Trumpeter Nicholas Payton may have begun his journey as part of the traditionalists in the early-1990s Young Lions movement, but he couldn’t have emerged any further afield. You May Also Like: Nicholas Payton – ‘Smoke Sessions’ (2021)

Half a decade later, Hurricane Katrina still has this devastating power to inspire, as heard on Peter Novelli’s new self-titled release You May Also Like: Dr. John’s anger over Katrina powered The City That Care Forgot to greatness

Trombone Shorty once again incorporates all of the fun but none of the fussy formalism of the New Orleans tradition on ‘For True.’

I came in expecting blues grit, something kind of dangerous — after all, New Orleans singer Olga Wilhelmine Munding has been doing that for a while. You May Also Like: Why Bruce Dickinson’s ‘Tattooed Millionaire’ Keeps Revealing New Layers Little Freddie King – ‘Fried Rice & Chicken’ (2018)

by Derrick Lord Faith is a difficult and complicated thing. If you understand that much you likely also realize that even the strongest faith is doomed to eventually be tested by hard times. You May Also Like: The Blind Boys of Alabama’s Down in New Orleans added a new musicalRead More

For a moment, all you hear is James Westfall, playing a plaintive shape on the piano. Then jazz singer Sasha Masakowski slips in behind him, performing in another tongue – sounding like a passing thought that brings you all the way out of a daydream. You May Also Like: FutureRead More

Spencer Bohren, a Wyoming native now based in New Orleans, has travelled all over, yet still possesses a strong sense of place. He mounted an almost never-ending tour throughout the 1980s, but did so in an Airstream trailer with his wife and kids. You May Also Like: Spencer Davis GroupRead More

Much of the soundtrack to my college years was set to the tune of Dash Rip Rock, one of Louisiana’s premier party bands. It’s unfortunate that every time I mention the band to someone not from Louisiana or the surrounding states, I’m usually met by a blank stare, or maybeRead More

As much as famous folks like Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr. have burnished the city of New Orleans’ role in jazz, they didn’t do it by playing in the style that made the city famous. Enter Michael White You May Also Like: New Orleans at 300: In Search ofRead More

Percussionist Chris Jones leads a relentlessly groovy ensemble through a series of songs as rhythmic as they are spiritual on Mardi Gras Indian Funk, issued recently by Mardi Gras Records. For the uninitiated, “Old Black Johnny” details the history and passion of the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, in the personRead More