I have been greatly enjoying the live music of New Orleans since I moved back to my hometown in 2012. I have gone to festivals and many are free. I also go to the many music clubs. For the past several months several months I have been video recording some of my favorites. When I am in a music club I always ask permission of the artist before I do any recording and I respect their decision. Most musicians are pleased for me to record them and they want me to put the video on YouTube. To honor their requests I have started uploading some of my videos. This post points to the ones I have done so far. The upload videos listed here are multi-song highlights of sets. They do not include every song in the set and in some cases I re-order them. The sessions are listed below in alphabetical order starting with a link to the performance on Tube.
James Andrews and Friends Part One - (17:42) I went to a benefit for TREE (Teaching Responsible Earth Education). James was very helpful to the cause by offering this performance to raise money for a good cause. James is one of the current greats of New Orleans music and I have enjoyed his music for some time so I was excited to be able to see him in a small venue. I included his Jazz Fess set this year as one of my top twelve New Orleans Jazz Fest 2013 Moments. I also recenlty saw him at the new Ooh Poo Pah Doo Bar on 1931 Orleans Ave (504) 435-3384 where he plays on Thursday nights. This bar is a great addition to the New Orleans music scene. James brought along to the Rusty Nail some all-star New Orleans musicians and the set begins with the band doing “Night Train.” Next James sings “Tipitina.” Then his wife, Karen, sings a very strong version of the Etta James classic, “At Last.” Next James and the band play St. James Infirmary.
James Andrews and Friends Part Two – (31:48) Here is the second half. I had to break this into two sets as YouTube said the combined version was too long. The drummer sings a medley of Fats Domino songs. He was Fats drummer for several decades. Next the band does “Down in the Treme” with James singing. Another Fats Domino song, Ain’t That a Shame, follows, again sung by the drummer. Then the bass player from Dr. John’s last real band, the Lower 911, sings, “Dock of a Bay.” James then does his grandfather’s, Jessie Hill, classic Ooh Pah Poo Doo. The band next does James Brown’s. “Sex Machine.” James then sings. “Little Liza Jane.” The Rusty Nail is located at 1100 Constance St. (504) 525-5515. Here is more on James Andrews.
Antoine Diel and Bill Malchow at Buffa’s - (13:04) Antoine is a powerful singer who came here last Spring from LA and Bill is a talented piano player from Brooklyn. They both play a lot around town. The set begins with the often-covered Sam Cooke song, “A Change is Going to Come.” Next, they did “Ain’t Mishavin” followed by the Ray Charles songs, Halleluiah I Love Her So” and “Georgia on My Mind.” Buffa’s is located at 1001 Esplanade Ave, (504) 949-0038. Here is more on Antoine Diel and Bill Malchow.
Antoine Diel, Kitt Lough, and Tom McDermott (piano) at Chicki Wah Wah. (20:47) The set begins with Antoine singing, “Sugar Blues.” Then Antoine and Kitt sing, “Baby Its Cold Outside” followed by “Bring It on Home to Me.” The duets continue with “Summertime” and “When I Fall in Love.” Chicki Wah Wah is located at 2828 Canal St, (504) 304-4714. Here is more on Kitt Lough and Tom McDermott.
Antoine Diel and New Orleans Misfits at the Spotted Cat Part One – (20:27) The New Orleans Misfits is a trad jazz band that includes a trumpet, clarinet, guitar, drums, and upright bass. Antoine begins by singing, “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans.” Antoine then did the Etta James classic, “At Last.” Next, Antoine sang, “They Can’t Take That Anyway from Me” and “I’m the Wondering Boy.”
Antoine Diel and New Orleans Misfits at the Spotted Cat Part Two - (22:32) Antoine followed the above with “Love Was Made for Me and You” and “At the Foot of Canal Street.” Antoine then sings the Beatles song, “Blackbird” followed by “The St. James Infirmary.” Last he sang,” I wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now.” The Spotted Cat is located at 623 Frenchmen St, (504) 943-3887.
Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott at Buffa’s – (26:02) Aurora plays the clarinet and sings. She is one of the newer generation trad jazz greats and Tom is one of the many great New Orleans piano players. They start with “I’m the Wondering Boy” followed by the St. Louis Blues.” Tom is from St. Louis and the World Series was on during this set. He is wearing a Cardinals shirt. Then they do one of several Sidney Bechet songs. Aurora has an excellent CD of his songs with her band, the Royal Roses. Here is more on Aurora Nealand.
Aurora Nealand and Tom McDermott at Buffa’s (2) – (15:31) This is another night of Aurora and Tom at Buffa’s. They start with one of my favorite Sidney Bechet songs. Darkness on the Delta.” Next they did a Jimmy Rogers song about missing the Mississippi. Antoine Diel then joined them for “the Sunny Side of the Street.” Aurora and Tom Aurora have been starting their sets at Buffa’s with a Buster Kenton movie and providing the musical accompaniment. You see a bit of that at the end of this clip.
Ed Wills and Blues4Sales at BMC (1) – (47:37) This is the first of three sessions I recorded of Ed and his band at BMC (Balcony Music Club). Ed is my favorite New Orleans blues guy. He does his own work and covers of the classics like BB King, Stevie Ray, and Muddy Waters. Ed begins with “The Rooster,“ a song he wrote. It is followed by, “I’ll Sing the Blues for You.” He then plays, “I’m Coming Home,” another sing he wrote. It is my favorite post-Katrina song about missing New Orleans and the need to come home. Next Ed sang, “I’m Alone and Blue” and “Nineteen Years Old.” These songs are followed by Muddy Waters’ “Hoochie Coochie Man” and Stevie Ray’s, “That’s a Cold Shot.” Next was “ I Got a Funny Feeling” and Ray Charles’ “Unchain My Heart.” Last was Chris Smithers’ “Keep on Using Me.” BMC is located at 1331 Decatur Street on the corner of Esplanade (504) 599-7770. Here is more on Ed Wills.
Ed Wills and Blues4Sales at BMC (2) – (51:16) This is the second of three sessions I recorded of Ed and his band at BMC (Balcony Music Club. Ed began with “You Gotta Move,” a song he wrote followed by another of his songs, “Bues4sale.” Next was Jimi’s version of “All Along the Watchtower.” Then Ed sang. “Going Down to the Crossroads” and “Have You Ever Been Mistreated.” These songs were followed by: “I So Low Down” and “You Have to Let Life Flow.” Ed then closed with, ““Born Under a Bad Sign.” Here is a painting I did of Ed at BMC.
Ed Wills and Blues4Sales at BMC (3) – (50:46) This is the third of three sessions I recorded of Ed and his band at BMC (Balcony Music Club. Ed began with “Born Under a Bad Sign” followed by “The Same Damn Thing.” Next was, “Too Many Dirty Dishes” and “Just Got Back From Vegas.” These songs were followed by “Here’s Your Walking Papers” and BB King’s, “Your Damn Right I got the Blues” Ed next sang Ray Charles’, “I’m Going to Move to the Out Skirts of Town.” He closed with “Thank You for Letting Be Myself Again.”
Ed Wills and Blues4Sales at BMC (4) – (44:52) This is the fourth of four sessions I recorded of Ed and his band at BMC (Balcony Music Club). It contains some songs I have not recorded before with repeats of a few favorites. Ed begins with a long version of “Have You Ever Been Mistreated.” This was followed by two great songs new to me. Next he does “I Going to Move to the Other Side of Town followed by “All Along the Watchtower.” Then he sings, “Since I Meet You Baby.” For the last number he calls up a woman from the audience to join him to do the song again. She has a nice voice.