| The Indie's Turn This month we take a look at Nonesuch Records, home of Buena Vista Social Club, Wilco, and others. |
| Battle of the "Experts" Our contributors go head-to-head, tackling the long running debate of whether the better Beatles album is Rubber Soul or Revolver. |
| Globetrotting We take a look at New Orleans and it's contributions to the music world. |
| How to Festival How to Experience the Toronto International Film Festival (with & without $) |
| Been There This month's concert moment takes us back to 2002 with Elvis Costello's When I Was Cruel tour. |
| Watching the Music Tori Amos and Adrien Brody star in Tori Amos's video for "A Sorta Fairytale" |
| 8 x 5 Our contibutors pick five things they're digging this month. |
Globetrotting - New Orleans, Louisiana
By Shel Desormeaux
You hear it enough, but I’m gonna tell you again, ‘cher’: this place is something special.
And I swear that my boss, Sara, might never have hired me had I not actually stated on my résumé that I was a fan of New Orleans. In my interview, and many times since then, we have talked about the city and how attached we were (and are) to it. Every once in a while, she throws a mean Mardi Gras bash, too.
Me, I’ve felt a bond to it for years and years. I didn’t visit it for the first time until I was 25, but I stepped off the plane and knew, as so many others do, that I’d arrived in a place that defied words or anything else I’d ever known. The gnarled sidewalks, breaking and straining against old elm roots, hum under your feet. The thick, humid air sticks to your skin and pushes you through the streets. Your wits are oblivious to anything but the here and now.
New Orleans was founded in 1718 with, aside from Native Americans, the settling of the French to the area. The Spanish followed and their influence outpaced that of the French, more so after Louisiana was sold to Spain. A few generations later, French and Spanish blood mixed and birthed the Creole heritage.
But the term ‘Creole’ was never really considered to mean someone of solely French and Spanish descent. People from Africa, the Caribbean, England and other parts of Europe soon teemed throughout the city, and folks from all different backgrounds were grouped together under this label. By and large, city dwellers still spoke French and Spanish, and were not concerned with learning English, creating a sort of language barrier between the citizens of New Orleans and the rest of America. Perhaps this helped to contribute to the still very distinct nature of New Orleans, along with the mix of cultures, art, music and cuisines from the rapid influx of settlers.
To this day, New Orleans greets a steady stream of newcomers who find themselves captivated by this Mecca of mystery on the Mississippi. On my first visit to the city, I met the owner of a small jewelry shop in the quarter. She said, “I visited this place 17 years ago. I went home, packed everything and came back, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Few places on earth command that sort of decisive devotion. The willingness of so many visitors to leave their hometowns and come to New Orleans is trumped perhaps only by the reluctance of Crescent City natives to live anywhere else. Time hasn’t diluted the heady brew that is this comfortable blend of cultures.
The Howlin’ Wolf has been around, in some shape or form, since December 8, 1988 (its present incarnation, on South Peters in the Warehouse District, has been open since 1991). The Wolf has evolved, over the years, into one of the city’s most respected music venues, hosting local and national bands of every (in)definable genre. Crowds have gathered here to see everyone from Nicholas Payton and the Continental Drifters to Alanis Morrissette (right about the time Jagged Little Pill shot out of the gate) and Jimmy Page. The Groetsch brothers, Jack and Jeff, took a chance back then, moving the club from Fat City (Metairie) to the Warehouse District in New Orleans, perhaps jeopardizing, Wolf diehards feared, the intimacy and comfort of their beloved haunt. But the people at the Wolf knew that no matter where they settled in, they had the recipe for success.
Seeing a show at the Wolf is like having a band play in your living room,” says Howie, one of the Howlin’ Wolf’s rock steady staff. “Great sight lines, reasonably priced drinks, friendly staff and none of the attitude that some venues seem to have in abundance. If you provide these things and book great shows, I think the crowds will follow.”
Local boys ‘the way out’ are one of the more recent guests the Wolf has had. Michael Mantese (lead vocals, guitar, piano), Evan Stoudt (keyboards, vocals), Danny Murphy (guitar, vocals), Nat Kiefer (bass), and Augie Gallo (drums, percussion) are all still high school students and have been together since January of this year, when they played Festivus, a small, intimate holiday gig at Danny’s home in Metairie. Their website (www.wayoutmusic.com) posts their gigs (next one’s August 27th at the Mermaid Lounge), along with what they’re up to and a few of their recordings.
You can also find their music at the outstanding www.nolabands.com. Lovingly and smartly steered by Thaddeus Flink, a New Orleans computer consultant and music fanatic, the site seems to be the source for news about established and/or up and coming bands and singers on the scene.
"I bought a domain on speculation called neworleansbands.com and started putting content online,” says Thaddeus. “It grew after a lot of sweat and tears. I am still learning about musicians. I always liked music, but never really knew any musicians growing up. This project is something I like having as an ongoing creativity outlet.”
Not only is the site a source for Thaddeus’ creative outpouring, but it’s a valuable networking and promotional tool for dozens of other musicians in the New Orleans area, such as Lee Quick, the way out, American Tragedy, the Wreckreators, Borgessa, and the impressive Analog Missionary.
The members of Analog Missionary have been playing together for about six years. Currently based in Alabama, Anstrom (lead vocals), Kevin Kaiser (guitar), Tony Novak (bass and keyboards) and The Mark (or “The Mark of the Beats”, as he is known, on drums, of course) released their first album, Transmitter, in 2002. Their second album, Voyage of the Demeter, is an original score to accompany the film ‘Nosferatu’.
We were approached by an independent filmmaker to help promote a fundraiser for the Mobile Film Society,” says Kevin. “The fundraiser was a great success, so we released the Voyage of the Demeter the following year. To promote the CD we performed again the following year at the Saenger Theatre in Mobile, and Workplay in Birmingham (October 2003).”
The band is currently writing material for their next CD and performing throughout the Southeast. They aren’t actively touring to support Voyage, but are getting ready for the annual Anne Rice Les Temps Des Vampires costume party to be held in New Orleans on October 30.
Vampires, indeed. The city’s legendary spookiness, solidified by the legend of Voodoo Priestess Marie Laveau; the sprawling, shambling cemeteries, and the bloody, passionate history of the settlement of New Orleans itself, has only been cemented by the brilliant and compelling Vampire Chronicles written by Anne Rice. Of course, there have always been stories about vampires. But here, in New Orleans, the lines between lore and life are blurred, and anyone – and anything – can shuffle through the midnight mist in Jackson Square.
"New Orleans is a strange place where people come to town and drink a lot, walk down Bourbon Street, eat a lot of spicy food, then go home to miss us a lot,” observes Thaddeus Flick. “Those that live here get to do everything that tourists do, but never have far to go when we miss it. New Orleans has a strange magnetism that keeps me here.”New Orleans, Louisiana Information Resource
A Bit of History
Musicians:
Ø Louis Armstrong
Ø The Neville Brothers - http://www.nevilles.com/
Ø Fats Domino
Ø Jelly Roll Morton - http://www.redhotjazz.com/jellyroll.html
Ø Wynton Marsalis - http://www.wyntonmarsalis.net/
Ø Harry Connick Jr. - http://www.hconnickjr.com/
Ø Nicholas Payton - http://www.nicholaspayton.com/
Ø Dr. John - http://www.drjohn.org/
Ø Allen Toussaint - http://www.nynorecords.com/allen.shtml
Ø Buckwheat Zydeco - http://www.buckwheatzydeco.com/
Ø Professor Longhair - http://www.offbeat.com/fess/fesshome.html
Ø The Hackberry Ramblers - http://www.hackberryramblers.com/
Ø Beausoleil - http://www.rosebudus.com/beausoleil/
Recommended Albums:
Ø Dr. John, Gris Gris (Atco, 1968), Gumbo (Atco, 1972); and Mos Scocious: An Anthology (Rhino, 1993)
Ø Neville Brothers, Yellow Moon (A&M, 1989); Treacherous: A History of the Neville Brothers, 1955-1985 (Rhino, 1986)
Ø Allen Toussaint, The Complete 'Tousan' Sessions (Bear Family Records, 1992)
Ø Buckwheat Zydeco, 100% Fortified Zydeco (Black Top Records, 1988)
Ø Professor Longhair, New Orleans Piano (Atco, 1953)
Ø The Hackberry Ramblers, Deep Water (Hot Biscuits, 1997) (Grammy nominated)
Ø Nicholas Payton, Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton (Verve, 1997) (Grammy winner)
Ø Beausoleil, Bayou Deluxe -- the Best of Beausoleil (Rhino, 1993), La Danse de la Vie (Rhino, 1993), Grammy-winning L'Amour La Folie (Rhino, 1997)
Festivals:
Ø Jazz & Heritage Festival – www.nojazzfest.com - April 22 to May 1, 2005. Now, this hoedown is what this city is really all about. In the early days, tickets were desperately thrust into the hands of locals, but it is now, of course, world famous and a far cry from any Girls Gone Wild video.
