NOLA Community Blog
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Filtering by Category: NOLA musician
Khris Royal - Funk
Raj Smoove’s In Your House Party - Various/DJ
Mannie Fresh - Various/DJ
Amy Trail’s “Stuck-Home Syndrome”: A Piano Bar Experience
Celebrating the Birthday of Marva Wright
John Dunlop
Vocalist Marva Wright was born in New Orleans on March 20, 1948, and started singing in church at age 9, with her gospel singer, piano player mother accompanying her. The world-renowned “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson was an early friend of the family. Wright turned professional in 1987, at nearly 40 years old, after she was discovered while working as a secretary. She began singing as a second job to support her family. While Wright sang traditional jazz and gospel, she was better known for sultry, sometimes bawdy blues songs.
During a live set at Tipitina's in 1989, Wright made her first recording, Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean., and in 1991, she made her national television debut and met the late CBS news anchorman Ed Bradley, who encouraged her career and introduced her at every JazzFest. Wright's first full-length release, Heartbreakin' Woman, appeared later that year, and was named blues album of the year by the Louisiana Music Critics Association. Her album Born With The Blues was released in France in 1993, and worldwide in 1996. Her 2007 effort, After The Levees Broke, addressed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed her house and all her belongings. In August 2008, she performed with the Louisiana Wetlands All Stars at both the Democratic National Convention in Colorado and the Republican National Convention in Minnesota.
Wright also sang backup for such artists as Allen Toussaint, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, Cyril Neville, Harry Connick, Jr., Bobby McFerrin, Aaron Neville, Fats Domino, Lou Rawls, and Marcia Ball. Sadly, she passed away on March 23, 2010. On this day, we celebrate the life of the Blues Queen of New Orleans, Marva Wright.
Happy Birthday, Clarence "Frogman" Henry!
John Dunlop
R&B singer and pianist Clarence “Frogman” Henry was born in New Orleans on March 19, 1937, and is best known for his hits "Ain't Got No Home" (1956) and "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" (1961). Influenced by Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, Henry started learning piano as a child, and started playing professionally in 1952. One night that year, he improvised the song "Ain't Got No Home", using his trademark croak. He recorded it in Cosimo Matassa's studio in 1956, and it eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. This earned Henry his nickname of 'Frogman' and jump-started his career. Henry opened eighteen concerts for the Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from performing on Bourbon Street, where he played for nineteen years. In 2007, Henry was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He continues to draws adoring fans at the various events and festivals where he performs, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Today we join Clarence in celebrating his birthday! Many happy returns, Frogman!
Aaron Neville at The Canyon at The Rose in Pasadena on 3/13/20 & The Canyon at Agoura Hills on 3/14/20!
John Dunlop
Aaron Neville recorded his first single in 1960, but it was his second single, six years later that first gave Neville a taste of stardom. “Tell It Like It Is” became a #2 pop hit and #1 R&B smash. In the late 70s, The Neville Brothers – Cyril, Charles, Art and Aaron – found success primarily on the touring circuit but also garnering attention for albums like their 1989 debut for A&M Records, Yellow Moon, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of that era. 1989 was also a very good year for Aaron’s solo career, as he had his fist real hit in 23 years with “Don’t Know Much,” a #2 pop smash that was one o several duets with Neville that Linda Ronstadt included on her album Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind.
For the quarter-century that followed, Neville deftly balanced the needs of dual group and solo careers. But eventually the demands of the road got to him. In 2012, the Neville Brothers played a farewell show at the Hollywood Bowl, then, feeling that their hometown deserved their real adieu, reunited in May 2015 for a “Nevilles Forever” all-star jam and goodbye blast in New Orleans during Jazz Fest.
Neville records and tours as a solo artist these days, and continues to satisfy and even amaze audiences around the world.
Happy Birthday, Terence Blanchard!
John Dunlop
Trumpeter, composer and music educator Terence Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962, and began playing piano at age five, and trumpet at eight. His childhood friends in eluded Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and he studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His composition teacher there was none other than Ellis Marsalis. Blanchard started his career in 1980 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed on more than fifty. He received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score on Spike Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman. From 2000 to 2011, Blanchard served as artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. In 2011 he was named artistic director of the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami. In the fall of 2015 he was named a visiting scholar in jazz composition at Berklee College of Music. In 2019, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), named Blanchard their Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies, where he will remain until 2024. The Metropolitan Opera announced it will stage Blanchard's opera Fire Shut up In My Bones in their 2021-2022 Season, which will be the first production by a black composer staged by the Metropolitan Opera in the organization's 136-year history. Let’s wish the amazing Terence Blanchard a very happy birthday!
Photo by: jhderojas
Aaron Neville at The Canyon at The Rose in Pasadena on 3/13/20 & The Canyon at Agoura Hills on 3/14/20!
John Dunlop
Aaron Neville recorded his first single in 1960, but it was his second single, six years later that first gave Neville a taste of stardom. “Tell It Like It Is” became a #2 pop hit and #1 R&B smash. In the late 70s, The Neville Brothers – Cyril, Charles, Art and Aaron – found success primarily on the touring circuit but also garnering attention for albums like their 1989 debut for A&M Records, Yellow Moon, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of that era. 1989 was also a very good year for Aaron’s solo career, as he had his fist real hit in 23 years with “Don’t Know Much,” a #2 pop smash that was one o several duets with Neville that Linda Ronstadt included on her album Cry Like A Rainstorm, Howl Like The Wind.
For the quarter-century that followed, Neville deftly balanced the needs of dual group and solo careers. But eventually the demands of the road got to him. In 2012, the Neville Brothers played a farewell show at the Hollywood Bowl, then, feeling that their hometown deserved their real adieu, reunited in May 2015 for a “Nevilles Forever” all-star jam and goodbye blast in New Orleans during Jazz Fest.
Neville records and tours as a solo artist these days, and continues to satisfy and even amaze audiences around the world.