy Cookers (JV) 7:30p Three Muses Maple: Esther Rose Duo (VR) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p W XYZ Bar: Noah Young Quartet (JV) 5:30p

FRIDAY NOV. 4

Bombay Club: Larry Scala (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: One Night Only with Matt Perrine and Seva Venet (JV) 5p, Nattie’s Songwriter Circle (SS) 8p, Ben Fox Trio (JV) 11p Champions Square: Boudin, Bourbon and Beer Festival (VR) 6p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, the Batture Bros. feat. Tommy Malone and Ray Ganucheau (VR) 8p, Justin Johnson (VR) 11p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 6p, Maliguanas feat.

Papa Mali (VR) 11p Dos Jefes: Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Gentlemen Commoners (PO) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Biglemoi (RK) 8p, Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues: ’80s Prom feat. Sixteen Candles Band (CB) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Perpetual Groove (FK) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Van Hudson (FO) 5p, One Tailed Three (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Circular Time (VR) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Reed Lightfoot (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Mahalia Jackson Theater: Bianca Del Rio (CO) 8p Maison: Leah Rucker, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 4p, Big Easy Brawlers, Raw Deal (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Khris Royal and Dark Matter (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Music Box Village: New Orleans Airlift presents L’Union Creole feat. Sunpie Barnes, Dede Saint Prix, Seguenon Kone and Opera Creole (VR) 6:30 & 8:30p Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, the Business (RK) 9:30p Palm Court Jazz Club: Kevin Louis and David Harris with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Mixed Nuts (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Davis Rogan (JV) 9p Three Muses Maple: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p W XYZ Bar: Keith Burnstein’s Kettle Black (JV) 5:30p

SATURDAY NOV. 5

Bombay Club: Kitt Lough (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Miles Lyons’ Tribute to Tyree Glenn (JV) 5p, Sherman Bernard and the Ole Man River Band (VR) 8p, Swamp Kitchen (JV) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Justin Johnson (VR) 9p, Maggie Koerner (VR) 10p Circle Bar: Gram Parson’s 70th Birthday Tribute Show feat. the Insta-Grams (CW) 7p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a

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d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 6p, Little Freddie King (BL) 11p Dragon’s Den: Backspin (VR) 10p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Gland, Pudge, Roman Polanski’s Baby (PK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Close Me Out (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues: Ingrid Michaelson (ID) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): 2Pac/Makaveli Tribute (HH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Flag Party feat. Imani Ray, DJ Shane Talon (RE) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: New Soul Finders with Papa Mali and Kirk Joseph (FK) 8:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Louisiana Music Factory: Prunka/Jenner Continuum (VR) 1p, Don Paul (VR) 2p, Don Paul and Rivers of Dreams (VR) 3p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires (SI) 1p, Smoking Time Jazz Club, Kumasi, Black Market Brass Band (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Charlie Wooton Project (VR) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Music Box Village: New Orleans Airlift presents L’Union Creole feat. Sunpie Barnes, Dede Saint Prix, Seguenon Kone and Opera Creole (VR) 6:30 & 8:30p One Eyed Jacks: Thee Oh Sees, Amplified Heat (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Club: Brian O’Connell and Fred Lonzo with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Contraflow (RK) 9:30p Saenger Theatre: Bonnie Raitt (BL) 8p Snug Harbor: Carlos Malta Quartet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Jamey St. Pierre (JV) 12p, Antoine Diel and Arsene DeLay (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Davis Rogan Band (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Three Muses Maple: Tom McDermott (JV) 11a, Davy Mooney (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY NOV. 6

Bombay Club: Daniel Schroeder (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot (TJ) 10:30a, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p Dragon’s Den: the Zen Future Sessions Jazz Jam with Anuraag Pendyal and Dignity Reve (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Sunday Skool (VR) 7p, Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Valerie Sassyfras CD-release party feat. the Sasshay Dancers, the Quickening (VR) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Terrapin Family Roadshow (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Slick Skillet Serenaders (JV) 10a, Meghan Steward and Too Darn Hot, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Battiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Tom Fischer and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Republic: Guided By Voices, Surfer Blood (RK) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Bruce Daigrepont (KJ) 5:30p Saenger Theatre: Evanescence (RK) 8p Snug Harbor: Licorice Stick Sundays with Evan Christopher and guests (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sweetwater and friends (JV) 12p, Pfister Sisters (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Three Muses Maple: Debbie Davis and Josh Paxton (JV) 11a Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

MONDAY NOV. 7

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Benny Maygarden (VR) 6p, Alex McMurray (SS) 8p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Nahum Zdybel’s Blue Four (JV) 7p, Hangover Mondays with DJ Ill Medina (VR) 11p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p

Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Corporate America (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars, Bobby Love (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Dillinger Escape Plan, O’Brother (VR) 6p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Washboard Rodeo (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robinson Band (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY NOV. 8

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila, and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Progression (VR) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): the Record Company (RK) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: NOLA Dukes (VR) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, the Key Sound (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (RK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY NOV. 9

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p French Market: Patrick Cooper and Natasha Sanchez (FO) 2p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: K. Phillips (ID) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Jackie Greene (FO) 8p, Jet Lounge (HH) 11p House of Blues: Switchfoot, Relient K (RK) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: David L. Harris Duo (TJ) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Jazz Vipers, Dana Abbott Band (VR) 6:30p Maple Leaf: Tommy Castro and the Painkillers, Ron Hacker (VR) 8p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Rickie Monie (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Clockwork Elvis (SI) 8p Sandbar at UNO: Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Hank Mackie (JV) 7p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Hot Club of New Orleans (JV) 7p Three Muses Maple: Joy Patterson and Matt Bell (VR) 7p Tipitina’s: Lucius, the Cactus Blossoms (VR) 8:30p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY NOV. 10

