Thursday, September 9, 2010- I have it on good authority that Kermit Ruffins (pictured), Trombone Shorty and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band will sit in with the Dave Matthews Band and country star Taylor Swift at this evening’s NFL kickoff concert.  Decatur Street is shut down and the whole of the French Quarter will be packed with revelers celebrating the start of the 2010-2011 NFL season and the New Orleans Saints exhilarating victory in the Super Bowl earlier this year.  The concert starts at 6:30 PM and will be broadcast nationally.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010- the progressive jazz band, which is led by German expatriate saxophonist Martin Krusche, will be appearing tonight at the Blue Nile.  They are celebrating their latest recording, “Aliens of Extraordinary Ability.” The band features five musicians who are wonderful interpreters of Kruse’s compelling compositions.  The group also includes the drummer Paul Thibodeaux, the trombonist Jeff Albert, the trombonist Charlie Halloran, the sousaphonist Jason Jurzak and the baritone sax player Daniel Oestreicher.  The show will be broadcast live on WWOZ starting tat 10 PM.

Sunday September 5- the “Red Dirt Jazz” band from Tulsa, Oklahoma will perform this afternoon at the Louisiana Music Factory at 4 PM and then this evening at the Blue Nile.  The veteran New Orleans drummer Johnny Vidacovich will augment the adventurous quartet for the show on Frenchmen Street.  The band has revamped its lineup.  Newcomers lap steel guitarist Chris Combs and bassist Jeff Harshbarger join drummer Josh Raymer and keyboardist and founding member Brian Haas.

Is it possible New Orleans has more independent record stores than any city of comparable size in the country?  This afternoon, (Saturday, September 4) the sixth outlet for vinyl, local CDs and hard-to-find music opens with a bang.  Live music will be presented all day, as well as on Sunday, beginning with Tom McDermott at 1 PM.  The rest of the lineup features Blind Texas Marlin, Happy Talk Band, Meschiya Lake, Susan Cowsill (pictured) featuring Brian Henneman of the Bottle Rockets, and concluding with Guitar Lightening Lee at 6 PM.

Friday, September 3- the last of the Free Fridays presented by the Tipitina’s Foundation is tonight and it’s going to be a dance party. E.O.E., a hot young band that mixes up funk and hip hop, opens for Gov’t Majik (pictured).  I did an e-interview with their leader Bru Bruser that you can search for on the blog.  He talks about the band’s unique style and his unusual bass.  Tonight will be extra special because the Majik Horns – saxophonist Tim Green and trumpeter Antonio Gambrell- will be in the house.

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