Arnett Cobb

The Houston 100: From Scarface to Robert Earl Keen

Houston Honker

Grady Gaines helped Little Richard create rock and roll. And he's not finished yet

Jazz Warrior

Malcolm Pinson fights for bebop values

A Hard Case of the Blues

Roy Ames and his Home Cooking records have spread the sound of Houston blues around the world. Some local musicians are wondering why he hasn't spread more of the wealth as well.

Goodbye to Lanny Steele

Roy Ames and his Home Cooking records have spread the sound of Houston blues around the world. Some local musicians are wondering why he hasn't spread more of the wealth as well.

Static

Roy Ames and his Home Cooking records have spread the sound of Houston blues around the world. Some local musicians are wondering why he hasn't spread more of the wealth as well.

What's Wrong With Wheatley?

It has history, it has heritage. But does Wheatley High School have a real future?

Static

It has history, it has heritage. But does Wheatley High School have a real future?

The Nickel: A Musical History of the Fifth Ward, Part 3

[Note: Part 1 of The Nickel is here, and Part 2 is here.] Almost as forgotten as Hersal Thomas, Goree Carter was a Fifth Ward guitarist who was credited by late New York Times pop critic Robert Palmer with being the creator of the very first rock and roll record. This was his obscure 1949 singl ... More >>

1998 Houston Press Music Awards Nominees

[Note: Part 1 of The Nickel is here, and Part 2 is here.] Almost as forgotten as Hersal Thomas, Goree Carter was a Fifth Ward guitarist who was credited by late New York Times pop critic Robert Palmer with being the creator of the very first rock and roll record. This was his obscure 1949 singl ... More >>

Houston's Jazz History

[Note: Part 1 of The Nickel is here, and Part 2 is here.] Almost as forgotten as Hersal Thomas, Goree Carter was a Fifth Ward guitarist who was credited by late New York Times pop critic Robert Palmer with being the creator of the very first rock and roll record. This was his obscure 1949 singl ... More >>

Swing Time

Shelly Berg learned jazz the hard way: He listened to the greats

This Is Our Home, It Is Not for Sale

Documentary follows the transformation of historical Houston neighborhood

The Scene Is Dead. Long Live the Scene!

Ideas toward a Houston-style musical Day of the Dead

Save Our Houston Songs

A plea for monuments and musical preservation

Texas Tenors Times Two

The Trinity Jazz Festival

Everlasting Sounds

Ten of the year's most timeless records

Pop Quiz

Think you know local music? Take the Bayou City Music Mindbender and find out.

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

Roy Ames, child pornographer and record producer, dies at 66

Cindy Scott

Major to Minor (Self-released)

Wham, Bam, Thank You MAMH

The proposed Museum of American Music History could be the solution to our "image problem"

The Queen Bee

Pam Kelly hopes to get a Buzz going about local music

The Nickel Burger

How is a falling-apart Fifth Ward joint turning out the best burgers in town? Adrian's has history.

Don Wilkerson

The Complete Blue Note Sessions (Blue Note)

Heart Attack

The source of Billy Harper's aggressive tenor style lies in a power greater than himself

Not Your Standard Issue

Architects design one-of-a-kind houses for the Fifth Ward, trying to prove that even lower-end houses don't have to be a cookie-cutter box

Bebopping Along

Former jazz guitar prodigy Scott Hardy finds he's also in tune with the acoustic bass

Downbeat

Former drummer Ben "Scatman" Turner dies, and the heart of the jazz community skips a beat

Preservation Hall

Project Row Houses will revive Houston's first home of black music

Local Rotation

Local Music Reviewed

God Awful

Local Music Reviewed

Pop Moment

Local Music Reviewed

A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: Houston and "Brazoria"

The final installment of our Five States of Texas project brings it all back home, to the new state of Brazoria, encompassing all of Southeast Texas from the Brazos Valley to Sabine Pass. ​Patron Saint: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. A master of rock and roll, country, Cajun/Creole, blues and jazz, n ... More >>

Great Moments With Mr. Rockefeller: Billy Harper, Garth Brooks and Sonny Rollins

[Ed. Note: To help spread the word about next Friday's benefit for the Houston International Festival's education programs at Rockefeller Hall, featuring Texas Johnny Brown and Marcia Ball, Rocks Off asked iFest director of performing arts and former Houston Chronicle music critic Rick Mitchell to r ... More >>

Barrie Hall Jr., TSU And Duke Ellington Alum, Dies At 61

UPDATED at 4:49 p.m. with more information. ​Barrie Lee Hall Jr., whom Duke Ellington plucked out of Texas Southern University to join his orchestra and later became its leader, passed away Monday at age 61. The cause was complications from diabetes, Hall's wife Lula told Billie Duncan of th ... More >>

Eldorado Ballroom: A Concise History By Dr. Roger Wood

David Bush/ houstondeco.comThe Eldorado Ballroom in 2006​Rocks Off was pleased as punch to report last week that, thanks to the efforts of the Texas Blues Project's R. Eric Davis and Project Row Houses, which has owned the historic Third Ward venue since 1999, the Eldorado Ballroom will receiv ... More >>

What A Houston Blues "Walk Of Fame" Could Look Like

Lightnin' Hopkins marker photo by Matthew Keever​It was a real pleasure for Rocks Off and Lonesome Onry and Mean to bring you this week's Houston Press cover story, "Old School," but it was also bittersweet. Not to put too fine a point on it, but none of these people are getting any younger - ... More >>

All That Jazz

Critics say KTSU has lost its listeners, not to mention its soul, by ditching its cutting-edge music and many of its veteran DJs.