Essential Louisiana Music

ESSENTIAL RECORDINGS BY LOUISIANA ARTISTS

Champion Jack Dupree/Blues From the Gutter This is Dupree's classic 1958 statement, but there is a lot of great material to choose from. There are at least 25 Dupree recordings currently in print. This one is classic and raw, with materal such as a reworked "Junker Blues" (a cousin to Professor Longhair's "Tipitina"), "Stack-O-Lee", "Frankie and Johnny", and "T.B. Blues". Other Dupree discs you might want to check out include Natural and Soulful Blues/Champion of the Blues, Forever & Ever, Champion Jack Dupree 1940-1950, Portrait of Champion Jack Dupree.

Professor Longhair/New Orleans Piano The classic, original versions of Longhair's historic songs are collected on this single CD that is without compare unless you want a multi-disc set. The best collection is Fess: The Professor Longhair Anthology, a 2-disc set that gives you extra tracks from different periods of Fess's career. Other outstanding recordings include Crawfish Fiesta (with guest work from Dr. John), Rock 'n Roll Gumbo, and House Party New Orleans Style

Tuts Washington/New Orleans Piano Professor Raised by his aunt, Rosetta Howard, and exposed to music from childhood, Washington was fluent in the old barrelhouse-blues styles, but as his aunt was determined he should not to be limited to them, he also played pop, jazz, boogie and ragtime. He claimed to have influenced all the New Orleans pianists from Professor Longhair to Fats Domino and James Booker, and was certainly much respected by them.

Wild Tchoupitoulas/Wild Tchoupitoulas A classic album featuring members of the Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardis Gras Indians, a group that stirs together the African, Native American, and European influences of New Orleans and adds a touch of their own competitive fierceness. This project, recorded in 1976 by Allan Toussaint, features members of the Neville Brothers and Meters to add to the festivities. This is an absolutely essential album for anyone who loves the music of New Orleans or who is planning to celebrate Mardi Gras!

Wild Magnolias/Life Is a Carnival Bo Dollis and his Crescent City tribe the Wild Magnolias make quintessential Mardi Gras Indian music, brimming with the hedonistic pageantry of gaudy costumes; syncopated, "second-line" beats; and gruff, exhortatory vocals. Life Is a Carnival comes close to delivering the same sprawling splendor as one of the tribe's town square gigs, with only the title track sacrificing its substance to big-name tourists like Bruce Hornsby and the Band's Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko. Several of the group's recordings are currently unavailable, but I'm Back at Carnival Time is still available and well worth the price of admission.

Allen Toussaint/The Allen Toussaint Collection Toussaint, a legendary producer and arranger who has worked with a variety of classic rock and pop acts, presents the romantic side of New Orleans in his music. This collection offers a nice look at his career and trademark funky vamps and tossed-over-his-shoulder drop dead piano work. And speaking of piano work, if you want to hear Toussaint's early, boppin' R&B piano workouts, check out Complete Tousan Sessions.

Kermit Ruffins/1533 St. Philip Street To really get the full effect of Kermit Ruffins and his Barbecue Swingers, you have to see them live, preferably in New Orleans, where Kermit cooks up a mess of barbecue for musicians and fans after the show. But his albums are good stand-ins until you can have that experience. This one features great tunes delivered as only Kermit, a latter-day Louis Armstrong and embodiment of the city's goodwill, can. Other cool Ruffins discs include The Barbecue Swingers Live, and Big Easy

Los Hombres Calientes/New Congo Square, Vol. 3 An unbelievable amalgam of Latin, jazz, Caribbean, Jamaican, and other influences that point to the origins of the music we call "jazz". Featuring trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and percussionist Bill Summers (from Herbie Hancock's Headhunters band), Los Hombres provide an exotic trip that goes both back and forward in time to present this amazing part of America's musical heritage. Of course, there are two other volumes available: Los Hombres Calientes and Los Hombres Calientes, Vol. 2

Neville Brothers/Treacherous: A History Of The Neville Brothers Rarely in popular music has there been a family so closely associated with the sound of a city as the Nevilles and New Orleans. Since the mid-'50s, Art, Aaron, Cyril, and Charles, as the Neville Brothers and as solo artists or central contributors to key Big Easy bands, have defined that wonderful, sensual gumbo of soul, blues, and funk that is the sound of New Orleans. This compilation, a two-disc set compiled by Rhino with their usual attention to detail, follows the brothers in almost all their recording incarnations through to the mid-'80s, just before they released their most popular records for A&M. There's plenty more great Neville grooves to fill your pad: Yellow Moon, Live at Tipitina's 1982, Fiyo on the Bayou. There's also solo Neville work that is worth catching: Art Neville: His Specialty Recordings, Charles Neville & Diversity, Cyril Neville/New Orleans Cookin', and The Very Best of Aaron Neville.

Walter "Wolfman" Washington/New Orleans Rhythm & Blues, Vol. 2 "There's nobody quite like Walter "Wolfman" Washington & his Roadmasters. Equal parts funk, soul, and gospel blues stirred with deep feeling and simmered in a special New Orleans roux, Wolfman's music pulses with imagination and joy, framed by the guitarist's exquisitely personal compositions and relentlessly propelled by the crisp punch of his skin-tight ensemble." --John Sinclair

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