Ø Mardi Gras – www.mardigras.com - Legendary annual parade and festival. Not for the uptight or very young. Mardi Gras begins on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany; until Fat Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday); in 2005, the festival runs from the 6th until February 8th.
Ø Cutting Edge Music Business Conference and Roots Music Gathering – www.jass.com/cuttingedge - April 16 - 29, 2004 at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans. 12th annual event, “continues to help facilitate satisfying exchange relationships between musicians and music professionals and the music industry at large. This year, the conference panels will highlight and address everything from how to have a successful CD project, what record and film executives are looking for in a song, to successful music and film contract negotiation Who Attends: Record Executives, Publishers, Promoters, Attorneys, Managers, Musicians and anyone interested in finding out more about the music business”.
Writers:
Ø Anne Rice (The Feast of All Saints, The Vampire Chronicles, Cry to Heaven)
Ø Poppy Z. Brite
Ø Walker Percy
Ø John Kennedy Toole (Pulitzer, A Confederacy of Dunces)
Ø Shirley Ann Grau (Pulitzer, The Keeper of the House)
Ø Suzanne Brockman (Into the Night)
Ø Stella Cameron (French Quarter; The Best Revenge)
Films:
Ø A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) – Marlon Brando, Vivian Leigh, Kim Hunter
Ø The Big Easy (1987) – Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin
Ø Angel Heart (1987) – Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Robert DeNiro
Ø Tightrope (1984) – Clint Eastwood
Ø Pretty Baby (1978) – Brooke Shields, Keith Carradine, Susan Sarandon
Ø Interview with the Vampire (1994) – Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst
Ø Blaze (1989) – Paul Newman, Lolita Davidovich
Ø JFK (1991) – Kevin Costner, Kevin Bacon, Tommy Lee Jones
Ø Cat People (1982) – Natassja Kinski, Malcolm MacDowell
Upcoming Events:
INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING COMPETITION. www.songwritingcompetition.com -- Sonicbids and International Songwriting Competition have paired up with judges including Macy Gray, Branford Marsalis and Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs for the 2004 songwriting competition. Visit www.songwritingcompetition.com for more info or to submit entries. Enter by Aug. 31 and save on multiple song entries. Fifty winners in 16 categories will receive $100,000 in cash and prizes.”
Websites:
http://www.nolabands.com
http://www.lavenderink.com
http://Frommers.com
A Quick Q & A
A few moments with New Orleans singer/songwriter Lee Quick
Are you a New Orleans native? How do you think living in another city would have shaped your career? What is it about this place, anyway?
Born in Lake Charles (Louisiana) in 1966 (ain't ashamed of my age!) then moved to Texas (6 years), Lake Charles, New York City (1 year), Lake Charles, Los Angeles (4 months), Lake Charles, New Orleans, Texas again, Lake Charles...do you see a pattern here? Lucinda Williams wrote a song about a guy who wanted to go back to Lake Charles. I should write a song about how I need to stay the hell away from it.
