by Sam Winston

Just before her set on the Acura Stage last Friday, I caught this practice run-through in her dressing room/trailer. Apparently her Jazz Fest set was a bit of a digression because she’s been playing the same music all by herself on stage recently. Using looping equipment, she plays every instrument, records it live, then triggers it and sings and plays over it simultaneously (she did a few like that to open the set). Same for her new album coming out except for one duet with Allan Toussaint. I admittedly can’t be a fair judge since I know her well enough to have been at her wedding, but I’d say its by far and away the most interesting music she’s ever put out. I think fans and non-fans alike will also be equally surprised at the depth of her new material. It pretty much redefines her. More here.

by Alejandro de los Rios

UPDATE: ZOMG!!! I found the commercial!

I’ve posted at length about the Hornets and their extensive trick shot abilities. But no Chris Paul half-court shot and no Jannero Pargo behind-the-backboard shot will ever top this shot by Morris Peterson during Hornets practice this morning. (And for those of you who think the Hornets are still lacking in media love, note that this video is scheduled to air tonight on SportsCenter and on ESPNews.)

Some things that don’t appear in the video or ESPN article:

• It can’t be emphasized enough, but the players took what seemed like 1-2 thousand shots. Don’t believe me? If you count, there are 15 shots that are taken in that video, which is around 40 seconds long. That’s around 20 shots taken every minute over what was about 30-40 minutes. I’m not math major, but that tops out at close to the 1,000 shot mark.

Read the rest of this entry »

NOLA Grocery, the Warehouse District sandwich shop I wrote about this week, is big on Cajun flavor and very scant on creature comforts. So scant, in fact, that it’s strangely entertaining.
This is a take-out place for sure, but owner Murray Tate has made some accommodations for people who want to unwrap their po-boys and eat them right away. This amounts to a pair of glass-top patio tables pushed together in an area wedged between a bank of drink coolers and a metal garage door. The garage door is usually open, and the view it affords (above) is primarily of a marine industry workshop.

More interesting, though, is what goes down on some days just around the corner. An alley there is often jammed with trailer-mounted crawfish boiling rigs and assorted other catering prep operations for events at the convention center a block away. Read the rest of this entry »

Lolis Eric Elie knows how to get right to the point. As a regular columnist at the Times Picayune, Elie has little room for verbosity, but still those few words of his printed on a little slip of newspaper are often more than enough to knock you over. He has the same effect in person.

In the early summer of 2006, I was covering a story about a group of restaurateurs, who were visiting New Orleans to learn more the levee failures. Before getting on tour buses to see the devastation, the sponsoring-organization, Share Our Strength, asked Elie to say a few words about the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. With a straight, almost deadpan-delivery, Elie asked the group to imagine a trucker crashing his 18-wheeler through the middle of their living room. The trucker gets out of his cab, looks around and says, “Wow. I feel bad about this. Tell you what, I’ll give you 50 percent for everything I’ve destroyed.” Pause. Read the rest of this entry »

by Alejandro de los Rios

It really only makes sense: after three consecutive losing seasons — including a debut with only 18 wins — Byron Scott led the Hornets to a franchise-best 56 wins and a division title. Now, Scott has been honored with the Association’s Coach of the Year award.

David West and Chris “Birdman” Andersen are the only two players that remain from Scott’s first year. On several occasions, I’ve asked West how or if Scott has changed since that miserable first season. Read the rest of this entry »