Dr. John’s first Nonesuch album ‘Locked Down’ – produced by, and featuring, Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys – is out March 30. It is a fantastic record that will appeal to longtime Dr. John fans and Black Keys fans alike.

Who is Dr John you ask? Well, he is an American music legend, and a man with a colourful past and an impressive career to say the least. In a nutshell:

• Dr. John is the stage name for New Orleans R&B, blues and jazz pianist Mac Rebennack. He, along with Louis Armstrong and Fats Domino, is the artist most synonymous with the music of New Orleans (which, like it’s food and language/accent, is the most distinctive in the whole USA).

• Dr. John has won 5 Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame in March, 2011.

• Mac Rebennack became Dr. John in the late ‘60s in LA, where he ended up after a stint in Federal Prison in Texas on charges relating to his long running heroin addiction. He based the character around New Orlean’s myth and culture – voodoo, Mardi Gras etc – and created music that was swampy and psychedelic. (Which is where the Black Keys musical connection comes in, and where the sound of the new album comes from). Coming to prominence on the back of a series of albums in the early ‘70s, he became a genuine star, hanging out and playing with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan amongst others.

• In more recent decades he has become a hugely respected elder statesmen of blues and jazz. He has toured here a number of times, and is a favourite of the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival.

• In 2011 he contributed to the Hugh Laurie (Dr. John meets Dr. House) album which basically comprised the same sort of New Orleans jazz and blues that Dr. John has played all his life.

If you’re looking for one artist to connect Dr. John with, I’d suggest Tom Waits. Of course Tom has had a lot more commercial success in recent years, but musically they’re coming from a similar place, and they’re both highly individual artists and strong, colorful personalities that evoke earlier times. (And there is no way that Tom hasn’t listened to a lot of Dr. John in his lifetime.) Imagine the point where Tom Waits and the Black Keys intersect and that’s pretty much where this record sits. I imagine this will be the biggest record of Dr. John’s career, thanks in no small part to the Black Keys connection.

- Dave Laing

Stay tuned to Cool Accidents for audio teasers which we’ll hit you up with as soon as we get them!