Sweet Sounds in New Orleans

Since I’ve started this blog, I have had chances to visit Chicago and Memphis, two cities that are viewed as “music cities:” And I just recently came back from a third: New Orleans. The so-called Big Easy has music in its blood. There, you’ll see impromptu groups of teen-age boys playing horns on street corners. The city’s famous brass bands play picnics, carnivals, street fairs, parades, even funerals. Considered by many as the “birthplace of jazz,” the city was home to many of that genre’s most famous figures: trumpeter Louis Armstrong, saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet, cornet player and bandleader King Oliver, pianist and composer Jelly Roll Morton and, more recently, the Marsalis family.

And not just jazz. Fats Domino was a key figure in early rock-and-roll. The Meters were important trailblazers in funk music. And Master P and Lil Wayne have helped give the Crescent City a hip-hop heritage.

The city is also known as the birthplace of “sludge metal,” a slow-tempo, pessimistic form of heavy metal played by groups such as Acid Bath and Crowbar that draws from southern sock, hardcore punk, grunge and stoner rock, among other forms. And the trumpeter-trombonist Trombone Shorty is mixing several genres to present a New Orleans style sound that is becoming more and more popular around the country.

With all of these different genres, what makes up the New Orleans sound? I figured that New Orleans saxophonist Khris Royal of Dark Matter could answer that question better than I. I talked to him in the city’s Frenchman Street music district: But the first music I had actually heard on this trip to New Orleans was not from a local performer. It was from Toronto-born rhythm-and-blues singer Melanie Fiona, who gave a private, up-close-and-personal concert to the National Association of Black Journalists, then holding its annual convention in New Orleans. The conference was the reason I was in town. Fiona whetted my appetite for live music with performances like this: and this: A few hours later, I learned from locals that you can find a venue for live music practically anywhere in New Orleans. Still, the city has certain districts that are literally packed with clubs frequently so close together that often music from one bleeds into another. My hotel was in walking distance of Frenchman Street (well, a fairly long walk to there!) and Bourbon Street, another popular music district.

Part of the French Quarter, Bourbon Street attracts tourists who like its bars, restaurants, souvenir shops and wild,seemingly out-of-control atmosphere.

Located just outside of the French Quarter, Frenchman Street is a somewhat more subdued two-block concentration of music clubs, restaurants, shops and bars that stretches from Esplanade Avenue to the Gentilly Neighborhood. Two of the city’s better known performance venues, Snug Harbor and the Maison, sit on Frenchman Street, which in general seems to attract a college-age crowd.

Drummer Walter Allen, whose Wa Wa Band regularly plays The Beach nightclub on Bourbon, said Bourbon clubs in general pay better than those on Frenchman Street. However the Bourbon bands are under more intense pressure to attract customers, he said. “Once the register stops ringing they’re going to put someone else in your place who makes the register ring,” he said. Keeping tourists in mind, Bourbon clubs encourage their bands to stick to popular cover songs, he said. And over the years , certain genres have come and gone. First, it was rhythm and blues and Motown, he said. In the air now is contemporary rock.

Musicians playing Frenchman Street earn a living—but not as much of one, he said. Still, he said, they have more artistic freedom. “On Frenchman Street, you can play your music,” he said.

