New New Orleans
New Orleans music never goes out of fashion. It is a mixture of jazz, blues, R&B, funk, gospel, marching brass bands and numerous other influences. New Orleans music carries a certain uplifting funk, flavor and feel, best experienced live, but always good for the soul. It has fans in Japan and every corner of the earth, and many make pilgrimages to New Orleans to experience there. A number of the masters- Louis Armstrong, Lee Dorsey, Professor Longhair, James Booker have passed on. Other New Orleans icons are well into senior citizenship- Fats Domino is 87, Huey “Piano” Smith is 81, Art Neville and Allen Toussaint are 77, and Dr. John and Irma Thomas are 74. But New Orleans music is alive and well, with many kids there learning music from an early age, and often adding in their own bits to the already rich gumbo that is New Orleans music. While the music created by the Neville Brothers, the Meters, Earl King and other New Orleans greats still holds up well, here is a look at the younger generation still stirring up New Orleans and the world with their music.
Trombone Shorty was born Troy Andrews, the grandson of Jessie Hill (who wrote “Ooh Poo Pah Doo”) now just 29, he grew up playing in brass bands, has recorded with Lenny Kravitz, Galactic , Dr, John and Eric Clapton, shared stages with U2, Aerosmith and Jeff Beck, and played the White House. He made the Grammy nominated Ben Ellman produced album “Backatown” (Verve) in 2010, and is something of the golden boy of New Orleans now.
Galactic started while the members were attending Tulane University, and are now a well-oiled funk machine. They enjoy major and far-reaching popularity despite having no fixed long term singer, and most often playing instrumentals. The band have become well known in Japan, having played thru numerous times, including a superb performance on the Green Stage at Fuji Rock with Cory Glover (Living Color) guesting on vocals, and more recently with Macy Gray.
Kermit Ruffins began playing trumpet in junior high, and grew up in the New Orleans brass band tradition. While still in high school he co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band, who mix traditional New Orleans sounds with more modern funk elements. The group consisted primarily of school mates at Joseph S. Clark High School based in the Treme neighborhood. Their debut was recorded in a neighborhood bar, and released on Arhoolie, and later they moved onto the larger Rounder Records. As a solo artist, like many other New Orleans artists, he has a local regular weekly gig, for many years Thursday night at Vaughn’s, and more recently at the Blue Nile.
Dumpstaphunk are second generation funk, led by keyboardist Ivan Neville (son of Aaron), and including Ian Neville, two bassists, and a bad-assed female drummer, Nikki Glaspie. While baptized by the New Orleans sound, the band also goes with the James Brown/Sly Stone school of funk, and has caught on with the “jam band” crowd. The New York Times says "Dumpstaphunk is the best funk band from New Orleans right now.”
Bonerama feature a trombone playing front line, an unorthodox line-up, for a city that often embraces the unusual. They started as a side project by two trombone players in Harry Connick Jr.’s band, and developed into their own musical force. In addition to playing their own gigs, the horn section has recorded with a number of major artists, including R.E.M., OK Go and Alec Ounsworth.
Anders Osborne is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter who became obsessed with the blues and relocated to New Orleans in 1985. His influences also include Joni Mitchell, Little Feat and reggae in general. He became popular with locals and also a popular touring artist. In addition, his songs themselves were embraced, Jonny Lang recorded “Pleasin’ You” and country star Tim McGraw had a #1 smash with “Watch the Wind Blow By”. He has recorded for Sony’s Okeh label, Shanachie and currently Alligator, and tours often.
Jon Cleary is another New Orleans immigrant, hailing originally from Kent, UK. He is a r&b and funk geared keyboardist/ singer, who first became well known as a member of Bonnie Raitt’s band. He also played on, and wrote some of the songs on Taj Mahal’s Grammy award winning album “Senor Blues”. In 2009 jazz guitarist John Scofield decided to record a New Orleans geared album, and chose as sidemen the Meters bassist George Porter Jr., and Cleary on keys and vocals. Cleary sometimes plays solo, and sometimes with an excellent band called the Absolute Monster Gentlemen. A master piano player with an encyclopedic knowledge of music, he has toured through Japan a few times and hopefully will return soon.
Stoop Kids are a young New Orleans based band, in fact some members just graduated from Tulane University. But even while some members were in school they have managed to build up a solid following in New Orleans, and are a popular touring band throughout the South and East. Stoop Kids have a sound based on New Orleans funk, but make theirs unique by adding cool vocal touches, including doo wop, Beach Boys -like harmonies, and rap.
Soul Rebels clearly have roots in New Orleans marching bands, being an eight piece brass band that includes two drummers and a sousaphone. They have a wide range of material and have been called the “missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong”. Soul Rebels have played with Green Day, Marilyn Manson (including at Summer Sonic where they played a great version of “Sweet Dreams”), Metallica, Robert Glasper, String Cheese Incident and Lettuce, and performed at a Stella McCartney fashion show. Wicked.
Brass-A-Holics bring “Go-Go” funk to the mix. As the name implies, the nine piece band have a brass front line, but also drums, percussion, guitars, and Keiko Komaki of Kagoshima on keys. Their set is largely covers and can include anything from John Coltrane to Kanye West to Louis Armstrong to Cyndi Lauper.
Jon Batiste, like many Louisiana musicians comes from a family of musicians. He began playing percussion at 8, piano at 11, studied at Juilliard, released his first album at 17 and was touring the world at 20. He is also involved in music education for youth, and has collaborated with jazz singer Cassandra Wilson. He has also appeared on the hit TV program “Treme”, in the Spike Lee movie “Red Hook Summer”, and when just aged nine in a Japanese tourism CM. Recently he became the bandleader for the very popular “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”, where he can be seen five nights a week.
Big Freedia- is a whole ‘nother thing. A gay man born Frederick Ross, who dresses as a woman, she is a leading force in the hip-hop sub-genre “sissy bounce” movement, and is credited by some as inventing or popularizing “twerking”. Her well known tracks include “Gin In My System” and “Azz Everywhere”, about two of her favorite topics, getting loose and getting nasty. The flamboyant Big Freedia records for her own Queen Diva label, and guested on the Galactic track “Double It” on their album “Ya-Kay-May” which was filled with New Orleans stars new and old, and helped bring her to a more mainstream audience. Since she has toured America with a wide range of artists including Postal Service and Matt & Kim. A dynamic live performer, in America she has appeared extensively on TV, from 2013 with her own show “Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce”.
