Word Magazine Massive MIngle Mag_final_Layout 1

8/7/2019 Word Magazine Massive MIngle Mag_final_Layout 1

1/8NEW

ORL

EAN

S

EW ORLEANS, where theFrench collided withAfricans, where colonists

of every creed came to exploit thebountifully rich Gulf of Mexico.Its where Catholicism and new

world Protestant fundamentalism

came face to face with African juju, and voodoo and what emergedwas a Hey honey, how do you do?Its the city of the overt sexually ofMardi Gras that sits next to thebougainvillea clad antebellum arti-facts of the age of puritanism andslavery.Its where the Irish and Scots andWelsh learned how to swing andsing like theyd never done before.

But more than anything it is thecity in which popular music, as weknow it, was born.Without the clash of African blues

and European baroque, we donthave jazz. Without the mix of jazzand blues and Celtic folk songs,you aint got country or rock n rollor, even, tenuously, hip hop.Its the city that gave us Louis Arm-

strong, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll

Morton, Irma Thomas, MahaliaJackson, Allen Toussaint, FatsDomino, Dr John, Clifton Chenier,the Marsalis family, Randy New-man, the Rebirth and Dirty DozenBrass Bands.It has faced civil war, crushingpoverty, organised crime, genera-tions of civic corruption and one ofthe greatest natural disasters of re-cent times, yet it will always be the

most important city in modern pop-ular culture.Its all copacetic, podna.

PADDY HOEY

massivemingleApril 15 2011

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usico

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2/8

DISC 1

1. Angelina (4:22) Louis Prima

2. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

(3:09) Sidney Bechet

3.Basin Street Blues

(3:18)Sidney Bechet

4. Mardi Gras In New Orleans (2:18)

Fats Domino

5. Jelly Roll Blues (3:08)

Jelly Roll Morton

6. Rum & Coca-Cola (2:04)

Professor Longhair

7. Im A Hog For You (6:20)

Clifton Chenier

8. Don't Go Back To New Orleans

(1:21) T Bone Walker9. Intro (0:32)

New Birth Brass Band

10. Feel Like Funkin' It Up (5:39)

Rebirth Brass Band

11. Hush Your Mouth (6:24)

New Birth Brass Band

12. Just a Closer Walk With Thee

(5:31) The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

13. Down By The Riverside (2:21)

Mahalia Jackson

14. Where The Blues Were Born In

New Orleans (3:11) Louis Armstrong

15. Louisiana Bayou Drive (3:14) T-

Bone Walker

16. Louisiana Two Steps (4:05)

Clifton Chenier

17. Louisiana 1927 (2:57)

Randy Newman

18. In The Morning (Jockomo) (4:14)Big Chief Boudreaux

19. Riffs And Variations (0:49)

Sufjan Stevens

Q1: TRY to imag-ine modernmusic withoutLouis Arm-strongs influ-ence? See, youcant.Q2: Name fivemore influentialfigures in themodern historyof popularmusic? Again,you cant.

Thats not badfor a man born inNola in 1901 andwho learnedmusic in a char-ity for poor boys.He was playingpro at 18,learned his bigband chops inChicago in the20s went on todevelop the mod-ern jazz solo inLA and New Yorkin the 1930s &40s and by the1950s and 1960swas one of popu-lar entertain-ments biggeststars.He may have at-tracted the ire ofmany black ac-tivists for his per-ceived UncleTom act on TV,but the pay-offfor being re-ceived by whiteaudiences wasbeing allowed tobe a true pioneer.

essential

artists

LouisArmstrong

The minute you land in New Orleans, something wet and dark leaps on you and starts

ROYALAPPOINTMENT: The queen ofNew Orelans soul Irma Thomas


3/8

DISC 2

20. Mozartin (4:34)

Ellis Marsalis

21. 2nd Line (3:55)

Wynton Marsalis

22. Time is on my side (2:55)

Irma Thomas

23. Last Train (3:02)

Allen Toussaint

24. Sweet Home New Orleans (5:51)

Dr. John

25. Handclapping Song (2:54)

The Meters

26. Hercules (4:11)

Aaron Neville

27. Funkyard (5:01)Walter "Wolfman" Washington & The

Roadmasters

28. Baltimore (4:04)

Randy Newman

29. Shake Ya Ass (4:18)

Mystikal

30. Ghetto Fabulous (feat. Charlie

Wilson & Snoop Dogg) (4:15)

Mystikal

31. Get Ya Hustle On (3:29)

Juvenile

32. Brickyard Blues (feat. Allen Tou-

ssaint) (3:56)

Bluesiana Hot Sauce

33.What a friend we have in Jesus

(3:44) The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

blues &soul &funk &all thatjazzWhats on the CD?

