Playlist: November 27, 2013

Michael Bloomfield, I'm Glad I'm Jewish
     from the forthcoming box set From His Head to His Heart to His Hands
Saul Kaye, Ma'oz Tsur
     Wed 12/11 on Fog City Blues
Kugelplex, Still Playing for Latkes
     Sun 12/11 @ Salle Piano & Events
     Wed 12/04 @ Oakland City Center Plaza
     Wed 12/04 @ 19 Broadway
Meshugga Beach Party, Dreidel, Dreidel
     Sun 12/08 @ Judd's Hill Winery
Jeremiah Lockwood, Ethan Miller, and Luther Dickinson, Dreidel

Special in-studio guest: David Katznelson / The Idelsohn Society

     New album It's A Scream How Levine Does The Rhumba: The Latin-Jewish Musical Story 1940s-1980s
     Fri 12/05 @ CJM: Record Release Mambo Party

Irving Kaufman, Moe the Schmo Takes a Rhumba Lesson
Abbe Lane w/ Tito Puente & His Orchestra, Pan, Amor Y Cha Cha Cha
Joe Quijano, Sabbath Prayer (Plegaria)
Slim Gaillard, Meshugganah Mambo
Harvey Averne, Cucaraca Macara
Larry Harlow, Yo Soy Latino
The Ghetto Brothers, Ghetto Brothers Power
Mark Weinstein, Just Another Guajira
Mickey Katz and His Orchestra, My Yiddishe Mambo
The Alegre All-Stars, Tema Alegre
Pérez Pado, The Twist of Hava Nageela
Celia Cruz con Orquesta, Hava Nageela
Little Eva, Uptown

Sylvester Cotton, Thanksgiving Blues
Guy Davis, Thanksgiving Day
Vasti Jackson, Happy Thanksgiving (The Thanksgiving Song)
California Honeydrops, Pumpkin Pie
Carolina Chocolate Drops, Cornbread And Butterbeans
The Emotions, Mashed Potatoes
Matthew Childs, Funky Onions
Don Thompson Quartet, Cheese Blintzes
Dorothy Lamour, Sweet Potato Piper
Harold Burrage, You Eat Too Much

Playlist: November 20, 2013

Cowboy Junkies, Disintegration
Lee Harvey Osmond, Parkland
     from the new album The Kennedy Suite
Dori Caymmi, O Que é Que a Baiana Tem?
     Wed 11/27 @ Yoshi's Oakland
Ruth Wallis, It's a Scream How Levine Does the Rhumba
     from the forthcoming album It's a Scream How Levine Does the Rhumba: The Latin-Jewish Musical Story 1940s-1980s

Special in-studio guests: Junk Parlor

     Thu 11/21 @ Blush Wine Bar
     Fri 11/22 @ Amnesia
     Sat 11/23 @ Lagunitas Brewing Company

Junk Parlor, Strange Man (in-studio)
Junk Parlor, Wild Tones (in-studio)
Junk Parlor, Vampires Never Die (in-studio)
Tchan-tchou Vidal, Everybody Loves Somebody
The Gun Club, Sex Beat
Junk Parlor, Rondo a la Turk (in-studio)
Junk Parlor, Pocket Full of Dreams (in-studio)
Junk Parlor, Summertime in the City (in-studio)
Junk Parlor, Cojek Majstore
     from the new album Wild Tones

Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone (instrumental)
The Electric Flag, Texas
     from the forthcoming box set From His Head to His Heart to His Hands
Elvin Bishop (w/ Finis Tasby), River's Invitation
     Fri 11/29 @ Center for the Arts
     Fri 12/13 @ Biscuits and Blues
Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, Someone Somewhere
     Sat 11/23 @ Biscuits and Blues

Ron Thompson, Monkey Fiddle
     Tue 11/26 @ Biscuits and Blues
     Wed 11/27 @ Poor House Bistro
HowellDevine, Shotgun Blues
     Thu 11/21 @ Poor House Bistro
     Sat 11/23 @ Speisekammer
     Wed 11/27 @ Biscuits and Blues
Beso Negro, Burn It Down
     from the new album Burn It Down
     Fri 11/22 @ Sweetwater Music Hall
Little Wolf & The Hellcats, Big Leg Woman
Johnny Jenkins, I Walk On Guilded Splinters
Dr. John, Locked Down
Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, Finger Poppin' Time
Hoagy Carmichael, Georgia On My Mind
  

Inside the National Recording Registry: The Wild Tchoupitoulas

A radio feature I produced about the 1976 album The Wild Tchoupitoulas airs nationally this weekend on PRI's Studio 360:

This is the first episode in the series we've been producing for Studio 360 for five years now (and three years for NPR's Weekend All Things Considered before that). It's also the first one to air since we won a Peabody Award earlier this year. No pressure, right? Well, as it turns out, they do treat you nicer the next time. Our editor at Studio 360 only asked for a single change (one I'd anticipated, though I did tweak a few more things before sending the final mix) – which was a good thing, because I've now got to get cracking on my next contribution to this year's series, the "difficult listening" of Ornette Coleman's 1959 album The Shape of Jazz To Come. Anyway, for now here's more info on the Wild Tchoupitoulas from Studio 360's website:

If you've spent time in New Orleans – or watched the HBO show Tremé — you may know about one of the most idiosyncratic customs of that highly idiosyncratic town. The Mardi Gras Indians are African-American social clubs that take on the names of fictitious Indian tribes. They each have their own special expressions, rituals, and costumes: “lots of brightly colored feathers, sequins, and beaded suits,” describes Offbeat Magazine’s Jan Ramsey. It’s a tradition that dates back into the 19th century.  

