Today's musical tidbits

Saw Steve Earle last night at the Englert.  A fabulous show, mostly acoustic with a little bit of techno, hip-hop mix behind him on occasion.  The acoustic great; the dance mix behind him not so much.  Fortunately it was much more of the former.  His new wife Alison Moorer opened the show.  She has a great voice, but the music didn’t do a whole lot for me.  Her harmonies with Steve, though, were amazing.  He may be looking like a not-so-gracefully aging cowboy, but he can still rock with the best of them.  So, today’s listening suggestion is The Revolution Starts Now.  I mean how can you beat an album with a love song to Condi Rice or a declaration to fuck the FCC?

For secondary listening pleasure, I recommend Steve’s Transcendental Blues.  Perhaps an all around better album, but his show last night put me in the mood for a bit of revolution.

Also on my day’s playlist is in honor of the end of New Orleans’ Jazz Fest.  Wish I could be there.  The Nevilles closing the show like the old days.  It would be easy of course to suggest some Nevilles or perhaps some Professor Longhair-both appropriate and worth a good listen to today, but I’m reaching a bit further and putting a little James Booker on the playlist.  I highly recommend his Junco Partner. An all-around great eclectic New Orleans piano album.

OK, so a smaller picture of Booker’s album but no less important than Earle’s.  Give ‘em both a listen.  I could of course go on with new orleans music.  In fact, maybe I will: upcoming, my top ten new orleans albums.  Stay tuned…