HALIEJacksongrew up in thenotorious Carroll-town district ofdowntown NewOrleans and hadthe kind of up-bringing that isquintessential togreat soul andgospel artists:absent parents,physical beat-

ings and deep in-volvement in thechurch.Jackson was thewoman that gaveus gospel, in itstrue sense.After moving toChicago in thegreat migrationof the 1920s shequickly becamea mainstreamstar.She was the

first gospel artistto play CarnegieHall in New Yorkand her work forApollo recordssaw her havehits with Go Tell itto the Mountain, TheLords PrayerandMove on a LittleHigher.Another artist togain huge re-spect in Europe,she was deco-rated in Francereceiving theGrand Prix duDisque.

essential

artists

Mahalia

Jackson

humping you like a swamp dog in heat... - Tom Robbins (Jitterbug Perfume)

This appears to be a

means of contacting me:[email protected] actually just fillingspace on a badly designedpage. Design pro tip, ahoy.


4/8

funkin

it u

I feellikeBrass bands are

the fruitful breeding

ground for Nola

jazz and some are

the heart & soul of

the city itself

THE first time Iheard Dr John, Ithought he wasfrom anotherplanet, but then,the first Dr Johnrecord I heardwas Gris Gris, agruelling gumboof voodoo andpsychedeliawhich reallydoes sound likeit comes fromanother world.However, to seeDr John throughthe lens of hisquintet of late60s/ early 70s al-bums does thegreat man a dis-service.Simply, he is

New Orleans.From his medi-cine shows ofthe 70s throughto his jazz, popand blues workwith every majorNew Orleansartist of the last50s years, he isa kind of unoffi-cial curator ofthe citys recentmusical history.A winner of five

Grammys and aRock and RollHall of Fame in-ductee, he con-tinues torepresent themelting pot thatis Nola.

essential

artists

Dr John

There are only two things: all sorts of love, with pretty girls, and the music of New Orleans


5/8

HE Dirty Dozen Brass Bandhelped to rewrite the modernhistoryof New Orleans musicwith an upbeat modern take

on the brass bands which had beenthe citys mainstay since the start ofthe 20th Century.Brass bands were the beat that drove

the citys Mardi Gras carnival and thefunerals.But when Gregory Davis, sousaphon-

ist Kirk Joseph, trombonist Charles

Joseph, and saxophonist Kevin Harriswere joined by Efrem Towns (trum-peter/ lead singer) and Roger Lewison saxophone and Benny Jones andJenell Marshall on drums in 1977, the

brass tradition was at a low ebb.When the DDBB took to the road,they spread the word of this newlyupdated form of the old music far andwide and beyond Lousiana.New York, California and Europe, in

particular, took to a vibrant band ofvirtuoso musicians who had beenschooled in community music pro-grammes.Along the way they have collabo-rated with some stellar names, includ-

ing Dr John, Elvis Costello, DizzyGillespie and Norah Jones.And they inspired other similar actslike Nolas Rebirth Brass Band andWisconsins Youngblood Brass Band.

essential

artists

FatsDomino

Everything else ought to go, because everything else is ugly. - Boris Vian

T

IF Louis Arm-strong is merelyfrom New Or-leans, FatsDomino ISNewOrleans.Born in the cityand speakingCreole as hisfirst language, heis the fulcrumpoint betweenjazz, blues androck and roll.Beginning his

career in 1949,his early recordswere embracedby the rock androll generation.Indeed his boo-gie woogie mas-terpiece The FatMan, is consid-ered by many tobe the first rockrecord.In the aftermathof Katrina, it wasfeared he haddrowned, refus-ing to leave hishouse in theLower Ninthward. He was,thankfully, res-cued by thecoast guard.But, only onething needs saidabout Fats: arethere any morejoyous sounds inpop than BlueberryHilland Aint Thata Shame? No, Ididnt think so.


6/8

BORN in a shot-gun house typi-cal of NewOrleans, Tous-saint is, like DrJohn and FatsDomino, umbili-cally linked tothe city and itsmusic.His mother fedmusicians intheir home and

by 17 he wasplaying pro.By the early1960s he hadwritten hits forartists like ErnieK-Doe, IrmaThomas, Art andAaron Neville,The Showmen,and Lee Dorsey.Otis Reddingrecorded his ver-sion of a Tous-saint song with

Pain in My Heart.But his solowork stands out.He is anotherbridge betweenblues, soul, jazzand funk and hissong SouthernNights has be-come an anthemfor Nawlins andToussaint,through his col-laborations withElvis Costello, Dr

John et al, hasbecome anothercurator of thecitys musicalheritage.

