Jazz Articles about Dr. John

Dr. John: The Best of the Parlophone Years

by Jim Santella
May 5, 2005

Including selections from Duke Elegant, Creole Moon, N'Awlinz: Dis Dat or D'Udda, and Anutha Zone, as well as two bonus tracks, The Best of the Parlophone Years presents Dr. John doin' what he does best. With that voice, there's no mistake who's settin' down the blues for ya. There are only a handful of voices in history which have been so widely recognized and so easy to tell from the rest. Writers have suggested that Howard Cosell, Muhammad Ali, Lou ...

Dr. John: N'Awlinz Dis Dat or D'udda

by Mark Sabbatini
August 13, 2004

Dr. John is oh, so hip--or at least he tries to be.

His latest “voodoo" album, N'Awlinz Dis Dat or D'udda, a tribute to the drummers of New Orleans, features linear notes expounding on the various “bippin'" “mo" and “dere it t-i-is" talent of well-known players offering their takes on things “down yonder." It's a generally pleasing album held together by a huge and diverse collection of guests, but it suffers the inconsistency almost inevitable with so many ...

Dr. John & The Lower 9-11 Band

by Mike Perciaccante
November 18, 2003

The Downtown Farmingdale, Long Island October 24, 2003

Mac Rebennack, more commonly known as Dr. John, The Night Tripper and his band Lower 9-11 (pronounced “nine, eleven"), which features guitarist Reynard Poché, bassist David Barard and drummer/Master of Ceremonies Herman “Roscoe" Ernest III brought their patented version of swamp pop/blues/gospel/jazz/R & B/funk (Dr. John likes to pronounce is as “fonk")/rock to Long Island on this warm fall evening. The good Dr., touring behing his latest release ...

Jimmy Smith: Dot Com Blues

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 11, 2001

He's known as one of the founding jazz fathers of Hammond B-3 organ funk, but Jimmy Smith has always played the blues. Born in December 1928 in a suburb west of Philadelphia, Smith has been performing since he was 12, at that time in a song and dance act with his father. After a stint in the navy, Smith took advantage of the GI Bill to study bass, piano and music theory upon his service discharge. During this period Smith ...

Dr. John: Duke Elegant

by Jim Santella
April 1, 2000

“Boogie now," says Dr. John to the band in his gnarly trademark manner. Merging New Orleans shuffle rhythms, funk, and hip-hop beats in a tribute to Duke Ellington means that the singer and pianist prefers to do things his way. And why not? Dr. John, 59, has been playing and singing roadhouse blues since the 1950s. It’s what he does, and he’s one of the best. Unique and yet easily recognized, the singer has split his 18th album as a ...