Aaron Neville Duo at UCLA Royce Hall on 11/2/19

Aaron Neville is a supremely talented vocalist and musician who has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits, including three that went to #1. In addition to having a successful solo career, Aaron recorded with the Neville Brothers along with his brother Cyril, as well as his late brothers Art and Charles. His unique voice lends an angelic quality to all of his music, whether this versatile performer is covering R&B, soul, country, gospel, jazz, or pop.

Happy Birthday, Wendell Brunious! 10/27

Singer songwriter and trumpeter Wendell Brunious was born in New Orleans on October 27, 1954. Brunious began playing trumpet at 11, and both his father (John “Picket” Brunious) and brother (John Brunious, Jr.) were accomplished trumpeters. He sang in Chief John and the Mahogany Hall Stompers in the 1960s, a group in which his father was also a member. He performed with Danny Barker and played dance music in clubs on Bourbon Street in the mid-1970s. Wendell followed his brother John as bandleader of Preservation Hall Jazz Band in 1987, and was followed as bandleader by his nephew Mark Braud. Brunious has also played with the Eureka Brass Band, Lionel Hampton, Michael White, and Don Vappie. Happy Birthday to a true New Orleans luminary!

Photo by Charles Mims, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/11248189@N02/31430410655/

Celebrating the Birthday of Mahalia Jackson 10/26

Mahalia Jackson, vocalist was born in New Orleans on October 26, 1911. She was referred to as “The Queen of Gospel” and possessed a powerful contralto voice. She experienced great success in 1947 with “Move On Up a Little Higher” which sold millions of copies. Her success led to radio and television, as well as a tour that included performing at Carnegie Hall in 1950 to a racially integrated audience. She became one of the most influential gospel singers in the world and was heralded internationally as a singer and civil rights activist. At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Jackson performed before King gave his ”I Have a Dream” speech. Mahalia Jackson passed away on January 27, 1972. Read more about her in the “Saints” page. We remember her immense talent on this day!

Voodoo Music + Arts Experience - 10/25-27/2019

Voodoo is a musical gumbo stirring together music, art, community, cuisine and all the mystery and adventure that Halloween weekend in New Orleans conjures up. With more than 65 bands over three days, Voodoo is more than just a Festival – it is an experience.

There’s plenty to do in between sets. Across the Festival Grounds of City Park, Voodoo hosts interactive and immersive large-scale art installations, the Brew Dat Beer Hall, a handcrafted shopping experience at the Market Place, and more.

Voodoo attracts the mystics, madmen, femme fatales, gods, goddesses, and music lovers of all kinds under one collective consciousness.

Take Me To The River Live! Celebrating the Music of New Orleans! at the Pepperdine Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts on 10/27/19

New Orleans and Louisiana reflect a stunning musical melting pot of influences from around the world. Take Me to the River New Orleans LIVE! presents the musical history, heritage, and legacy of one of our most unique cultural jewels. The show features individual and collaborative performances from a lineup packed with legendary Crescent City talent, including the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Ivan and Ian Neville, George Porter, Jr., Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Lost Bayou Ramblers, and more.

Celebrating the Birthday of Jelly Roll Morton! 10/20

Ragtime and early jazz pianist and composer Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was born in New Orleans on October 20, 1890 (though some say 1885). He was a pivotal figure in early jazz. He was the first arranger in this genre rooted in improvisation, proving that jazz could retain its essential characteristics and spirit even though notated. 

Morton learned to play piano at age 10, and within a few years he was playing in the red-light district bordellos, where he earned the nickname "Jelly Roll." Blending the styles of ragtime and minstrelsy with dance rhythms, he was at the forefront of a movement that would soon be known as "jazz." His composition "Jelly Roll Blues", published in 1915, was the first published jazz composition.

Jelly Roll Morton passed away on July 10, 1941, in Los Angeles, California. Whether or not Morton invented jazz, as he had claimed, he is regarded as one of its great innovators. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him in 1998, and he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.