VA - Frenchmen Street: Sounds Of New Orleans (2011)

Mystery Street Records, an affiliate of Threadhead Records (winner of the 2010 Offbeat award for Best Record Label of the Year) announces the first in a series of compilation CDs that explores the phenomenally eclectic music of New Orleans. Frenchmen Street represents the myriad of musical styles heard pouring out of bar doors on any given night on one of the most unique and exciting streets in a most unique and exciting city. Traditional jazz, funk, blues and brass bands fill the air, mixing with the fragrance of jasmine and gumbo to set the scene for the numerous, magical only-in-New-Orleans moments that seem to happen on every corner. David Simon, the creator of HBO's "Treme," sums up the current music scene in New Orleans: "Detroit, they used to make cars, Pittsburgh, they used to make steel. Here in New Orleans, there's still a factory. It's manned by an underpaid, poorly represented workforce of skilled workers. And what they manufacture is moments. New Orleans is a factory that gives you moments." This CD represents some of those moments. Produced by Chris Joseph and Jonathan Platt; Music Clearances and Sequence - Mark Harvey; Mastering by Brad Vance (Red Mastering); Package Art Direction and Design by Susan Hardin; Photos by Jerry Moran.