The New Orleans Suspects - Paul Barrere + Fred Tackett -- The Hamilton - Jan 9 2015

Paul Barrere + Fred Tackett - Lowell George may have died over 35 years ago, but his band Little Feat regrouped and has carried on quite nicely over the years. Two of their guitarists are here tonight, with Barrere being a guitarist dating back to the earliest days and Tackett taking over at the restart. So these guys work together well as there is a variety of electric guitars, some tasty slide runs, and a mandolin for the latter part of the set. They are also joined on keyboards for a few songs at the end, but it is mostly just guitars and voices. The voices are older and a bit weathered but the instrumental interplay works comfortably throughout their 45 minute set. They cover 'The Weight' along with most likely a few other songs more expert in this genre than I will recognize. All in all, it was a fine set to open the night, although even in the one club where they tell people to shut the hell up while the band is playing, the conversation noise was ridiculous to the point where I even told people to keep it down (they moved a few feet over and were only slightly less loud talking about how their jobs were going). I hope this is not a continuing sign for the year.

The New Orleans Suspects - I need a New Orleans fix pretty regularly in my life. Although I don't always have the music on regular rotation at home, when I do spin a Dr. John disc or when it comes to the clubs, it is highly welcome and needed. Fortunately, I have moved to the very back of the crowded club and am sitting by the bar where it is much quieter for some odd reason and can really dig into this music. New Orleans music is like a gumbo with a lot of jazz, blues, rock, and world moves working their way into the mix combining to form something unique without too much footing in any one genre. The band tonight exemplifies this style and even though they have been playing together for a short time, they are talented veterans of the scene. Starting with the rhythm section you have over 30 years each of experience with the Neville Brothers and the Radiators, which is pretty much all you need to know there. Up front you have saxophone, keyboards and guitar trading off the leads in what becomes a mix of loose jamming and tight song structures comfortably mixing in. Ultimately, the cool part is that the band has distinct songs where they manage to vary the sounds and styles so it avoids the feeling of an hour long jam session. The keyboardist went into sharp piano runs and very soft organ sounds. I particularly liked the organ as it was a great counterpoint to the sharper guitar and sax sounds. The band was spot on tonight and I will highly recommend a visit to the Hamilton tonight as they do one more show before heading out for more touring. Just get there early and sit up front with the rabid fans and attentive listeners.

Photo grab of the Night: In honor of my extensive work to organize, research, and price my record collection of over 2,100 discs which will be up for sale soon, I found this...