Baton Rouge's own Henry Gray is a living legend in every sense of the phrase. Over the course seven decades behind the piano, Gray has performed with some of the greatest blues players ever to walk the face of the planet, guys like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter to name just a few.
The Gas Food and Lodging Festival has hit stride over the past week at three local music venues. The festival, which encompasses more than 30 different artists stopping in Baton Rouge on their way to or from the annual South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conference in Austin, began on March 8th and continues throughout the next week.
The Manship Theatre will host legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker on March 2nd. Parker serves as the missing link between some of the greatest funk, soul and jazz artists of the 20th century, having served as the backbone of both James Brown's famous band and George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic.
The first annual Mud & Water Mardi Gras ball happens this Friday night (2/8) and will feature Los Angeles ska/punk/funk legends Fishbone, a band whose party ethic and epic horn section make them much more suited to lead a Mardi Gras celebration than it would seem at first glance.
When I went to the much celebrated Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island back in 2008, I had heard plenty of My Morning Jacket, but they hadn't totally grabbed me yet. I had started to get into the band's then recent release Evil Urges in the weeks leading up to the festival, but with a perennially stacked lineup of performers, I casually overlooked their frontman Jim James performing a solo set as a compelling point of interest on the schedule. While shuttling through dense human traffic between performances on different stages, I heard music begin playing nearby on a smaller stage that the main pedestrian thoroughfare passed. In the next thirty seconds or so it became clear that something strange was happening there, and the crowd, moving previously like white water rapids, slowed to a mountain creek trickle and then froze solid.
Justin McGowan
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Baton Rouge's own Henry Gray is a living legend in every sense of the phrase. Over the course seven decades behind the piano, Gray has performed with some of the greatest blues players ever to walk the face of the planet, guys like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy Williamson II and Little Walter to name just a few.
Gas, Food and Lodging in full swing
The Gas Food and Lodging Festival has hit stride over the past week at three local music venues. The festival, which encompasses more than 30 different artists stopping in Baton Rouge on their way to or from the annual South by Southwest Music, Film and Interactive Conference in Austin, began on March 8th and continues throughout the next week.
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Maceo Parker at the Manship Theatre
The Manship Theatre will host legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker on March 2nd. Parker serves as the missing link between some of the greatest funk, soul and jazz artists of the 20th century, having served as the backbone of both James Brown's famous band and George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic.
Celebrating Mardi Gras with Fishbone
The first annual Mud & Water Mardi Gras ball happens this Friday night (2/8) and will feature Los Angeles ska/punk/funk legends Fishbone, a band whose party ethic and epic horn section make them much more suited to lead a Mardi Gras celebration than it would seem at first glance.
Jim James of My Morning Jacket drops solo debut
When I went to the much celebrated Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island back in 2008, I had heard plenty of My Morning Jacket, but they hadn't totally grabbed me yet. I had started to get into the band's then recent release Evil Urges in the weeks leading up to the festival, but with a perennially stacked lineup of performers, I casually overlooked their frontman Jim James performing a solo set as a compelling point of interest on the schedule. While shuttling through dense human traffic between performances on different stages, I heard music begin playing nearby on a smaller stage that the main pedestrian thoroughfare passed. In the next thirty seconds or so it became clear that something strange was happening there, and the crowd, moving previously like white water rapids, slowed to a mountain creek trickle and then froze solid.