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<title>Top New Orleans Blues Artists on Rhapsody Online</title>
<dateCreated>Thu Dec 10 06:57:00 PST 2009</dateCreated>
<dateModified>Thu Dec 10 06:57:00 PST 2009</dateModified>
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<outline type="include" text="Tab Benoit" description="Tab Benoit plays tone-heavy, swampy Blues Rock. His soulful, wailing, gritty voice is one of the best of recent artists, anywhere. If you play his music next to CCR for someone who hasn't heard either band, they would probably think that John Fogerty (who has a spectacular voice of his own) was greatly influenced by Benoit. Yeah, he's that good. His combustible guitar playing is rugged and riff-laden. It sounds like an old Fender Telecaster from the 1950's burning through a vintage tweed Deluxe amp at full volume (a-la CCR's rendition of &quot;Good Golly, Miss Molly&quot;).
- Eric Shea" category="Swamp Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/tab-benoit/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Professor Longhair" description="Professor Longhair's contribution to the New Orleans musical vocabulary is immeasurable. In addition to penning the standards &quot;Mardis Gras in New Orleans&quot; and &quot;Tipitina,&quot; he was a major influence on pretty much every pianist who ever played in that town. His rollicking style is Creole itself, with Rumba, Calypso, and Merengue flourishes all popping up here and there in R&amp;B structures. His wandering yelp of a vocal delivery is almost never on key, but who cares? He embodies the indescribable &lt;i&gt;thing&lt;/i&gt; about New Orleans: good music, good times, and the sleazier the better. With an infectious love of his craft, he effortlessly kept in check a sound that was always on the brink of disaster. Unutterably charming, and transcendently cool.
- Mike McGuirk" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/professor-longhair/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jon Cleary" description="" category="Piano Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jon-cleary/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Marcia Ball" description="Marcia Ball is one of the best-known artists to come out of the fertile Louisiana-Texas delta that spawned such greats as Janis Joplin and Lonnie Brooks. Her Boogie-Woogie piano playing draws from Swamp Rock and Zydeco to achieve a unique flavor, while her songwriting always returns to the blues. Authentically southern and unforced, these tracks illustrate Ball's great feel for both slow blues and Boogie-Woogie. Her smoky, intriguing vocals do justice to every tune, while the piano swings mischievously behind her. A southern artist to her core, Ball draws on the best music of her region to impressive effect.
- Eric Shea" category="Texas Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/marcia-ball/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Clarence &quot;Gatemouth&quot; Brown" description="Gatemouth was a Texas legend who played as many kinds of music as he did instruments. A true master of the blues guitar, adept with violin, harmonica, bass, and drums, as well as a fine, rough singer, Brown had never been content to be pigeonholed into any one style. Calypso, jazz, country and blues are all mixed into his folky, funky, roots-driven sound, which benefits from the breadth of his instrumental prowess. His originally stinging, trebly tone on the guitar (which was to influence the great bluesmen Albert Collins and Johnny Copeland) developed into a smoother, jazzier sound over the years and couldn't really be compared to anyone else. Brown was just as happy fiddling a hoedown, writing a blues number with biting lyrics, or playing a Big Band jazz chart. Fans kept him on the road and in the studio until illness started slowing him down in 2002. At age 81, Clarence &quot;Gatemouth&quot; Brown survived Hurricane Katrina, only to pass away a week later from a combination of lung cancer and heart disease. You can hear the influence of his guitar in the music of everyone from Stevie Ray Vaughan to Brian Setzer.
- Jessy Terry" category="Texas Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/clarence-gatemouth-brown/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="James Booker" description="James Booker's unrelenting piano style made him an important figure in New Orleans music, acting as a major influence on Harry Connick Jr. and Dr. John, among others. Booker was a balanced and versatile pianist and organist -- his repetitive right hand sparkles complemented his awe-inspiring left hand's foundation. In terms of singing, he was no Pavarotti, but his quirky ego and raw, gritty style covered any infirmities. His succinct incorporation of Gospel, R&amp;B and jazz made for a dynamic, personal sound that could make even the same song sound entirely different when Booker reinterpreted himself. In addition to creating his own material, Booker valuably backed Freddy King, Aretha Franklin, T-Bone Walker, Ringo Starr and B.B. King, to name a few. His troubles with the law left us with fewer recordings than we might wish for, but enough to fall in love with his funky, soulful sound.
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/james-booker/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Zachary Richard" description="Zachary Richard is a regular player around New Orleans, often seen at the Maple Leaf, Tipitina's and, of course, Jazz Fest. His unique style seamlessly blends Zydeco, New Orleans Blues, and Roots rock influences. This is music to -- as they say down there -- &quot;laissez le bon temps rouler.&quot;
- Chad Driscoll" category="Cajun/Zydeco" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/zachary-richard/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Guitar Slim" description="During his brief career in the 1950s, this showstopping New Orleans blues man established himself as one of the earliest to master the art of electric guitar violence. His stabbing lead lines and primitive distortion tone remain unmistakable, as do his pleading, gospelized vocal shouts. He's best known to many through his song &quot;The Things That I Used to Do,&quot; a 1954 R&amp;B hit that featured Ray Charles on piano along with a typically swaggering Bayou horn arrangement (also by Charles). None of his other songs are blues standards, but they're full of memorable lines (e.g., &quot;Well I Done Got Over It&quot;) and interesting twists on the well-worn twelve-bar blues progression. His greatest legacy, though, is as a guitarist -- he influenced a whole legion of fellow fret-manglers, including Albert Collins, Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. The latter remarked specifically on Slim's &quot;Story of My Life,&quot; a song that, if it's stinging, wounded solo is any indication, explains why he only made it to age 32.
