The Best CDs of 2008: Show Host Picks

Published on: December 12th, 2008

Give the gift of New Orleans musicHere are the best CD releases of 2008, handpicked by WWOZ show hosts. Many of the discs are by local New Orleans artists, while others are from national and international acts, and all of them make great stocking stuffers. So head on over to Louisiana Music Factory or Amazon.com and give the gift of music!


Joel "Heavy D" Dinerstein [view show host profile]

Contemporary Jazz, Tuesday 12 - 3 a.m.

Charles Lloyd Quartet CD cover
  1. Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (ECM) buy now button
  2. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Avatar (Blue Note) buy now button
  3. Bobby Previte & the New Bump - Set the Alarm for Monday (Palmetto) buy now button
  4. Cassandra Wilson - Loverly (Blue Note) buy now button
  5. David Murray Black Saint Quartet - Sacred Ground (Justin Time) buy now button

 


Tom Morgan [view show host profile]

New Orleans Music Show, Tuesday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Jazz Roots, Wednesday 9 - 11 a.m. John Boutté CD cover

  1. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent) buy now button
  2. Jimmy Carpenter - Toiling in Obscurity (Independent) buy now button
  3. Chuck Perkins - A Love Song for NOLA (Independent) buy now button
  4. Coco Robicheaux - Like I Said, Yeah U Rite! The Techneaux Swamp Sessions (Independent) buy now button
  5. The Pfister Sisters - Puttin' It On (Mambo Goddess Records) buy now button

Sondra Bibb [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Thursday 4 - 7 p.m.

Danilo Perez CD cover
  1. Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (ECM) buy now button
  2. Pat Metheny - Day Trip (Nonesuch) buy now button
  3. Nicholas Payton - Into the Blue (Nonesuch) buy now button
  4. Danilo Perez - Across the Crystal Sea (Emarcy) buy now button
  5. Kenny Garrett - Sketches of MD (Mack Avenue) buy now button
  6. Steve Turre - Rainbow People (HighNote) buy now button
  7. Taylor Eigsti - Let it Come to You (Concord) buy now button
  8. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Avatar (Blue Note) buy now button

 


Jelly Roll Justice [view show host profile]

Contemporary Jazz, Monday and Friday 3 - 6 a.m., Saturday 5 - 6 a.m.

Ellis Marsalis CD cover
  1. Trio Da Paz & Joe Locke - Live at JazzBaltica (Max Jazz) buy now button
  2. Grant Stewart - Young at Heart (Sharp Nine) buy now button
  3. Robert Walter - Cure All (Palmetto) buy now button
  4. Little Freddie King - Messin' Around tha House (Wacko Wade Music) buy now button
  5. Ellis Marsalis - Open Letter to Thelonious (Elm) buy now button

 


T.R. Johnson [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Tuesday 4 - 7 p.m.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba CD cover
Doctor John CD cover
  1. Charles Lloyd - Rabo de Nube (ECM) buy now button
  2. Dafnis Prieto - Taking the Soul for a Walk (Dafnison Music) buy now button
  3. James Carter - Present Tense (Emarcy/Universal) buy now button
  4. Gonzalo Rubalcaba - Avatar (Blue Note) buy now button
  5. John Ellis - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Hyena Records) buy now button
  6. Other Dimensions in Music - Live at the Sunset (Marge) buy now button
  7. Joe Lovano - Symphonica (Blue Note) buy now button
  8. Donny McCaslin - Recommended Tools (Greenleaf Music) buy now button
  9. Rob Brown - Crown Trunk Root Funk (AUM Fidelity) buy now button
  10. Dr. John & the Lower 911 - City That Care Forgot (Savoy) buy now button

 


Murf Reeves

Guest host on Keith Hill's New Orleans Music Show, Monday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Brice Miller CD cover
Cedric Watson CD cover
  1. Black Crowes - Warpaint (Silver Arrow) buy now button
    Fun, groovy rock 'n roll with some tight musicianship. Their live show at House of Blues was real good, and they have good musical sense when choosing covers. (The band includes William Bell and John Martyn.)
  2. Billy Joel - The Stranger (Sony) buy now button
    Songwriting that still takes you to a specific place while staying hopeful.
  3. People Under the Stairs - Fun DMC (Gold Dust Media) buy now button
    Great West Coast hip-hop. The focus is on beats that are warm and fun, that engage and entertain.
  4. Brice Miller - A Day in the Life (Miller Mack Media & Brice Miller Productions) buy now button
    An artist who has learned from this city's musical history and kept it alive with his own modern twist.
  5. Cedric Watson - Cedric Watson (Valcour) buy now button
    Watson's songs are lush, with just the right amount of folk and jazz to create great dancing music.

Suzanne Corley [view show host profile]

Tudo Bem, Saturday 2 - 4 p.m.
World Journey, Saturday 4 - 6 p.m.

