Dr. John at the Grammy Museum

Dr. John is a lot of things and he was all of them within a two hour conversation at the Grammy Museum with Robert Santelli Monday night. But the most obvious and dominant thing that he is is the epitome of New Orleans music - from the way he dresses, to the way he talks to the way he plays. His music blends every genre and he has a very unorthodox way of speaking, with a heavy drawl and a vocabulary that mixes jazz lingo, jive, oddly-phrased sentences and made-up words.

Dressed in a purple suit and wearing heavily-beaded, voodoo-type necklaces and sunglasses, he not only played a handful of tunes with his band the Lower 911, but he and Santelli went through his career chronologically, where John talked fondly about the city, the music and the people.

"Just enjoy what's there," he said about the post-Katrina New Orleans, which is presently dealing with a massive oil spill. "New Orleans is still special and spiritual place."

The oil spill was a constant topic during the evening, whether in the question-and-answer form, or referenced in song. Dr. John was asked early how the city has been affected by both catastrophic events, including the current one.

"I got an attitude," he succinctly said. "With all the missteps that went down, it doesn't make me feel good."

He then followed that with the song 'Black Gold' - co-written by Bobby Charles - which directly links oil greed, global warming and the war in Afghanistan - a song that was recorded before the current oil problem, but serves as a perfect angry companion for it.

The journey with Dr. John was an interesting one with he and Santelli talking about how the musician got to this point - a key part of that was the moment Mac Rebennack became Dr. John, the Night Tripper - the mysterious, voodoo-infused, piano player - in the 70's. In the conversation, John named just about every New Orleans session musician he came across in his path and talked about how the music business has changed.

But he's angry about one thing. Yet loving about another.

"The whole world is one tribe. We're all one. All the rest is confusing. All the rest is jive."

He knows, he loves it and he knows everyone who does it.