Aurgasm

Cellos excitedly dance and play as subtle sounds find their way, like clouds taking shape in the sky, a vivacious harmony is perceived as Julia shares her Delay. She’s contributed music to Leona Naess, Devendra Banhart, Rufus Wainwright, among many others, and is currently performing with Antony and the Johnsons. If her name seems familiar elsewhere, you may remember her as an original member of Rasputina. All tracks on Delay were composed and performed by Julia, at home, in-between touring and traveling for about a year. An abundant warmth and persistence bellies this music, making most songs feel like a soundtrack in themselves.

You know, sometimes, how you have song vomit? You don’t remember consuming it lately, but now you’re singing this track you know and love, but can’t remember the name of for the life of ya! That happened to me on this track–all my brain could recall was the non-word syllabic exclamations of the chorus. So I call up my parents and sing for the answering machine. They, too, recognize the tune but can’t name it either, so they call up their friend and oldies music source. Same problem.
So over Mother’s Day weekend I sit down with my dad’s collection of the Billboard top 800 from the 1960’s (don’t ask) and start going through them one by one. When I’m around the 700 mark, my dad blurts out with a lyric from the track! A quick google search reveals not only both the song title and artist, but also a yousendit link to download the mp3. Luck of the Irish, I guess.

1950’s rock ‘n roll // boogie woogie
Following the footsteps of great New Orleans pianists like Professor Longhair, Huey made piano tracks to dance to. In 1957 he signed with Ace Records and formed ‘The Clowns’ with transgender artist Bobby Marchan at the helm. The two saw chart success multiple times, but none of the other records get me screaming along quite like this one. (turn it up!)

Many have been afraid that the culture and music of New Orleans being lost, but of all localized music sub-cultures, I’d consider The Big Easy’s as one of the most resilient. As the city’s instrumentalists were moving out of the city, their priority was locating their musician brethren. For now, the website of the popular N.O. venue Tipitina’s serves as information portal on accounted and missing artists, donors providing housing and instruments, and upcoming gigs.

Well, come on everybody take a trip with me… way down the Mississippi, down in New Orleans!

1932
Sidney Bechet - Summertime
The classic Gershwin tune. Bichet beat Louis Armstong to be the first important jazz soloist recorded, and also remains one of the finest jazz clarinetists of all time. His wide vibrato was trademark, along with forceful delivery, and well conceived improvisational ideas. He makes the clarinet soprano saxophone reed growl on this somber rendition of ‘Summertime’.

1944
Kid Ory - Tiger Rag
This’ll probably remind you of the comprehensive Ken Burns Jazz Special. Kid Ory was a pioneer of New Orleans music, leading a band in 1911 as a trombonist. He collorated with Sidney Bechet (the two fought often for lead), Jelly Roll Morton, and a young Louis Armstrong. He retired from music to run a chicken farm, but returned by request of Orson Wells to record this scorching ‘Tiger Rag’.

1956
Clarence “Frogman” Henry - Ain’t Got No Home
Very early one summer morning, Clarence Henry was performing on the bandstand and improvised his way into the basic riff behind “Ain’t Got No Home”. The crowd responded favorably, so he developed it further. Soon, Chess Records A&R was hustling Henry into Cosimo Matassa’s studio in September of 1956 to record. Local DJ Poppa Stoppa laid the “Frogman” handle on the youngster when he spun the catchy 45 and it stuck.

1958
Snooks Eaglin - When They Ring Them Golden Bells
Although New Orleans is generally thought of as more of a jazz and R&B town, the streets of the Crescent City also gave birth to a quite different strain of the music. The Acoustic New Orleans Blues style embraces everything from itinerant street singers and guitarists to rag-tag “spasm” bands. The blind Snooks Eaglin was known as a human jukebox inside the town, being able to pull hundreds of songs out from his eclectic repetoire, often confusing his own band.

1965
Dixie Cups - Iko Iko
Although they’re best known for “Chapel of Love”, the Dixie Cups wrote ‘Iko Iko’ quite accidentally. After the musicians had gone home from a recording session, the women were doing some overdubbing and started singing “Iko Iko” among themselves, using only a chair, drumstick, Coke bottle, ashtray, and drums as accompaniment. And although its roots are identified with New Orleans celebratory rituals, the song emerged as a quirky pop hit.

1970
Lee Dorsey - Who’s Gonna Help Brother Get Further?
Lee Dorsey epitomized the loose, easygoing charm of New Orleans R&B perhaps more than any other artist of the ’60s. Working with legendary Crescent City producer Allen Toussaint, Dorsey typically made good-time party tunes with a playful sense of humor and a funky, gunnagetcha backbeat. The bassline here is infectiously evil.

1998
Louisiana Gator Boys & The Blues Brothers - New Orleans
More of a tribute song than an authetic NOLA piece. From The Blues Brothers 2000, this track was the finale for the musical journey. It features a modest lineup: B.B. King, Junior Wells, Steve Lawrence, Taj Mahal, Lonnie Brooks, Eric Clapton, Nia Peeples, Darrell Hammond, Steve Winwood, Eddie Floyd, Paul Shaffer, Billy Preston, Koko Taylor, Bo Diddley, Isaac Hayes, Joshua Redman, Lou Rawls, Travis Tritt, Jimmie Vaughan, and Dr. John.

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New Orleans music from the Aurgasm archives (mp3’s back up!):
Professor Longhair 1970’s new orleans funk // piano rhumba
The Meters 1970’s new orleans r&b // funk // soul
Rebirth Brass Band 1990’s new orleans brass band

Other blogs covering the NOLA music scene:
Home of the Groove always showcased The Big Easy’s musical output
Jazz And Conversation offers up a mix of the spirit of New Orleans
The Entroporium has a number of choice Nola tracks
Soul-Sides rep’s some Allen Toussaint and The Meters
IckMusic has some essential Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Cocaine Blunts threw together the best of New Orleans Bounce

Full broadcast of Higher Ground, a show for Hurricane Relief live at the Lincoln Center.

Our prayers and thoughts go out to the victims of Katrina and the horrible situations they’ve had to endure over the past 6 days. Watching and reading the news just makes me feel sick – people are dying and the government’s failure to adaquately respond has been the real disaster.

Please donate. You can sacrifice your next movie ticket to give $10 to someone who just lost everything they had.

A month ago, I was taking a drive with my friend Christin who was in town. She was visiting her boyfriend, however after a three days of together-time, they were arguing non-stop. During our ride, she went on and on about her boyfriend and how much of an petulant asshole he was and all that. And then right in the middle of it all, she paused. I thought something was quite wrong. But Christin waited a beat and said, “I really like this song.” That’s exactly what ‘Tarnation’ will do – it’s relaxing melodies just grab you and elevate your mood. The song has a simple repetitive structure with guitar, piano, and cello forming the body. It’s the title theme from the award-winning documentary Tarnation which is set for release on DVD Tuesday.
Powerful music from a quiet sound.