This podcast will feature interviews done by Jonathan Freilich with notable figures that relate in some way to the current vibrancy of the New Orleans music scene and community. It seeks to form a dialogue between ideas and motivations behind the music and the relationship of those ideas to the sound artifact being presented. The podcast will also address what the state of understanding is in audiences and whether understanding is relevant to the "success" of the musical artwork. Older interviews and further information can be found at www.jonathanfreilich.com
Here is an interview I have been meaning to get to for years. Tony is a rare case in a city of sidemen. He is one of the last people around standing without a prop and performing for people. He sounds great and commands much attention. He also does a lot of different work with different bands.
In this interview,, Tony Green talks about his most recent project, his first project and a great deal in between.
In this rambling conversation we get to the marvelous origin story of these two remarkable guitarists of New Orleans who frequently perform comedy/music pyrotechnics with the subversive group, The Self-Righteous brothers.
Topics-
Wayne Cochran; early guitars; musical background; the 60s; song and guitar modification; Hank Mackie
On involvements with the band, Cajun music in general; on Peter Stampfel and developments in vernacular music since the early 60s; on the new multi record Peter Stampfel recording.
Part 4
How all her interests feed or inform each other; productiveness, or lack of, during Covid-19 stay-at-home order; more on adding creative outlets; writing poetry; Novel writing and publishing short stories; creative takes on Sherlock Holmes; Ernst Bloch; Albert Einstein’s problems with counting in music; releasing singles; working with Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes recently; Coronavirus situational songs.
Part 3
Return to New Orleans; the poor claires; playing with Ancestro and music from Peru/Bolivia/Chile/Honduras/Guatemala/ Ecuador/Argentina; Nueva Cancion movement; Functioning with A.D.D.;signs of getting better; split screen jam sessions and jamming with the dryer; Hybrid Vigor album; focussing on eking out a living on the internet; jamming with the dryer; mixing or fusing styles; the magpie; approach to lyrical content; reaching an emotional point that stopped the songwriting; writing fiction; learning style and fleshing out the writing; urban fantasy; shape shifting and whether or not Beth is a werewolf; her novel, The Wild Harmonic.
Part 2
Konokol; Shruti boxes; Southall; South Indian Composers; Subbarama Dikshitar; Thyagaraja Swami; Cajun Beatles; getting involved in Celtic archaeology; Ogham; learning Irish music by total immersion; learning the etiquette and manners of playing sessions and round buying; getting back to Louisiana in 1994 and reverse culture shock; OJ trial and Kill Barney; Josh Paxton; The Poor Claires; Hitchhiking the British Isles collecting tunes; stories from the different regions; in Oban; to Glasgow or bust; to Wales; slagging in Belfast; in the Isle of Man and speaking Manx
How she ended up studying ethnomusicology in Ireland; playing Irish music around Lafayette; the move to New Orleans and O’Flaherty’s pub; Hugh Morrison; starting on oboe; start of interest in Irish music; special ordering cassettes; getting first Bazouki; N. Texas Irish festival; mandolin; playing bass; the speed playing aesthetic; the Irish Bazouki; how the Bazouki ended up in Irish music; meeting and interviewing Johnny Moynihan; Planxty; process of learning Irish music and rhythmic differences from Cajun music; learning some etiquette; trad music studies department at University College, Cork; on classicality describing level of cultivation; Indian classical music, North and South; learning other world music
Earl Palmer and tap dancing; playing drums for a living; putting bands together; being on the road; being a lead singer; viewpoints on money in the music business; sacredness of songs and empathizing with the writer; song contest and The Who Dat song; David Torkanowsky; Allen Toussaint; playing music in the late 70s in New Orleans; looking after the DJs; going to LA; starting out as recording engineer; how he ended up with a studio; more on how he wrote the Who Dat song; selling the rights to Who Dat;
Here is the first part of an interview I did with the great drummer, Carlo Nuccio back in 2015.
in this segment Carlo talks about early experiences as a kid in New Orleans, dancing, tap dancing, events at his Father’s businesses, the music that he was into it, what the differences in perspective are to New Orleans music inside and outside of the city…and other things are imparted along the way.
This was labeled as part 3 for years. I am thankful to a conscientious listener for pointing this out. Here now is part 4 which contains many intriguing things on neighborhood politics from that period which has only progressed. Other things too. Perhaps I will label it soon. But it’s highly worth a listen.
