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KIPORI WOODS: Blues Gone Wild

By lrhr-admin
In BLUES CATALOGUE
With No Comments
On 28 Feb | '2012

“Clean guitar-picking and lyrics that sometimes wound their way into risque territory” – Laura McKnight, Times-Picayune

Blues gets wild in New Orleans…it will always be that way. For proof, look no further than the Big Easy’s current, premier blues guitar practitioner, Kipori “Baby Wolf” Woods and Blues Gone Wild, his new album, being released nationally on Louisiana Red Hot Records. What else would you expect from a New Orleans born and bred bluesman, whose name means ‘wild’ in Swahili?

Eleven years in the making, Blues Gone Wild is the very, long-awaited followup to Kipori’s initial national release Big Black Cadillac. That 2000 debut gained Kipori widespread recognition as one of the South’s best young blues guitarists.

Then…some real blues ensued. Katrina swallowed his beloved New Orleans home. All earthly possessions were destroyed. Partially finished recordings were lost. Two marriages failed. The gig scene withered. The band broke up.

But, as New Orleans knows so well, resilience triumphs over disaster. Kipori rejoined his old friends the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for a year and a half of world touring and soul repairing. Rejuvenated, Kipori returned to his roots in New Orleans.

Those roots led back to the man who raised Kipori, his grandfather “Luscious” Lloyd Lambert, the legendary New Orleans bass player. “Luscious” worked with the likes of Ray Charles, Little Richard, Danny Barker, and Doc Cheatham and led the band for the most outrageous performer in New Orleans history, Guitar Slim. It was Lloyd who nurtured the adolescent Kipori in jazz, R&B, gospel and, most importantly, the flamboyant blues style of Guitar Slim.

Today you can see that flamboyant Guitar Slim performing style still alive in Buddy Guy. You can hear those stunning Guitar Slim runs in the work of his successors, Earl King and Jimi Hendrix. And you can experience the entire package in Kipori Woods and his bonafide blistering Big Easy Blues Gone Wild.

VARIOUS: Mardi Gras Classics

By lrhr-admin
In CATALOGUE HERITAGE OTHER REGIONAL
With No Comments
On 1 Jan | '2004

“Music that will get you on your feet”

This compilation by the Louisiana Red Hot Records label is a must for anyone who wants to get into the Mardi Gras spirit. Starting things off with Cyril Neville’s gritty and passionate rendition of “Tipitina”, the album includes other staples of carnival season by New Orleans greats like Leroy Jones, Trombone Shorty, the Rebirth Brass Band, Wardell Quezergue and many more. If you want a taste of what makes the Big Easy so unique, this compilation should be in your collection.

THE BLUEBIRDS: Highway 80 East

By lrhr-admin
In BLUES CATALOGUE R&B ROCK
With No Comments
On 18 Mar | '2003

“Louisiana’s most soulful roots rockers” – Offbeat Magazine

If hard-rockin’ blues, stripped-down R&B and scorching slide guitars are your high test gasoline, then the Bluebirds are definitely the premium fuel for you.

The Bluebirds hail from the northern-Louisiana town of Shreveport that has spawned such blues greats as Huddie “Leadbelly” Ledbetter and platinum-selling blues slinger Kenny Wayne Shepherd (who played his first professional gig with the Bluebirds). Anyone who has ventured out into the Southern blues circuit in the last seventeen years has probably heard the Bluebirds at one of their 150+ annual gigs!

With Kerry Hunter on drums, Bruce Flett on bass and slowhand slider, blues sharpshooter extraordinaire Buddy Flett on guitar (yes…they are brothers), the Bluebirds echo the big-beat blues of Southern-style R&B, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and the “Tush”-era ZZ Top. Buddy’s guitar work scintillates throughout with the ferocity of Elmore James, the economy of Billy Gibbons and the Southern-fried soul of Lowell George.

Leaner than a silver stiletto and tighter than a Saturday night party dress, Highway 80 East is likely to be the best blues/roots/R&B album you’ll hear this year.

SUNPIE: Sunpie

By Julian Mejia Gomez
In CAJUN CATALOGUE ZYDECO
With No Comments
On 1 Mar | '2001

SUNPIE “Sunpie Barnes is to zydeco what Taj Mahal is to blues—an eclectic type who follows his music to African and Caribbean roots.” – Brett Milano, Offbeat Magazine
Sunpie in the colorful top hat on the cover of this CD is none other than Bruce Sunpie Barnes. The zydeco star is based in Louisiana, where by day he is a park ranger and naturalist with the National Park Service at Jean Lafitte National Park and at night he transforms into one of the most popular musicians in the region. Adept at numerous instruments — including the accordion, harmonica, and piano and vocals — Barnes shows his versatility on this CD, released in 2001. In it, sounds from different places and genres merge into something that Barnes has dubbed “Bouje, Bouje.” A listener can hear zydeco, of course, but there is also a definite Afro-Caribbean influence, along with the funky backbeat that characterizes the music of the city of New Orleans. The CD features tunes written by the multi-talentedBarnes. It opens on a pleasant note with the “Lah Lah Song,” with an infectious rhythm that permeates the entire album. Barnes sings in both English and French. “Mo Bien Comme Me Ye” is followed by a whimsical piece called “Tomato.” He sings — or is that howls — on his popular song about the legend of the werewolf in the Louisiana swamp country, entitled “Loup Garou, Loup Garou.” All the while there is the accordion or harmonica to keep the toes tapping. “Mother Earth” speaks to Barnes’ deep love for nature, as evidenced by his choice of day jobs. The music closes out with “Blues With a Groove,” which proves the point: This music is meant for dancing.”

TOMMY MALONE: Soul Heavy

By lrhr-admin
In BLUES CATALOGUE ROCK
With No Comments
On 23 Jan | '2001

“Tommy Malone makes music that alternately soothes and fires up the soul.” – Something Else

Bands like this and men like this once thundered across the American music scene in mighty herds. Few are left now. Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty come leaping to mind. Bar bands — guys who pour their hearts out — have gotten a bad name of late. Because of their refusal to do any one trick over and over and their tendency to produce what the uninformed may refer to as pastiche, albums like this often go overlooked. That’s a real shame. Tommy Malone’s band is a facile instrument, pliable and expressive enough to be the perfect vehicle for his accomplished songwriting. And it’s the song that’s the thing. Tales of heartache exist peaceably with the odd murder ballad and tender musing. Malone’s voice is mature, and his arrangements are impeccable. There used to be a lot of Tommy Malones. Let’s hope he doesn’t go the way of the buffalo. Listen to this record and be a true believer in a uniquely American form.