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Issue 79, Winter 2012

The Louisiana Music Issue

“Music in Louisiana isn’t an escape, or it’s not only an escape. It’s a form of civic engagement, often speaking to very specific constituencies. The music is personal but not private as musicians speak to and for their communities.” —Alex Rawls, Guest-editor’s letter

Features by Amanda Petrusich, Stanley Crouch, Brian Boyles, Duncan Murrell, Jason Berry, and Matt Sakakeeny. Poetry by Yusef Komunyakaa, Rickey Laurentiis, and others.

OPENING ACTS

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Meters, Tony Joe White, Kix Brooks, Barbara Reid, Kenny Bill Stinson, Terrance Simien, and the Buffalo Soldiers Trail Riding Club

FEATURES

Oola Malla Walla Dolla
The Long Cosmic Reach of Professor Longhair
by Jason Berry

Dragged Through the Forest
The Long-gone Sound of Amédé Ardoin
by Amanda Petrusich

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans
You Have To Swing To Be There
by Stanley Crouch

Begin Again
The Anxiety of Authenticity
by Duncan Murrell

Bourbon Street Parade
Twelve Hours in a New Orleans Strip Club
by Brian Boyles

Why Dey Had To Kill Them
The Life and Death of Shotgun Joe
by Matt Sakakeeny

POETRY

Three Poems, by Yusef Komunyakaa

Quicksilver
The White Handkerchief
from Requiem

Little Song, by Rickey Laurentiis

Little Freddie Makes Seventy at BJ's in the Bywater, by Lee Meitzen Grue

Blues on Burgundy, by Keith Veizer

Cover: Illustration of Professor Longhair by Marc Burckhardt