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Dr. John: The Montreux Years
by Dave Linn
New Orleans is considered the birthplace of jazz. In the late 1800s, the city was a melting pot of different cultures, including African, European, and Caribbean. This cultural diversity had a profound impact on the music of the city. The new sounds of Dixieland and ragtime became the foundation in the evolution of jazz. Artists such as Buddy Bolden, King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Jelly Roll Morton became the leaders of this new music. It was ...
read moreDr John: Things Happen That Way
by Chris May
Interviewing the late Dr John aka The Night Tripper aka Dr John Creaux aka Mac Rebennack was a pleasure. Witty, erudite and b.s. free, he was reliably good copy. On one occasion he was an hour late and obviously, totally and spectacularly off his face. “If I nod out," he said, “kick me on the shin." The doctor was in... and out. Things Happen That Way has turned out to be Dr John's last recorded studio album, ...
read moreVarious Artists: New Orleans Mambo: Cuba to NOLA
by Chris M. Slawecki
The distance between New Orleans (Louisiana, USA) and Havana (Cuba) is almost exactly 670 miles, about a two-hour flight. But it takes only one listen to Putumayo Records' anthology New Orleans Mambo: Cuba to NOLA to bridge the distance between the two. With such a wide and colorful net to cast, assembling this collection must have been a lot of fun. This includes the companion booklet, which contextualizes the cross- cultural dance between New Orleans and Cuba by ...
read moreRemembering Dr. John
by Matt Hooke
Dr. John, Ph'd in jny: New Orleans piano with a minor in voodoo, died at the age 77 on June 6. Dr. John honored his roots, learned from masters like Professor Longhair, and added his own special herbs to create a gumbo that can never be recreated, even if someone manages to find a recipe. Dr. John was born Mac Rebennack, a name that makes one wonder why he thought he would need an alias in the first place. Rebennack's ...
read moreDr. John: The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968-1974
by Chris M. Slawecki
If you have a musician friend who plays in a rhythm section, or just a friend who simply loves rhythm, drop Dr. John: The Atco/Atlantic Singles 1968--1974 on them. Throughout these 22 tracks, every A-side and B-side of every Dr. John Atco/Atlantic Records single issued in the US and the UK, produced by such industry giants as Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun and New Orleans legends Harold Battiste and Allen Toussaint, this good doctor's rhythms are swirling, offbeat, and deceptively ...
read moreDr. John: Ske-Dat-De-Dat The Spirit of Satch
by Ernest Barteldes
New Orleans piano man Dr. John needs little introduction--his work as a groundbreaking genre-bending musician crosses multiple musical borders. Multiple collaborations with various artists throughout a long career have given him a well-deserved reputation that earned him a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--even though he is a New Orleans boogie man at heart. His amazing tribute to the music of fellow Louisiana son Louis Armstrong features musicians from various backgrounds. The disc begins with ...
read moreDr. John and the Lower 911: Tribal
by Mike Perciaccante
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Dr. John made his bones (at least with the national audience) with a spooky, swampy blues / psychedelia / R&B / funk / pop / rock / jazz-influenced musical gumbo that included the originals “Right Place, Wrong Time," “Mardi Gras Day," “I Walk on Guilded Splinters," “Such A Night" as well as covers of “Iko Iko," “Big Chief" and “Tipitina." Though Dr. John has never changed his approach or his sound, Tribal (to ...
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