essential

artists

Allen

Toussaint

Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music,

The manwhorewrotethe rules

of pop


7/8

Bechet is one ofthe most impor-tant men in thehistory of mod-ern music. As apioneer of theone of the jazzsolo he beatLouis Armstrongto the recordingstudio by severalmonths.He was also oneof the first jazzsaxophonistsand his confidentdelivery, brilliantimprovisationand unique vi-brato, paved theway for a genera-tion of musicianswho would rede-fine the genre inthe 1940s on-wards.Bechet alsoblazed a trail, be-coming one ofthe most cele-brated jazz play-ers in Europe.He moved toFrance in thefinal years of hislife and becamea hero to thenew intellectualmovementsthere, in particu-lar the existen-talists whorevelled in thegloriously highbrow nature ofhis playing andcomposition.

essential

artists

HEN it comes to tacklingdifficult subjects, therearent many people

braver than New Orleans singer song-writer Randy Newman.From taking on the persona of a slave

trader (Sail Away), to virulent racistsand a child murderer (In Germany Be-fore the War), Newman has nevershied away from saying the unsayable

and making music that redefines whatthe singer songwriter is all about.Its a stretch to call him a Nawlins

boy, he moved there as a youngsterand then moved back to the place ofhis birth, California, at the age of 11.But, for this magazine,hell do. Call it the JackCharlton school of selec-tion, at least he actuallylived there and it isnt agranny which qualifieshim.

A professional songwriter from theage 17, from a family with a two gen-eration history of scoring films, New-man has had a successful career fromthe late 1960s.Along that way he has written dozensof wonderful songs recorded both byhimself and a band of luminaries.A list of his songs and those whohave recorded them shows how muchhe has seeped into the popular imagi-nation, his mordant wit and intelli-gence shining through. That he can be

seen as both high brow and a com-poser of standards for MOR/ FMradio says much for his abilities.Small People, Mama Told Me Not toCome, Rednecks and You Can Keep

Your Hat On have been covered bymany.But, its his work as a three time

Oscar winning writer for films thatshows his true genius. Hes writtenthe scores forMonsters Inc., ThePrincess & The Frogand is mostnoted for his work on Pixars ToyStory Series.It is for the latter series that he dis-

plays his true ability to write aboutoutsiders most poignantly.He won the 2000 AcademyAwardfor best film song for the heartbreak-ingly beautiful When She Loved Me,about the cast aside cowgirl toy Jesse,struggling to come to terms withbeing forgotten by a child grown -upand moving away from play.

Sydney

Bechet

From songs about child

murder and racism, towinning Oscars forcartoon soundtracks,Randy Newman, is oneof small number of

artists who can do it all

SMALL PEOPLE: Newman

doesnt mind wee Oscar

W

our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighborhoods, and our joy of living.Chris Rose


8/8

Have yourself anIndian summer

IKE everything else thatDavid Simon has beeninvolved in, Treme is a

morality tale about our times.Just as The Wire was supposedto be about the war on drugs, butwas really about the systematicdestruction of the urban workingclass by those institutions of so-ciety supposedly sworn to protectit, Treme is nominally about NewOrleans after Hurricane Katrina.

But its not that simplistic. Itmay also be about racism andneglect of a once great city, butits also a celebration of culturesin decline, old cultures underthreat and those people from thecommunity that resist the stiflingtemptation of moving and forget-ting the past for the sake of it.Music is a symbol for saving

Nawlins, its a powerful symbol

of a glorious past which sustainsthose who refuse to give in to thestorm, the government and thenay sayers.Chief among those keeping the

old times alive is Clarke LesterFreamon Peters as Indian chiefAlbert Lambreaux who sews andworks his fingers to the bonekeeping his historic carnivalgang together. Wendell BunkMoreland Pierce, is gifted butpriapic trombonist AntoineBatiste hustling for work playingmusic from across the citys richhistory, while Steve Zahn plays

middle class white musician andDJ Davis McAlary, a man in lovewith black music, its musiciansand who leads a crusade to getthe truth about Katrina known.

With cameos by Toussaint, DrJohn and Kermit Ruffins, it alsoboasts one of the best openingsequences of any TV show - apanorama of the city's heritagefrom ragtime to revival, be bop,rock and dirty south hip hop, itall concludes with a New Orleansmarching band on the streets ofTreme, a troubled neighbourhoodin the French Quarter.

LIt may test your patience withplots as slow moving as a siltedup bayou, but HBOs Treme is aone stop shop in Nola music

Word Magazine NW Massive Mingle Music of New Orleans Magazine was compiled lovingly by Paddy Hoey (PaddyHon the blog). You can email him on [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @paddyhoey. If youwant to take issue with anything contained herein, please consult the prospectus of your local adult education centre, whereyou may stumble upon a course which will help you get a life and put things like a typo in a free magazine into perspective.

NO,SMART CASUAL:Clarke Peters as ChiefAlbert Lambreaux inHBO seriesTreme

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