Interview with Tony Green

Here is an intriguing interview that I have been hoping to get around to for many years. Tony is a great performer from New Orleans. He is a lone wolf of sorts- a frontman in a city of side musicians. He really delivers too. I first heard him in the unbelievably unique band from the early 90s, The Frank Spencer Quartet. He did much of note before that and since. Currently he has renewed energy for some great projects he describes here, like The Gutter Broithers. There are recordings in the works.

This interview goes through his early start and working in London after that, how he came there, how he returned, his visions in music and his collaborations. It’s well worth the listen and you might find out about some new music you knew nothing about.

Tony Green (front)

Hear the interview here…

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Interview with Beth Patterson, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, novelist, poet, Celtic music specialist.

It is hard to summarize Beth Patterson (Paxton) in a simple paragraph. She embodies the terms multi-talented/ faceted, and she earnestly goes deeply into the musical avenues that interests her. But, this isn’t limited to music. She also has written novels (published) and poetry, and while she somehow does all that she puts on wild and riveting performances and invents crazy stuff to do with her also highly talented husband, Josh Paxton.

So in this interview you will hear her talk about coming out of Lafayette and somehow ending up involved in all sorts of world music but especially Celtic music. She plays an unusual instrument - the Irish Bazouki as well as bass and mandolin. Her dexterity and execution are amazing, but she also has an incredible wit and humor that are both fast and sensitive…and insensitive at exactly the right time. Her songwriting style is wide ranging as well as having a colossal repertoire of traditional music from around the world and the ability to fuse these things together. Is it mash-up or fusion?

Either way, it’s very interesting and she has a lot of thinking, ideas, and experiences that go into and come out in her art. Check out her ideas in this 4 part podcast.

part 1 of the Interview with Beth Patterson

part 2 of the interview with Beth Patterson

part 3 of the interview with Beth Patterson

part 4 of the interview with Beth Patterson

to know further:

Beth's website

Beth’s Wikipedia page

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Interview with Josh Cohen & Ryan Scully of The Morning 40 Federation

Apologies for the long layoff...

This interview was done very late at night on Oct 24, 2014 at Alex Mcmurray's house.  

The Morning 40 Federation are a band that has great resonance with a certain swath of New Orleans locals who see in them the embodiment of a certain set of life experiences that very definitely were in fast effect at one time in New Orleans and in a long gone era of a certain way that Bywater used to look.  The reflections from that are still reverberating strongly and the mighty 40s continue on once in a while.  As we find out here, they are still writing.

Ryan Scully is a fascinating music writer that I've been trying to catch up with for an interview since the 90s.  Currently he is also fronting another interesting band, Scully and the Rough 7.

Josh Cohen is a saxophone player and writer for the 40s as well as being crafty in some other areas and, really quite philosophical.  

These folks have amazing insight into the old problem of the correspondence between life and music and of the folks I have interviewed, say some of the most unexpectedly profound things on the subject.

Alex Mcmurray is often involved in what sometimes becomes a quite multi-layered discussion.

Part 1

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

Part 2

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.

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Happy Talk with Luke Allen, songwriter/bandleader

Luke Allen is the leader of an interesting local New Orleans group, The Happy Talk Band.  He writes in a style unlike anyone else in town.  He has a generous, though un-imposing, personality and this comes through well in his songs.  In this conversation he explains a lot of where he came from and uncovers some connections between his life travels and New Orleans residency and how those things impact his songwriting.

The interview was conducted where he felt at home, Markey's Bar in the Bywater.  There is background noise from the conversationalists and jukebox but it provides a nice backdrop for Luke's lively conversation.

Part 1- Where he came from, Salinas, Santa Cruz; how he came to New Orleans and why;  how he started writing his own material; where the dark themed songs come from; playing music before Happy Talk; how The Happy Talk Band formed; how the band name came about.

Part 2- Playing with Bailey and relationship with The Morning 40 Federation; gaining a following and seeing people in the audience starting to know his songs; Checkpoint Charlie's, Hi-Ho Lounge, Matador, Circle Bar, Kelly Keller; how he chose the kind of music to go behind his songs; the stylistic influences on his sound; his difficulties with recording and playing live; the band's recording history; working with Mike West; interest in other types of writing and the impact on his songwriting; his writing process; audience response to The Happy Talk Band; desired future directions in music; being a bartender and his views of the profession; his views on New Orleans and changes over the years; what he's liked in music in New Orleans and what he's liked about the city.

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Jeff Albert interview parts 3-5

Here is the rest of the interview with Jeff Albert, trombonist, music student, Open Ears curator, composer.

Part 3- The Albert-Ankrum project; The Naked Orchestra; Davis Rogan and Peter and the Wolf; meeting other creative players on the new orleans music scene; the impact of playing with Michael Ray and diversity of style; the differences between the academic perspective and music in "the real world;" more on Chicago music and relationship with Jeb Bishop; the performance venue vacuum that allowed for the Open Ears series to start; whether anything has happened as a result of Open Ears- (here he really delves into the series); what is necessary to make a creative music venue successful.

Part 4- Electronic music and current Ph.D work at LSU; influence of electronic music on his acoustic/ trombone improvisations; music concrete; stockhausen; childrens' perceptions of electronic and creative music; subject of dissertation; programming a computer to improvise; how Jeff listens to music and how that has changed over time.

Part 5- Communication with audiences; the different subjects involved in his writing; experience playing with drummer, Hamid Drake; playing with drummer, Marcello Bennetti; thoughts on European improvisational styles.

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