5 things to know for 7/1

Published on: June 30th, 2016

New Breed Brass Band

New Breed Brass Band
New Breed Brass Band [Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee]

Corey Henry's Lapeitah

Corey Henry's Lapeitah
Corey Henry's "Lapeitah"

Satchmo SummerFest 2014 [Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee]

Satchmo SummerFest 2014 [Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee]
Satchmo SummerFest 2014 [Photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee]
Essence Fest, SatchmoFest lineup announcement, DJ Soul Sister shines at UNO, and more.

'5 things to know' is a weekly feature highlighting different parts of the WWOZ world that you may have missed this week, including unique WWOZ programming and video, plus New Orleans events, artists, places, features, and more. For the week ending July 1, 2016:

1) Essence Fest returns to New Orleans for this holiday weekend. New Orleans performers this year include Cyril Neville, New Breed Brass Band, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and more. See the full list of local speakers and performers here. Festivities abound outside of Essence, as well. Go 4th on the River will be holding their annual dueling barges incredible fireworks display on the Mississippi River at 9p on July 4. This is hard to miss if you're within 2 miles of the riverfront!

2) Two New Orleans festival favorites announced their lineups this week. Satchmo SummerFest, happening August 5-7, is moving to Jackson Square and featuring more of the best in New Orleans brass today, paying tribute to the great Louis Armstrong on the always muggy days surrounding his birthday. See the full schedule for this year's SatchmoFest here. The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Fest also announced their schedule. Taj Mahal, Jon Cleary, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Cedric Burnside Project, and Tucka will be headlining this year's stages at Lafayette Square in October. See the full Blues & BBQ schedule here.

3) DJ Soul Sister, who hosts one of the best-known shows on WWOZ (Soul Power each Saturday night 8-10p), was featured in UNO's alumni magazine this week. Each Saturday, Soul Sister, more formally known as Melissa Weber, stuffs roughly 400 records into canvas, leather and metal cases, trucks them to WWOZ for her two-hour show, then darts to the nearby Hi Ho Lounge on St. Claude Ave. for her popular Hustle Party. If you've ever listened to her show, be sure to check out this great profile.

4) This week's new music spotlight focused on Corey Henry and his first major national release, Lapeitah. Henry's ties to Treme and New Orleans music are deep. “Being in Treme was my biggest inspiration, being around all that music at once," he says. "We always had brass bands playing – the Pinstripes, Olympia, the Dirty Dozen. I’d go outside and they’d be playing a party or doing a second line. I got inspired by that and of course it’s in my family, my uncle and grandfather.”

5) The 'OZ featured video of the week comes from Barry Stephenson, a talented young bassist in today's New Orleans jazz scene. Born in Florida in 1987, Stephenson began playing the electric bass at the age of 14, with the intention to play rock music. In high school, he joined the jazz band and started taking acoustic bass lessons when he was 17 in order to prepare for college auditions. He attended Florida State University where he studied jazz and classical double bass with Rodney Jordan and Melanie Punter, respectively. While at Florida State, he also studied with legendary pianist Marcus Roberts. Upon graduating, Stephenson moved to New Orleans and has played with some of the most recognizable names in the city today, including Jon Batiste, Glen David Andrews, and more. Here, he performs 'The Last Call' with his trio at our studio last March.

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