New Orleans

Nailing down the New Orleans sound is a little like looking for the perfect pot of gumbo — you’ll never quite put your finger on it, but boy, is it fun trying. The fact that the city boasts so many styles doesn’t make it any easier. Dr. John digs all the way down to his deepest roots by bringing his bluesy growl to “Iko Iko,” the traditional Mardi Gras song that’s probably as old as New Orleans itself. Speaking of tradition, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band keeps the street-parade sound of the Crescent City alive by blowing loud and proud while they swing the old spiritual “Down By the Riverside.” Of course, ’70s R&B legends the Meters couldn’t help but feel the funk living inside the brass-band second-line, and they serve it up piping hot on “Fire On the Bayou.”

In Next Steps, swing with the songsmiths who wrote the real story of New Orleans.

New Orleans is known as a city overflowing with amazing musicians, but it’s always been packed to the rafters with pioneering songwriters too. Dave Bartholomew — who qualifies as both — wrote a truckload of hits for other artists, but there’s nothing like hearing from the man himself, on his blues-baked simian send-up “The Monkey.” Cajun songsmith Bobby Charles is known as a star of the swamp-pop scene, but he also wrote “See You Later, Alligator,” which Bill Haley made into a rockin’ classic. And Lloyd Price cut plenty of self-penned hits, but his first, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy,” became a building block of rock ’n’ roll, covered by both Elvis Presley and Little Richard (and countless others afterwards).”

The blues becomes a Crescent City state of mind, in Deep Cuts.

No matter how many sounds New Orleans has bred, the city has always had a deep connection to the blues. Sonny Landreth sings about some supernatural goings-on in “Congo Square,” but when he wiggles that slide up and down the fretboard, he works up some voodoo all his own. Walter “Wolfman” Washington’s no slouch on the six-string, either, and when he sinks his teeth into the solo on “Tailspin,” his bluesy bite makes it obvious how he earned his nickname. And Earl King, the original Crescent City guitar hero, authored his share of bayou blues standards, but he wore his hometown pride on his sleeve with the funked-up flag-flyer “No City Like New Orleans.”

When Louis Armstrong sang “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans,” he wasn’t just getting nostalgic about his hometown; he had his stomping grounds’ mighty musical riches in mind, and strolling through the stunning work of the city’s sons and daughters, it’s easy to understand Satchmo’s sentiments. After all, how can you even begin to truly appreciate the impact of the place that gave the world everything from the sassy R&B strut of Lee Dorsey’s Allen Toussaint-penned smash “Ya Ya” to Fats Domino’s steady-rolling, piano-pumping classic “Walking to New Orleans”? Well, you can start by soaking up the saucy sonic gumbo we’ve cooked up for you right here, in our salute to the most magical sounds ever to come out of the Crescent City.