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Playlist: All About NOLA

Compiled By: Fred Stanin

Caption: PRX default Playlist image

Everything New Orleans - music, food, and anything else that sweats in the summer.

110109 Doc Pomus Special

From Jamie Dell'Apa | Part of the Searching For The First Rock And Roll Song series | 02:52:35

Why does the music of Doc Pomus and New Orleans sound so good together?

Wwozbozo_small Maybe it's because a generation or two ago America was so segregated by race that popular music was too stilted.  Doc Pomus integrated black and white cultures within himself by becoming bicultural.  New Orleans was not and is not a bastion of enlightened racial understanding but New Orleanians have always lived closely together that they've inadvertently adopted much more cultural integration than they care to admit.  And you can hear the beauty of this integration in both Doc Pomus' songs and New Orleans music of the time.  

As always, the first half hour of the show settles everyone into that Saturday midnight sound before the Doc Pomus music begins.  During the second hour, a discussion of radio ethics refers to the Jonestown, Guyana massacre and the November 9th, 2011 shootings in Tucson, Arizona. The remainder of the show is New Orleans musicians playing songs (primarily not Doc's compositions).  If it all sounds like it fits together to you, then maybe there is something to the above (first) paragraph.      

To follow along with text and video: 

http://www.wwoz.org/programs/playlists/2011/01/09/12-00am/103313 

James Carroll Booker the Third: The Life, Music, and Mystique of the Bayou Maharajah Part 1

From David Kunian | 56:29

Part 1 of 2 part radio documentary about the legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker

Default-piece-image-2 Program features Booker's music and interviews with New Orleans luminaries such as Dave Bartholomew, Earl King, Aaron Neville, Art Neville, Charles Neville, Allen Toussaint, Deacon John, Ed Frank, Jim Scheurich, Reggie Scanlan, Scott Billington, Bunny Matthews, John Parsons, and Booker's niece Sheila Twigs. Music includes Booker originals such as One Helluva Nerve, Papa Was a Rascal, his first single Hambone (recorded when he was 14), and Gonzo, the organ tune that was his highest charting single. The documentary also contains Booker's versions of Sunny Side of the Street, Chopin's MInute Waltz, Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene, and his signature piece Junco Partner, all done in his inimitable style. In addition, there is an analysis of his style from Hal Leonard author and Booker expert Joshua Paxton. James Carroll Booker III was one of a kind. As a pianist he was in a class by himself. His technique, rhythmic drive, and sense of melody were extraordinary. His music and playing were a mixture of Rachmaninoff, T-Bone Walker, and Fats Domino. Also, his personality was unique. Tales abound of Booker's rambling monologues, tenderness toward his friends, and his skill at the piano. Beset by drug and alcohol problems, his eccentricity was legendary. He talked to himself at the piano, disappeared for days, and turned recording sessions into shambles. The documentary charts Booker's life from his days as a child prodigy and days as a session pianist through his tours with Shirley and Lee, Lloyd Price, and Aretha Franklin, his Junco Partner and Classified recordings, and his gigs in New Orleans at the Toulouse Theatre and Maple Leaf Bar up to his untimely death in 1983. The program is an educational, historic document attesting to the unique skill, irrepressible beauty, and lasting durability of his music and his personality. It leaves no doubt that, in both personality and music, there has never been a person on the planet quite like James Booker.

James Carroll Booker the Third: The Life, Music, and Mystique of the Bayou Maharajah Part 2.

From David Kunian | 59:32

Part 2 of 2 part radio documentary about the legendary New Orleans pianist James Booker

Default-piece-image-2 Program features Booker's music and interviews with New Orleans luminaries such as Dave Bartholomew, Earl King, Aaron Neville, Art Neville, Charles Neville, Allen Toussaint, Deacon John, Ed Frank, Jim Scheurich, Reggie Scanlan, Scott Billington, Bunny Matthews, John Parsons, and Booker's niece Sheila Twigs. Music includes Booker originals such as One Helluva Nerve, Papa Was a Rascal, his first single Hambone (recorded when he was 14), and Gonzo, the organ tune that was his highest charting single. The documentary also contains Booker's versions of Sunny Side of the Street, Chopin's MInute Waltz, Ernesto Lecuona's Malaguena, Leadbelly's Goodnight Irene, and his signature piece Junco Partner, all done in his inimitable style. In addition, there is an analysis of his style from Hal Leonard author and Booker expert Joshua Paxton. James Carroll Booker III was one of a kind. As a pianist he was in a class by himself. His technique, rhythmic drive, and sense of melody were extraordinary. His music and playing were a mixture of Rachmaninoff, T-Bone Walker, and Fats Domino. Also, his personality was unique. Tales abound of Booker's rambling monologues, tenderness toward his friends, and his skill at the piano. Beset by drug and alcohol problems, his eccentricity was legendary. He talked to himself at the piano, disappeared for days, and turned recording sessions into shambles. The documentary charts Booker's life from his days as a child prodigy and days as a session pianist through his tours with Shirley and Lee, Lloyd Price, and Aretha Franklin, his Junco Partner and Classified recordings, and his gigs in New Orleans at the Toulouse Theatre and Maple Leaf Bar up to his untimely death in 1983. The program is an educational, historic document attesting to the unique skill, irrepressible beauty, and lasting durability of his music and his personality. It leaves no doubt that, in both personality and music, there has never been a person on the planet quite like James Booker.

New Orleans Brass Band

From Richard Paul | 08:14

New Orleans Brass Band described

Tremebandalbumcover_small Musicologist Charles Chamberlain and Benny Jones of the Treme Brass band talk about the unique New Orleans tradition of brass street bands. This segment was produced for ArtsEdge, a program of the Education Department of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

101114 Choo Choo Sound

From Jamie Dell'Apa | Part of the Searching For The First Rock And Roll Song series | 02:34:26

You've heard him so many times yet never knew it was Charles Conner who created that unique Little Richard sound. He's the Upsetters' drummer. Yeah, of "Little Richard and the Upsetters" fame (and so many other headliners). You'll immediately recognize his sound and maybe even his face from television. Just inducted into the Louisiana Musicians Hall of Fame, Charles Conner and the "choo choo sound" of drumming on tonight's show.

Conner_small Here is the whole back story along with the front and side stories for this show:

WWOZ Playlist and Blog for The Choo Choo Sound