Bombay Club: Davy Mooney (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Alexandra Scott and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Tom McDermott and Chloe Feoranzo (JV) 8p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, Grateful Dead Done Easley feat. Dave Easley, Billy Iuso and friends (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Little Freddie King (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: the ILL Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p; Upstairs: Soundclash (HH) 9p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Trash Talk, Antwon, No Youth, Torture Garden (PK) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Hands Like Houses, Our Last Night, the Color Morale, Out Came the Wolves (RK) 6:30p House of Blues: Kane Brown, Jordan Rager (CW) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Howlin’ Wolf: Trae Crowder, Corey Forrester, Drew Morgan (CO) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Reid Poole Duo (JV) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Good for Nothin’ Band, Roamin’ Jasmine, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Ogden Museum of Southern Art: Dayna Kurtz (SS) 6p One Eyed Jacks: Shinyribs, Papa Mali (VR) 7p, Fast Times ‘80s and ‘90s Night (VR) 10p Palm Court Jazz Club: Duke Heitger and Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Louis Ford (TJ) 8p the Rat (Tulane University): Jazz at the Rat feat. Ellis Marsalis Jazz Orchestra (JV) 7p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Horace Trahan (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Tom Saunders and the Tom Cats (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 7:30p Three Muses Maple: Messy Cookers Duo (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p W XYZ Bar: Calvin Johnson and Native Son (JV) 5:30p

FRIDAY NOV. 11

Bombay Club: Wendell Brunious (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Camile Baudoin and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, 11:11 A Tribute to the Radiators feat. Darcy Malone, Margie Perez, Marc Paradis, Josh Paxton (VR) 8p, Vanessa Carr (VR) 11p Bullet’s: Original Pinettes (BB) 8:30p Café Istanbul: Kevin Allison presents Risk! Live (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p; Justin Donovan and Simon Lott (VR) 8p, Mason Ruffner (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Royal Fingerbowl, Drums and Tuba (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues (the Parish): House of the Young (HH) 10p House of Blues: Strangelove: A Tribute to Depeche Mode, the Siouxsies Tribute to Siouxsie and the Banshees (CB) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Rod Melancon (FO) 10p Joy Theater: Rave of Thrones feat. DJ Kristian Nairn, the Golden Pony (VR) 9p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Guitar Slim Jr. (BL) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p, Hurricane Refugees (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Cullen Landry and the Midnight Streetcar feat. Johnny Pennino (RB) 7:30p Mahalia Jackson Theater: New Orleans Opera Association presents Macbeth (CL) 8p Maison: Dinosaurchestra, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 4p, Soul Project, No Good Deed (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Smoke n Bones (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamey St. Pierre and the Honeycreepers (RK) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Sexual Thunder (VR) 9p Palm Court Jazz Club: Kevin Louis and James Evans with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Creole Stringbeans (KJ) 9p

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Saenger Theatre: ARW: An Evening of YES Music (RK) 8p Snug Harbor: Davell Crawford (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses Maple: Albanie Falletta (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 7p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p Tipitina’s: Harvest the Music feat. Dumpstaphunk, Mia Borders (FK) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p W XYZ Bar: Trent Pruitt (SS) 5:30p

SATURDAY NOV. 12

Bombay Club: Tim Laughlin (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Yardbird Sweethearts (JV) 5p, Marina Orchestra (VR) 8p, David Hull (JV) 11p Carrollton Station: Camile Baudoin, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone and Harry Hamlin (BL) 8p Carver Theater: El Debarge feat. Chante Moore (RB) 9p Chickie Wah Wah: Swamp Sistas Songwriters’ Circle, feat.

Beth McKee, Lynn Drury, Jamie Lynn Vessels, Monica McIntyre and others (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a Creole Cookery: Trad Stars Jazz Band (JV) 11a d.b.a.: Lost Bayou Ramblers (KJ) 11p Dragon’s Den: Reid Poole Quartet (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: the Boxer Rebellion (ID) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Brown Improv (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues (the Parish): LouMuzik Live (HH) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Tauk, Naughty Professor (FK) 10p Kerry Irish Pub: Speed the Mule (FO) 5p, Roux the Day (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p; Upstairs: Milonga Osada to Recordings of Tango (LT) 7:30p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Cajun/ Zydeco Fais Do Do with 99 Playboys, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (VR) 1p, Pinettes Brass Band, Big Easy Brawlers (BB) 10p Maple Leaf: Keng Harvey and the Pantheon of Funk (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Old Point Bar: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 9:30p One Eyed Jacks: Quintron and Miss Pussycat, King Khan and the BBQ Show, Paint Fumes (VR) 9p Orpheum Theater: Bryan Batt with members of the LPO (VR) 7:30p Palm Court Jazz Club: Brian O’Connell and Lester Caliste with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 5p, Preservation Hall-Stars feat.

Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Flow Tribe (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Carl Allen Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Carolyn Broussard (JV) 12p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Three Muses Maple: Tom McDermott (JV) 11a, Albanie Falletta (JV) 5p, Davy Mooney Trio (JV) 7p Time Out: Andre Bouvier and the Royal Bohemians (VR) 11a Tipitina’s: Dweezil Zappa (VR) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: the Troubadour (KJ) 1p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 5p, T’Canaille (KJ) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p

SUNDAY NOV. 13

Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot (TJ) 10:30a, Dapper Dandies (JV) 7p Café Istanbul: Seguenon Kone (AF) 8p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Soul Brass Band (BB) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Zen Future Sessions Jazz Jam with Anuraag Pendyal and Dignity Reve (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Ascend/Descend, the World is a Vampire, Thrush (PK) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p House of Blues: Grouplove, MUNA, Dilly Dally (ID) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p

Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Mahalia Jackson Theater: New Orleans Opera Association presents Macbeth (CL) 2:30p Maison: Leah Rucker, Higher Heights (VR) 7p, Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Eight Dice Cloth, Royal St. Winding Boys (JV) 10a Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Battiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Mark Braud with Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Backstreet Cultural Museum Benefit feat.

Nathan and the Zydeco Cha Chas, Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (VR) 4p Snug Harbor: Licorice Stick Sundays with Evan Christopher and guests (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sweetwater and friends (JV) 12p, Swinging Heathens (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Three Muses Maple: Ted Hefko (VR) 11a Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

MONDAY NOV. 14

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Benny Maygarden (VR) 6p, Alex McMurray (ID) 8p Civic Theatre: Animal Collective, Actress (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Soft Shoe Shufflers (JV) 7p, Hangover Mondays with DJ Ill Medina (VR) 11p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Kim Carson (FO) 9p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Vegas Cola (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a One Eyed Jacks: Warpaint, Goldensuns, VS Colour (VR) 8p Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars, Bobby Love (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Republic: Peter Hook and the Light (RK) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, Joe Cabral (VR) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robinson Band (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY NOV. 15

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila, and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Marc Stone (BL) 7p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, TK Groove (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Tom McDermott plays Scott Joplin (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p UNO Performing Arts Center: the Lincoln Trio (CL) 7p

WEDNESDAY NOV. 16

Bombay Club: Daniel Schroeder (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p

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LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Royal Teeth (PO) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p Historic New Orleans Collection: Concerts in the Courtyard feat. Colin Lake (BL) 6p House of Blues (the Parish): Eric Johnson (FO) 9p Howlin’ Wolf: Elysian Feel Album-release party feat. FroYo Ma, Noruz, Willie Green Project, Killer Dale, Sweater Creep (VR) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 5p, Van Hudson and friends (FO) 9p Le Bon Temps Roule: Davis Rogan (PI) 7p Little Gem Saloon: Detroit Brooks (BL) 7p Maison: Slick Skillet Serenaders, Ramblin’ Letters, Shotgun Jazz Band (VR) 1p, Fat Ballerina, Big Easy Brawlers (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Johnny Sansone Band feat. John Fohl (VR) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Old Point Bar: Rick Trolsen (PI) 5p, Jamie Lynn Vessels (RK) 9:30p Palm Court Jazz Club: Kevin Jones and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p

PLAN A: Boudin, Bourbon & Beer featuring Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings “They got a lot of singers coming out today that say they do R&B, soul and funk,” Sharon Jones told OffBeat ahead of her Jazz Fest set back in April. “But now, when they say R&B they mean pop... Don’t make it something it’s not. Don’t take the soul out of soul.”

Fortunately for fans of R&B, Jones is the real deal. Despite her three-year long battle with pancreatic cancer, Jones has continued to tour the world with a soul sound that is as authentic as it gets. Those who aren’t already privy to her booming voice and vibrant stage presence (as well as those who are) will have the perfect chance to get acquainted when Jones and her

THURSDAY NOV. 17

Bombay Club: Georgi Petrov Duo (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Charlie Miller (JV) 5p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p, Graham Hawthorne’s High Standard Orchestra feat. Aurora Nealand (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p Dragon’s Den: the ILL Vibe with DJ Matt Scott (VR) 8p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Xena Zeitgeist Sex Bomb Burlesque feat. Dr. Sick Sextette (BQ) 8p House of Blues: Mindless Behavior, 4EY the Future, Joe Moses, Anthony Lewis, KR (RB) 6:30p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Foot and friends (FO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Gem Saloon: Reid Poole Duo (JV) 7p Maison: Good for Nothin’ Band, Asylum Chorus, Dysfunktional Bone (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Nunemaker Auditorium (Loyola University): Jazz Underground presents All Ellington performed by Loyola Jazz Faculty (JV) 7:30p Palm Court Jazz Club: Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola with Crescent City Joymakers (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Gregg Stafford (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat.

Louis Ford (TJ) 8p the Rat (Tulane University): Jazz at the Rat feat. Carl Allen (JV) 7p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Chubby Carrier (ZY) 8:30p Snug Harbor: Aaron Goldberg Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Miss Sophie Lee (JV) 6p, Jumbo Shrimp (JV) 10p Three Muses Maple: Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 7p Three Muses: Tom McDermott (JV) 5p, Keith Burnstein (VR) 7:30p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: Pentatonix (VR) 8p Vaughan’s Lounge: Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet (FK) 10p W XYZ Bar: Sam Doores (VR) 5:30p

FRIDAY NOV. 18

Bombay Club: Wayne Mareau (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Blake Amos (VR) 5p, Fr. Ron and friends CD-release party (FO) 8p, Gumbo Cabaret (VR) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Greazy Alice and friends (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tuba Skinny (JV) 6p, Brass-A-Holics (BB) 10p Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Hall: Tom McDermott and Meschiya Lake (JV) 5:30p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 7p

