The first notes of Locked Down, the new album from New Orleans funk physician Dr. John, come in the form of a thick, bruising upright-bass ostinato, courtesy of Nick Movshon. But the first sounds we hear are dogs barking, birds cawing and a monkey laughing. It’s a warning, in a sense: The album you’re about to hear is wild and untamed.
Produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and featuring members of the Daptone community, Locked Down delivers on that promise, and then some. Full of beat-up organs, sharp guitar chanks, evil-sounding bari sax and tight but never tidy drumming—all of it tied together by Dr. John’s trademark bluesy croak and cryptic lyrics—the ten new songs on Locked Down are a throwback to the leader’s potent early-’70s LPs, especially 1973’s In the Right Place and 1974’s Desitively Bonnaroo. Coinciding with the release of the album, Dr. John will commandeer BAM for three consecutive weekends, with the middle stretch from April 5 to 7 marking the official live debut of the music from the new album.
You should really plan to be present at all three weekends, though. From March 29 to 31, Dr. John will mount a tribute to fellow New Orleanian Louis Armstrong, with help from Roy Hargrove and the Blind Boys of Alabama, among others. And the concluding dates, titled “Funky but It’s Nu Awlins,” will celebrate NOLA music with some of the people who shaped it, including Irma Thomas and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.—Brad Farberman