Like a lot of New Orleans residents, many musicians found themselves unable to return home when Hurricane Katrina hit in August, 2005. Russell Batiste, Jr., drummer for the Funky Meters, was wrapping up a long tour and anticipating the trip home when the hurricane hit. He ended up living in Dallas for a year. “I was on tour with this band Bonerama (a funk/rock brass band based in New Orleans), we were out for about a month or so, something like that,” recalled Batiste, part of a well-known New Orleans musical family. “And the hurricane hit just about the end of our tour, about the last few days of our tour, and I’m sitting in my hotel room looking at the TV and seeing people stranded and all of that stuff they kept showing over and over—it was un-fucking-believable—and that’s when the panic may have started setting in. ‘Where’s my family? Where’s my mom. Where’s my people at? How am I going to see them? How am I going to get back to my family?’ That didn’t happen for a while. Until they cleared things out in the city of New Orleans, we weren’t able to come back.” Allen recalled that, after Katrina struck, many musicians evacuated to the Louisiana Superdome (now known as the Mercedes-Benz Superdome), infamous during those days for harrowing conditions suffered by hurricane survivors. Afterwards, many traveled to Austin, Texas, he said. Allen fled Katrina for the Texas-Arkansas border for a couple of days, then traveled to Tallahassee, Florida where he received word of how flooded New Orleans was. He lived in Tallahassee for eight months, he said. Allen said he wishes he had gone to Austin. “They gave a lot of guys work,” he said. In contrast, Tallahassee was difficult for a musician who favors blues, R&B and classic rock. A college town, it was full of musicians who played gospel or "progressive" rock, he recalled. “We don’t play Green Day and Nickelback and stuff like that,” he said. Moreover, getting the help he needed—vouchers for food and clothing and other assistance—was a “slow process” in Florida. Many musicians returning to New Orleans found life difficult, he said. Rents had doubled and sometimes even tripled from what they had been before Katrina. And there were not that many gigs, he said. Some musicians died from strokes and heart attacks, said Allen, attributing the deaths to post Katrina stress. “These were guys that I knew, that, before Katrina, they were fine,” he said. “They were here one day and gone the next.” But he said he was glad to see some people making special efforts to help musicians. For example, a group of displaced New Orleans musicians formed the New Orleans’ Musician’s Relief Fund, which provided grants, instruments and other assistance to musicians. And, buoyed by support from native musical celebrities such as Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr., Habitat for Humanity created Musicians Village, a development of 72 homes anchored around a multi-million dollar performance/musical education center named for jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. “It was a good idea, ‘cause they’re helping musicians own homes, not just rent a place,” Allen said of Musicians Village. Allen said the current trends he sees on Bourbon Street--the extra pressure on musicians to draw patrons, the emphasis on rock covers over other forms of music--have nothing to do with Katrina. He said his Wa Wa band plays everything. When I saw the group, it was playing the R & B oldie “Drowning in the Sea of Love” by Joe Simon: Other bands on Bourbon were also playing rhythm and blues. Up the block, for example, the Ka-Nection band was playing Tom Browne’s “Funkin’ For Jamaica” to a packed house at the Fat Catz music club: And at Bourbon Live, the group BRW was performing Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Elsewhere on Bourbon Street, a 61-year-old trumpeter who calls himself Steamboat Willie was playing a more traditional style at a club called the New Orleans Musical Legends Park. What I heard from him was like this video someone else recorded of him about two years ago: Like Royal, Steamboat Willie talked about the New Orleans sound and what made it unique. He also spoke with me about his own life as a musician: Steamboat Willie also talked about the workings of New Orleans music communities, including Bourbon Street and Frenchman Street: Allen said that the musicians who regularly play Bourbon frequently test themselves by sitting in with bands on Frenchman. “I pretty much use Frenchman to gauge my individual talent,” he said. “’Where am I with this guy? Where am I with that guy? I like this guy’s style. Can I incorporate this guy’s style?’ And that’s what I do.” Keyboardist/guitarist David Stocker frequently plays clubs on Frenchman Street. In this interview, among many other things, he talks about what it’s like to play the district on a night when there's a band playing almost every ten feet. We also talked about "Treme," the HBO show that depicts New Orleans' musical community after Katrina: One of the better known clubs on Frenchman Street is the Blue Nile. It was there that I met Khris Royal. Being from Washington, I was tickled to hear his band play a set of D.C. Go-Go music: At the Maison—also located on Frenchman Street—Ashton Hines and the Big Easy Brawlers appeared to be generating a lot of excitement in a near-capacity crowd made up of college-age kids: From a musical point of view, my only disappointment was not catching a zydeco show. Well, maybe next time....

Beldon's Blues Points: Bob Corritore

An update on the condition of Curtis Salgado is included in the latest edition of a newsletter released by noted harmonica player Bob Corritore::


Curtis Salgado Surgery. Blues/soul singer & harmonica player extraordinaire Curtis Salgado( Here's his website: http://www.curtissalgado.com/ )had successful surgery on July 18th, removing a cancerous spot on his lung. This is the second surgical procedure in the last few years for Curtis. Jake Lankheit of Intrepid Artists reports that the procedure went incredibly well and that Curtis is currently recovering in the hospital and plans to be performing again soon! Nick Moss (Curtis' close friend and blues collaborator, here's his website: http://www.nickmoss.com/) has set up an online fund to help with costs at http://curtissalgado.chipin.com/curtis-%20salgado-medical-%20fund. Curtis recently released Soul Shot on Alligator Records to much critical acclaim. Well wishes and prayers for this great artist.