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Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Topcats (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Ellis Marsalis Quintet (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Three Muses: Royal Roses (JV) 5:30p, Sam Doores (VR) 9p Three Muses Maple: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis Trio (JV) 7p Tipitina’s: Jerry Douglas Band, Lost Bayou Ramblers (KJ) 10p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p UNO Lakefront Arena: I Love the ‘90s feat. Salt-N-Pepa, Vanilla Ice (VR) 8p W XYZ Bar: Blonde Roses (ID) 5:30p

SATURDAY NOV. 19

Abita Springs Town Hall: Abita Springs Opry feat. Last Chance Bluegrass Band, Western Sweethearts, Necessary Gentlemen, New Orleans Jazz Band (VR) 7p Bombay Club: Steve Pistorius (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Hannah KB Band (VR) 5p, A2D2 with Arsene DeLay and Antoine Diel (VR) 8p, Mikayla (VR) 11p d.b.a.: Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 11p Dragon’s Den: Slick Skillet Serenaders (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Blonde Roses (RK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Drunktoons (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues (the Parish): Bad Girls of Burlesque (BQ) 9p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Neisha Ruffins (JV) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Dave Hickey (FO) 5p, Invisible Cowboy Band (FO) 9p Little Gem Saloon: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 7 & 9p Louisiana Music Factory: Asylum Chorus (VR) 2p, Beth McKee (VR) 3p, Charles Brewer Trio (VR) 4p

backing band, the Dap-Kings, headline Boudin, Bourbon & Beer in Champions Square on Friday, November 4.

Hosted by the nonprofit Emeril Lagasse Foundation, the annual fundraiser will offer exactly what its name suggests: a chance to sample some great boudin, bourbon and beer.

The beer will be provided by Abita Brewery, the bourbon will be provided

by Buffalo Trace and the boudin will come courtesy of over 60 locally and nationally renowned chefs.

This is New Orleans after all, so music is as integral to the party as anything. In addition to Jones and the Dap-Kings, the gathering will also feature up-and-coming Southern rocker Anderson East, Nashville-based sextet Banditos, Cajun music makers the Lost Bayou Ramblers and eclectic New Orleans ensemble the Saint Claude Serenaders.

—Sam D’Arcangelo Boudin, Bourbon & Beer will take over Champions Square on Friday, November 4. Tickets are available for $99 and include all food, beverages and live entertainment. Proceeds from the event benefit the Emeril Lagasse Foundation.

Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires, Roamin’ Jasmine, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 1p, Brass-A-Holics, the Resident Aliens (FK) 10p Maple Leaf: Annual 101 Days to Mardi Gras Party with the 101 Runners (MG) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Brian O’Connell and Fred Lonzo with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall-Stars feat.

Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Eric Lindell (BL) 9:30p Snug Harbor: the Wee Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: Remedy (VR) 9p Spotted Cat: Carolyn Broussard (JV) 12p, Russell Welch’s Band (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, John Rodli (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Three Muses Maple: Sam Cammarata (VR) 5p Time Out: Andre Bouvier and the Royal Bohemians (VR) 11a Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY NOV. 20

Bacchanal: the Tangiers Combo (JV) 12p, the Tradsters (JV) 4p, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 7:30p Bombay Club: David Boeddinghaus (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot (TJ) 10:30a, Gerald French Trio (JV) 7p Crazy Lobster: the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p Dragon’s Den: the Zen Future Sessions Jazz Jam with Anuraag Pendyal and Dignity Reve (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Kyle Craft (PO) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Great Good Fine OK (ID) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Traditional Irish Session (IR) 5p, Chip Wilson (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Dinosaurchestra, Meghan Stewart and Too Darn Hot (JV) 10a Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Battiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Mark Braud with Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Smoothie King Center: Jeff Dunham (CO) 3p Snug Harbor: Licorice Stick Sundays with Evan Christopher and guests (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 12p, St. Cecilia Asylum Chorus Album-release show (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p Three Muses Maple: Ted Hefko (VR) 11a Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Brandon Moreau and Cajungrass (KJ) 2p, Bayou Cajun Swamp Band (KJ) 7p

MONDAY NOV. 21

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Benny Maygarden (VR) 6p, Alex McMurray (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 11p Dragon’s Den: Hot Club of Mazant (JV) 7p, Hangover Mondays with DJ Ill Medina (VR) 11p Funky Pirate: Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Sam Doores, Pony Hunt (FO) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars, Bobby Love (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p

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PHOTO: bob adamek

Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Wayfarer, Anicon, Barghest, Cikada (ME) 8p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Will Dickerson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: David L. Harris Duo (TJ) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Jazz Vipers, Native Swing (VR) 6:30p Maple Leaf: the Original Gentlemen feat. Big D Perkins, Jellybean Alexander and Cornell Williams (VR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Joe Krown (SI) 8p Sandbar at UNO: Jazz at the Sandbar feat. Aaron Goldberg (JV) 7p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Schatzy (JV) 7p Three Muses Maple: Joy Patterson and Matt Bell (VR) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

LIVE LOCAL MUSIC Three Muses: Bart Ramsey (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p

Tropical Isle Bourbon: Beach Combers (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY NOV. 22

FRIDAY NOV. 25

Bombay Club: Tom McDermott (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila, and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Jon Cleary (VR) 8p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: Mike Dillon (MJ) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p House of Blues (the Parish): Benjamin Francis Leftwich (ID) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: Marc Stone (BL) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, Brass Lightning (JV) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Stanton Moore Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY NOV. 23

