New Orleans

Interview with Jake from The Cangelosi Cards

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The Cangelosi Cards

On today’s show I speak with the bandleader, guitarist and banjoist from The Cangelosi Cards, Jake Sanders.  Here’s what I said about the Cards several years, ago and I stand by this statement now:

“The Cangelosi Cards are one of the best bands I’ve seen anywhere. They have a great live show, perfect for dancing! I envy any one who has not yet seen them because you now have the chance to see them for the first time! They keep it strictly real, playing traditional Old Time style jazz, but continue to see at as a living tradition- and as such bring in influences from ‘outside’ the cannon, such as country, blues, and early popular music. Tamar is an amazing singer and the level of musicianship is brilliant, bring your dancing shoes.”

Jake catches us up on what The Cards have been up to, including tours of Europe and Asia, a studio album and a brand new EP.  Definitely worth picking up their records, great stuff!  Check them out at www.losmusicosviajeros.net .
The Cangelosi Cards
[Giant polaroid of The Cards taken by Aperture Magazine!]

Interview with Jessy Carolina

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On today’s show I speak with New York folk singer and song writer Jessy Carolina.  Originally from Venezuela, Jessy grew up in North Dakota and later New York City.  She sings a lot of early blues songs, old-time and folk songs, Woody Guthrie songs and writes her own songs. We recorded this interview in a park in New Orleans when we were both down there back in February, busking on Royal street and escaping the New York winter.  Jessy plays live on the show, talks about her background, the trip down South and life busking in NOLA.  I also play some live recordings that I made of Jessy at the Jalopy Theater in Redhook, Brooklyn.

Jessy will be performing, along with 20 other great acts, at the upcoming Brooklyn Folk Festival, which will be held at Jalopy the weekend of May 15th -17th.  Its gonna be fun!  Check out www.BrooklynFolkFest.com for details.

Jessy Carolina sings “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie,” by Elizabeth Cotten on the streets of New Orleans, Feb. 2009.

Interview with Lech of the California Honeydrops

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On today’s show I speak with Lech Wierzynski of the California Honeydrops.  This band of expert musicians has created a sound drawing from virtually all areas of African-American music – early folk and New Orleans music, blues, gospel, R & B and soul, creating an excellent and unique style.  They are writing some great new songs using conventional instruments such as guitar, piano, trumpet and snare, but also incorporate folk instruments such as the tub bass and washboard into their sound.

On the show we plays some songs from their new CD, “Soul Tub,” plus Lech speaks about their influences and gives us a brief but very well informed sample of African-American music history – a bunch of seminal recordings which I had not heard before.  Great stuff!

The band is:

Lech Wierzynski : Guitar Vocals Trumpet…. Nansamba Ssensalo: Washboard, Drums, Vocals, Fiddle, Jug, Tub Bass…. Chris Burns: Piano…. Ben Malament: Tub Bass, Drums, vocals

California Honeydrops Myspace page

Tracks played on today’s episode: