Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!
[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only.]
Heureux Mardi Gras!
Category: Holidays
Saturday Matinee Pre-Mardi Gras Edition – Tuba Skinny, Dr. John, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Trad jazz band Tuba Skinny features bandleader Shaye Cohn on cornet. Performing and recording for over a decade, they’re branching out into jug band music, spirituals, country blues, string band music, ragtime, and New Orleans R&B.
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr., aka Dr. John (1941-2019), was known for his mix of jazz, blues, R&B and soul flavored with New Orleans Mardi Gras, swamp rock and a pinch of voodoo. Gitcha gris gris gumbo ya ya.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band formed in New Orleans in 1977, playing traditional jazz mixed with bebop, funk, R&B and soul, and resurrected classic Second Line rhythms.
New Orleans’ famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band was founded by Pennsylvanian Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s as a dixieland revival group, aimed at reviving the careers of the early jazz greats and preserving traditional jazz.
Nope, I didn’t forget. Here’s a story of Valentine’s Day in 1933.
While the missus is knocking down the remaining little heart-shaped confections tomorrow, I’ll be knocking back you know where.
Porch Time commences at porch time.
Have Another Year!
[Found here, and that’s not us.]
Happy New Year’s Eve 2025 – End of Year Playlist
The end of a long year deserves a playlist to bring in the new one, so here’s a compilation of tunes that tugged on my earballs in 2025. Each set is in chronological order by date of recording.
Set 1 – January, February, March & April
Set 2 – May, June, July & August
Set 3 – September, October, November & December
I omitted seasonal tunes from the Halloween and Christmas playlists. Last year’s playlist (2024) is here, and the 2023 EoY list is here.
And one more thing:
May You Have a Happy & Prosperous New Year!
[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only.]
Christmas Morning 2025
Peace on Earth & Goodwill Towards Men
Christmas Eve Rock
Bonus: Previously posted Christmas tunes can be found here.
[Caveat: No copyright infringement is intended; songs posted here are for entertainment purposes only.]
Japanese Christmas Trees
[Found here via Everlasting Blört].
Victorian Christmas Greetings
[Found in here, with more.]
The Night Before Christmas Eve Eve Eve Hot Links
Sleigh Ride, The Ventures (1965) Straight outta Tacoma, with over 110 million records sold worldwide, The Ventures are the best-selling instrumental band of all time.
BOING [via Everlasting Blört].
Another of Spock’s juvenile pranks.
Facebook’s “Race-Blind” Algorithm.
15 multiplanes [via Memo Of The Air].
Nevermind the Bollards [via Thompson, blog].
[Top image: Santa’s Time Machine, modified from the cover of The Time Machine, Classics Illustrated (1958).]
From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago. 15 years ago.
Saturday Matinee – SKAyway, Krakin’ Kellys & Joe Bonamassa
SKAyway is a band from Makati, Philippines, that plays “punkSKAdelic music twisted with reggae, blues, swing and rock.”
Krakin’ Kellys is a Belgian Celtic punk pub brawl band that has generated a lot of attention since their formation in 2017 for their mix of traditional Irish tavern sounds with skate punk energy.
Joe Bonamassa‘s Merry Christmas Blues album (2013) is still free for download. Every song is a good one.
Just a few more days to get stuff wrapped and to the post office so gifts don’t arrive really late. I was thinking about doing it tomorrow, but the porch is calling. You know the drill. Noonish o’clock. There. Be.
Tacky Raccoons 