Omara Portuondo CD cover
  1. Chambao - Con Otro Aire (Sony International) buy now button
    Spanish/Flamenco
  2. Glaucia Nasser - A Vida Num Segundo (Tratore Music Brasil) buy now button
    Brazilian
  3. Omara Portuondo and Maria Bethânia - Omara Portuondo e Maria Bethânia (Biscoito Fino) buy now button
    Brazilian/Cuban
  4. Mario Lucio - Badyo (Phantom Sound & Vision) buy now button
    Cape Verde
  5. Vusi Mahlasela - Guiding Star (ATO Records) buy now button
    South Africa

 


Olivia Greene [view show host profile]

Frequent guest host

Theresa Andersson CD cover
  1. Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go! (Basin Street) buy now button
  2. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent) buy now button
  3. Irvin Mayfield and Ellis Marsalis - Love Songs, Ballads and Standards (Basin Street) buy now button
  4. The Pfister Sisters - Puttin' It On (Mambo Goddess Records) buy now button
  5. Dr. Michael White - Blue Crescent (Basin Street) buy now button

Lisa Barrios [view show host profile]

Traditional Jazz, Thursday 9 - 11 a.m.

Original Royal Players CD cover
  1. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent) buy now button
    The title cut and "Door Poppin'" are my favorites.
  2. Original Royal Players - In Their Footsteps (Independent) buy now button
    I'm likin' "Love the Big Ones" and "Too Sweet Da Bounce."
  3. Los Po-Boy-Citos - New Orleans Latin Soul (Independent) buy now button
    I keep going back to "Fried Neck Bones & Some Home Fries" and "Barrio Blue."

 


Charles "Charlie B" Burchell [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Monday 4 - 7 p.m.

Esperanza Spaulding CD cover
  1. Esperanza Spaulding - Esperanza (Heads Up International) buy now button
  2. Donald Harrison - The Chosen (Nagel-Heyer) buy now button
  3. James Carter - Present Tense (Emarcy/Universal) buy now button
  4. Nicholas Payton - Into the Blue (Nonesuch) buy now button
  5. Joey DeFrancesco - Joey D! (HighNote) buy now button

 


David Kunian [view show host profile]

The Kitchen Sink, Tuesday 10 p.m. - Wednesday 12 a.m.
Jazz Lunatique, Thursday 12 - 3 a.m.

Andre Williams CD cover
Sun Ra CD cover
Hart McNee CD cover
Hart McNee CD cover
  1. Bobby Lounge - Somethin's Wrong (Abitian) buy now button
  2. Andre Williams & the New Orleans Hellhounds - Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot) buy now button
  3. Dr. John & the Lower 911 - City That Care Forgot (Savoy) buy now button
  4. Dr. Michael White - Blue Crescent (Basin Street) buy now button
  5. Don Cherry - Live at Café Montmartre 1965 (ESP) buy now button
  6. Sun Ra - Strange Strings (Atavistic) buy now button
  7. Microscopic Sextet - Lobster Leaps In (Cuneiform) buy now button
  8. Tom McDermott and Connie Jones - Creole Nocturne (Arbors) buy now button
  9. John Boutté - Good Neighbor (Independent) buy now button
  10. Carl LeBlanc - Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall) buy now button
  11. Hart McNee - Mimi's Rumba (Frenchmen Street Records) buy now button
  12. The Happy Talk Band - THERE there (Independent) buy now button
  13. The Magnetic Ear - Live at the Saturn Bar (Independent) buy now button
  14. Asylum Street Spankers - What? And Give Up Show Business? (Yellow Dog Records) buy now button
  15. Los Po-Boy-Citos - New Orleans Latin Soul (Independent) buy now button
  16. Irma Thomas - Simply Grand (Rounder) buy now button
  17. Robert Walter - Cure All (Palmetto) buy now button
  18. John Ellis & Double-Wide - Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Hyena Records) buy now button
  19. Walter "Wolfman" Washington - Doin' the Funky Thing (Independent) buy now button
  20. Henry Butler - PiaNOLA Live (Basin Street)buy now button
  21. Jesse McBride - Jesse McBride presents the Next Generation (AFO) buy now button

Sherwood Collins [view show host profile]

New Orleans Music Show, Thursday 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

The Revivalists CD cover
Big Sam's Funky Nation CD cover
The Campbell Brothers CD cover
Preservation Hall Jazz Band CD cover
  1. The Revivalists - The Revivalists (Independent) buy now button
    This band really hits me: Great songwriting, awesome vocalist, killer musicians . . . all from college-age kids. I think they can really hit it big.
  2. Eric Lindell - Low on Cash, Rich in Love (Alligator Records) buy now button
    A new CD with new compositions lands Lindell on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." My fiancée and I have been dancing to "Josephine" all year long.
  3. Big Sam's Funky Nation - Peace, Love, and Understanding (Independent) buy now button
    It really shows the evolution of this band into something really funky. I wish "Up in Here" was just a bit longer, but all in all, a great album.
  4. The Campbell Brothers - Rallytime (Tulip Records) buy now button
    Marc Stone did a wonderful job putting this album together. "A Change is Gonna Come" has never cried so much on an instrument as it does on Darick Campbell's lap steel.
  5. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band - The Hurricane Sessions (Preservation Hall Records) buy now button
    Great compilation CD/DVD put together by Ben Jaffe.

