NOLA Community Blog
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Filtering by Category: Louisiana musician
Enjoy New Orleans JazzFest ... from home!
John Dunlop
While JazzFest is canceled, you can still enjoy the best of the Fest! WWOZ is presenting JazzFesting in Place, broadcasting some of the best performances in the history of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, straight from the Archive of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation.
Listen “live” at https://www.wwoz.org/listen/player/. The broadcast is 9am - 5pm L.A. time, 11am - 7pm NOLA time, Thursday through Sunday (4/23-4/26), and Thursday through Sunday (4/30-5/3)!
Check out the schedule, affectionately known as “The Cubes”, and check back with the WWOZ website each morning for the most up-to-date schedule!
Celebrating the Birthday of Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
John Dunlop
Guitarist, violinist and vocalist Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was born on April 18, 1924, in Vinton, Louisiana, and raised in Orange, Texas. Brown was given the nickname “Gatemouth” by a high school teacher who said he had a “voice like a gate”. Known for his work as a blues musician, he also performed rock n roll and folk, and was an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist who played not only guitar and fiddle, but also mandolin, viola, harmonica and drums.
In 1974, he recorded as a sideman with the New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair on his album, Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo and moved to New Orleans in the late 1970s. In the 1980s, a series of releases on Rounder Records and Alligator Records revitalized his U.S. career, and he toured extensively and internationally, usually playing between 250 and 300 shows a year. He won a Grammy in 1982 for the album Alright Again! and was nominated for five more. He also won eight W. C. Handy Awards. In 1999, Brown was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
In his final years, Brown maintained a full touring schedule, and released his final record "Timeless" in 2004. Brown’s home in Slidell, Louisiana, was destoyed by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, though he’d had been evacuated to his childhood hometown of Orange, Texas. Sadly, he passed away there on September 10, 2005, at a relative’s home. Today we celebrate a gifted musician and appreciate his legacy.
WWOZ's OnlineWire - New Orleans virtual gig calendar
John Dunlop
Virtual gig listings from New Orleans musicians, so you can support and enjoy live, local music. Without leaving home. Click here to enjoy & don’t forget to tip the musicians!
WWOZ's OnlineWire - New Orleans virtual gig calendar
John Dunlop
Virtual gig listings from New Orleans musicians, so you can support and enjoy live, local music. Without leaving home. Click here to enjoy & don’t forget to tip the musicians!
Happy Birthday, Marcia Ball!
John Dunlop
Blues singer and pianist Marcia Ball was born on March 20, 1949, in Orange, Texas, and was raised in Vinton, Louisiana. Ball was born into a musical family and started piano lessons when she started school, showing an early interest in the New Orleans style piano playing of Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, and James Booker. Irma Thomas, the “Soul Queen of New Orleans” was Ball’s chief vocal inspiration. While at Louisiana State University in the 1960s, Ball played in a band called Gum, and in 1970, she started a progressive country band called Freda and the Firedogs in Austin, Texas, ultimately beginning her solo career in 1974.
Ball's piano style includes elements of zydeco, swamp blues, Louisiana blues, and boogie woogie. She began her recording career as a solo artist in the 1980s, and her 1998 album, Sing It!, which featured vocalists Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson, was nominated for a Grammy Award and a Blues Music Award (BMA) for "Best Contemporary Blues Album." Ball received the 1998 Blues Music Award for "Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Best Blues Instrumentalist-Keyboards." She was awarded "Contemporary Blues Album of the Year" for her albums Presumed Innocent (2002) and So Many Rivers (2004). The same year she also won "Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year-Female." She won the "Best Blues Instrumentalist-Keyboards" again in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009. The BMA for Keyboards has since been renamed the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award and Ball has won it in 2012, 2015, and 2019. Her 2003 release, So Many Rivers, was nominated for a Grammy as were Live! Down The Road (2005) and Peace, Love & BBQ (2008). She was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2018.
On October 25, 2018, Ball was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, where she first appeared during their inaugural season in 1976. She continues to play at nightclubs, particularly in Austin and New Orleans, and performs at music festivals in North America and overseas. Happy birthday to an incredible musician!
Photo by: Lilly M