What’s Goin’ On
September 1st, 2006 by JoshThis summer, as one of my loyal readers, you may have noticed a considerable drop off in my posting volume. It may have to do with a busy summer of music, moving, working, and planning a huge fall project over on my other site. Or it may just have been because I’m lazy. But rest assured, that starting in late September I will be back to writing in this space and others on a much more regular basis.
Looking at my posting over time, there’s a noticeable spike a year ago when Hurricane Katrina blew through New Orleans and the American psyche. A year later, the Gulf Coast is still in tatters, tens of thousands have still not returned home, and several American corporations are several billion dollars richer thanks to to no-bid contracts. But as always in the Crescent City, the music has continued.
Out this week was a new release by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a group I had the pleasure of meeting and working with during my time at XPN. They’ve been making classic New Orleans R&B since 1975 with 2 drummers and a whole bunch of horns. And I’m a sucker for horns. Their new album is a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic 1971 record, What’s Goin’ On. With guests like Chuck D, Bettye LaVette, Ivan Neville, G. Love, and the sampled voice of NO Mayor Ray Nagin, the Dirty Dozen have created a mournful and fitting eligy to the people of their home town. Like Gaye did during another time of war and upheaval, it cries out against the insanity of our times. It’s a great album.
