It reads splendidly on paper: Shout Factory's Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans is a traveler's guide to the legendary city's rich musical heritage. Over the course of four discs, it attempts to touch on all of the kinds of music associated with New Orleans -- everything from brass bands and piano blues to zydeco, jazz and klezmer -- and represent recordings from the '20s to the modern day. Add an 84-page book, complete with advice on where tourists should go in the Crescent City, and it seems like this is the definitive word on New Orleans. Well, not quite. While the idea of mixing eras is theoretically appealing, since it would emphasize common threads within New Orleans music, it winds up being distracting not only because of the different qualities of recordings, but because the sequencing isn't logical; instead of leading the listener through the changes, subtly instructing on the similarities between the seemingly dissimilar styles, the box seems like it's stuck on shuffle-play, whipping between songs without much rhyme or reason. And that haphazard sequencing brings another troubling flaw with the set into sharp relief: the musicians behind the recent recordings simply aren't a patch on the giants that provide New Orleans music with its heart, soul, blood and bone. Those musicians are here, no doubt -- Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint, the Meters, Professor Longhair, Smiley Lewis, the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Huey "Piano" Smith -- are all here, but when they're combined with solid but undistinguished modern artists, the results are less than definitive. It's pleasant, and representative of what you'd hear on a trip to New Orleans, and the book is highly instructive, but as a pure, enjoyable listening experience, Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens pales next to previous New Orleans sets.
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Doctors, Professors, Kings and Queens: The Big Ol' Box of New Orleans
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AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Track Listing - Disc 1
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 |
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Theryl DeClouet / Galactic | 00:15 | Amazon | |||
2 | Kermit Ruffins | 04:28 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Fats Domino | 02:07 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Dr. John | 04:08 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Louis Armstrong & His Hot Seven | 02:54 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Percolators / Lil Queenie | 04:01 | Amazon | ||||
7 | The Iguanas | 03:17 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Big Chief Monk Boudreaux / Anders Osborne | 04:36 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Clarence "Frogman" Henry | 02:19 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Rebirth Brass Band | 05:05 | Amazon | ||||
11 | BeauSoleil | 03:38 | Amazon | ||||
12 | Ernie K-Doe | 02:32 | Amazon | ||||
13 | Marcia Ball | 04:30 | Amazon | ||||
14 | The Radiators | 04:11 | Amazon | ||||
15 | The Meters | 04:03 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Jelly Roll Morton | 03:13 | Amazon | ||||
17 |
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Paul Sanchez | 03:48 | Amazon | |||
18 | Vernel Bagneris | 03:01 | Amazon | ||||
19 | The Clowns / Huey "Piano" Smith | 02:17 | Amazon | ||||
20 | Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen | 05:28 | Amazon | ||||
21 | Johnny Adams | 02:51 | Amazon | ||||
22 | Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers | 03:13 | Amazon | ||||
23 | Clifton Chenier | 03:35 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 2
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 | Leigh Harris | 05:49 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Earl King | 04:33 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Creole Serenaders / Don Vappie | 02:48 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Balfa Toujours | 03:42 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Irma Thomas | 03:13 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Galactic | 03:04 | Amazon | ||||
7 | New Orleans Klezmer All Stars | 02:11 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Preservation Hall Jazz Band | 05:37 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Deacon John Moore | 02:45 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Buckwheat Zydeco | 04:08 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Neville Brothers | 04:25 | Amazon | ||||
12 | James Andrews | 05:37 | Amazon | ||||
13 | Hawketts | 02:16 | Amazon | ||||
14 | George Lewis & His Ragtime Jazz Band | 05:48 | Amazon | ||||
15 |
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J. Monque'D | 04:08 | Amazon | |||
16 | The Dirty Dozen Brass Band | 04:17 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Boozoo Chavis | 02:38 | Amazon | ||||
18 | Zachary Richard | 04:41 | Amazon | ||||
19 | Tuba Fats' Chosen Few Brass Band | 06:12 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 3
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 | Dave Bartholomew | 02:05 | Amazon | ||||
2 | Dr. Michael White | 05:01 | Amazon | ||||
3 |
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Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown | 04:40 | Amazon | |||
4 | Aaron Neville | 02:41 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Coolbone | 03:15 | Amazon | ||||
6 | French Rockin' Boogie / Geno Delafose | 03:06 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Al Johnson | 02:41 | Amazon | ||||
8 |
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Fredy Omar | 05:04 | Amazon | |||
9 | Shirley & Lee | 02:24 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Evan Christopher / Tom McDermott | 03:53 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Champion Jack Dupree | 03:48 | Amazon | ||||
12 | Raymond Anthony Myles | 03:58 | Amazon | ||||
13 | Smiley Lewis | 02:45 | Amazon | ||||
14 | Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys | 03:07 | Amazon | ||||
15 | The Red Stick Ramblers | 04:37 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Frankie Ford | 02:44 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Henry Butler | 03:49 | Amazon | ||||
18 | New Birth Brass Band | 03:06 | Amazon | ||||
19 | Zydeco Hi-Rollers / Beau Jocque | 04:15 | Amazon | ||||
20 | Chris Kenner | 01:57 | Amazon | ||||
21 | James Booker | 03:08 | Amazon | ||||
22 | Allen Toussaint | 03:34 | Amazon |
Track Listing - Disc 4
Sample | Title/Composer | Performer | Time | Stream | |||
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1 | Professor Longhair | 02:39 | Amazon | ||||
2 | The Wild Magnolias | 04:43 | Amazon | ||||
3 | Ellis Marsalis | 04:29 | Amazon | ||||
4 | Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews | 03:15 | Amazon | ||||
5 | Sonny Landreth | 03:40 | Amazon | ||||
6 | Benny Spellman | 02:25 | Amazon | ||||
7 | Reggie Houston / Amasa Miller / Charmaine Neville | 05:46 | Amazon | ||||
8 | Little Richard | 02:23 | Amazon | ||||
9 | Kid Ory's Creole Jazz Band | 03:31 | Amazon | ||||
10 | Anders Osborne | 04:52 | Amazon | ||||
11 | Bruce Daigrepont | 02:28 | Amazon | ||||
12 | New Orleans Jazz Vipers | 05:25 | Amazon | ||||
13 | Walter "Wolfman" Washington | 03:03 | Amazon | ||||
14 | Lloyd Price | 02:32 | Amazon | ||||
15 | Eddie Bo | 05:01 | Amazon | ||||
16 | Tim Laughlin | 04:03 | Amazon | ||||
17 | Snooks Eaglin | 03:53 | Amazon | ||||
18 | Mem Shannon & The Membership / Mem Shannon | 03:43 | Amazon | ||||
19 | Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band | 03:49 | Amazon | ||||
20 | Pete Fountain | 03:39 | Amazon | ||||
21 | Louis Armstrong & His Dixieland Seven | 02:58 | Amazon |