- Will York" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/guitar-slim/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Katie Webster" description="Katie Webster first came to prominence in the 1950s, when both her over-the-top persona and ham-fisted blues piano style were regarded as Louisiana state treasures. A period of semi-obscurity was broken in the mid-1980s when she recorded a whopper of a comeback album supported by such big names as Robert Cray and Bonnie Raitt. While Webster is best known for her lethal left hand and ebullient Swamp Blues flourishes, she is also an accomplished singer, performing standards and originals with her trademark delivery.
- Mike McGuirk" category="Piano Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/katie-webster/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Champion Jack Dupree" description="Champion Jack Dupree's New Orleans piano was one of the characteristic sounds of the Okeh record company's classic blues output. Dupree's laid-back Boogie-Woogie and barrelhouse piano style graced many albums, forging a sound that influenced many players, including Fats Domino and Professor Longhair. His singing was deep and sweet, forming a union with his rhythmic piano (and his acoustic guitar or drumming) in songs about the basics: women, drinking and fighting. Highlights of some of his later collaborations include a pre-Bluesbreakers session with John Mayall and Eric Clapton.
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/champion-jack-dupree/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Walter &quot;Wolfman&quot; Washington" description="New Orleans artist Walter &quot;Wolfman&quot; Washington is a Singer-Songwriter and instrumentalist who has been a professional musician for over 40 years. He began his career working with Lee Dorsey and Irma Thomas, and subsequently made a name for himself as Johnny Adams' band leader. Washington as a singer is capable of a smooth croon as well as a hard-edged R&amp;B shout. He is an exceptionally fluid guitar player, effortlessly meshing, Bop, Funk, and blues into a singular style. He has recorded more than a half-dozen records as a leader, and is on numerous others as a sideman.
- Tom Heyman" category="Jazz Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/walter-wolfman-washington/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Tuts Washington" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/tuts-washington/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bo Dollis" description="Every year at Mardi Gras, the Wild Magnolias' &quot;Indian Tribe&quot; strut their stuff in flashy costumes, guided by Big Chief Bo Dollis. Their sound has got nearly as much impact as their appearance, bringing in New Orleans heavyweights like The Meters and Dr. John to help play their good time, funky music.
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bo-dollis/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Henry Butler" description="Having soaked in the variety of musical flavors prominent in his native New Orleans -- Traditional Jazz, Soul, R&amp;B -- Henry Butler assimilated these influences into his own distinctive style. His interpretations of Professor Longhair are particularly exceptional. Few players have the range to play Longhair and Bernstein on the same album as Butler did on &lt;I&gt;Orleans Interpretations&lt;/I&gt; (1989), something that conclusively demonstrates his vision.
- Chad Driscoll" category="Jazz Piano" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/henry-butler/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dave Bartholomew" description="" category="New Orleans R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dave-bartholomew/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Mem Shannon" description="New Orleans native Mem Shannon is one of the more intriguing young blues stars to emerge in the last decade. A professional musician from his teen years onward, he worked in rock, Gospel and R&amp;B groups, honing his guitar playing and singing skills until family obligations forced him into an extended stint driving a cab. This experience formed the basis for many of the songs on his critically acclaimed debut &lt;i&gt;A Cab Driver's Blues&lt;/i&gt; (1995). Soon after, the media latched onto the story of the blues-singing cabbie and his career took off. Shannon is an evocatively soulful singer with a booming baritone voice, but he's also a mercurial guitarist with a Funk player's sense of syncopation and a well honed sense of Albert King-like dynamics. His records mine a deep Soul Blues groove full of funky brass playing and rubbery backbeats.
- Tom Heyman" category="Soul Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/mem-shannon/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="New Birth Brass Band" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/new-birth-brass-band/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Joe Krown" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/joe-krown-2/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Earl King" description="" category="New Orleans R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/earl-king/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Snooks Eaglin" description="A certified New Orleans classic, blessed with serious blues guitar skills. After losing his sight as a youngster, Eaglin put his efforts into developing the ability to play in many styles, earning a spot in Allen Toussaint's first band, and later gigs with artists such as Professor Longhair. Eaglin began by playing acoustic, finger-picked blues on the streets of New Orleans, accompanied by washboard and blues harp, before he got himself an R&amp;B-flavored Soul band and lit up the town with his ripping electric guitar solos. His acoustic playing is earthy with dexterous picking, while his electric tone is meaty and thick without relying on distortion. Vocally, Eaglin has a Ray Charles-influenced style that's fortified with a bit of a bayou accent.