I moved to New Orleans in 1992 to get a music degree: I knew nothing about it then; now I'm beginning to pick up some of the richness and complexity of all the cultures, the attitudes, the talent, the despair, the potential of it. The distance between Lake Charles and New Orleans is incomprehensibly huge; in almost every way...it's like a whole other country. I could go on... but I won't.
New Orleans is a wonderful fabric of music history, heritage, you know the story; but for some reason, folk/country/Americana - whatever you call it - is not embraced here. I should be in Austin or Nashville, technically, to make a career in my "genre,” but I am here. Not sure why. It's all uphill, especially if you are a folky white female in New Orleans - I am a freak in this city.
You stopped hosting singer-songwriter nights? How come, man?
Two reasons: first, I'm going for a master's degree in Arts Administration, full time, so I'm cutting back on gigs a bit. Second, folks weren't listening. Bars are in business to make money, and their customers are loud, they play pool, they want party music. So I'm going to get this degree and, hopefully, put myself in a position to promote good writers in venues where folks will listen. Nuff said.
‘If I Apologize’ was written by your late grandmother, and I must say it’s absolutely beautiful. How did her influence shape your life and career?
Ann Whitman Dudoit was born in Missouri and ended up in Lake Charles; she described herself as a hillbilly, and I think she was tickled to be one! She played fiddle in a string band as a young woman, wrote poetry, played piano, was a successful business owner, a painting teacher, a faithful churchgoer...it seems like half the city came to her funeral, and they didn't just show up, they were all devastated! She had made everyone feel good, she was always smiling, laughing... and after having a lot of pain in her life. I can't really describe how she affected me; lots of people say their grandma was wonderful, saintly, you know; but everyone who ever knew Ann couldn't say a single bad word about her. Not one. So maybe she really was a saint? :)
When she died at age 59, she left a few reel-to-reel tapes of her singing some of her tunes. No accompaniment, just her voice. I finally listened to it in 2002, and "If I Apologize" really stood out. I put chords to it, which wasn't difficult, but the hard part was adapting the melody to a rhythm that made sense, cause it was kind of free, like a folk song. I may not have put down exactly what was in her head, and I changed a few of the words, so I feel like it's a real collaboration. I think she'd be tickled by it.
Do you collaborate with other musicians? If so, what have you done and where can we find it?
The twelve songs on my CD are pretty much the first twelve songs I have written or co-written. Which is ridiculous, really, cause no one should ever record and release their first twelve songs, period. It's like serving the first twelve dishes you ever cooked at a nice restaurant. But I've been around a bit, and I've been writing one thing or another since I was ten, and I figured it was time to get some of it out there.
Two of the songs were started by my husband, James, and finished by me. James can get really inspired, and I'm a great editor, so those worked out well. So far, that's it for collaboration. Any good writers out there? Call me, I'm open to ideas, especially if they make me look brilliant.
I've played in a few cover bands over the years, but never played original songs until I went to play at a songwriters night in January 2001. I only had two songs, so I had to write another one the night before, so I'd have three. I played 'em, and the host was impressed. She asked me to play another one, and I didn't have another one! I wrote a few more songs, and they didn't suck, so I kept doing it. I guess I keep doing it as long as they don't suck.
I personally have never sucked the head off a crayfish. I get the feeling you may have this down to an art. And what’s with the bassoon?
Yes, I was an orchestral bassoonist, as well as a bassoon player in the US Army (Fort Hood, 1st Cavalry Division). Makes perfect sense for a smart-ass country folkie, doesn't it? Plus I played oboe... I used to have the strongest cheek muscles south of the Mason-Dixon line. But my bassooning days are behind me now, all thanks to Army push-ups and wimpy wrist cartilage.
And speaking of sucking, you have the wrong idea here. You don't suck the head OFF, you suck all the good juicy stuff OUT. Don't you know any better?
Lee Quick’s album, Do You Think?, is available at Amazon (US), as well as her official website http://www.leequick.com/ !