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Gin Wigmore (VR) 9p House of Blues (the Parish): Alt Nation, the Shelters, Night Riots, the Hunna (RK) 7p Kerry Irish Pub: Chip Wilson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: David L. Harris Duo (TJ) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Jazz Vipers, Mutiny Squad (VR) 6:30p Maple Leaf: the Original Gentlemen feat. Big D Perkins, Jellybean Alexander and Cornell Williams (VR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: the Boogie Men (SI) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Southport Hall: 12 Stones (RK) 8p Three Muses: Leslie Martin (JV) 5p, Sarah McCoy (JV) 7p Tipitina’s: Bonerama, Darcy Malone and the Tangle (VR) 9p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

THURSDAY NOV. 24

Bombay Club: Matt Lemmler (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand (JV) 8p Bullet’s: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 6:30p Chickie Wah Wah: Phil DeGruy and Emily Robertson (VR) 6p Crazy Lobster: the Spanish Plaza 3 (VR) 5p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, 0Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Circus Darling (BQ) 9p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Gumbeaux (CO) 8:30p Le Bon Temps Roule: Soul Rebels (BB) 11p Little Tropical Isle: Allen Hebert (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Shotgun Jazz Band, No Good Deed (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: the Trio feat. Johnny Vidacovich and special guests (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Louis Ford (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Geno Delafose (ZY) 8:30p

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Bombay Club: Los Tres Amigos (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Debbie Davis and Josh Paxton (VR) 5p, Marc Stone (BL) 8p, Phil the Tremelo King (JV) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Michael Pearce (BL) 6p, Paul Sanchez (RR) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: CC Adcock and the Lafayette Marquis, the Fortifiers (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: Loose Marbles (JV) 7p, the Tipping Point with DJ RQ Away (HH) 10p; Upstairs: Comedy Fuck Yeah (CO) 7p, Latin Night (LT) 11p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Gasa Gasa: James Hall (RK) 9p Hi-Ho Lounge: Relapse with Matt Scott (VR) 10p House of Blues: Freeway and Styles P, Rude Jude and Wild Wayne (HH) 10p Joy Theater: the Last Waltz feat. Dave Malone, Reggie Scanlan, New Orleans Suspects, Honey Island Swamp Band, Bonerama Horns, Papa Mali, John “Papa” Gros, Johnny Sansone, John Mooney, Terence Higgins, Ron Johnson, CR Gruver, Jake Eckert, Johnny Sketch (VR) 8p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 5p Maple Leaf: Gravity A (FK) 11p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Kevin Louis and Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band feat.

Wendell Brunious (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall Brass Band feat. Daniel Farrow (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Bucktown All-stars (VR) 9:30p Snug Harbor: Dr. Lonnie Smith (JV) 8 & 10p Southport Hall: the Molly Ringwalds (VR) 9p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio (JV) 6p, New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings (JV) 10p Superdome: Bayou Classic Battle of the Bands (VR) 5p Three Muses: Matt Johnson (JV) 5:30p, Nicholas Barron (VR) 9p, Three Muses Maple: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, John Rodli (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p W XYZ Bar: Cactus Thief (FO) 5:30p

SATURDAY NOV. 26

Bombay Club: Leroy Jones (JV) 8:30p Buffa’s: Red Hot Jazz Band (JV) 11a, Ashlae Blume (VR) 5p, Royal Rounders (VR) 8p, Keith Burnstein (VR) 11p Chickie Wah Wah: Woodenhead and friends feat. Mark Mullins, Helen Gillet and Tommy Malone (VR) 9p Crazy Lobster: the River Gang (VR) 11a d.b.a.: Eric Lindell (BL) 11p Dragon’s Den: Eight Dice Cloth (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Talk Nerdy to Me (BQ) 7p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 2p, Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: the Rip Off Show (CO) 7p, Hustle feat. DJ Soul Sister (FK) 11p House of Blues: A Pretty Nasty Party (HH) 10p Howlin’ Wolf: Crescent City Showdown feat. Barry Charles, Alvin G. and the Country Boy Comics, Dolvv, Tribe 3, Smoke Loc (CO) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 4:30p Maison: Chance Bushman and the Ibervillianaires (JV) 1p, Smoking Time Jazz Club, Big Easy Brawlers (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: New Orleans Suspects’ 4th Annual Turkey Jam with special guests (FK) 11p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Brian O’Connell and Lester Caliste with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Pontchartrain Vineyards: Holiday’n the Vines feat.

Christina Serpas and Ghost Town (RC) 6:30p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Jazz Masters feat.

Leroy Jones (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall-Stars feat.

Shannon Powell (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Tab Benoit (BL) 9p Snug Harbor: Dr. Lonnie Smith (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Carolyn Broussard (JV) 12p, Jazz Band Ballers (JV) 2p, Panorama Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 10p Three Muses: Chris Christy (JV) 5p, Debbie Davis (JV) 6p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 9p Three Muses Maple: Tom McDermott (JV) 11a, Davy Mooney (JV) 5p, Russell Welch (JV) 7p

Tropical Isle Original: Down River (RK) 1p, the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

