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New Orleans is the city that lives in you, no matter where you live. And this website is for all of us who don’t live in New Orleans to stay connected with the Big Easy. Welcome to Church of New Orleans!
Boyfriend, the singer, songwriter, producer, rapper, and performance artist, brings her “rap-cabaret,” to The Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles, supporting New Orleans’ own Big Freedia. A New Orleans denizen herself, Boyfriend’s performances are not to be missed!
Photo by Hunter Holde
Big Freedia, known as the Queen of Bounce, is a New Orleans-based rapper and ambassador of Bounce music. A vibrant twist on hip-hop, Bounce music is characterized by call-and-response lyrics over rapid-fire beats and booty-shaking. After running the New Orleans club scene for over two decades, Big Freedia is now bringing the Bounce movement to the world!
At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 50 years, all the while carrying it enthusiastically forward as a reminder that the history they were founded to preserve is a vibrantly living history.
Mardi Gras Indians, African dance, brass bands, luscious jazz, soul-funk, Latin jazz and West African highlife – all these are in store for music fans at the 12th annual Congo Square Rhythms Festival, presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation November 16-17 in Armstrong Park. Celebrating the New Orleans traditions that spring from the African diaspora, the Congo Square Rhythms Festival brings a joyful noise to the spot that those in the know consider the birthplace of American music.
Pianist, composer and music educator Ellis Marsalis was born in New Orleans on November 14, 1934. Marsalis is the patriarch of a musical family, with internationally famous sons, saxophonist Branford and trumpeter Wynton, as well as accomplished jazz musicians, trombonist Delfeayo and drummer Jason. Marsalis played with Al Hirt and other musicians in the 1950s and ‘60s, and in the ‘70s he taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and became a leading educator there, as well as at the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana. His students have included New Orleans musicians Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Donald Harrison, Marlon Jordan, and Nicholas Payton. Marsalis has recorded numerous albums and has been featured on the recordings of many musicians, but he has focused his efforts on teaching, encouraging students to listen and experiment. As a result, he has influenced the careers of many musicians, and in 2007 he received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education. And, in 2008, Ellis Marsalis was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. A further honor was bestowed on him when the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at Musicians' Village in New Orleans was named in his honor, and in 2011 he and his sons are group recipients of the 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award. Happy birthday to a truly great musician and educator!
Photo by: Leepaxton at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4375231
Legendary accordionist and zydeco musician Stanley “Buckwheat Zydeco” Dural, Jr, was born on November 14, 1947, in Lafayette, Louisiana. One of 13 children, he worked on a farm picking cotton at age five, and got his nickname due to his braided hair resembling that of the “Our Gang/The Little Rascals” character Buckwheat. His father was a skilled amateur Creole accordion player, but young Dural preferred rhythm and blues. He became proficient at the organ, and by the late 1950s he was backing Joe Tex, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and many others. He originally led a funk band for five years before joining iconic zydeco performer Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band as organist in 1976. After that, he was enthusiastic about zydeco, took up the accordion in 1978, and started his own band under the name Buckwheat Zydeco a year later. By 1983, they were nominated for a Grammy, and another in 1984, 1985, and 1986, finally winning in 2009 for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album, “Lay Your Burden Down”, his final album.
Dural performed with numerous musicians including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, Paul Simon Dwight Yoakam and Ry Cooder. His music has been featured in films and television, and he won an Emmy for his music in the CBS TV movie Pistol Pete: The Life And Times Of Pete Maravich. He maintained an extensive touring schedule, and played many major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (numerous times), Chicago Blues Festival, Newport Folk Festival, San Diego Street Scene, Montreux Jazz Festival, the Voodoo Experience, and countless others. Sadly, Dural died of lung cancer at age 68 on September 24, 2016. This day we celebrate the birthday of a legend of Louisiana music, Buckwheat Zydeco!
Photo by: HorsePunchKid