Listening to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly; earliest music appreciations; the way ideas move through the 40s; song rejection; mcmurray talks of songs with the 40s; mother-in-law; how the music makes people react; Ebola? (too soon?); lifestyle descriptions in the songs; Morning 40 style; Funkadelic; the olfactory sense; discovering Nirvana and liberation by record store; Josh and binaural beats; Scully’s other material outside the 40s; whether the band broke up because of problems between Scully and Josh; how members have come in and out of the band; financing of recordings; how the music has changed over the years; songs about age; prog rock math rock vs. minimal type etceteras; josh expresses himself.
how the 40s met; starting to write songs; experience of New Orleans; relationship between origins and musical content; Irving Berlin; the Rough 7 and backup singers; The beginning of the Morning 40 Federation; the first 40s tour and delusions of grandeur; the Attack Family; the concept behind the 40s; what was appealing to Scully about the band; I Aint Really Alright; subconscious access to material; dangers of becoming formulaic; Scully’s function; traditional music as a binding factor
More on the new film festival; sound in film compared to plain music; post production blues; big budget films; problems learning film in school; being a tactician in the film business; paths to directing; whether there is or can be a New Orleans film style; the New York film style; Belizaire the Cajun; frustrations with the magical realist take on a New Orleans film; impact of film on Jeff's music; culture of not listening to rules in New Orleans; why Jeff loves Spike Lee; expressive film camera shots; American Splendor; creative approach in music and reaching greater maturity in that; Lou Thevenot's style; proselytization of ideas in music; breaking the rules- the 180 rule; how conventions come about in film; French New Wave films; time for people to let go of film; digital vs. analog in music and film; if video had pre-dated film...
More on Danny Barker and his part in the resuscitation of brass band music; the "copy cat" phenomenon and striving for individualism; how he thought his way into his approach to guitar in egg yolk; performer/ audience relationship; proselytizing in music; the 10 foot semi circle of doom; difficulties of getting attention in the cell phone era; Dave Renson and Benny's Bar; losses in new Orleans R'n'B; playing with K-Doe, Howard Tate, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson; film background; how film school students are like basketball players; desire to be at the core of film projects; Paul Grass's film, Heavy Brass; the new film festival in town.
Part 1- Egg Yolk Jubilee; Lump, Mike Joseph, A.P. Gonzalez; collaboration with Paul Grass and the punk rock approach to Dixieland, the heavy brass genre; familial lineage to new orleans jazz greats; Frank Federico; Al Beletto connection; Glenn Barbaro- his midi Calliope and other wild side projects; steve callandra; mike hogan; cycling through drummers and periods of turmoil; Lou Thevenot; the world Egg Yolk showed up in; the increase in pop mentality in younger musicians; irreverential approach to music and reactions- subversive attitudes in early jazz; Danny Barker's storytelling
Brass bands in other parts of the United States; the "mythical" Congo Square; the role of formal musical education in the development early jazz artists- Buddy Bolden; brass bands around the world; jazz funerals, 2nd lines, benevolent societies and their roles in solidifying the place of people of color in the city- the taking of it; why brass bands in New Orleans have outlived the traditions in other cities; political needs for brass bands; more on cultural mentorship, cultural capital, social capital; the relation of brass band music to other musics in the city; Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Nicholas Payton- their start associated with the brass band tradition; being able to speak collectively; Trombone Shorty; the difficulties of talking to music press and their false ideas of what audiences will find interesting; the maligning or ignoring of intellectual sides to musicians in the press; coming out of depression after Katrina; the way that Brice's identity was used and became a caricature after the storm; going to the University of Alabama; telling the story of real New Orleans music, and the 200 year history of brass bands, honestly; the indignity of the reduction of all narratives of people of color to slavery; the influence of personal understanding of history on personal identity development; final comments- retelling your own stories.
Part 2-Mentorship in the brass band community; Milton Batiste; Eureka brass band; waning of the early brass band interest; resurgence in interest by inserting more contemporary sounds; Tuba Fats; Danny Barker; Second line; The Dirty Dozen Brass Band; participatory music; The Rebirth Brass Band; Role of marching bands in the development of brass bands; Junior Pinstripe brass band; brass band repertoire evolution; mentorship in the current generation; cultural history, heritage, racial history, and the legacies and stories carried in brass band music; working as Jazz Studies coordinator; the transfer of misinformation by outsider commentary on the music; TBC; drug dependency in the community; Ecirb Müller Jassum Band and why Brice has decided to use this form of communication now; storytelling; should Art be entertainment?; Louis Armstrong
How the special men started; moving to Alabama; Jesse Mae Hemphill; difference in solo expression from group; fat possum; original material; John Rodley; Tuba Fats; Palmetto Bug Stompers; music development; the Rainbow Fanny Pack; Bruce Brackman; Robert Snow; choosing BJ's; quitting the piano; trance music; starting a new Mardi Gras Krewe; doom; meditation metal; heading to Lincoln Center; thoughts on change; Tim Green; moving forward with The Special Men; deal with Domino Records; recording at The Parlor; gig merchandising; is the hard copy worth anything?
Origins; how he came to be in New Orleans; must have a guitar; KISS, Band of Gypsies, Tutti-Frutti (first record), and acquiring a 45 collection; getting into the blues; symphony work; simultaneous punk phase; getting to bass; Nervous Dwayne; Augie Jr blues band; Carl Le Blanc; Sun Ra; Sheik Rasheed; Kidd Jordan; The Photon band; life happens!; Jesse Mae Hemphill; coming to The Special Men; Junior Kimbrough; blues songwriting and knowledge of the terminologies and meanings