SUNDAY NOV. 27

Bombay Club: Daniel Schroeder (JV) 8p Buffa’s: Some Like It Hot (TJ) 10:30a, Steve Pistorius Jazz Band (JV) 7p Crazy Lobster: the Neon Shadows (VR) 4p d.b.a.: Palmetto Bugs Stompers (SI) 6p, Sam Price and the True Believers (VR) 10p Dragon’s Den: the Zen Future Sessions Jazz Jam with Anuraag Pendyal and Dignity Reve (JV) 7p; Upstairs: Church (EL) 10p Funky Pirate: Mark and the Pentones (BL) 4p, Willie Lockett Band (BL) 8p Gasa Gasa: Mia Borders (EL) 8p Hi-Ho Lounge: NOLA Comedy Hour Open Mic (CO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Hot 8 Brass Band (BB) 10p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers (JV) 5:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Patrick Cooper (FO) 8p Maison: Chance Bushman and the NOLA Jitterbugs, Royal Street Winding Boys, Roamin’ Jasmine (JV) 10a, Brad Walker, Higher Heights (VR) 7p Maple Leaf: Joe Krown Trio feat. Russell Battiste and Walter “Wolfman” Washington (FK) 10p Morning Call City Park: Billy D. Chapman (JV) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Gerald French and Christian Winther with Sunday Night Swingsters (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall Legacy Band (TJ) 6p, Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Wendell Brunious (TJ) 8p Republic: Seven Lions, Pegboard Nerds, Unlike Pluto, Grum (EL) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Benefit for Anthony Brown feat. the Dixie Cups and a New Orleans All-Star Revue (VR) 4p Snug Harbor: Licorice Stick Sundays with Evan Christopher and guests (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Brett Richardson (JV) 12p, Jazz Band Ballers (JV) 2p, Kristina Morales and Bayou Shufflers (JV) 6p, Pat Casey and the New Sound (JV) 10p Three Muses: Raphael et Pascal (JV) 5p, Linnzi Zaorski (JV) 8p, Three Muses Maple: Debbie Davis and Josh Paxton (JV) 11a Tropical Isle Bourbon: BC and Company (RK) 1p, Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p UNO Lakefront Arena: B97’s Sunday Funday feat. the 1975 (VR) 7p

MONDAY NOV. 28

Bombay Club: Josh Paxton (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Arsene DeLay (VR) 5p, Antoine Diel (JV) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Benny Maygarden (VR) 6p, Alex McMurray (ID) 8p Crazy Lobster: the Insta-Gators (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Alexis and the Samurai (ID) 7p, Glen David Andrews (JV) 10p Dragon’s Den: Ben Fox and the Manouche Masters (JV) 7p, Hangover Mondays with DJ Ill Medina (VR) 11p Hi-Ho Lounge: Bluegrass Pickin’ Party (BU) 8p, Instant Opus Improvised Series (VR) 9p Kerry Irish Pub: Mark Appleford (FO) 8:30p Maison: Chicken and Waffles, Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, the Resident Aliens (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: George Porter Jr. Trio (FK) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Ooh Poo Pah Doo: James Andrews and the Crescent City All-Stars, Bobby Love (VR) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Charmaine Neville Band (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Sarah McCoy and the Oopsie Daisies (JV) 2p, Dominick Grillo and the Frenchmen St. All-Stars (JV) 6p, Jazz Vipers (JV) 10p Three Muses: Monty Banks (JV) 5p, Joe Cabral (JV) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Rhythm and Rain (RK) 5p, Beach Combers (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Graham Robertson (RK) 5:15p, Trop Rock Express (RK) 9:15p

TUESDAY NOV. 29

Bombay Club: Tom McDermott (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Tacos, Tequila, and Tiaras with Vanessa Carr (VR) 8p Chickie Wah Wah: Albanie Falletta (VR) 6p, Jon Cleary (VR) 8p Crazy Lobster: AC and the Heat (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Dinosaurchestra (JV) 7p, Treme Brass Band (BB) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p Hi-Ho Lounge: Grass Mud Horse (FO) 6:30p, Marshland (FO) 8p Howlin’ Wolf (the Den): Comedy Beast (CO) 8:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Jason Bishop (FO) 8:30p

Little Gem Saloon: Marc Stone (BL) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Mark Pentone (RK) 5p, Frank Fairbanks (RK) 9p Maison: Swinging Gypsies, Gregory Agid, CoolNasty (VR) 4p Maple Leaf: Rebirth Brass Band (FK) 11p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Snug Harbor: Cindy Scott Trio (JV) 8 & 10p Spotted Cat: Andy J. Forest (JV) 2p, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns (JV) 6p, Smoking Time Jazz Club (JV) 10p Tropical Isle Bayou Club: Cajun Drifters (KJ) 7p Tropical Isle Original: the Hangovers (RK) 5:15p, Jay B. Elston Band (RK) 9:15p

WEDNESDAY NOV. 30

Bombay Club: Kris Tokarski (PI) 8p Buffa’s: Open Mic Night with Nattie Sanchez (SS) 7p Chickie Wah Wah: Meschiya Lake and Tom McDermott (JV) 8p Crazy Lobster: Ken Swartz and the Palace of Sin (VR) 5p d.b.a.: Tin Men (JV) 7p, Walter “Wolfman” Washington and the Roadmasters (BL) 10p Dragon’s Den: Reggae Night (RE) 10p Funky Pirate: Blues Masters feat. Big Al (BL) 8:30p House of Blues (the Parish): the Movement, the Holdup (RE) 8p, Jet Lounge (HH) 11p Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge: Spodie and the Big Shots (JV) 6:30p Kerry Irish Pub: Paintbox feat. Dave James and Tim Robertson (FO) 8:30p Little Gem Saloon: David L. Harris Duo (TJ) 7p Little Tropical Isle: Jay B. Elston (RK) 5p, Reed Lightfoot (RK) 9p Maison: Jazz Vipers (JV) 6:30p Maple Leaf: the Original Gentlemen feat. Big D Perkins, Jellybean Alexander and Cornell Williams (VR) 10p Morning Call: Valerie Sassyfras (VR) 10a Palm Court Jazz Club: Lars Edegran and Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band (JV) 8p Preservation Hall: Preservation Hall All-Stars feat. Charlie Gabriel (TJ) 8p Rock ‘n’ Bowl: Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (CW) 8p Smoothie King Center: Dolly Parton (CW) 8p Snug Harbor: Uptown Jazz Orchestra (JV) 8 & 10p Spitfire: Vixens and Vinyl: Burlesque in Hi-Fi (RB) 9p Spotted Cat: Chris Christy (JV) 2p, Shotgun Jazz Band (JV) 6p, Antoine Diel and the New Orleans Power Misfits (JV) 10p Three Muses: Dr. Sick (VR) 7p Three Muses Maple: Joy Patterson and Matt Bell (VR) 7p Tropical Isle Bourbon: Jezebels Chill’n (RK) 5p, Debi and the Deacons (RK) 9p Tropical Isle Original: Debi and the Deacons (RK) 5:15p, Late As Usual (RK) 9:15p