Other great albums in no particular order:

  • Theresa Andersson - Hummingbird, Go! (Basin Street) buy now button
  • Jimmy Robinson - Vibrating Strings (Independent) buy now button
  • Billy Iuso & the Restless Natives - Paradise Lost . . . (Nawlins Music) buy now button
  • Various Artists - Funky Kidz (Asap Productions) buy now button
  • Gravy - Said & Done (Blue Eyed Dog Publishing) buy now button
  • Leo Nocentelli - Say Na Hey (Pesuky Music) buy now button

The Minister of Swing [view show host profile]

Swing and Big Band, Friday 12 - 3 a.m.

Red Nicholls CD cover
  1. Raymond Scott - Ectoplasm (Basta) buy now button
    Fun 1938 recordings released just in time for the Raymond Scott centennial in 2008.
  2. Red Nichols - 1930-1931 (Classics) buy now button
    It's getting harder and harder to find this label, so pick this up while you can. Nichols plays with a young Jimmy Dorsey, Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Gene Krupa.
  3. Red McKenzie - Red McKenzie Vol. 1 (Timeless) buy now button
    This was a 2001 release that went out of print and has been re-issued. Terrific early hot recordings with Red singing and playing the comb.

 


Big D [view show host profile]

Blues and R&B: Sittin' at the Crossroads with Big D, Tuesday 12 - 3 a.m.

My "Best of 2008" list is broken into two parts: "local" and "outside the city."

Eric Lindell CD cover
Irma Thomas CD cover

Local Artist Releases

  1. Eric Lindell - Low On Cash, Rich In Love (Alligator Records) buy now button
  2. Irma Thomas - Simply Grand (Rounder Records) buy now button
  3. Big Daddy O - What You Got to Go Through (Rabadash Records) buy now button
  4. Little Freddie King - Messin' Around the House (Made Right) buy now button
  5. Grayson Capps - Rott 'n' Roll (Hyena Records) buy now button

Releases from Outside the City

  1. J.J. Grey & Mofro - Orange Blossoms (Alligator Records) buy now button
  2. Sonny Landreth - From the Reach (Landfall Records) buy now button
  3. Kenny Neal - Let Life Flow (Blind Pig Records) buy now button
  4. Sean Costello - We Can Get Together (Delta Groove) buy now button
  5. Larry Garner - Here Today Gone Tomorrow (Dixie Frog) buy now button

 


Saadir Williams [view show host profile]

Jazz from the Market, Friday 4 - 7 p.m.

Dianne Reeves CD cover
  1. Esperanza Spaulding - Esperanza (Heads Up International) buy now button
  2. Dianne Reeves - When You Know (Blue Note) buy now button
  3. Nicole Henry - The Very Thought of You (Banister Records) buy now button

 


A.J. Rodrigue [view show host profile]

Kitchen Sink, Wednesday 10 p.m. - Thursday 12 a.m.

  1. Eddie Bo CD coverAndre Williams and the New Orleans Hellhounds - Can You Deal With It? (Bloodshot Records) buy now button
  2. Quintron - Too Thirsty for Love (Goner Records) buy now button
  3. 007 - You Only Drop Once (Independent) buy now button
  4. Bobby Lounge - Somethin’s Wrong (Abitian Records) buy now button
  5. Eddie Bo - In the Pocket With Eddie Bo! (Phantom Sound and Vision) buy now button
  6. Walter "Wolfman" Washington - Doin' The Funky Thing (Zoho Music) buy now button
  7. Carl LeBlanc - New Orleans' Seventh Ward Griot (Preservation Hall Records) buy now button
  8. Blind Boys of Alabama - Down in New Orleans (MI) buy now button
  9. Cedric Watson - Cedric Watson (Valcour Records) buy now button
  10. Hart McNee - MiMi's Rumba (Frenchmen Street Records) buy now button
  11. Buena Vista Social Club - Buena Vista Social Club At Carnegie Hall (Abitian Records) buy now button 
  12. Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls! (Great American Music) buy now button
  13. Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool (Yep Roc Records) buy now button

Add a comment below if you would like to submit your own picks for 2008 or to comment on the picks above.

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Comments

I have liked both Dr. John's & Irma Thomas's CD's this year, but also listened alot to Marcia Ball's latest CD, "Peace, Love & BBQ", all of which have been nominated for blues album of the year by the Grammy Awards.

Where's the love for Paul Sanchez?

I listened to Mystery St compulsively for months. Hoob-a-Joob can take a rightful place with great NOLA party songs.

'You Only Drop Once' nice!

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