House of Blues just unveiled their annual late night Jazz Fest schedule and once again it is slam-packed with familiar festival favorites, a few newcomers, and a couple of spectacular second weekend Superjams up in the friendlier, darker and tinier confines of the Parish Room.
We’re already a month into 2012 and therefore it’s time to take a quick look back at what local artists were up to in January. With such big events as Jam Cruise, Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s 50th Anniversary blowout at Carnegie Hall, the Best of the Beat Awards last weekend, there’s already been a healthy amount of big events featuring NOLA bands. As always, there’s plenty of live music filling the clubs here and with the ongoing Carnival season, the live music schedule in town is only going to heat up for the next 2 1/2 weeks leading to Mardi Gras. Check out the newly-minted tracks below and get down to some live music this Carnival season.
For whatever reason, in music, as is the case in just about any other line of work, some days don’t glue themselves to the long term memory bank like the others. However, on any given night, certain indescribable circumstances can converge, lightning-and-a-bottle can be captured, magic can happen, and an unforgettable live music experience is forged deep into the hippocampus for both the fans and artists themselves. These are the concerts, life events, and peak professional moments we hoped to capture in this feature by asking a few standard questions about the year in music to some of our favorite artists.
The final additions and tweaks have been made to the JamCruise schedule, which means we’re getting into the home stretch. Jamuary is right around the corner!
One of the best things about the cruise is the interaction with the musicians on the boat, and getting to chill with them in close quarters. Whether it’s the opportunity to sing your favorite karaoke song with members of Umphrey’s McGee backing you, or playing Bingo with Jon Fishman or Trombone Shorty calling out the numbers, the schedulers always do a great job of coming up with fun activities for the cruisers and getting the musicians involved. READ MORE
It didn’t take long for this makeshift musical beast called Tryptophunk to groove into a well-oiled machine, finding their stride well within the first 20 minutes of a 2.5 hour party at Tipitina’s Uptown to ring in Turkey Day. Highlights included the early and often Meters covers, including “No More Okey Doke” and “Ain’t No Use”, as well as an instrumental “Come Together” interlude, a nice take on “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf)”, and a fitting homage to Fess, when the super sextet closed it out with “Tipitina” at just a shade before 2 a.m.
Randy over at Funk It! does some amazing videography work and this might be his best yet – a 16-minute video that manages to blow through 26 different performances from the 2011 Bear Creek Music Festival. Apparently Mr. Funk It managed to capture over 14 hours of footage from the weekend so expect a lot more in the coming months from the Live Oak fest. Continue on below for the tracklisting and video.
Our good friend Pete Merriman (@PeteLikesMusic) went to his first Bear Creek Music Festival and took this great set of photos from the festivities. Peep the full gallery for shots from the grounds, Garage a Trois, Marco Benevento Trio, tons of Skerik and George Porter, Jr. sit-ins, and Trey Anastasio Band and their headlining set on Saturday night at the festival. There’s a few of Nikki Glaspie and Johnny Vidacovich lending their talents all over the stages, including some great shots of when Johnny V. sat in with Medeski, Martin & Wood. READ MORE
From the moment I entered Tipitina’s, it was plain to see 7 Walkers came to steal some face – and take the opportunity to get the well-worn tie-dyes out from the dresser drawers. The balcony and backdrop were draped in multi-colored tapestries, an oil paint artist was waiting for the first set to start so he could begin an improv experiment (a la STS9 live painting), a dead head by the bar was counting the multiple tie-dye’s draped over his shoulder. Best of all, Professor Longhair overlooked the band below, cosmically lit up in kaleidoscopic fashion from the first note through the second encore. Fall’s first chill winds blew in through the doors as the quartet opened with Grateful Dead’s “Space”, quickly warming up as the band segued into a funky rendition of the always-poignant “He’s Gone.” Effortlessly interspersing Dead classics like “Bird Song”, a healthy sampling of their new material, and a Meters staple (“Just Kissed My Baby”), 7 Walkers tore their way through set one – with a little help from the one and only Big Sam on “Eyes of the World” and the 7W original stone groove instrumental “For the Love of Mr. Okra” before set break.
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