we are amazed but not amused
A friend of mine who frequents this blog said that he was one of her favorite performers at a music festival she attended last year. And she said that he cried when he sang the Annie Lennox song “Why”.
That last part got to me.
Off I went in search of John Boutté’s music.
What did I find? I found a jazz, soul, New Orleans, and a magical version on Louisiana 1927, complete with some new lyrics:
And because Hurricane Katrina made landfall two years ago today, it seems even more fitting to feature a New Orleans artist today. It sounds to me as if he has something to say about the progress made by our elected officials in the last two years…
You can download Louisiana 1929 for free from his myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/johnboutte
Even better, you can purchase live recordings of John Boutté, or over a hundred other artists, at the New Orleans Jazz Fest (what a gold mine!):
https://www.munckmusic.com/wms/jazzfest/index.html
(I’m listening to the 2007 Jazz Fest Live Compilation right now. Fabulous!)
categories: music
posted by tandjam at 03:00 am
Wow. Thanks tandjam. Some of your goodies will have to wait until I get home from work, but you weren’t lying when you said that’s a magical version of Louisiana. Can’t wait to dig in that gold mine.
I watched him do this song with the New Orleans Social Club on Austin City Limits. Fantastic!
The New Orleans Social Club episode is a must see. Was cool to see George Porter Jr. on the show too.
Wow, I’ll definitely check this guy out! Both songs were great, but that second one should be THE song. The frustration was palpable. Thank you all for sharing these.
Listened to his version of “Why” and now I’m just a little puddle of …. well, goo.
.
Thanks T&J ~
“We are amazed but not amused
by all the things you say that you’ll do”
Stevie Wonder - You Haven’t Done Nothin’
Well, thanks a lot! More money spent on iTunes! I’ve got to stop visiting this blog or I am going to go broke 99cents at a time…
hahahaha!!!
And we don’t even get a kick-back. What’s up with that?
I watched a show last night called “Back to New Orleans” which focused on Tippatino’s specifically and New Orleans music in general. It was excellent, but how coincindental - one of the musicians they featured was a member of the Bouté family, Teedy Bouté. The show was inspirational in the way it was able to capture the spirit of brotherhood and community that music is able to establish. Plus there were great performance clips of such greats as Deacon John (who hosted the show), Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, and the MOST amazing performance I’ve seen in a long time by the Zion Harmonizers. Unbelievable. There’s a CD that goes along with the documentary. More info is here: http://www.deaconjohnsjumpblues.com/home2.htm
What I love about these kinds of documentaries is that they show how universal all music stories seem to be. I recently saw the PBS thing on Stax Records, and the story line was the same: there is this group of musicians, they all know each other and jam together, someone opens a record store, everyone congregates there, someone starts a recording studio, suddenly it gets popular, and then the heyday is over. What’s funny about New Orleans is that the heyday never seems to end. They’re all still going strong, even after the small studios close and the old timers die and Hurricane Katrina nearly wipes out the town. Laissez les bon temps rouler indeed.
Very cool, Julie. Thatnks for that link. You’re right about New Orleans. What I’d love to know is how they grow musicians there. Probably some mix of roll your own and some part attracting the best of elsewhere.
I can’t stop listening to John Boutte. He’s amazing!
A little late here, but I want to post a link to the flood of 29, first given to us by True in the “They’re Trying To Wash Us Away” topic: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flood/timeline/timeline2.html.
I was amazed that I, and other people I talked to, had little knowledge of it. I was amazed it wasn’t talked about more after Katrina. So I thought it was worth posting again.
Mama, that link doesn’t work…
Julie, that’s just because there’s a period at the end of html. Click the link, then remove the period and hit your arrow, or “go” and you’ll get to the webpage.