"DOWN HOME" #201 Thursday, January 10, 2002 Hosted by Chuck Taggart, email chuck (at) downhome (dot) org Visit The Gumbo Pages

ANDERS OSBORNE - Kingdom Come [ASH WEDNESDAY BLUES/Shanachie] A little recap of last year's #1 album. A few things I picked up while back home in New Orleans over Christmas... KID ORY - Savoy Blues [KID ORY'S CREOLE JAZZ BAND/Good Time Jazz] EGG YOLK JUBILEE - Boing, Tweak [BRUNCH WITH ROCCO FANCYPANTS/Spatula] A somewhat wacky and very irreverent take on New Orleans jazz, without thumbing their noses at its roots (but at just about everything else). Lotsa fun. POULLAND, POULLARD & GARNIER - La Valse d'Oberlin [POULLARD, POULLARD & GARNIER/LouisianaRadio.com Records] Beautiful, purely traditional Creole music, which sadly is almost extinct. Even sadder is that this was Danny Poullard's last recording; he died of a heart attack last year. We'll hear more from this later on. FAIR TO MIDDLIN' - Caleb Meyer [TURN YOUR RADIO ON/Home from the Hill] "Mountain music from the bayou" ... from this bluegrass duo from Lafayette, Louisiana. Fine, fine stuff. On more than half the album they're joined on fiddle by Michael Doucet dit Beausoleil, including this Gillian Welch cover. Check them out at http://www.folkgrass.com/ THERESA ANDERSSON, DAVID DOUCET & JOHN FOHL - Trinquez [PEACE STORIES/self-release] Beausoleil guitarist teams up with violinist/singer Andersson and steel guitarist Fohl for an album of Chrismas music -- traditional English-language carols, French and Cajun songs (including this old Cajun song), and even one in Finnish. When I finished my Top 20 of 2001 list, I still had plenty of records I liked left over. Here's a little bit from the "Honorable Mentions": ALISON KRAUSS + UNION STATION - The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn [NEW FAVORITE/Rounder] THE DEL McCOURY BAND - 1952 Vincent Black Lightning [DEL AND THE BOYS/ Ceili Music] GINNY HAWKER - My Warfare Will Soon Be Over [LETTERS FROM MY FATHER/Rounder] An old traditional song, which all ye Uncle Tupelo fans should recognize. BRIAN HALL AND CARTER'S GHOST - Who Knows Where the Highway Goes [WHEN MAGGIE TURNS TO FLY/Outside Records] FROG HOLLER - Pennsylvania [IDIOTS/Record Cellar] CHRIS KNIGHT - Becky's Bible [A PRETTY GOOD GUY/Dualtone] BRUCE ROBISON - What Would Willie Do? [COUNTRY SUNSHINE/Boars Nest] SCOTT MILLER & THE COMMONWEALTH - Daddy Raised A Boy [THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS/Sugar Hill] This one isn't an "also favorite", this is a "favorite favorite"; I liked this album so much I wanted to play this song as well last week, but didn't have time. There was a depressing number of great Louisiana musicians who passed away last year, several within just a few weeks of each other. Here's a set in tribute to them. BOOZOO CHAVIS - Bernadette [BOOZOO CHAVIS/Elektra-Nonesuch] Just Boozoo and his accordion. Raw and pure Creole zydeco. D. L. MENARD - La son de la nuit (The Sound of the Night) [CAJUN MEMORIES/Swallow] D. L.'s wife Louella, who wrote this song and who also made the best crawfish étouffée in the world, passed away last year. POULLARD, POULLARD & GARNIER - Bee de la Manche [POULLARD, POULLARD & GARNIER/LouisianaRadio.com Records] THE CARRIÈRE BROTHERS - Blue Runner [LA LA: LOUISIANA BLACK FRENCH MUSIC/Maison de Soul] EDDIE LeJEUNE - Little Broken Heart [CAJUN SOUL/Rounder] BOOZOO CHAVIS & THE MAJIC SOUNDS - Tell Me What You Want [DOWN HOME IN DOG HILL/Rounder] Boozoo pumping away, Charles shouting "Yeah you rite, go Boozoo!" ... take off ya drawers, throw 'em in the corner, dance all night. For Bébé. Here's my pick for Best Compilation/Reissue of 2001, along with some of the Irish releases I loved from last year: DONAL LUNNY - April the 3rd [JOURNEY: THE BEST OF DONAL LUNNY/Rounder] He's had his hand in many astonishing bands, from Planxty to the Bothy Band to Moving Hearts, and plus his one-off bands and the myriad albums he's produced ... he is THE guru of Irish music. LUKA BLOOM - Bad [KEEPER OF THE FLAME/Shanachie] This one's a late addendum to the "Best of" list, 'cause I forgot it last week. Luka's album of covers came out in Ireland in 2000, but not here until '01, and a fine album it is -- covers from U2 (like this one) to Radiohead to the Cure to ABBA. PADDY KEENAN and TOMMY O'SULLIVAN - Jigs: The Lost and Found/The Hag at the Churn/The Wind Off the Lake [THE LONG GRAZING ACRE/ HoT Conya Records] VERNEL BAGNERIS and CAST - There'll Be A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight [ONE MO' TIME: ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM/Warner] Out of time ... time for David and Peter!

 

"down home" radio show | radio home page
the gumbo pages | search this site

chuck taggart
email:  chuck (at) downhome (dot) org