NICK DERISO: One of those all-star dates that bridges genres, even generations, “The Trumpet Kings” is an amalgamation of so many concurrent joys that it’s a wonder this Pablo release ever got made. We have out front one Big Joe Turner, a 6-2, 300-something pound Kansas City belter known asRead More

It might be best to take Brian Eno — the electronic mastermind behind some of the most important modern rock albums by the likes of David Bowie, Talking Heads and U2 — in smaller doses than this three-disc set allows. A thinker, a tinkerer, he’s always risked much — notRead More

NICK DERISO: John Lee Hooker, a hypnotically transfixing figure in the blues, made a series of money- and headline-making splashes beginning in 1989 by collaborating with younger artists, beginning with his celebrated record “The Healer.” That one, for instance, included turns with Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt, the Rolling Stones’ KeithRead More

NICK DERISO: Pete Fountain, and this is rare, has remained local. Even now, you can still find this almost-mythical 70-something clarinetist at hometown spots in the New Orleans area, playing native-born favorites. Your garden-variety Marsalis talks about the Crescent City, but can’t be found within a country mile of itRead More

To call this the most successful melding of New Orleans-style rag with hard Chicago blues presupposes that there ever was one before. Eurreal “Little Brother” Montgomery, as was his way, tills up new earth here, and with remarkable results. A stride pianist of great wit and power, Montgomery had theRead More

Started as another in rock star Eric Clapton’s celebrated CPR efforts for the careers of the blues legends he loved most, this one was almost lost to the Atlantic vaults. In the end, four different producers worked this thing at two different studios. Sessions were held in 1970, then againRead More

George Harrison remains the Beatles’ great unresolved mystery — the guy who might have actually done more had he been in any another band after 1965. Or not. His solo records are a frustrating mix of the sublime, the blatant and the unremarkable. Sometimes within a three-song sweep. Sometimes withinRead More

Decades before it became a catchy rallying cry for an historic presidential campaign, “Yes We Can” was associated with an inspired message of another kind: the essence of New Orleans-styled funk. Crescent City all-world songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint has done more in his behind-the-scenes role to shape New OrleansRead More

by S. Victor Aaron Wednesday night I noticed a tickle in my throat; it was sudden, unwelcome cascade of post-nasal drip. “I am not getting sick” I told myself and went to bed successfully ignoring this minor distraction. Thursday night the symptom was still persisting, but I felt fine. AsRead More

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, perhaps the very face of New Orleans music, shoulders a heavy burden on “The Hurricane Sessions” in trying to convey the sweeping emotions surrounding Katrina. So much happened away from those familiar wooden benches at 726 St. Peter St. in the dusty room known asRead More