Author Archives: Jay Mazza

It’s hard to believe but this weekend marks the 7th edition of the annual three-day music festival and celebration of Mid City. As usual, the organizers have some great music in store for you. Here are my picks. The full schedule is here.

You can’t go wrong with the whole lineup on Friday afternoon and evening. Corey Henry and the Tremé Funktet get things started on the National Endowment for the Arts stage.

The band features Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill on his namesake instrument. Since reemerging on the scene just over a year ago, he has been tearing it with a wide range of performers. The rest of the members of the band are no slouches either.

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We’ve been following this new band led by guitarist Blake Quick since their inception. This week they continue their weekly residency at the Maple Leaf Bar during the month of May.

If you haven’t seen Blake’s new band yet, this is the time to check them out. Pedal steel phenom Dave Easley, who has been keeping a relatively low profile lately (and shaved off his trademark beard), joined the band last week. Easley is known around town for his involvement in a variety of projects including his Grateful Dead tribute band, The Heartifacts.

I recently saw The Quickening without Easley and they tore through a great version on of the Dead’s “Eyes of the World.” They are also promising some Beatles tunes tonight as well as some scorching originals.

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The drummer from Living Color returns to his jazz roots with a new album on Motema Music. The record features New Orleans saxophonist Donald Harrison as well as other standout musicians.

Before he became famous as a member of the groundbreaking hard rock group Living Colour, Will Calhoun was an aspiring jazz drummer raised on a steady diet of his father’s bebop records.

Calhoun goes back to his roots on his latest album, Life In This World—but to get there he takes a circuitous route through a wealth of musical experience around the globe, from studies with master musicians in Africa to experiments with electronic music in his home studio,

Calhoun’s adventurous sonic imagination couldn’t help but expand the horizons of a stellar jazz recording which pairs the drummer with greats including Wallace Roney, Donald Harrison, Charnett Moffett, Marc Cary, Doug Wimbish, John Benitez, and legendary bassist Ron Carter.

They are the only self-described “funkatronic” band in New Orleans, and they need your help.

Gravity A has been in the studio for months and their goal is to have their new album out by July. This will be the first album with the current lineup of the band—Mike Fou, Drew Meez, Danny Abel, and Devin Kerrigan. The group has been together for over eight years blending the funky sounds of the Crescent City with modern electronic elements.

Some of their accolades include Best Funk Album 2012 nominee of the Best of the Beat Awards, and Best Electronica Act 2010 nominee of the Big Easy Awards.

They still need to pay for mixing, mastering, guests, studio time, artwork, royalties, printing, pressing, and probably some other unforeseen expenses, too. Any contribution will be greatly appreciated, so go to the Kickstarter page and help support the next generation of New Orleans musicians.

Though this is not my usual musical recommendation for the weekend, I think we can all use a Champagne Stroll and some art on a Saturday evening.

Isabelle Jacopin is the artist who painted the image that I used on the cover of my latest book, Up Front and Center: New Orleans Music at the End of the 20th Century. Thanks to everyone who bought copies over the past year.

Her work is very evocative of the New Orleans milieu. She has painted lots of musicians, second line parades and other events in New Orleans. Her latest artistic directional shift is represented by the work below. I think I like this style even better than the watercolor work she was doing when I first met her.

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Jazz Fest may be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of opportunities to get outside and hear some live, local music. Armstrong Park is the place to be this afternoon as the Jazz in the Park series continues.

This week, the TBC Brass Band headlines. The band has endured some struggles in their young career including the tragic murder of one of the members in a domestic case. They have also been at the forefront of the effort to keep the streets of New Orleans alive with music.

Lately, the band has been on fire. They are developing into one of the most sought after bands for the Sunday afternoon second line parades, and put on a great stage act as well. They well deserve this headlining slot.

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