
The Internet's constant rush of new music is great. But time and time again, audiences come back to the old stuff. As of last year, catalog sales outpace new music sales . People who lived in the era of whatever that "old stuff" is seek it out for nostalgia and young people who never lived in that music's era long for a time in music history they never lived in. But how does the constant rush of quality new music get winnowed down and become “old stuff” or canon? Converting the varied ages at New Orleans Jazz & [...]
Get the weekend off to a rollicking good start with a stream of this classic Allen Toussaint gem, as reimagined by Robben Ford for his current Mascot Label Group release Bringing It Back Home. After all, "Everything I Do (Gonna Be Funky)" - with its raucous tag line "from now on!" - is perfect for Fridays, right? This energetic cover [...]
Filed under: Concerts and Tours , News Larry Busacca, Getty Images for Clear Channel NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Billy Joel , Maroon 5 , Willie Nelson , Fleetwood Mac and Hall & Oates are among the acts headlining this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. The outdoor spring music festival spans seven days over two weekends in such genres like jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, Cajun and [...]
I hope you're all relaxing and enjoying this Sunday evening. I on the other hand am completely exhausted. Two Christmas parties last night on opposite sides of town and late-night drinking escapades handicapped my workday. Now here I sit, trying to put together a mix tape for you when really all I want to do [...]
On January 21, Domino Records will re-release 'Big Inner', the debut album by Virgina-based artist Matthew E. White which was originially released on Hometapes / Spacebomb in the US middle of last year. Moving, redemptive and powerfully soulful, 'Big Inner' is a timeless record told in seven songs that mingle memory with the rawness of any given human moment. The [...]

Some years ago we took a family vacation to California, and I found myself riding on a streetcar in San Francisco. While the rest of the family clung to the sides as the car rolled up and down the hills, I stood on the back platform and talked with the conductor. "Where ya from?" he asked. "Houston," I said. "You got them hurricanes down there?" he asked. "Yeah," I said. "We got them earthquakes here," he said. "At least you can see those hurricanes comin'. We don't get any warning with earthquakes." Okay. He wins the [...]

Dealing with bankruptcy and the pains of cancer, legendary drummer Levon Helm found renewed vigor in his Midnight Rambles. In the barn on his family farm in Woodstock, The Levon Helm Band and some of the finest musicians around would put on concerts in the communal spirit of old traveling medicine shows. As one of his final projects before his passing, Helm selected recordings from these events from between 2005 and 2010, and now the collection, The Levon Helm Band – The Midnight Ramble Sessions Volume 3 , is due out November 20th from Vanguard Records. [...]

On October 5th, Canadian police seized 600 barrels of Canadian Maple Syrup in a Quebec factory. Last month, the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers recorded a huge quantity of missing maple syrup after a routine inventory. It's a bizarre story that you can read more about over at HuffPo . MP3: Allen Toussaint - Sweet Touch Of Love
Another venerable music act is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and although they may not get the attention of the Rolling Stones or the Beach Boys, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a great and vital piece of American music history. The band, based out of historic Preservation Hall in New Orleans, is releasing a new album, St. Peter and 57th . The album consists of live recordings from a show in Carnegie Hall and features special guests including tUnE-yArDs, Trombone Shorty, Yasiin Bey, Jim James, Allen Toussaint, Steve Earle and many more. This is [...]

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be releasing a live recording from their 50th Anniversary celebration concert which took place early this year at Carnegie Hall. In aticipation of its September 25th release, the band has let fly this special take on "It Ain't My Fault" from the show featuring a unique collaboration with Yasiin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def), Trombone Shorty and Allen Toussaint. Get jazzed below! Preservation Hall Jazz Band - It Ain't My Fault - Featuring Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def), Trombone Shorty, Allen Toussaint Preservation Hall Jazz [...]

I'm pushing the Violent Success genre envelope today because I grew up on jazz. More specifically, I joined the school jazz band in 7th grade and thought I'd found heaven. The trombone, you see, is a versatile instrument, but it is vastly under appreciated in the concert band atmosphere. In other words, I wasn't getting the respect I deserved, dammit. But in jazz band, the trombones reigned supreme - especially if the trumpets weren't paying attention. But I was also kind of a weird kid. I played trombone, to start with. It sounds cool now, but it wasn't [...]
Uno de los lugares más emblemáticos del jazz en Nueva Orleans cumple 50 años y lo festeja a lo grande. La banda local, Preservation Hall Jazz Band lanzará St. Peter and 57th, un disco en vivo que fue grabado durante el mes de enero y contó con la colaboración de tUnE-yArDs, My Morning Jacket y Mos Def , entre muchos otros. Escuchá un adelanto acá. Este álbum conmemorativo, que también incluye la participación de [...]

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will will webcast a number of this weeknd’s sets on YouTube , including My Morning Jacket, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Bruce Hornsby, Allen Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and a tribute to the late Alex Chilton featuring Dave Pirner, Alex McMurray, Susan Cowsill, Doug Garrison and René Coman. A number of last weekend's set will be replayed, including Bon Iver, Janelle Monáe, Glen Hansard, Jimmy Buffett, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk, and George Porter, Jr. and Runnin' Pardners. Check out the full webcast [...]
Allen Toussaint, fonky-fonky pianist, writer and producer of untold hit songs, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and first-chair favorite son, makes his annual appearance this week at the 2012 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival – a tradition, he says, “which I dearly, dearly love.” Then, he plans to resume a completely revitalized solo recording career alongside Joe Henry, [...]
We are keying on the underbelly of the 2012 Jazz Fest lineup with this series. Not that the great Allen Toussaint should be in that bucket, but in comparison to the headliners and all the other search-darling artists among this blogosphere, he is. Can't wait to hear what this 74-year-old soul turkey has in store [...] • Facebook • Twitter • Delicious • Digg • StumbleUpon • Add to favorites • Email • RSS
The enchanting songstress shares her influences // Follow Owl and Bear on Facebook and Twitter for contests, MP3s, and links that don't make it onto the blog.
Occapella is John Cleary’s superlative interpretation of the Allen Toussaint songbook.
Papa Grows Funk returns with its most collaborative effort yet, as Needle in the Groove boasts a whopping three producers - including Louisiana legend Allen Toussaint - and a set of songs composed together as a group. The hope is that the album would take on an attendant house-party atmosphere, like a group of folks playing music as neighbors drift [...]
Joan Osborne will return on March 27th with her seventh studio recording, Bring It On Home. A collection of classic blues covers, the album features songs originally made famous by Allen Toussaint (who appears on the album), Muddy Waters, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Al Green among many others. Though she is probably best known [...]
Brendan here. Hearing "St. James Infirmary" on Hugh Laurie's somewhat disappointing Let Them Talk inspired me to seek out better versions of that track, and I found one of my favorite versions on Allen Toussaint's 2009 Nonesuch release, The Bright Mississippi. The disc has quickly become a favorite of mine and is filled with Toussaint's [...]