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Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and other sounds

neworleans

buika’s spell & boutté’s magic

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I guess right now I’m thinking about singers. On Sunday night, I heard Buika. Concha Buika, who goes by only her surname, was born in the Mediterranean island of Majorca, where her parents settled after fleeing the repressive government of Equatorial Guinea. She sings with an emotional style drawn from Gypsy and flamenco music, and a rasp in her voice and a feel for the blues … [Read more...] about buika’s spell & boutté’s magic

irene, irony & katrina

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Just a bit of reflection on hurtling balls of precipitation and anniversaries. A email on Thursday from Long Island's Stephen Talkhouse informed me that, with Irene (then still a bona fide hurricane) on its way, last weekend's shows by Trombone Shorty and his Orleans Avenue band would be cancelled. "Having lived through Katrina," the promoter explained, "they have opted to head … [Read more...] about irene, irony & katrina

new orleans–bands on the run, AGAIN?

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Brass-band street musicians are once again at odds with the NOPD and the powers that be. Unlike the scene I wrote about in Tremé in 2007, nobody's been hauled off in cuffs (yet). Newly elected mayor Mitch Landrieu and his newly appointed police chief Ronal Serpas are too wise for that. But some old and probably archaic noise ordinances are being dusted off an enforced to the … [Read more...] about new orleans–bands on the run, AGAIN?

we could be heroes

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Rebirth Brass Band snare drummer Derrick Tabb is nominated for a CNN 2009 "Heroes" award. He deserves it. Vote him in here.You'll feel heroic too.Here's my testimony on his behalf: I remember in 2007, when Tabb and his brother, Glen David Andrews, were arrested during a memorial procession in Tremé for a fellow musician who had passed away. Outside the courthouse where the two … [Read more...] about we could be heroes

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