FESTIVALS OCTOBER 28-30 The three-day Voodoo Music + Arts Experience in City Park includes live music, regional cuisine and interactive art installations. VoodooFestival.com OCTOBER 29 The Louisiana Book Festival is held in Baton Rouge’s State Capitol building and includes author panels and books for sale. LouisianaBookFestival.org OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 6 The 10th annual LadyFest New Orleans celebrates women in the arts. Events include live music, film screenings, art shows, poetry readings, dance performances and a parade. Facebook.com/LadyFest.

NewOrleans NOVEMBER 5 The Central City Festival takes place on the 1600 and 1700 block of O.C. Haley and includes music, kids’ activities, food and drink vendors, arts and crafts and a health fair. OCHaleyBlvd.org NOVEMBER 12-13 Treme Creole Gumbo Festival features a brass band showcase and all styles of gumbo at Armstrong Park.

JazzAndHeritage.org/Treme-Gumbo

SPECIAL EVENTS NOVEMBER 17 The annual French Market tree lighting begins at 5 p.m. in Washington Artillery Park in Jackson Square.

FrenchMarket.org

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Saenger Theatre Saturday, November 5

Bonnie Raitt

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onnie Raitt scooped up her tenth overall career Grammy award, for best Americana album, with 2012’s Slipstream, her first studio release since 2005.

Celebrated by critics as one of the finest in her 40-year career, the project followed a tough string of personal losses: Both of Raitt’s parents passed away in 2004 and 2005, followed by her older brother in 2009. Energized by the two-year Slipstream tour and the album’s overall success, the veteran guitar slinger emerged from the studio in February of 2016 with her latest, Dig In Deep, a triumph of rockand-soul energy and heart-cracking intimacy that includes five original compositions, including a co-write with her longtime running buddy Jon Cleary. Raitt got on the phone with OffBeat in advance of her November 5 show at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans.

You’ve been coming to New Orleans for a long time. A few years ago—introducing you at Jazz Fest—Quint Davis pointed out that you were the first non-Louisianan to play the festival.

I’ve been touring nationally since ’74, so we hit pretty much all the big cities, including New Orleans, but the Festival started right around that time, and then it became wonderful to be able to play this great new thing that Quint and all the people in New Orleans had come up with. It was thrilling to be able to celebrate the Meters and the Nevilles and Allen Toussaint, and get to meet and hang out with so many great musicians all at one time.

And over the years, you’ve worked with a lot of New Orleans musicians and had the chance to spend some time and really dig into the city and its culture, too.

Absolutely. I’ve been playing there since the ’70s, and I was very good friends with Allen Toussaint. My ‘in’ with the city was through his eyes, and Marshall Sehorn, his musical partner that ran his company. They hosted me for a week years ago, and I was on Warner Brothers with both the Meters and Allen Toussaint, and then sang on Allen’s records, and recorded a couple of his songs. Then, in the early ’80s, Ivan Neville was in my band, so after already knowing the Neville Brothers, I knew them really well once Ivan was in the band. We got to see New Orleans through www.OFFBEAT.com

that. Then my friendship with the Radiators, and John Mooney, and a lot of different other local artists—and then Jon Cleary I met when he played with Taj Mahal on a recording session, and when I needed to switch keyboard players, he was available, and was interested in working with me, so we had 10 years of him being in the band.

What are some of your favorite New Orleans memories?

Well, it’s a toss-up between the music and the food, I suppose. The atmosphere and the culture—knowing about the history of New Orleans music, and all the different tributaries of ethnicities and historical backgrounds, I was always fascinated with New Orleans music, since I started out as a kid. Ernie K-Doe and Fats Domino were some of my favorite records of all time. I got

By Alison Fensterstock

talks back

to hang out in the club scene, and go to Tipitina’s and Jimmy’s, and got to go to a lot of different neighborhoods for soul food, New Orleans home cooking. Not as much the Antoine’s or Brennan’s side but the neighborhood side, which is the wonderful thing about having friends that are actually living in New Orleans, because they can take you around to their special favorite places.

Years later, Jon invited me to come in and hang out and go to Indian practice. I came in before Mardi Gras, and I learned some more aspects of the preparation and the history of everything— what the second line means, and everything about the history of Mardi Gras and all that. I got to see an insider view that a lot of the public, I don’t think, gets access to, so I felt really blessed to be able to see the historic side of New Orleans, as well as celebrate the living culture … the living and N O VEMBER 2 016

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“The political song that I wrote had been fomenting in me for a bunch of years, just being really pissed off at how money has hijacked democracy in this country...” breathing interaction of all the different musical influences, and culinary influences.

