New Orleans is, of course, one of America’s most important music cities.      Unlike the big music industry hubs where much of the creative talent is drawn from elsewhere, New Orleans always has been and continues to raise that talent. One of the reasons that I chose Tulane for graduate school was the opportunity to see great NOLA talent like the Neville Brothers with regularity. Below, I’ve put together a playlist for you that leads with New Orleans artists and concludes with a few homages to this incomparable city by artists who simply shared my appreciation for it.
     Your soundtrack:
Louis Armstrong - Basin St Blues-1928 -
Fats Domino- I'm Walking To New Orleans (With Lyrics)
     The more obvious choice from Irma Thomas would be “Time Is on My Side” (covered by the Rolling Stones and used in various movies) but for me, this is the quintessential Irma cut.
Irma Thomas "Ruler of my heart", 1963

     Composer, producer, musician Allen Toussaint left fingerprints on so many great recordings by other NOLA greats and this was no exception. Lee Dorsey cut my favorite version (Englishman Robert Palmer would soon record a great version backed by New Orleans’ musicians) but I’ll offer this one.
Sneakin' Sally Thru The Alley

     Glen Campbell had the hit but again, Allen Toussaint wrote and recorded it first. “Southern Nights”. Allen Toussaint was one of the greatest artists of his generation and one of the most elegant yet humble men you could ever have met.

     Dr. John had bigger hits (“Right Place, Wrong Time” for one) but for me, this is the song that most demonstrates why Dr. John could only have come from one place.
     Dr. John - I Walk On Guilded Splinters

     Each of the Neville Brothers already had substantial careers before finally getting together as a sibling unit. For my money, Art Neville was as fine a singer as his generation produced and while this one may seem almost too obvious, I can’t imagine putting together a New Orleans playlist without it.
     Aaron Neville (1966) - Tell It Like It Is

     The best-known version of this Mardi Gras staple, recorded by the Hawketts (which included Art Neville) in 1954
The Hawkettes - Mardi Gras Mambo

     The “funkiest band in the land”, it’s no wonder that the Meters are (along with James Brown) the most sampled act in Hip-Hop with grooves so angular that someone could get hurt. Memphis’s Booker T & the MGs were great and better known but New Orleans’ Meters are otherwise peerless.
     METERS - Cissy Strut

     Giving a nod to the Mardi Gras Indians who are indispensable to understanding the melting pot that is New Orleans. This record featured numerous musicians from a variety of NOLA acts and this song would be a staple of Neville Brothers sets for years. It’s also an opportunity for visitors to practice the proper pronunciation of “Tchoupitoulas” – handy for asking cab drivers to take you to venerable New Orleans club Tipitina’s.
     Meet De Boys On The Battlefront

     Here’s a 90-minute live set from the Neville Brothers because I’ll be damned if I could just pick one song form this seminal NOLA family.
     The Neville Brothers - Full Concert - 10/31/91 - Municipal Auditorium New Orleans (OFFICIAL) - YouTube

     While Charles and Art Neville have passed and Aaron has retired from touring, the Neville family legacy will continue through additional generations – represented here by Art’s son Ivan Neville who had extensive stints with the Neville Brothers band, as well as his own career and session work with the Rolling Stones – in addition to supporting and touring with Keith Richards.
     IVAN NEVILLE - NOT JUST ANOTHER GIRL - LIVE @ LE PETIT THEATER 2019 (a birthday shout for 60)

     When I was living in New Orleans, I used to see the Rebirth Brass Band which featured an impossibly charismatic young trumpet player named Kermit Ruffins who is now better known than that great band ever was.
     Kermit Ruffins & the BBQ Swingers: "Marie" - Live from Mother-in-law Lounge (2015)

      Trombone Shorty demonstrating an appreciation for the roots while also revealing that music isn’t intended to be a stagnant museum piece. NOLA just keeps churning out the talent.
     Trombone Shorty performs 'St. James Infirmary' at the White House

     All that and I haven’t even mentioned the Marsalis family? That omission wasn’t for a fault of respect but rather just to show how far one can go before even touching upon another one of the greatest musical families this country has ever produced:
     The Marsalis Family A Jazz Celebration August 2001 - Full Concert

     And a few selections from non-NOLA artists who celebrate the City
     “Well, it may rain. I don’t care. Don’t make no difference to me. Just take that streetcar that’s going uptown” with the Doobie Brothers
     Black Water

     POCO is probably considered a little lightweight by some of my friends but I always thought they captured New Orleans beautifully with this one and bonus points for whoever put together this video. Also, if anyone needs to hear the correct pronunciation of Pontchartrain, here it is:
     POCO HEART OF THE NIGHT

     Randy Newman had some family in New Orleans, so maybe he gets an asterisk here as an ‘outsider’. One of the most poignant renderings of this I’ve ever heard was by a band of penitentiary inmates on temporary work-release to perform live at a benefit concert for hurricane victims. Only in New Orleans!
     Randy Newman "Louisiana 1927"
Michael Webber

Vol. 21 No. 2
IATA Plays Through CNS
FIATA First Electronic President
Chuckles for January 10, 2022
American's Iconic Hangar 1 Bites The Dust

Vol. 21 No. 3
Think Sustainable Is Attainable
Chuckles for January 17, 2022
Winners In NOLA
Fruit Logistics Goes Bananas In April
Genius Draws No Color Lines