Hurray for the Riff Raff’s new studio record, The Navigator, is a narrative concept album telling the story of a character, Navita, who resembles Alynda. Navita Milagros Negrón grows up poor and vulnerable on urban streets, but empowered by love and community, she overcomes fear to lead her people.
Navita discovers self-confidence set to Alynda’s soothing vocals and her new backing band’s Caribbean percussion. Kansas City– based Juan-Carlos Chaurand and Devendra Banhart’s drummer Gregory Rogove supplied the Cuban, Puerto Rican and Brazilian backing beats. It’s her first album without her fiddle player, Yosi Perlstein, but there’s still plenty of folk sound to the early songs, before Navita grows into maturity midway through, to a soundtrack of son montuno, plena and salsa sounds.
New Orleanians got a sampling of Navita’s story on Ash Wednesday with a solo prerelease show at Euclid Records—an event so packed that people stood on the stairs and reached over the aisles to see Alynda preface songs with songwriting inspiration. She asked the audience if New Orleans would be a good place to stage The Navigator as a play, which was her original intention. The crowd erupted, so look out Marigny Opera House and Southern Rep Theatre.
You just dropped some amazing news.
I got engaged at the railroad tracks! That spot on the tracks at Press and Burgundy is where I started playing music. I guess I played some when I was a kid, but that’s where I was with my friends Barnibus and Kiawa, and we were all these little hobo kids. I had my washboard. We would just hang out there at night. I would just strum along, scratch along, and that’s where they were like, ‘You’re pretty good at harmonizing. We should all go busk together.’ So that’s where it all began, gathering there at the railroad tracks at night. That’s where I did a lot of listening, you know.
You say your ‘boyfriend’ proposed but now he’s—
My fiancée! [Laughs] Crazy. On my 30th birthday, too.
And it’s Mardi Gras season.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2017 من OffBeat Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2017 من OffBeat Magazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Celebrate While We Incinerate
Malevitus has never sounded weirder or more beautiful.
Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph [talks back]
As eclectic as the New Orleans music scene is, it’s still hard to imagine an artist having a more diverse career than Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, who, at the age of 31, sings in three bands that could hardly be more different.
Indie Rock's 10-Year Anniversary
New Orleans rock artists have always been a part of the city’s music scene.
THE ICEMEN COMETH
THE ICEMAN SPECIAL MAKES MUSICAL MAGIC WITH A CROSS-GENERATIONAL COLLABORATION AND FAMILY TIES
Christone ‘‘Kingfish'' Ingram talks back
A native of Clarksdale, Mississippi, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram comes from the land of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Skip James. Just turned 21, this young man with the blues respects his music’s past even as he shapes its future.
Mr. Z
Matthew Zarba is Upbeat Academy’s unflappable rap principal.
A Walking Spirit
Victor Harris, the Spirit of Fi-Yi-Yi, celebrates 55 years of beauty and culture.
Playing For His Life
Darius Lyndsley is on a mission to turn his art into something more.
The Supreme Green Fairy
Tank and the Bangas reign over krewe Bohème.
Felipe's Mexican Taqueria
Everyone has a handful of go-to restaurants they count on for consistently delicious dining experiences.