Allen Toussaint New Orleans-based singer/producer Allen Toussaint is a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the Big Easy’s musical history. He’s worked as a session player with most of New Orleans’ major heavyweights (the Meters, Patti LaBelle, the Neville Brothers, and Dr. John) and got his start playing backup for…
Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers Those who can’t make the Toussaint gig should consider a jaunt north to catch the tenth appearance of Mr. Entertainment and the Pookiesmackers at the Tropicale. Only this year, the band would like fans to pay for what has always been a free show. No,…
Despite putting out nine albums and having a knack for writing songs that would make Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson wince with envy, Ron Sexsmith has somehow managed to fly below the radar with the music-buying masses. Just exactly why remains an unfathomable mystery. Yet to his credit, this baby-faced…
In 2003, trombonist Conrad Herwig performed a weeklong engagement at New York’s Blue Note with a nine-piece ensemble that featured pianist Edsel Gomez and legendary reedsman Paquito D’Rivera for a show billed as “The Latin Side of Miles Davis.” Three nights were recorded, including the Grammy-nominated Another Kind of Blue,…
Although flamenco is the main source of inspiration for this world-renowned Spanish band, the eight members of Ojos de Brujo tend to incorporate various musical influences into their compositions. What else can you expect from a band of gypsies who hail from Barcelona, a literal crossroads for the best musical…
When one thinks of significant “duo” performers in American pop culture, who comes to mind? Sam and Dave, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Simon and Garfunkel … um, ahem. Add to that list the Bird and the Bee, a California twosome of Greg Kurstin (all instruments except horns) and Inara…
Stevie B. The past is bound to repeat itself, and the return of signature Eighties trends means there may be hope yet for freestyle artist Stevie B. The South Floridian rose to fame in the late Eighties with local-turned-national hit “Party Your Body.” His song “Because I Love You (The…
Huey Lewis It’s hip to be square again. Or maybe it’s not. We have trouble keeping it straight. Either way, Huey Lewis and the News are very fucking rich. So rich, in fact, that we can’t quite figure out why they’re playing the casino circuit. But what the hell! Lewis…
When Puerto Rican reggaeton duo Wisin and Yandel got together with R&B superstar R. Kelly to lay down the vocals for 2005’s hard-hitting single “Burn It Up,” there was only one problem: Wisin and Yandel didn’t speak English, and Kelly, well, no habló español. “We just improvised and used sign…
Back in February 1996, Robert Perez was just another plebeian clubgoer waiting in line at Paragon in South Beach. It was early in the evening, well before the late-night bustle. Suddenly a ripple stirred the crowd, and the sea of fellow plebes parted to make way for a stylishly dressed…
Although her body of work covers several genres, Angie Stone insists her feet have always been planted firmly in gospel. “I sang in church all my life,” she says. “Basically all my life I’ve been a product of my church, and I love it.” For the next few months, Stone…
The son of the recently departed Malian singer and guitarist Ali Farka Touré continues his father’s legacy with style and grace. Thankfully he is also able to live up to his famous surname when it comes to Malian blues. Almost predictably Vieux’s self-titled debut album is drenched in musical influences…
Poor Tommy Castro was born 40 years too late. He really should have been going to elementary school with folks like John Lee Hooker and Wilson Pickett. That way he could have donated to the golden era of blues, when monsters like B.B. King and Buddy Guy were seemingly in…
After four albums of exceptional, introspective folk-pop musings, it’s something of a shock to find Erin McKeown turning her attention to jazz gems of the Thirties, Forties, and Fifties. Still, she does a credible job of capturing the spirit of those songs with a wink and a nudge of irreverence…
After its first single, “Don’t Let Go,” was featured on last year’s soundtrack to the film La Mujer de Mi Hermano, this Bronx-based duo formed by Dominican-born singer Nova (keys, guitar, vocals) and Colombian-born instrumentalist Maya (bass) finally emerges with its debut album. This is one of the most intriguing…
Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra perform at 8:00 p.m. Friday, February 9, at the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd, Miami. Tickets cost $15-$62. Call 786-468-2000 or visit www.carnivalcenter.org for more information.
Bobby McFerrin and Voicestra One-hit wonders, by definition, have a lyrical or instrumental gimmick, and one that won’t carry the artist any further than, well, one hit. Was it really possible for Hot Butter to top the electronic weirdness of its 1969 Moog-based hit, “Popcorn?” Or, in more recent times,…
Billy Joel After more than four years off the road — which included a rather ill-fated renouncing of pop music for classical — Billy Joel returns to (what else?) woo us with his legendary catalogue of songs. Aw, why not? Joel’s work came ready-made for nostalgia 30 years ago. The…
Erick Morillo As a warmup for his performance at Winter Music Conference next month, Erick Morillo will spin at Club Space this Saturday. Raised in Colombia and New Jersey, the DJ/record label owner is most popular for the song “I Like to Move It,” which he recorded under the pseudonym…
Dick Dale It’s almost an insult to the artist when a flyer promoting a Dick Dale concert refers to him as a “guitar legend” and then goes on to note, “as heard in Pulp Fiction and as remixed by Black Eyed Peas.” About time the kiddies turned off MTV. A…
It was clean. It was wholesome. It was family-friendly. That’s right. It sucked! — David Letterman, about Paul McCartney’s Super Bowl XXXIX halftime show As the Global Alliance of Couch Potatoes shifts its collective attention to our very own big game this Sunday, many of us will be wondering the…
This doesn’t sound like a Willie Nelson record, and it doesn’t sound like a Ryan Adams record (though he produced it). Dunno what it sounds like, to be honest, save for some ostentatious mashup that does less to pump up Shotgun Willie than shoot his legs out from under him…