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/snooks-eaglin/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Billie and Dede Pierce" description="18543
- Will York" category="Traditional Jazz/Dixieland" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/billie-and-dede-pierce/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Smiley Lewis" description="" category="New Orleans R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/smiley-lewis/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Dukes Of Dixieland" description="Crawdads and Po' Boys are the necessary accompaniment to this music forged in the late '40s. Banjo, clarinet, brass and more draw together for old-time jazz and Dixieland.
- Jessy Terry" category="Traditional Jazz/Dixieland" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/dukes-of-dixieland/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Cookie and the Cupcakes" description="" category="Swamp Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/cookie-and-the-cupcakes/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Chuck Carbo" description="Chuck Carbo's honeyed vocals first graced the Spiders, a seminal New Orleans R&amp;B vocal group. These songs find Carbo partying like he did in the '50s, but with a little more Blues Rock thrown into his Cajun equation. His singing often slips into that peppered drawl so characteristic of his hometown.
- Eric Shea" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/chuck-carbo/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Nathan Abshire" description="" category="Cajun/Zydeco" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/nathan-abshire/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Myrick &quot;Freeze&quot; Guillory" description="Smoking New Orleans Blues with a Zydeco focus. You can almost imagine shucking the crawdads and slurping down the gumbo in a drunken haze, grooving to Guillory's horn filled sound (and frequent guests such as Queen Ida).
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/myrick-freeze-guillory/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="John Fred &amp; the Playboys" description="With a voice similar to Eric Burdon's, John Fred could easily compare with the best white R&amp;B singers of the 1960s. Although he never achieved the type of recognition he deserved, he was an able songwriter and cover artist who tackled pop, blues and lush Southern ballads.
- Will Lerner" category="Blue-Eyed Soul" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/john-fred-the-playboys/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Sugar Boy Crawford" description="The author of one of New Orleans' most famous songs, &quot;Jockomo&quot; (otherwise known as &quot;Iko Iko&quot;). Sugar Boy Crawford is the quintessential bayou-growling singer/pianist.
- Robert Leaver" category="New Orleans R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/sugar-boy-crawford/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Raful Neal" description="Although his discography doesn't quite reflect a man of legend, Neal's recorded performances do. His first recordings were made at the tail end of the '50s, but these were just a few scattered 45 RPM singles. Still, these early recordings showed a man of promise (not to mention an appreciation for Little Walter). His first full-length recording wouldn't be released until 1990. By this time, Neal would be known more as the father of Kenny, Noel, Jackie and Raful Jr. (all accomplished musicians). Certainly, the new material is no match for his early fire, but it definitely shows a talent undiminished. " category="Swamp Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/raful-neal/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Alliance Hall Dixieland Band" description="From slow, &quot;my momma just died&quot; blues to faster Dixieland, this bunch of excellent musicians vividly conjures up the streets of New Orleans. Led by Wallace Davenport, a former member of Count Basie's band.
- Jessy Terry" category="Traditional Jazz/Dixieland" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/alliance-hall-dixieland-band/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Al Johnson" description="Johnson's &quot;Carnival Time&quot; has become something of a New Orleans standard, setting the stage for Mardi Gras with its bluesy, crawdad-inflected feel. Though many have covered the song, Johnson does it best, with a powerful vocal delivery and a great backing band.
- Jessy Terry" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/al-johnson/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Jim Wynn" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/jim-wynn/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Rodney Harris" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/rodney-harris/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Bobby Mitchell" description="A powerful yet unruly voice graced with a natural soulfulness launched Mitchell's career in the '50s, riding on the wave of success generated by labelmate Fats Domino. New Orleans R&amp;B and Doo-Wop ballads were his forte.
- Robert Leaver" category="Classic R&amp;B" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/bobby-mitchell/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Alan Gerber" description="Signed to the Chess Records subsidiary, Earic, at age 15, Alan Gerber's musical path since has perhaps not been marked by fame, but has been notable for the quality of his work. Producer Paul Rothchild picked Gerber to head up the late '60s supergroup, Rhinoceros, which put his soulful vocal skills to excellent use. Three records of heavy, r&amp;b-soaked rock later, Gerber left to pursue a solo career that found him working with everyone from Bob Dylan to Lou Reed. Re-emerging in the mid-'90s sounding more inspired and energetic than ever, Gerber has recently released some of the finest music of his career. With 1994's &lt;I&gt;Chicken Walk&lt;/i&gt;, he made an album steeped in the humidity of a swampy New Orleans evening. His voice sounds more relaxed, if a bit rougher, but what really makes Gerber a performer of note is his sweeping piano style - he's equally adept at boogie-woogie and more traditional blues. " category="Piano Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/alan-gerber/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Lil' Willie Gibson" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/lil-willie-gibson/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="John Rankin" description="" category="Blues Jazz" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/john-rankin/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Leonard Lee" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/leonard-lee/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
<outline type="include" text="Richard M. Jones" description="" category="New Orleans Blues" url="http://feeds.rhapsody.com/richard-m-jones/data.opml?rws=%2Fblues%2Fnew-orleans-blues%2Fartist-chart.opml" />
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