New Orleans Music
“Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans” is a 4-CD box set celebrating the joy and diversity of the New Orleans music scene, from R&B to jazz to funk to Latin to blues to zydeco to klezmer (!) and more, including a full-size, 80-page book.
Produced, compiled and annotated by Chuck Taggart (hey, that’s me!), liner notes by Mary Herczog (author of Frommer’s New Orleans) and myself. Now for sale at your favorite independent record stores (such as the Louisiana Music Factory, because you should be supporting local New Orleans retailers) or via Amazon if you insist (well, to be honest, they usually have a really good price on it, but you’re helping New Orleans more if you buy it at the Factory).
The box set was the subject of a 15-minute profile on National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition” on Feb. 6, 2005, and a segment on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge” on Apr. 3, 2005. Here are some nice blurbs from the reviews (a tad immodest, I know; I’m not generally one to toot my own horn, but let’s face it, I wanna sell some records here.)
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“More successfully than any previous compilation, Doctors… captures the sprawling eclecticism, freewheeling fun and constant interplay of tradition and innovation that is at the heart of Crescent City music.”
— Keith Spera, New Orleans Times-Picayune.
“… if you DO know someone who’s unfortunate enough to have never heard these cuts, press this monumentally adventurous box and its attendant booklet upon them. It’s never too late to learn.”
— Robert Fontenot, OffBeat magazine, New Orleans
“… the best collection yet of Louisiana music.”
— Scott Jordan, The Independent, Lafayette, Louisiana.
“[T]he year’s single most awesome package”
— Buddy Blue, San Diego Union-Tribune
“This four-CD box set doesn’t miss a Crescent City beat … For anyone who has enjoyed the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, this is Jazz Fest in a box. ***1/2”
— Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times
“… excellently compiled, wonderfully annotated … New Orleans fans will know much of this by heart, though they may not remember it sounding so good; those who don’t know what it’s like to miss New Orleans will quickly understand.”
— Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press.
“… a perfect storm when it comes to reissues. This box set is musically exciting, a complete representation of its subject matter, and just plain fun to listen.”
— Charlie B. Dahan, AllAboutJazz.com
“… one of the best impressions of a city’s musical blueprint that you’re likely to ever find.”
— Zeth Lundy, PopMatters.com
“… an unacademic, uncategorized album that suits the city’s time-warped party spirit.”
— Jon Pareles, The New York Times