Tail Dragger and the late Willie "Big Eyes" Smith receive awards in Spain! Thanks to the Hondarribia Blues Society in Spain for honoring Tail Dragger (here's an article about him: http://centerstage.net/music/whoswho/TailDragger.html ) and the late Willie "Big Eyes" Smith ( here's his website: http://www.williebigeyessmith.com/ ) last weekend with awards at the Hondarribia Blues Festival (the festival website is at http://www.blueshondarribia.com/es) in Spain . Tail Dragger was performing at the fest part of a Chicago blues package that also included Zora Young(here's her myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zorayoung )and Eddie Shaw (here's his website: http://www.midcoast.com/~bluesman/eddie_shaw.html ). Kenny "Beedy Eyes" Smith was on hand to accept the award for his father Willie. To read the article (in Spanish) Click here: http://www.noticiasdegipuzkoa.com/2012/07/11/especiales/varios/reconocimiento-de-dos-grandes-del-blues , and for an explanation (in English) about the awards on the festival website click here: http://www.blueshondarribia.com/en/premio_hbf/ .


The Year Of Mud! An article in Argentina's Malbec & Blues online magazine (here's a link for it: http://malbecblues.blogspot.com/ ) refers to this year as "El Año De Mud" or "The Year Of Mud." The article refers to Mud Morganfield (here's his website: http://www.mudmorganfieldsite.com/ ), and his first national release Son Of The Seventh Son (for more on that, check out http://www.bobcorritore.com/photos169.html ). The article speaks of all the fanfare this CD has received with airplay, chart positions, reviews, major festival headlining slots, and the cover story of Living Blues Magazine (here's their website: http://www.livingblues.com/ ). Mud Morganfield is of course, the eldest son of Muddy Waters and bears an uncanny resemblence to his father in both look and sound. He has been taking the blues world by a storm. Mud is currently on tour in South America. To see the "Year Of Mud" article click here http://malbecblues.blogspot.com/ and scroll down the page.

T-Model Ford Documentary in Production! Chaz Geisler is currently in the process of producing a film documentary of Mississippi blues hero T-Model Ford (here's his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/tmodelford ). The film, titled Put A Stamp On It: This Is T Model Ford, will contain live performances, interviews, life on the road and at home, as well as commentary by musicians and friends such as Lightnin' Malcolm, Gravel Road, Jimbo Mathus, Dan Auerbach (Of the Black Keys), Bob Corritore, Scott Barretta, Jim O'Neal and others. The film will contain previously unreleased recordings. Look for this to be debuted at film festivals early next year. T-Model Ford is currently alive and well but is taking time off from performing to recover from a recent stroke. If anyone has footage, posters, photos or any T-Model Ford paraphernalia please contact Chaz at info@putastamponit.com. Updates will be posted on http://www.putastamponit.com/ or the film's facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/putastamponit . On a sad sidenote, Chaz reports that T-Model's longtime drummer who was affectionately called Spam, had passed away earlier this year. If we can gather enough biographical information for Spam we will present a proper obituary at a later date.

Big Pete Pearson releases new CD! Veteran blues vocalist Big Pete Pearson (here's his website: http://www.bigpeteblues.com/ )has a wonderful new CD out currently called Choose. This album features backing by The Gamblers, an Italian band with whom Big Pete does bi-annual European tours.

