Burning Wood
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Friday, April 26, 2024
"Jazz Fest": THE WEEKEND BOINK!!
Loosely using The Replacements' "Boink!!" as a template---6 album tracks, a b-side and an unreleased track---here are my choices to rep the New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Actually, if I had a month with a thousand hours of music, I couldn't possibly represent the New Orleans Jazz Fest on these pages. But that doesn't mean I can't try.
Here are some favorites, sequenced with the best of my ability. A few were recorded at the Festival itself. One is from a WWOZ broadcast. And we have a live performance from one of the night time shows, this one from Tipitina's in 2019.
This mix is pretty much the vibe of the whole event, day and night.
I hope you enjoy the music.
TRACKLIST
Josephine- David Torkanowsky, George Porter Jr. & Herman Ernst
Para Donde Vas- The Iguanas
Sugar Coated Love- Barbara Lynn & Lil' Buck Sinegal
The Ironic Twist- Stanton Moore & Skerik
It's A New Orleans Thing- Allen Toussaint
How Excellent- River Of Life Choir
Louisiana 1927- John Boutte
Voodoo Bop- Astral Project
And here is today live broadcast schedule on WWOZ.
11:15am-12:10pm Mem Shannon from the Blues Tent
12:25-1:20pm Clive Wilson's New Orleans Serenaders from the Economy Hall Tent
1:40-2:40pm Doreen's Jazz New Orleans from the Economy Hall Tent
2:55-4:10pm The Headhunters featuring Bill Summers, Donald Harrison, Jr., and more from the Jazz & Heritage Stage
4:25-5:25pm Tuba Skinny from the Economy Hall Tent
5:45-6:45pm Luther Kent & Trickbag from the Blues Tent
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Happy Jazz Fest!
Though I am not there, the Fest feeling is still in the air.
As always, WWOZ will be broadcasting live from the Fairgrounds, and whether you are a Fest regular or have never been at all, the sounds, the vibe and the music are always wonderfully captured by WWOZ, give or take the occasional technical difficulties.
Today's broadcast lineup:
11:15am-12:10pm Tin Men from Blues Tent
12:30-1:25pm Brother Tyrone and the Mindbenders from Blues Tent
1:45-2:40pm Robert Finley from Blues Tent
2:40-3:40m John Boutte from WWOZ Jazz Tent
4:05-5:20mp Lakecia Benjamin from WWOZ Jazz Tent
5:45-7:00pm Kenny Barron Trio from WWOZ Jazz Tent
Don't forget, that is on New Orleans time.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Leyla McCalla's Best Record Yet
Leyla McCalla was the cellist in the Carolina Chocolate Drops and in 2010, she moved to New Orleans to hone her craft on the streets of the French Quarter. Her 2016 solo debut was terrific, and she really hit the mark on "The Capitalist Blues," one of my very favorites of 2019. I saw her perform at the 2022 New Orleans Jazz Fest where she played most of her then new release "Break The Thermometer." I thought the record was a bit of a disappointment after "The Capitalist Blues," and still her live set was one of the hottest of the fest.
Now we have McCalla's new one, "Sun Without The Heat" released last week, which after three plays is feeling like her best work yet. She can go from traditional to avant-garde with the flick of a switch, and she manages to pull it all off convincingly. The coda on "Tree" even dabbles in King Crimson waters.
Check out these three tracks and maybe you'll fall like I did.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
From My Instagram Feed, 4/22/24, With A Few Tweaks
I think "Manifesto" is the secret weapon of the Roxy Music catalogue. It's an album I find far more interesting than “Avalon.”
Many years ago, just as compact disc players were hitting the market, there would be demonstrations of the machine right before the Concerts At Pier 84 in NYC began. A young guy would come out and start chatting up the crowd about audio quality and stereo equipment and then he'd A/B a song to show the difference between a cassette and a CD. The title track of Roxy Music's “Manifesto,” with that incredible Alan Spenner bass line and drummer Paul Thompson’s heavy foot and thunderclap snare, would be the song he’d always play. Even from the very back of the pier, the sound was extraordinary. I remember thinking that song never sounded better. And so, I bought a no frills Yamaha CD player for $600 in 1984. It had four buttons: play, stop, last and next. That was it. There was no remote. Just a box and a tray and mind blowing sound. Of course, “Manifesto” was not commercially available on CD yet. Very little was. So I had to settle for an Alien Sex Fiend CD and Steve Winwood’s “Arc Of A Diver" as my first two CD purchases.
First Comment: Avalon is a snoozefest.
"Is it The Who without Keith Moon and John Entwistle?"
"Is it Metallica without Cliff Burton?"
"Is it Foreigner without ANYONE?"
Monday, April 22, 2024
"The Concrete Jangle": A Great Title For A Great Record
When Steve Conte first announced that he was working with Andy Partridge, XTC fans across the world said, "Huh? Really? Why?" Conte, an excellent guitar player and occasional New York Doll, has done some excellent work. He's a solid player, and has co-written with Hanoi Rocks legend Michael Monroe on some of Monroe's best solo records. But the Partridge/Conte pairing seemed odd. Still, many were excited to hear anything new from Andy.
Then the first single arrived, "Fourth Of July," and it was only okay, sounding more like Conte's brand of glammy rock and roll than Partridge's brand of smart, whimsical pop. Then came single #2, "Shoot Out The Stars" and single #3, "We Like It," and I lost interest completely. I wasn't hearing what I wanted to hear, which was a new XTC record featuring songs co-written with Steve Conte. Instead, I was hearing a New York Dolls side project that Andy Partridge somehow took part in, which in and of itself, would have been fine. But Conte was so damn happy to be working with one of his heroes, he mentioned it five times a day, seven days a week, for the six months prior to its release, I couldn't get Partridge off my mind, which explains my initial disappointment.
"The Concrete Jangle" has finally been released and I went in with a new head and new ears and I am thrilled to say, those first three songs are inexplicably the three weakest tracks on the album. Andy Partridge has apparently five co-writes on the album, and I understood that the first three releases were his. But it is the other seven that shine, and at least five of those seven sound like what I'd been hoping for all along.
I'd like to blame Steve Conte for the pre-release hype, but I can't. I'd have been just as excited to work with a musical god from one of my all time favorite bands. But not many would have gone back in and given "The Concrete Jangle" a new pass after the unimpressive pre-release singles, and then those people would be missing out.
"The Concrete Jangle" is a great rock and roll record, with some fantastic melodies and enough hooks to snag a flounder, that will indeed remind you of XTC. Conte's guitar playing is a thrill throughout, and he is certainly channeling his hero on the last track, "I Dream Her."
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Songs Of The Week, 2024: 4/13-4/19
Promises, Promises- Freedy Johnston
Kinda Coo Coo Too- The Hueys
For Sentimental Reasons- Buster Brown
Running Back- Thin Lizzy
There You Are- Goo Goo Dolls
I'm Mandy Fly Me- 10cc
Suburban Homeboy- Sparks