Music makes the Season merry and bright

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Music is a wondrous entity. It has the ability to make us happy when we’re sad, soothe us when we’re blue, heal us when we’re ailing, bring back memories of earlier times and delight us with new ideas.

The gift of music for the holidays is a package that lasts through the years and decades. It creates remembrances of friends and relatives who shared the music that they loved and thought you might appreciate too. “Where did you get that album?” someone, particularly a fellow music lover, might ask. “Oh, I got that from my aunt one Christmas. I think of her whenever I listen to it.”

This city is what could be called a New Orleans-centric town. We love our music and others adore our sounds too. So here are some solid suggestions of albums, derived from those released this year, that will bring joy to those with big ears and open hearts. Many of them have been reviewed in this column so are offered as a reminder for your – at this point – last minute gift list.

Davell Crawford’s Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1 (Basin Street Records) represents the perfect present for his fans as well as those who dig New Orleans style of music and those who appreciate what a talented pianist and vocalist can achieve alone in a room or studio. As the title suggests, it is the first in a series of CDs of music Crawford recorded from 1996 to 2013 as a way of documenting his work. The album includes both classic and original material including Crawford’s “Booker Days,” that offers a fine tribute to the legendary piano genius James Booker among other treasures.

Other favs for consideration include the new album, Apache, by vocalist Aaron Neville whose distinctive and always identifiable voice prospers from a fresh approach to his soulful, old-school roots. Trombonist/vocalist Corey Henry stepped forward this year on his album Lapeitah an ode to his beloved Treme neighborhood. The Spirit of Fi Yi Yi and the Mandingo Warriors’ When that Morning Comes offers some of the Mardi Gras Indians’ traditional sounds and wisdom but also the gang, led by Chief Victor Harris, is heard as never before backed by a full band, horns and all.

For modern jazz lovers the picks from this year’s crop are excellent. Drummer Herlin Riley released a solid disc, New Direction, that rhythmically journeys throughout the African diaspora from the homeland to New Orleans to New York City. NOLAtet with its all-star cast drummer Johnny Vidacovich, bassist James Singleton, vibraphonist Mike Dillon and pianist Brian Haas, made its presence known on its debut, Dogs. Talk about super groups, The Cookers, a band of veteran jazz aces that now includes our own saxophonist Donald Harrison Jr., released its fifth remarkable album, the aptly named The Call of the Wild and Peaceful Heart. Yes, it embraces both elements simultaneously. Any of this band’s albums will enlighten not just the holidays but the human spirit.

Combo Gifts

Two of the finest book ever written about New Orleans music – Danny Barker’s A Life in Jazz and John Broven’s Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans – have recently been wonderfully updated and republished. They would pair well, respectively, with the 2015 two-disc album, Danny Barker – New Orleans Jazz Man and Raconteur and this year’s release of Professor Longhair’s Live in Chicago. Read ‘em, listen to ‘em, dance to ‘em.

Put a Bow on Some Live Music

Give a loved one, or get yourself, any early Christmas present by purchasing a ticket to Thursday night’s, December 22, 2017 Home for the Holidays concert at the House of Blues. The New Orleans star-studded night includes vocalists Irma Thomas and John Boutte, trombonist, trumpeter and singer Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, his big brother trumpeter and vocalist James Andrews, trumpeter Kermit Ruffins and more. The annual event benefits the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts through the Daniel Price Memorial in remembrance of the late former NOCCA student. Go to www.houseofblues.com/neworleans for further information.

Though the Essence Music Festival is still six months away – June 30 – July 2, 2017 – tickets went on sale last Friday, December 16, 2016 just in time to make them a super stocking stuffer. The major artists appearing at the Superdome for the 23rd annual event are impressive. Diana Ross will make her debut on the big stage with returning headliners to include the often mysterious Erykah Badu, who in the past offered a jazz-tinged soul set that was enhanced by her humorous and sometimes blue interludes. It’s good to see the always-energized Chaka Khan back on the schedule as well as the wonderful Mary J. Blige. On the local front, now New Orleans resident Solange, who earned a Grammy nomination in the Best R&B Performance category for “Cranes in the Sky” off her 2016 release A Seat at the Table, returns to the Superdome. Back too, for his second appearance in the arena is our own Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews leading his band Orleans Avenue. Noticeably, he, along with vocalist John Legend are the only two men mentioned in the woman-heavy initial list of Essence performers. Dates and times of performances have not been announced. Go to www.es-sence.com/festival for updates and www.ticketmaster.com to purchase tickets.

This article originally published in the December 19, 2016 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.