New Orleans band Galactic mixes past and present

New Orleans is a city defined by its unique and colorful history. It’s for that reason that most tend to view the place as something of a musical museum while ignoring the town’s vibrant and innovative new music. In New Orleans, the hip-hop at the heart of today’s culture emerged from an energetic, highly eroticized and occasionally gender-bending music called “bounce.” And the truth is, all the town’s seemingly disparate styles – jazz, brass bands and funk, as well as the newer bounce-influenced hip hop – are intrinsically linked. There is a particular inclusiveness about the place which connects both its people and their music. With YA-KA-MAY, long time New Orleans residents, Galactic have made an album that reflects the city as they see it – blending all the town’s distinctive sounds in a way no band has before. YA-KA-MAY, on Anti Records, features established legends such as the Rebirth Brass Band, Irma Thomas, Big Chief Bo Dollis, Allen Toussaint and Walter “Wolfman” Washington, with younger artists like Trombone Shorty and Corey Henry. John Boutté, Josh Cohen, Scully and Glen David Andrews are there, as well as groundbreaking new bounce artists like Cheeky Blakk, Big Freedia, Katey Red and Sissy Nobby. The result is New Orleans as it’s meant to be heard, and pure Galactic. (Photo credit: www.JeffreyDupuis.com)