Bukka White on YouTube! Here is a great example of the pure power of country blues. Please enjoy Bukka White (here's his website: http://www.myspace.com/bukkawhite#! performing the Aberdeen Mississippi Blues from the 1960s. He uses his guitar for equal parts melody and percussion. Check out this video to see:

Beldon's Blues Points: Images from music's past

Saw this picture on Facebook the other day and just had to share it. I don't have to say who's in it. From what I could determine, here is how it came about: It was taken by recording engineer/producer Eddie Kramer who frequently snapped informal pictures of the musicians he worked with. It was apparently Hendrix's birthday in 1969--I guess that would have been his last birthday--and he decided to spend it at Madison Square Garden where Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones were playing. The picture was taken of the two as they were chatting backstage. What makes it so cool is that Hendrix and Jagger are just sitting around as if they were regular folks, not iconic rock stars. Incidently, it recently went up for sale at a San Francisco exhibit. The price tag? $2,500.

Beldon's Blues Points: Wily Bo Walker

Remember Wily Bo Walker? We've talked about him before. Anyway, a song he sings on is being released to the public Sunday, July 15. It's called "A Long Way to Heaven," and its the third track fromA Long Way From Heaven, a forthcoming album he is releasing with singer Kareña K. You will find that song and others from Walker among the Reverbnation links above. As you know, Wily (pronounced like Wile E. Coyote) Bo and Kareña hail from the United Kingdom. Wily lives in the London suburb of Amersham and Kareña in Ealing, a section of West London. Like James Brown, Wily is a hard-working man in show business. First, he is the frontman for Rattlin Bone, a festival band which regularly tours across Europe. He also fronts the guitar-based Mescal Canyon Troubadors, with which he is recording the album "Stone Cold Beautiful." The group has released four bluesy tracks: "Storm Warning," "Loan Me a Dime," "Motel Blues" and "September Red." He also plays traditional jazz through the Wily Bo Walker Quintet, which at the beginning of 2011 recorded a cover of the popular Billie Holiday classic “You Don’t Know What Love is." The new single features members of Scandal, a 1980's band that reunited in the 2000's and in 2009 debuted "Hard For You To Love Me," its first single in over 24 years. The band is normally lead by singer Patty Smyth, who is also known for "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough," a 1992 duet she recorded with Don Henley of the Eagles. She will not be on the single, which also features the New York Brass, a stable of musicians which has backed Queen Latifah, Kanye West, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Rihanna among others and which advertises itself with the phrase "GO REAL! Synth Sucks!" Kareña K is Walker's bandmate in Rattlin Bone and The Mescal Canyon Troubadors. Two singles from the album, "Angels In the Night" and "Did I Forget," have already been released.

