NEW ORLEANS MUSIC NEWS
Music critic Keith Spera sounds off on the best local CDs of 2009
South Louisiana delivered yet another bounty of CDs in 2009. None shined brighter than Allen Toussaint’s "The Bright Mississippi," his jazzy collaboration with producer Joe Henry and an all-star cast of modern jazz musicians.
Keith Spera/The Times-Picayune
Allen Toussaint’s “The Bright Mississippi,” a jazzy collaboration with producer Joe Henry and an all-star cast of modern jazz musicians.
Threadhead Records, the nonprofit label founded by a federation of Jazz Fest fans, had a big year. The best of Threadhead’s ’09 releases was "How to Be a Cannonball," by man-about-town guitarist and songwriter Alex McMurray. His lyrics are populated by his usual assortment of vivid, eccentric characters in the tradition of Tom Waits and Randy Newman.
Also on Threadhead, the New Orleans Nightcrawlers’ "Slither Slice" boasted sturdy brass funk, most of it written by the band. John Boutte and Paul Sanchez took their "Creole Mafia" allegiance public with "Stew Called New Orleans"; Sanchez also bid "Farewell to Storyville" with stories of his family set to music.