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 New Orleans drummer, Carlo Nuccio

This is the first part of an interview with the great drummer and songwriter, Carlo Nuccio. There are a few other hats he’s donned too. But most know him sitting behind the drums recently in New Orleans with bands like the Continental Drifters, Alex Mcmurray, John Mooney, and Benny Grunch. He does a ton of stuff really because he plays in such a unique style with the most basic function of the drums completely taken care of in an invisible manner.

There was also a large section of his career on the LA music scene.

In this interview segment, Carlo talks about his formative years, coming up on tap dancing, and drums, and working around his Father’s businesses.

Check out Pt.1 now!

Part 2

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; 

The podcasts are also available on iTunes (now the podcast app) at this link…

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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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Interview with Jeff Douville- guitarist with Egg Yolk Jubilee, film-maker, bar owner

Jeff Douville

Jeff Douville is an interesting and alive mind.  I went to talk with him using the Egg Yolk Jubilee as a jumping off point.  Egg Yolk showed up on my radar in the early 90's and they had a mad frantic style and were composed of some very expressive locals and, of course, featured Jeff playing electric guitar in a style not so commonly heard in the directions that they seemed to be headed.  Then I found out about his fascinating film work with Paul Grass.  He's also an owner of the Lost Love Lounge in the Marigny neighborhood in New Orleans.

He's very good at elucidating opinions and he is one of the folks I am interviewing that are really from New Orleans, not transplanted. There is an interesting long perspective about the city and the arts in it that seems to show up from that perspective.

The interview starts here...

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

Part 2

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 3
 

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...;

Part 4

This is part 4 which for years, it has just come to my intention was sitting in the part 3 slot, so the description was completely off. Here Geoffrey wraps things up with more on absurd viewpoints on film tech and obsolescence; neighborhood strangeness in New Orleans post-Katrina; other subjects.

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Interview with Jimmy James of King James and the Special Men

       James is a fascinating musician with one of the greatest neighborhood regular gigs around: Mondays at BJ's.  That band plays great R'n'B music from all across the time span.  The band does not come off like a museum piece at all but does give the feeling that you are outside time in another blues world.  Get right to the interview here...

       As Jimmy explains here the driver of that is a comfortability and fascination with all kinds of music since he was four years old.   And "all kinds of music" is really what it means- Chinese Opera to Muddy Waters, Kurdish music to Kiss.  He sees connections everywhere but really seeks to communicate with people and be in line with the sort of energy that will give them what they need on their night out.

    Jimmy plays saxophone, bass, piano, guitar, piano and has a natural feel on each.  How does this happen?  Check out this interview with a musician who is currently picking up pace in the local scene and, probably has a lot to say to it. 

      Part 1  -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

      Part 2  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?

     The interview, in line with the rest on this site, is informal but informative.  You will hear the sounds of BJ's day shift in the background as well as words from harmonica player Bobby Lewis. 

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