They say good things come in threes: this list may not be good, but by jim it came in three. Herewith, the Third and Final Installment of the Great Gordo’s Damn Fine Discs List. It’s been a fine ride. My chief regret is that I didn’t get around to polka — Brave Combo, Musical Varieties, would have been the pick — but at least I get to spend this week’s column down Louisiana way. They make mighty fine music down there.

One Damn Fine New Orleans Brass Disc:

Rebirth Brass Band, Feel Like Funkin’ It Up

Nothing gives me Happy Feet quite so fast as a New Orleans Brass Band making hay with the Dixieland tradition. Give me soaring trumpets, slide trombones, and giddy tuba line or two and I can float on air. On 1989’s Feel Like Funkin’ It Up, the Rebirth horn men sound like they’re in on the party, hootin’ and hollerin’ and carrying on like the morning never comes. What it lacks in expertise it more than makes up in exuberance, and that’s what Crescent City Brass is all about. Unleashed, unhinged, but still oh-so-deep in the pocket, this album has some serious bounce. When I listen in, I do too.

One Damn Fine New Orleans Piano Disc:

Professor Longhair, House Party, New Orleans Style

Revered as the founding father of New Orleans R&B, Henry “Professor Longhair” Byrd played an exhilarating mix of rumba, rock, and rhythm, laying down local vocals over second-line beats.

Listen 12 times and you still can’t tell how he does it all. His “Tipitina” has become a hometown staple: you’ll find that and more here, including the best damn version of the bawdy-house staple “Cabbagehead” as you’re likely to hear. Recorded in Memphis in 1971, just as the Professor was resurrecting his career, House Party, New Orleans Style finds Longhair at his rompin’ stompin’ best. It breaks my heart to leave James Booker and Dr. John off this list, but when it comes to Crescent City piano, you can’t go wrong with Fess.

One Damn Fine Zydeco Disc:

Buckwheat Zydeco, Menagerie

If Rebirth Brass Band gets me up out of my seat, and Professor Longhair starts the hips to swayin’, it’s Buckwheat and his zydeco ilk that can flat-out give me a heart attack. It’s hard to stop dancing when the drum kit’s hummin’, the rubboard’s whistling, and the accordion’s pumping on into the night. Insistent. If you ever find me dead on the floor, check my CD player for Buckwheat before calling in the authorities. There are several fine compilations out there: Menagerie, culled from his late 80s Island releases, is the one in my collection.

One Damn Fine Et Cetera Disc:

Olu Dara, In the World

Et Cetera here stands for a loose collection of blues, roots, and African jive, bound together by Olu Dara’s lyrical come-what-may. Dara spent 30 years on the NYC avant-garde jazz scene as a trumpeter and occasional bandleader; In the World, his solo debut, takes him in another direction, as he pays homage to his Southern and African roots. Rural and relaxed but still innovative and alive, it contains several gems. “Your Lips Are Juicy,” a jubilant celebration of a lover’s lips, is worth the price of admission alone; add “Okra” and the lullaby “Kiane,” and you’ve got the backbone of a wonderful disc. Check it out.