Beldon's Blues Points

Welcome to the latest edition of Beldon's Blues Points, a list of events going on in the music--and particularly the blues--world. We'd like to start with this video from a show Kenny Wayne Shepherd recently gave at D.C.'s Howard Theatre: Speaking of D.C., those of you who live in this area or may be visiting here next week may want to mark their calendars for performances from one of our premiere performers, Nadine Rae. As many as you know, Nadine has pulled herself back together—almost literally performance-by-performance—from a December, 2009 car accident that left her seriously injured and in doubt that she would be able to continue her career (for details of her struggle, check out the following post on Beldon’s Blues Point: http://beldonsbluespoint.blogspot.com/2010/10/taking-stage-monday-for-blue-monday.html) On Thursday, July 12, she and her All Stars will perform from 6-8:30 p.m. at 7th and Water Streets SW as part of the DC concert series. The next day will be Friday the 13th, but nothing but the best of luck—and music—will befall anyone who spends that evening at Proud Mary’s restaurant, where Nadine will perform with her band from 8-11 p.m. Proud Mary’s is located at 13000 King Charles Terrace in Ft. Washington, MD. You can call them at 301-292-5521, or check them out online at http://www.proudmaryrestaurant.com/ And on Saturday, July 14, Nadine travels to Baltimore to perform at the Harborplace Ampitheatre as part of the Baltimore Harborplace Concert Series, located between the Pratt and Light Street Pavillions. The show will run from 6-8 p.m. If you’d like to find out more check outhttp://harborplace.com/events/2012-summer-live-concert---series. You can actually make a dinner date of it, as the venue is located near the Cheesecake Factory, Phillips Seafood and numerous other restaurants. And if you have any doubts about whether Nadine is worth the trip, look at this video of her in action at last year’s D.C. Blues Society Festival at Carter Barron Amphitheatre: Next, we learn of a lot of happenings in the traditional blues world from Bob Corritore, who, in addition to being a highly respected harmonica player himself, regularly lets us in on what his colleagues are doing through a newsletter he writes. The following is from the July 5, 2012 edition: *2012 Blues Blast Music Awards Announced! Bob Corritore, Mud Morganfield and Diunna Greenleaf garner nominations! Blues Blast Magazine will reflect upon and celebrate the blues world with it's annual awards! This being the awards 5th anniversary it feels like both the magazine and the awards have grown to be an industry standard - thanks to the foresight and hard work of editor Bob Kieser and his great staff. In the running are so many great and worthy artists and among them are nominations for Mud Morganfield, Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore. Voting for the 2012 Blues Blast Music Awards is now open and continues until August 31st, 2012. To see a complete list of nominees, and to vote, click here: http://thebluesblast.com/bbma/2012/12bbmavote.php Voting is open to the public! Thank you Blues Blast Magazine! *Living Blues Awards voting now in progress! Voting closes on July 15. The 2012 Living Blues Awards represent a reflection of the blues music industry through ten categories of achievement. Voting online is open to everyone! We are pleased to announce that Tail Dragger is up for "Most Outstanding Blues Singer" and "Best Live Entertainer" and Bob Corritore is nominated for "Most Outstanding Musician (Harmonica)." Voting is going on as we speak and will conclude on July 15th. There is a voting ballot inside the latest issue of Living Blues with Mud Morganfield on the cover. You can also vote online athttp://www.livingblues.com . Just go to the site and click the vote icon! Thank you Living Blues! *Floyd Dixon Concert DVD Documentary in production! Bob Auerbach and Kid Ramos inform us that the long awaited documentary DVD of the 2006 Floyd Dixon Celebration show is now in editing and production and is slated for a 2013 release. The show took place on June 1 and 2, 2006. With the news of Floyd Dixon having terminal cancer, High John label owner Bob Auerbach quickly put together a plan to document this great man. He called upon the services of Kid Ramos who lovingly assembled a great band and headed a production team that also included Bob Auerbach, Clarke Rigsby and Bob Corritore. A two day concert filming at the Rhythm Room was scheduled and it was just in a nick of time. The show was all about Floyd but also featured some of his friends and fellow keyboard legends. Pinetop Perkins and Henry Gray were included on the bill, as was Johnny Tucker, Joe Banks, and Kim Wilson. So with a four camera shoot and Clarke Rigsby on audio, a pair of incredible and heartfelt nights of music were captured. Floyd was in fine form and the meaning of this show to him was everything that he stood for. Floyd would die just a few months later and High John records rushed out the CD release titled Time Brings About A Change: A Floyd Dixon Celebration. Now after many years the DVD is being edited and compiled by husband/wife documentary specialists Phillip and Lissett Cruess, and will be available by early next year! In addition to beautiful concert footage there will be interviews with all the artists, and recent interviews with Kid and Bob Auerbach which will privide insights on the this event and the man it was built around. To see photos from this event click here: http://www.bobcorritore.com/photos56.html *Tail Dragger and Bob Corritore interview on Blues - Finland website! Thanks to our friends in Finland for their huge support of the collaboration of Tail Dragger & Bob Corritore. In April of this year, the Finnish Blues Society and the US Embassy brought Tail Dragger and Bob to Helsinki to perform a spirited set at the Stompin' At The Savoy Festival with the great Tomi Leino Band. On June 7, a number of our friends from Finland came out to support the Tail Dragger / Bob Corritore CD Release Party at B.L.U.E.S. on Halsted in Chicago (which was also a pre-party for the Chicago Blues Festival). The latest issue of the printed magazine Blues - Finland has Tail Dragger on the cover and a review of the CD (Click here to see the cover). We are told that the next magazine issue will feature a Bob Corritore interview. And most recently a separate joint interview with Tail Dragger & Bob appeared on the Blues Finland website which you can see by clicking here. Thanks so much to all our friends and supporters from the beautiful country of Finland! To see the 65 plus reviews for the Tail Dragger / Bob Corritore CD Longtime Friends In The Blues on the Delta Groove label, click here:http://www.bobcorritore.com/tdbc_rev.html Also note that this CD will be featured on Stan Bindell's "Blues Magician" show which will air from 7-8 pm, July 9 with streaming on KUYI.net *Japanese documentary features 1983 Chicago blues clips with Eddie Taylor, Tail Dragger, and others! This clip was brought to our attention via Shoji Maito who comments "My Japanese friend posted this old Japanese news show clip. This must be very rare and the TV station will take it down as soon as they find this." In the clip you see Eddie Taylor at home playing a beautiful deep blues, Maxwell Street musicians Iceman Robinson and John Henry Davis rockin' the blues, and great a segment from the Delta Fish Market with Tail Dragger and a great band with Hubert Sumlin, Johnny B. Moore, Shorty Gilbert, Dave Waldman, and Kansas City Red! This clip really showcases both the music and the vibe of Chicago blues. To see this clip, click here. Last is a video that I have very personal feelings about--because I, Kirk Jackson, personally play bass on it! Here is a performance of the--well, we don't really have a name--recorded at the May, 2012 D.C. Blues Society monthly jam: Well, that's it for now. Any comments, or anything you think might be of interest to our readers, PLEASE let us know at beldonsbluespoint@yahoo.com. Take care!

