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| 4.500 Ft
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| 1. | Didn't He Ramble
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| 2. | I Ate Up the Apple Tre
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| 3. | Good Morning New Orleans
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| 4. | Holy Cow
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| 5. | Hey Naa
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| 6. | I Got Mine
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| 7. | I Can See Clearly Now
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| 8. | High Heel Sneakers
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| 9. | Hello Good Evening
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| 10. | Song for My Father
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| 11. | For the Love of You
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| 12. | Tremé Mardi Gras
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Jazz
Kermit Ruffins - Trumpet, Vocals
Betty Winn - Vocals (Background)
Carl LeBlanc - Banjo
Chris Finney Mixing, Engineer
Corey Henry Trombone
David Torkanowsky Piano, Fender Rhodes
Diana Thornton Production Coordination
Eric Traub Sax (Tenor)
Evan Christopher Clarinet
George Porter, Jr. Bass
Greg Hicks Horn
Herlin Riley Drums, Percussion
June Yamagishi Guitar
Keith "Bass Drum Shorty" Frazier Drums (Bass)
Kevin Morris Bass
Lisa Phillips Vocals (Background)
Mark Bingham Engineer
Mark Mullins Horn Arrangements, Horn, Trombone
Mark Samuels Executive Producer
Percy Williams Conga
Phil Frazier Tuba
Rick Olivier Photography
Tracey Freeman Producer
Troy Andrews Trumpet, Trombone, Guest Appearance
Vlado Meller Mastering
Wesley Fontenot Engineer
Yes, Kermit Ruffins can blow a horn. Yes, he can front as tight as a quartet as New Orleans can offer. Yes, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers will, in the course of any given set, mock and obliterate the boundaries that seperate straight jazz from funk, standards from hip hop. Yes, the music comes correct!brbrLIVIN' A TREME LIFE named for a New Orleans neighborhood and lifestyle essential to the town's musical and cultural history. But make no mistake - all of the city is in those horn lines, from Ruffins' native Lower Ninth Ward to the Bywater where he gigs, to the Treme where he lives, to the Uptown streets where he can routinely be seen videotaping the latest second line. Play it loud. And remember how much is at stake!
Kermit Ruffins is one of the prime reasons why New Orleans is mending post-Katrina, bringing his good-time music to the people as an entertainer. As a trumpet player and singer of heritage jazz, soul, and popular music, he's uplifting the spirit of Crescent City dwellers who are slowly but surely rebuilding their neighborhoods. This CD further defines that role, as he brings traditional swing and shuffle rhythms, a bit of funk, and standardized Mardi Gras-style music to the table -- predictable, reliable, and charming. Where Ruffins goes beyond this repertoire is a question to be answered later, but for now he stays in the pocket from his previous recordings without wavering. It's good to hear him do a funky version of reggae star Johnny Nash's hit "I Can See Clearly Now" with the Bonerama horn section, tacking a typical New Orleans strut onto "Hi-Heel Sneakers," decently covering the Isley Brothers soul/R&B tune "For the Love of You," and making his best effort playing Horace Silver's "Song for My Father," although it shows imperfections. Shuffle rhythms prevail in traditional fashion during the self-centered "I Ate Up the Apple Tree" and "I Got Mine," both closest to the tradition established by Louis Armstrong, who Ruffins so desperately would like to be as he sings about "living on chicken and wine" during the latter track. Allen Toussaint's "Holy Cow" is classic New Orleans rhythm & blues, done well but not exceptionally, and "Didn't He Ramble?" runs parallel to the vintage jazz tradition in fine style. The greatest strength of this recording lies in the backup band, with the extraordinary pianist and Fender Rhodes veteran David Torkanowsky making sterling contributions throughout. Drummer Herlin Riley and bassist George Porter, Jr. also add exponentially to the musical backdrop, as do members of the Rebirth Brass Band on "For the Love of You" and the delightful light swinger "Good Morning New Orleans," one of four originals written by Ruffins. While his trumpet playing is standard fare, the music is tinged with a happy/sad feeling, glad to be alive and even thriving in tough times, but clearly tempered by the passing of his father, Lloyd Hampton Ruffins. It's another good, pleasing recording of many by the talented jazzman. ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Kermit Ruffins
Active Decades: '90s and '00s
Born: 1964 in New Orleans, LA
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Swing, New Orleans Jazz
New Orleans-based trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and songwriter Kermit Ruffins is an ever-inventive musician who projects a warmth from the stage. He's got charisma, so as a consequence, he and his bandmates in the Barbecue Swingers are not in danger of overexposing themselves in their native Crescent City. Ruffins, born in 1964 in New Orleans, reminds many people of a sort of modern-day Louis Armstrong, though he's far from becoming the international ambassador of goodwill that Armstrong eventually became. Fortunately for fans of contemporary New Orleans music and the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Ruffins, a mainstay of both arenas, has been picked up and marketed and distributed in recent years by the Crescent City-based Basin Street Records. Basin Street has issued a steady stream of very well-recorded albums by Ruffins and his Barbecue Swingers throughout the 1990s.
He formed the Barbecue Swingers in 1992. Ruffins initially signed with Justice Records in Houston, TX, in the mid-'90s, releasing "Hold On Tight" for that label in 1995. His releases for Basin Street Records include "Big Easy" in 2002, "1533 St. Philip Street" in 2001, "Swing This!" in 1999, and "Barbecue Swingers, Live" in 1997. Interestingly, Ruffins was not raised in a jazz- or blues-centric environment. Growing up, he listened to popular black music on the radio, groups like the Commodores, Al Green, and all the groups that received airplay on black radio stations in the south in the 1970s. He began playing trumpet as a young teenager, but didn't discover the possibilities of jazz and blues until he first heard Louis Armstrong when he was 19. For tips with a school buddy in Jackson Square, a touristy area of New Orleans close to the Mississippi River, he began playing songs by Armstrong and other classic jazz figures associated with New Orleans. With several of his fellow students from high school, Ruffins started the Rebirth Brass Band. That band led to Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers.
While Ruffins projects a certain warmth on-stage in a small club in New Orleans, and freely jokes with his bandmates and his audience through the course of a show, his studio outings offer glimpses into his abilities as a bandleader and songwriter. Ruffins writes about what he knows. He'll pick up a phrase he overhears in New Orleans and turn that into a memorable song. One example of this is his song "When I Die, You Better Second Line," a phrase he'd heard the old men at Joe's Cozy Corner repeat numerous times through the years. Ruffins is famous at home in New Orleans for his frequent barbecue bashes at the bars he and his band perform in. Weather permitting, he'll set up his grill on the sidewalk in front of a club and serve bar staff, bandmembers, and patrons some barbecued chicken or beef during the breaks between his usual three sets. Hence the name Barbecue Swingers. As of yet, Ruffins hasn't figured out a way to take this aspect of his show on the road. Ruffins had his own club for a short time in New Orleans, but was forced to close it after tourism fell off sharply after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S.
In recent years, Ruffins and his band have been able to take their act out on the road on summer weekends, playing at festivals in Florida, California, Colorado, New York City, and Cape May, NJ. At these events, they've been able to sell more compact discs than they would at home in New Orleans. Live shows from Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers are what it's all about. Until he puts his trumpet to his mouth, he said, he has no idea what he'll play on any given night. But through years of performing in New Orleans and other places, he's learned to be a careful reader of his audience. He'll work with his band to deliver the kind of music he figures a given audience is in the mood for.
---Richard J. Skelly, All Music Guide |
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