It\u2019s a good week to catch up with some standout local musicians in New Orleans music venues.<\/p>\n
CHA WA<\/h3>\n
SATURDAY, CHICKIE WAH WAH<\/strong><\/p>\n The New Orleans ensemble Cha Wa is rooted in Mardi Gras Indian culture. But as evidenced by Cha Wa\u2019s most recent album, \u201cRise Up,\u201d R&B, funk and more factor into the band\u2019s sound; the chorus of \u201cFreedom of the City,\u201d with its massed voices and horns, evokes Sly & the Family Stone.<\/p>\n Available on clear vinyl, \u201cRise Up\u201d is a polished, multilayered recording with robust production. Spyboy \u201cHoney\u201d Irving Banister Jr. is Cha Wa\u2019s lead vocalist, but the microphone gets passed around. Irma Thomas sings lead on \u201cWhy You Wanna Do Me Like That,\u201d John Boutte cruises through the smooth contemporary R&B\/soul of \u201cRevival,\u201d and Danica Hart struts her stuff on \u201cMusic Is My Medicine.\u201d Founding drummer Joe Gelini, who has sustained Cha Wa through various lineup changes, co-wrote every song on this ambitious, contemporary extension of Mardi Gras Indian music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Cha Wa will likely play songs from \u201cRise Up\u201d and more on Saturday at Chickie Wah Wah. Matt Wilson opens the show. Tickets start at $25.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Galactic’s Rob Mercurio during the recording of the 2025 album ‘Audience With the Queen’ with Irma Thomas at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans on Dec. 30, 2023.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n FRIDAY, TIPITINA\u2019S<\/strong><\/p>\n Good Enough for Good Times was a product of Hurricane Katrina necessity. In fall 2005, whole bands were hard to come by, as many had lost members to post-storm displacement. To help fill holes in music clubs\u2019 calendars, Galactic bassist Rob Mercurio and guitarist Jeff Raines teamed up with drummer Simon Lott, who hails from more of a jazz background and is also well-versed in hip-hop beats, as well as keyboardist Joe Ashlar to form Good Enough for Good Times.<\/p>\n They started off playing instrumental, old-school New Orleans funk, especially songs by The Meters. They expanded to include jazz-funk and rare groove instrumentals, drawing from 1960s and ’70s Blue Note Records releases and classic albums by the likes of guitarist Grant Green and saxophonist Lou Donaldson. The repertoire also spans original compositions, improvisations and more obscure New Orleans funk cuts by such largely forgotten local acts as Salt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Friday, Good Enough for Good Times headlines this week\u2019s installment of the summer-long \u201cFree Fridays\u201d series of no-cover shows at Tipitina\u2019s. Daria & the Hip Drops open the show at 9 p.m.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Grammy-winning zydeco musician Chubby Carrier pays a visit to kids at Green T. Lindon Elementary to teach them about zydeco music, its intruments and to perform a few songs Wednesday, November 5, 2025, in Youngsville, La.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Blues-based Australian guitar phenom Taj Farrant<\/strong> plugs in at Chickie Wah Wah. Tickets start at $35.<\/p>\n Author John Radanovich<\/strong> hosts a discussion and signing for his new book \u201cP\u00e9rez Prado: King of the Mambo\u201d at the Broadside\u2019s indoor Pavilion. The free event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. includes a performance by Charlie Halloran & the Tropicales<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band<\/strong> are featured for the weekly Zydeco Night at Rock \u2018N\u2019 Bowl ($17).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n New Orleans vocalist Christien Bold<\/strong> presides over shows at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro ($30).<\/p>\n Shape-shifting Americana singer and guitarist Shannon McNally<\/strong> returns to New Orleans, a city she called home for a time, for a show at Chickie Wah Wah. Tickets start at $20.<\/p>\n Saxophonist, clarinetist and educator Victor Goines<\/strong>, a longtime collaborator with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, performs at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor ($40).<\/p>\n For more than 30 years, Sister Hazel<\/strong>, from Gainesville, Florida, has churned out Southern pop rock highlighted by the 1997 single “All For You.” Sister Hazel headlines the House of Blues on Friday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ace cover band the Mixed Nuts<\/strong> hits Rock \u2018N\u2019 Bowl. General admission is $20, but there is also a VIP option for $75 that includes cocktails and finger food with the band from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Rock \u2018n\u2019 Bowl\u2019s Grande Hall and reserved seating near the stage for the show (VIP purchasers must be at least 21).<\/p>\n Unlike many acts in the electronic music genre, Thievery Corporation<\/strong> strives to stage a truly live performance, with a cast of instrumentalists and singers contributing to the multicultural blend at the core of the compositions. Experience Thievery Corporation at the House of Blues on Saturday.<\/p>\n Master New Orleans drummer Herlin Riley<\/strong> powers his own quartet at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at Snug Harbor ($45).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Musician Joe Jackson.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n
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\n PROVIDED PHOTO BY KATIE SIKORA<\/span>
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nGOOD ENOUGH FOR GOOD TIMES<\/h3>\n
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\n STAFF PHOTO BY LESLIE WESTBROOK<\/span>
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\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nOTHER NOTEWORTHY SHOWS<\/h3>\n
THURSDAY<\/h3>\n
FRIDAY<\/h3>\n
SATURDAY<\/h3>\n
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