One of New
Orleans' flagship groups is captured live at the city's flagship event on The
DUKES of Dixieland's rollicking new release, Live at 2015 New Orleans Jazz
& Heritage Festival. Due out September 18, the album spotlights the
versatility and range of the iconic band with a set of classic Crescent City
R&B and Latin-tinged jazz, all performed with crack timing and boisterous
spirit.
The
repertoire may come as a surprise to those who haven't caught one of the band's
renowned nightly performances on the Steamboat Natchez, their home base on the
Mississippi River for more than twenty years. Best known for the traditional
jazz sound implied by their name, the DUKES of Dixieland casts a wide net to
present the stunning diversity and celebratory soul of New Orleans music.
On Live at
2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, that "know it when you hear
it" style is represented by hometown heroes like Louis Prima, Allen
Toussaint, Dr. John, and Huey "Piano" Smith; as well as spiritual
compatriots including Tom Waits and Jerry Lee Lewis. There are also several
Duke Ellington pieces - which might seem to be an unlikely fit until you hear
the ensemble's down-home, Latin Jazz reinventions of the legendary composer's
work.
The band's
R&B-focused set was recorded in front of a riotous crowd of thousands in
the Jazz & Heritage Festival's Economy Hall Tent, named for the former home
of an early twentieth century mutual aid and benefit society. Performing for
the always-enthusiastic Jazz Fest crowd brings something special to the band's
well-honed sound, according to trumpet player and bandleader Kevin Clark.
"Playing for that crowd, you know that when they're applauding and into
it, you're doing it right. We always get a good response out there, and when
that many people scream and yell, it's inspiring and amps the band up even
more. It captures that over-the-top New Orleans vibe."
Before they
ever reached those Jazz Fest ears, however, these songs were audience-tested in
front of local and international audiences. The DUKES play the dinner cruise on
the Steamboat Natchez seven nights a week, 45 weeks a year - and on their
"time off" play 30 dates a year with orchestras and at festivals and
performing arts centers in the U.S. and abroad. "All the tunes that we do
on the new album are songs that the guests that we play for every day enjoy
listening to," Clark says. "You can see them light up when we play
those particular songs; they're fan favorites. Maybe that's because they don't
expect us to make a departure from traditional jazz, though everything we do
keeps one foot planted in New Orleans music."
That term is
surprisingly hard to define, even for a longtime resident like Clark. "I
think all of New Orleans music has a certain feel, a grittiness, to it,"
he says. "It's 'dirt under your fingernails' music."
Made up of
well-studied musicians with hundreds of songs in their repertoire and countless
performances under their belt, the DUKES make it a point to balance their
virtuosity with that grit, never losing sight of the elements that make the Big
Easy special. "Every night I hear, 'This is what we came to New Orleans
for,'" Clark says.
"There's
something about every song that we do that makes it different than any other
band. It's the difference between grabbing a po'boy and eating a fine meal at
Commander's Palace."
The modern
DUKES of Dixieland trace their history back 41 years, when trumpeter and
cornetist Connie Jones left Pete Fountain's band to reform the band. They
opened their own nightclub later that year in the French Quarter and have been
a New Orleans institution ever since, taking up residency on the Steamboat
Natchez in 1992. Clark, who had previously served a thirteen-year tenure in the
band before leaving in 2002, returned to take the helm in 2010. He brought
integral experience from playing at Disney World and booking shows for Toronto
venues with him.
"The
band has always had great players," Clark says, "but what I bring to
the table is the conviction that people want to be entertained; they don't want
a history lesson. We're like a show band that plays New Orleans music:
everything's tight and there's no down time to explain what we're doing."
That
attitude is well-represented on Live at 2015 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival, which flows organically from opener "Mama Inez," through a
trio of Duke Ellington compositions, to a mash-up of Louis Prima's iconic
"Sing, Sing Sing," with his song from Disney's The Jungle Book,
"I Wanna Be Like You." The set continues with Alan Broome's gravelly
vocal on Tom Waits' "I Wish I Was in New Orleans," evoking both the
songwriter and the city's musical godfather, Louis Armstrong.
Pianist/singer
Joe Kennedy takes a killer turn on a medley of Jerry Lee Lewis tunes and
returns to the spotlight for a run-through of New Orleans R&B favorites,
including Dr. John's "Such a Night;" "Down Home Girl,"
originally recorded by New Orleans singer Alvin Robinson; Huey
"Piano" Smith's oft-recorded "Rockin' Pneumonia and the
Boogie-Woogie Flu;" and Bobby Goldsboro's "Voodoo Woman." Allen
Toussaint's familiar "Java" offers a taste of a more classic New
Orleans sound.
"There's
a lot of different music under the umbrella of New Orleans music," Clark
sums up. "What we're trying to do is be that band. You want to hear Jelly
Roll Morton? We'll play Jelly Roll Morton like you want it to be done. Want to
hear Fats Domino? Louis Prima? The Meters? The Neville Brothers? I think the
essence is versatility, presenting lots of different options for people with
depth while remaining accessible and fun."
No comments:
Post a Comment