In 1976, a record came out that brought the music of the Mardi Gras Indians to a wider audience. The Wild Tchoupitoulas featured all four Neville Brothers and the Meters, an all-star New Orleans backing band. The album was chosen for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry this year.  

The Wild Tchoupitoulas were, for a time, led by George Landry, known as Chief Jolly — an uncle to the Neville brothers — and the album was made as a tribute. “He was, as far as I’m concerned, a giant,” remembers Cyril Neville, “and one of the people who put New Orleans culture on the map.”

Playlist: November 13, 2013

Macy Blackman & The Mighty Fines, Rockin' Good Way
     Sun 11/17 @ Biscuits and Blues
Trombone Shorty, Hit the Road Jack
     Sat 11/16 @ SAP Center at San Jose
     Sun 11/17 @ Ace of Spades
     Mon 11/18 @ Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Go Van Gogh, Go Van Gogh
     Sat 11/16 @ Revolution Cafe
     Tue 11/29 @ Cafe van Kleef
Junk Parlor, Darlin Oh Darlin
     Tue 11/19 @ Corkscrew Wine Bar
     Wed 11/20 on Fog City Blues

Special in-studio guests: Wendy DeWitt and Kirk Harwood

     Sun 11/17 @ SFJazz Center: First Annual SF International Boogie Woogie Festival

Unknown Boogie Boogie (in-studio)
Texas Stomp (in-studio)
Nervous (in-studio)
Carl Sonny Leyland, Witches' Kitchen
Bob Seeley, Industrial Strength Boogie Woogie
Summertime (in-studio)
Dollar Boogie (in-studio)
Boogie Woogie Rambler (in-studio)

JJ Grey & Mofro, 99 Shades of Crazy
The Stone Foxes, Spoonful
     Fri 11/15 @ The Fillmore
Dick Dale, Front Porch Blues
     Sat 11/16 @ The Uptown
     Fri 11/22 @ Moe's Alley
Otis Rush, Me
The Allman Joys, Lost Woman
     Wed 11/20 @ Sweetwater Music Hall: A Tribute to Duane Allman
Neil Young & The Bluenotes, One Thing
Brass Menažeri Balkan Brass Band, Plavka Devojka (in-studio)
California Honeydrops, In Your Power
Muddy Waters, Just To Be With You
Howlin' Wolf, Tail Dragger
Howlin' Wolf, Smokestack Lightnin'

Playlist: November 6, 2013

Quinn DeVeaux & The Blue Beat Review, Lil 45
     from the forthcoming album Originals
Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Jumpin' In The Morning
     Thu 11/07 @ Yoshi's Oakland
     Sat 11/09 @ Speisekammer
Wendy DeWitt, It's Too Late
     Sat 11/09 @ Bobby G's
     Wed 11/16 on Fog City Blues
Junk Parlor, Pocket Full of Dreams 
     from the new album Wild Tones 
     Sat 11/09 @ The Sleeping Lady 
Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band, Elder Greene Blues 
     Sat 11/09 @ Cafe du Nord

Downchild, Can You Hear The Music?
     from the new album Can You Hear The Music?
Layla Zoe, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah
     from the new album The Lily
Harrison Kennedy, Chairman of the Board
     from the new album Soulscape
Monkeyjunk, Je Nah Say Kwah
     from the new album All Frequencies
Fathead, First Class Riff-Raff
Dawn Tyler Watson & Paul Deslauriers, Why
Cowboy Junkies, Forgive Me
Blue Rodeo, Out Of The Blue
     from the new album In Our Nature

Wild Tchoupitoulas, Brother John
Cyril Neville, Blues Is the Truth
     from the new album Magic Honey
Eric Bibb, Freedom Train
     from the new album Jericho Road
Guy Davis, Lost Again
     from the new album Juba Dance
Fabrizio Poggi (feat. Guy Davis & Auggie Meyers, Glory Glory
Fabrizio Poggi, Baton Rouge LA

R.J. Mischo, Minnesota Woman
     Sat 11/09 @ Mojo Lounge
Cash'd Out, Cocaine Blues
     Fri 11/08 @ Brick & Mortar Music Hall
     Sat 11/09 @ The Blank Club
Johnny Cash, Apache Tears
Oscar Isaac,  Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)
     from the new soundtrack Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Dylan, Wallflower
Doug Sahm, Blues Stay Away From Me
Rory Block, Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
Ike Turner, Matchbox