Somewhere in New Orleans right now, there’s a pot of red beans going. Onion, bell pepper, and celery are hitting the hot oil. The trinity is doing its loud, fragrant work. After a few minutes, the ham hock is settling in, followed by the other ingredients. Soon, there’s the low tick of a simmer that isn’t going anywhere for the next few hours. And underneath it all, there’s music. In New Orleans, there’s always music. So I put together a Spotify playlist that goes with a pot of Monday red beans and rice.
For years now, I’ve been asking some of the city’s most popular musicians a simple question: how do you red bean? The answers became the How Do You Red Bean? interview series. You’ll find trumpet players and funk bassists, bluesmen and rappers, all telling me about their favorite pots and what the New Orleans Monday tradition means to them.
But recently, it hit me that the conversation was only half finished. I’d asked these musicians about their beans. But I hadn’t truly shared their music. I listened to them for myself, streaming on Amazon Music, Apple Music, or Spotify.
So I fixed that. This is the other half of the interview series with the musicians who took the time to talk to me. I created a Spotify playlist with every musician I’ve interviewed.
The player below will give you a preview of each song, so click over to Spotify and put the playlist on as you start prepping your red beans. Once the music gets you in the groove, and as the trinity hits the oil, let the music play until the rice is done and dinner is served. Here’s the playlist: Red Beans & Music Vol. 1 – The How Do You Red Bean? Playlist.
On the flip side of the player are all the musicians I’ve talked to so far. Click the links to go to the full interviews and learn more about them and how they became who they are.
Right now, I feel like Murf from ‘OZ bringing you some music from New Orleans.
Red Beans & Music Vol. 1 – The “How Do You Red Bean?” Playlist
Here’s who’s in the pot, in their own words. Every quote below comes straight from their How Do You Red Bean? interview — click any name to read the full conversation.
THE BRASS AND THE STREET
Kermit Ruffins — The man’s trumpet sounds like a second line rounding the corner onto your street, which is fitting, because his answer to what red beans and rice means to him was just as direct:
“Family, tradition, culture, New Orleans.”
Wendell Brunious — A keeper of the traditional jazz flame, and — fair warning — a man of strong opinions about his own cooking:
“Every Creole thinks he or she makes the best beans and rice, but the best beans and rice is made by me in my kitchen. 😊”
Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown — A trumpet player. When I asked about his red beans setup, he went straight for the heat:
“Hot sauce! I used to like Tabasco growing up, but now I’m a man. I like the hottest hot sauce I can get my hands on.”
Craig Klein — Trombonist, co-founder of Bonerama and the New Orleans Nightcrawlers. He put the whole series into one sentence better than I ever could:
“Traditional New Orleans food, like traditional New Orleans music, is part of the culture.”
Stephen Walker — He said the thing about red beans that the rest of us feel but don’t always say out loud:
“Red beans and rice is part of the rhythm of New Orleans. Even if it’s not something I see as special, I know it means a lot to the city — it’s tradition, comfort, and community all in one simple dish.”
Calvin Johnson – Third-generation saxophonist out of the Black Pearl, equally at home leading the traditional jazz of Native Son and the bounce-charged “NOLA future funk” of Chapter: SOUL. Ask him what the dish means, and you get the whole city in one answer:
“Red beans and rice means Mondays, it means a corner store lunch special: red beans and rice with a pork chop, it means it’s time to critique whoever cooked the beans if it wasn’t ya momma’s!!!”
Mark McGrain – Trombonist, composer, and leader of Plunge. A western New Yorker who had only heard the legend of red beans before he tasted them — he pickled his own pork trying to get it right. He landed on the real secret of the dish:
“Beans are a community food. That is, it takes many of them to make a meal and they’re a meal best enjoyed by people sharing each other’s company.”
Raymond “Dr. Rackle” Williams – Trumpeter, composer, and Hot 8 Brass Band veteran; his nickname came from his mentor, jazz great Jackie McLean. He doesn’t eat pork, so his pot takes a different road to the same place:
“Dried beans the best beans. I put turkey sausage, turkey ham, and sometimes turkey bacon in it. Season it well.”
THE FUNK
George Porter Jr. — The Meters’ bassist. The foundation under half the funk you’ve ever loved. His Monday credentials are unimpeachable:
“Red beans and rice is something I have eaten all my life, pretty much every Monday. My Mom made red beans, and my wife made red beans. Every Monday it was a tradition that I never questioned.”
Big Sam Williams — Big Sam’s Funky Nation brings the party like nobody else, and his definition of the dish is pure Big Sam:
“It means it’s Monday and it’s about to get Funky!”
John “Papa” Gros — Piano man, frontman, and one of the funkiest songwriters in the city. He gave me the longest answer in the series, and I wouldn’t cut a word:
“Red beans are a New Orleans cultural tradition. The history behind ‘wash day’ and the smell of my Maw Maw’s house. Every New Orleanian has their version of this tradition. It’s what unites us while making each family unique.”
