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Month: <span>September 2011</span>
Month: September 2011

The legendary percussionist Bill Summers had come up to the Cutting Edge conference, and had asked me to come to his Los Hombres Calientes gig at Irvin Mayfield’s new I Club at the J. W. Marriott Hotel on Canal Street. I did, and was absolutely amazed. I had not understood a few years back when I first heard about the group why New Orleans musicians would have formed a Latin jazz group, but Los Hombres Calientes demonstrate on their gigs the relationship between Cuban and New Orleans musics. By the time they ended their set with “Hey Pocky Way” and “Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me”, the similarities of the two genres were obvious to everyone in the room. They are masterful performers. 

The legendary percussionist Bill Summers had come up to the Cutting Edge conference, and had asked me to come to his Los Hombres Calientes gig at Irvin Mayfield’s new I Club at the J. W. Marriott Hotel on Canal Street. I did, and was absolutely amazed. I had not understood a few years back when I first heard about the group why New Orleans musicians would have formed a Latin jazz group, but Los Hombres Calientes demonstrate on their gigs the relationship between Cuban and New Orleans musics. By the time they ended their set with “Hey Pocky Way” and “Shoo Fly Don’t Bother Me”, the similarities of the two genres were obvious to everyone in the room. They are masterful performers. 

After dinner, everyone headed their separate ways. I walked up Canal Street toward Bourbon, thinking I would run back into the TBC Brass Band on the corner, but the Lucky Dog hotdog vendor said they had been there earlier and left. I soon heard the sounds of another brass band coming from the downtown side of Canal, but it proved to be a band coming outside from a wedding reception, so I walked down Bourbon all the way into the Marigny, but there was little going on there either. 

After dinner, everyone headed their separate ways. I walked up Canal Street toward Bourbon, thinking I would run back into the TBC Brass Band on the corner, but the Lucky Dog hotdog vendor said they had been there earlier and left. I soon heard the sounds of another brass band coming from the downtown side of Canal, but it proved to be a band coming outside from a wedding reception, so I walked down Bourbon all the way into the Marigny, but there was little going on there either. 

After dinner, everyone headed their separate ways. I walked up Canal Street toward Bourbon, thinking I would run back into the TBC Brass Band on the corner, but the Lucky Dog hotdog vendor said they had been there earlier and left. I soon heard the sounds of another brass band coming from the downtown side of Canal, but it proved to be a band coming outside from a wedding reception, so I walked down Bourbon all the way into the Marigny, but there was little going on there either. 

Saturday, September 24, 2011 was the biggest and busiest day of the Cutting Edge NOLA Music Business Conference. Not only were many of the music panels on that day, but the NOLA Downtown Music & Arts Festival continued from 10 AM until late in the afternoon at Lafayette Square behind the Whitney Hotel. After speaking on the distribution panel, Rico Brooks and I joined the manager of the Brass-A-Holics for dinner at Drago’s Seafood next to Harrah’s Casino at the foot of Canal Street. Drago’s had the best chargrilled oysters I’ve ever eaten. 

Saturday, September 24, 2011 was the biggest and busiest day of the Cutting Edge NOLA Music Business Conference. Not only were many of the music panels on that day, but the NOLA Downtown Music & Arts Festival continued from 10 AM until late in the afternoon at Lafayette Square behind the Whitney Hotel. After speaking on the distribution panel, Rico Brooks and I joined the manager of the Brass-A-Holics for dinner at Drago’s Seafood next to Harrah’s Casino at the foot of Canal Street. Drago’s had the best chargrilled oysters I’ve ever eaten. 

Saturday, September 24, 2011 was the biggest and busiest day of the Cutting Edge NOLA Music Business Conference. Not only were many of the music panels on that day, but the NOLA Downtown Music & Arts Festival continued from 10 AM until late in the afternoon at Lafayette Square behind the Whitney Hotel. After speaking on the distribution panel, Rico Brooks and I joined the manager of the Brass-A-Holics for dinner at Drago’s Seafood next to Harrah’s Casino at the foot of Canal Street. Drago’s had the best chargrilled oysters I’ve ever eaten. 

Little Joe Ayres decided to become a musician after noticing the enthusiasm that Marshall County, Mississippi residents had for bluesmen like Louis Boga and Junior Kimbrough. After teaching himself to play the guitar, Ayres began to learn from Kimbrough, and ended up becoming a member of Kimbrough’s band, the Soul Blues Boys. After many years of performing as a sideman and a solo artist, Little Joe Ayres has released his debut album Backatchya, a welcome collection of Kimbrough standards, hill country standards, and other familiar blues tunes that are adapted to the unique hill country style. Like all Devil Down Records releases, the album captures both a moment in time and a unique sense of place. Ayres’ guitar and vocals, as well as his spoken comments, were captured not in a recording studio, but on the front porch of fellow hill country bluesman Kenny Brown’s home. The resulting album has an intimacy that makes the listener feel as if he has spent a day with Little Joe Ayres rather than just listening to a record. Backatchya is a welcome documentation of one of Mississippi’s living blues legends, and is hopefully the first of many albums to come.

Little Joe Ayres decided to become a musician after noticing the enthusiasm that Marshall County, Mississippi residents had for bluesmen like Louis Boga and Junior Kimbrough. After teaching himself to play the guitar, Ayres began to learn from Kimbrough, and ended up becoming a member of Kimbrough’s band, the Soul Blues Boys. After many years of performing as a sideman and a solo artist, Little Joe Ayres has released his debut album Backatchya, a welcome collection of Kimbrough standards, hill country standards, and other familiar blues tunes that are adapted to the unique hill country style. Like all Devil Down Records releases, the album captures both a moment in time and a unique sense of place. Ayres’ guitar and vocals, as well as his spoken comments, were captured not in a recording studio, but on the front porch of fellow hill country bluesman Kenny Brown’s home. The resulting album has an intimacy that makes the listener feel as if he has spent a day with Little Joe Ayres rather than just listening to a record. Backatchya is a welcome documentation of one of Mississippi’s living blues legends, and is hopefully the first of many albums to come.