Franklin might have written some songs, but primarily they did other people’s material.

I remember that when we spoke a few years ago, right after your 2012 album Slipstream, we talked about the challenge of wading through the sheer volume of music being released these days and finding things you like. You said then that you were about to go on the “song hunt,” for your next project.

Exactly, that’s pretty much what I’ve been doing since the first record. I love looking under lots of different rocks for music that’s not necessarily above the radar. It’s daunting, but it’s also fun. It’s like a treasure hunt. The volume is daunting, but the discovery when you find something—through either a journalist friend or another artist or just in the circles that I move in, or sometimes just going to YouTube and following a tributary of that… all different corners of the earth, really. I have friends in so many places that turn me on to things. Because of the internet, I can see a link to somebody where they said, ‘I think this person’s going to knock you out,’ and sure enough. That’s how I discover a lot of great music. I delve into styles of music from so many different areas. As you get into 19 or 20 albums, you’ve covered a lot of different topics and musical styles, so it becomes more challenging to come up with something new.

You also wrote or co-wrote five songs on Dig In Deep, which is more originals than you’ve put on an album in a while.

Basically, this record is just a function of whatever was in my heart, and on my mind at the time, for the songs that I wanted to contribute. It started out musically because there were some grooves that I really wanted to add into my live show; I wanted a new funk tune, and Jon [Cleary] and I worked on something. He had a title [‘Unintended Consequence of Love’] that I really loved. I kind of ran with that lyrically, and musically, we just jammed for a minute at his studio, and the song kind of wrote itself around the title that Jon had.

The piano song, ‘What You’re Doin’ to Me’—I just really love to play the piano in that particular style, kind of a gospel shuffle. The lyrics that I wrote for that, about whatever it is when you kind of give up on love and have had enough, and then somebody comes along and catches you back, brings you back into play again—the lyrics and the music really went with how I wanted to play that in my show.

The political song that I wrote had been fomenting in me for a bunch of years, just being really pissed off at how money has hijacked democracy in this country, and how too few at the top are controlling too much of the legislation and who gets elected, and policy, and are taking too much. Whether it’s the Occupy movement, whether it’s the fight against Citizens United, fraudulent elections, and all kinds of different grassroots movements that are moving towards leveling the playing field, and addressing what’s broken about the system … I think the reason Bernie got a lot of traction, and probably Trump as well, is that everybody really agrees that there’s too few people deciding what’s going on here, and too few have taken too big a piece of the pie. That song has been brewing in me, and my guitar player [George Marinelli] and I came up with the music for it.

The last song on the record is the one that’s the most personal, and that’s really not just about the losses that I went through but about a reckoning for some family, some romantic, and some of my relationship with myself. I just had some stuff to say, and there’s different kinds of musical feels that go with each of those topics.

When you decide to record a cover, what goes into that choice? The INXS song “Need You Tonight” on Dig In Deep, for example—it’s kind of a surprise, but you really inhabit it and make it your own.

If I love a song, that’s just something that I do. The way that I decide when to put it out is a question of the context of the record. I don’t put too many ballads on a record, or too many songs with the same musical feel. I wouldn’t want to do a record where I did a lot of covers on the same album, because that would just be distracting. I’ve loved that INXS song since it came out as a single.

I’ve always had it in the back of my mind, like I did with the Gerry Rafferty song [‘Right Down the Line’] on the last record. I’ve done ‘Burning Down the House.’ Actually, the first time I ever got any radio play was a cover, an Al Green–inspired cover of Del Shannon’s ‘Runaway,’ back in 1977. A great song is a great song, it doesn’t matter who did it first. I grew up loving artists that always covered other people primarily. Ray Charles and Aretha

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There are a lot of straight-up rockers on Dig In Deep—songs where it sounds like it’d be a lot of fun to play them live.

Yeah, those songs are really fun. I haven’t played the last song [‘The Ones We Couldn’t Be’] live, because there’s really no room right now in the set for four devastatingly sad ballads. We’re already doing three, and then kind of a torch song.

I love singing ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me,’ and that was my biggest song, so to put more songs at that level of sadness—along with ‘Angel from Montgomery’—would be asking a lot of the audience.

You mentioned Allen Toussaint earlier, who died this past fall. In your career, you’ve always worked with and championed the generation of artists that came before, from Sippie Wallace to B.B. King, who you did a tribute to on this year’s Grammys. After more than 40 years in the business, do you ever think of yourself as starting to become an elder statesman?

I get asked a lot about that now. At the Americana awards, for example, when Slipstream came out. It actually got an award for Americana album of the year at the Grammys, but at the Americana Awards, I got a kind of performing award, and a lot of the younger artists that were under the Americana umbrella came up and said how much they listened to me growing up. There’s a number of younger artists that come up to me and say that their moms used to play my music when they were kids—somebody will tell me, or give me a link to Adele talking about me before she sings her own great version of ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me.’ It’s starting to filter in, over the last five years or so. People are talking about the fact that I was an influence, or someone that they looked up to—whether as an activist, or as a guitarist, or as a female role model, or as a singer. It makes me feel great! It’s wild to be the same age as a lot of the blues people and folk artists that I had looked up to. They were the age I am now when I first started out, and I remember thinking they were so cool, and self-confident, and self-contained. It’s funny, because now my generation is in this state of always getting asked for advice by younger artists. It’s great. It’s all part of the continuum.

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