Erica Falls — Soul singer with a voice that could season a pot on its own. She described the Monday rule the way every New Orleanian knows it:
“Cultural Tradition. You can walk into any home, Black or White in the city of New Orleans and there will be a pot of red beans on the stove on a Monday.”
Big Chief Bo Dollis Jr. — Carrying the Wild Magnolias’ Mardi Gras Indian tradition forward. His quote stopped me cold:
“Red beans is the first soul food anybody knows that’s good for the spirit and the heart.”
THE BLUES
Little Freddie King — The real-deal country bluesman. He respects the Monday tradition exactly as much as he feels like respecting it, which is to say:
“I eat them once a week but do not hold to the Monday legend. Never know when I am going to get the hunger for Red Beans and Rice.”
Bobby Rush — Blues legend, still going strong in his nineties. His answer was the most honest thing anyone has said in this entire series:
“Yeah. Survival. Red beans and rice were survival for me because the next thing after that was pork and beans and lunch meat.”
THE SONGWRITERS
Paul Soniat – a self-taught musician who began performing in 2004. He shares stories of New Orleans through his songs. He knows who makes the best red beans in New Orleans.
“If you asked that question around New Orleans your answer would usually be, “My momma makes the best red beans”. Your best red beans are usually made at home.”
Paul Sanchez — Songwriter’s songwriter, and a man who knows how to season a pot of beans:
“I also like to add garlic, a lot of garlic. Like a lot of old-time New Orleanians, I was raised to believe garlic is good for you, and I just like the taste. “
Andrew Duhon — His songs sound like golden-hour light on the bayou. His beans strategy is pure practicality:
“Mother, of course, though I’ve diverted from her recipe. I don’t make ’em often, but when I end up with a ham hock after Christmas or Thanksgiving, that’ll be the move.”
Heather St. Marie – Louisiana-born singer raised in Larose, and one half of the duo Dauzat St. Marie. Her beans carry the whole bayou with them — her Mom’s, her MawMaw’s, her aunts’, and the pickled pork of Lafourche Parish:
“For me, it’s a humble dish that reminds me of where I come from. And for all its simplicity, it can be elevated and revamped so that one never tires of it
HIP-HOP
Alfred Banks — One of the sharpest young voices in New Orleans hip-hop, and he understands exactly why this dish endures:
“I think people love it because it’s simple, it feeds so many people, and it’s just a classic dish. It means a lot to me because it’s just so….New Orleans, ya know?”
Chuck “Lyrikill” Jones — Rapper, producer, and a man after my own Monday heart:
“Red Bean Mondays keep me connected to the city — wherever I am. Mondays are usually hectic and unfun, but we have red beans, though!”
FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Johnette Downing — The beloved children’s musician, and proof the Monday tradition starts early:
“Red beans and rice means New Orleans tradition to me. When I was a child, nearly every restaurant served red beans and rice on Monday, and that is what we ate.”
HOW TO USE THIS PLAYLIST
Simple: start it when you begin to dice he trinity. By the time Kermit’s horn gives way to George Porter’s bassline, your kitchen will smell like the French Quarter on a Monday, and you’ll still have an hour of simmer to go.
The playlist is a living thing. Every time a new musician joins the How Do You Red Bean? conversation, their songs go into the pot. Follow it on Spotify, and it’ll grow with the series. You’ll find it here: Red Beans & Music Vol. 1 – The How Do You Red Bean? Playlist.
And if you haven’t yet, here’s my Monday red beans and rice — the pot this whole playlist was built to simmer next to it.
Now tell me: what plays in YOUR kitchen on red bean day? Drop it in the comments. The suggestions might lead me to find a new guest to add to the interview series and a spot on the playlist.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the “How Do You Red Bean?” Spotify playlist?
It’s a growing playlist on Spotify featuring tracks from each of the New Orleans musicians interviewed in the How Do You Red Bean? series — brass, funk, blues, soul, hip-hop, and family music.
How many songs are on the playlist?
The list keeps growing as more musicians are interviewed. Check out the playlist above for the current total.
Where can I listen to the playlist?
Right here via Spotify: Red Beans & Music Vol. 1 – The How Do You Red Bean? Playlist. It’s free to listen with a Spotify account.
Will the playlist be updated?
Yes. Each new musician interviewed for the series gets their songs added, so follow the playlist on Spotify to get the new tracks automatically.
Eric Olsson is the food blogger of RedBeansAndEric.com. He publishes new recipes and interviews weekly. He has developed recipes and written articles for the famous Camellia brand in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been mentioned in Louisiana Cookin‘ magazine and has had recipes featured in Taste of Home magazine – with his Creole Turkey recipe being runner up in their annual Thanksgiving recipe contest. He lives outside of Detroit, Michigan, with his wife and four children.
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