Stronger For It: Janiva Magness Speaks

Singer Janiva Magness had a tough childhood. Born in Detroit, she lost both of her parents to suicide by the time she was 16. First she spent time on the streets. Then, she was shuttled around to different foster homes. She became a teen-age mother at 17, and had to give up the child, a girl, for adoption. But through the hardships, Magness always had music to lift her spirits. Around her house, it was her father’s blues and country collection. On the streets of Detroit, it was the Motown sound. It was a concert by bluesman Otis Rush in Minneapolis that set her on the path to becoming a blues singer. It was the intensity of Rush’s performance that struck her; he played “as if his life depended on it.” Afterwards, she took in every blues show she could, listening to artists such as Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland. She also listened to recordings by the cream of R&B at the time: James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Etta James and others. Opportunity came many years later while Magness was interning at a St. Paul, Minnesota recording studio and her boss asked her to sing supporting vocals on a track. After a while she began performing regularly as a backup singer. Moving to Phoenix in the early 1980’s, she befriended Bob Tate, onetime music director for Sam Cooke. He helped her with her first band, Janiva Magness and the Mojomatics, which was eventually dubbed the city’s best blues band by the Phoenix New Times, an influential publication. Moving to Los Angeles in 1986, she recordedIt Takes One to Know Onein 1997. It was her second studio album after the cassette-only More than Live. She made three more independent recordings before joining Northern Blues in 2004. While at Northern Blues, she joined forces with Canadian roots star Colin Linden (now with Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, Linden talked about Magness’ work on the Rodeo Kings' Kings and Queens album in the following interview: http://beldonsbluespoint.blogspot.com/2011/11/when-they-formed-blackie-and-rodeo.html), who co-produced two of her CD’s: 2004’s Bury Him At the Crossroads and 2006’s Do I Move You? For Bury Him At the Crossroads, the two won the prestigious Canadian Maple Blues Award for Producers of the Year. In 2008 Magness released What Love Will Do with Alligator Records.” Her songs run the gamut of emotions from sorrow to joy,” wrote the Chicago Sun-Times of the recording. ”A master of the lowdown blues who is equally at ease surrounded by funk or soul sounds, Magness invigorates every song with a brutal honesty.” That same year, she traveled to Iraq and Kuwait with other blues artists to perform for U.S. servicemen in the Bluzapalooza tour. In 2009, Magness became the second woman—behind Koko Taylor—to win the Blues Music Award for B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. In 2010 she followed upWhat Love Will Do with her albumThe Devil Is An Angel Too. This year she releasedStronger For It, her third album with Alligator and her tenth overall. Apparently not forgetting her own upbringing in the foster care system, she has for six years served as a spokesperson for CaseyFamily Programs National Foster Care Month Campaign. She also promotes National Foster Care Month as an Ambassador for Foster Care Alumni of America. Magness spoke about her life in the following interview, which was recorded in late May after she had performed in the D.C./Annapolis area: Here, she performs "Make it Rain" from Stronger For It: Here she performs "Whistlin' in the Dark:" Thanks for tuning in. Any comments, contact us at beldonsbluespoint@yahoo.com