Celebrating the Birthday of Henry Butler

Jazz and Blues pianist Henry Butler was born in New Orleans on September 21, 1948. Blinded by glaucoma at birth, at five years old he entered the Louisiana State School for the Blind. There was no piano in his home, so he memorized piano melodies until he found a piano to play. Butler was performing regularly by age 16, attending school during the day and playing, arranging and composing for the groups he played with at night. Butler not only played piano, he also learned drums and saxophone, and was successful both as a soloist and in groups in Los Angeles and New York City. A true Renaissance man, Butler earned a college degree and graduate degree and taught at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. Sadly, Henry passed away on July 2, 2018, but his music lives on.

By Dezz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45049229

Happy Birthday, Luther Kent!

Blues vocalist Luther Kent was born Kent Rowell in New Orleans on June 23, 1948, and is known for his powerful, soulful voice, as well as his band Luther Kent & Trick Bag, which mixes swinging blues with New Orleans R&B. He began his professional singing career when he was 14, and was influenced by Ray Charles, Etta James and Bobby Bland. In 1970, he became the lead singer for a group named Cold Grits, and in 1974 he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears. He toured with them until the end of that same year, but he never recorded with that group. In 1977 he released his first solo album, and by 1978 he had formed Luther Kent & Trick Bag with Charlie Brent, former musical director for Wayne Cochran. The band was very active during the 1980s and 1990s, and released 3 CDs under the name. Kent released a gospel album in 1996 which featured Allen Toussaint and Pete Fountain. In 2006, Kent toured Italy with Italian blues guitarist Robi Zonca and his band, and a recording of the show was released as album Magic Box that year. Apart from his solo work, Kent also sings as a guest with the traditional jazz group, The Dukes of Dixieland, and appears on some of their recordings. Kent continues to perform and is a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Let’s wish Luther a very happy birthday!

Photo by Masahiro Sumori

Happy Birthday, James Andrews!

Trumpeter and vocalist James Andrews was born in New Orleans on January 12, 1969, into a musical family that includes his grandfather Jesse Hill, younger brother Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, and cousin to Glen David Andrews and the late Travis "Trumpet Black" Hill. Andrews has the nickname “Satchmo of the Ghetto.” Raised in the Tremé neighborhood, Andrews played in a number of brass bands, including the Treme Brass Band, Junior Olympia Brass Band, and the New Birth Brass Band, before launching his own band, James Andrews and the Crescent City Allstars. He also played with multi-instrumentalist Danny Barker. In 1998, he released the album Satchmo of the Ghetto, which was produced by Allen Toussaint and featured Dr. John on all 11 tracks.

In 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, James Andrews was one of the first musicians to return to New Orleans following the flooding. He and his brother, Trombone Shorty, played at Jackson Square a mere 17 days after Katrina hit the area, and, at a later show at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, Andrews was the first to declare "We’re gonna rebuild this city, note by note." Today we wish this incredible performer a very happy birthday!

Photo: http://jamesandrewsmusic.com

Celebrating the Birthday of Henry Butler

Jazz and Blues pianist Henry Butler was born in New Orleans on September 21, 1948. Blinded by glaucoma at birth, at five years old he entered the Louisiana State School for the Blind. There was no piano in his home, so he memorized piano melodies until he found a piano to play. Butler was performing regularly by age 16, attending school during the day and playing, arranging and composing for the groups he played with at night. Butler not only played piano, he also learned drums and saxophone, and was successful both as a soloist and in groups in Los Angeles and New York City. A true Renaissance man, Butler earned a college degree and graduate degree and taught at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. Sadly, Henry passed away on July 2, 2018, but his music lives on.

By Dezz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45049229

Happy Birthday, Terrance Simien!

Zydeco musician, vocalist and songwriter Terrance Simien was born September 3, 1965, in Mallet, Louisiana, and is an eighth generation Creole from one of the earliest Creole families that settled in St. Landry Parish. He was introduced to music via the piano at home, the Catholic Church choir, and playing trumpet in school band programs. He taught himself to play accordion in his teens and formed his first band Terrance Simien & The Mallet Playboys, playing regionally.

In the early 1980s, Simien was one of only two emerging zydeco artists performing and continuing the traditions of zydeco roots music. Simien and his group have toured internationally, presenting over 9000 live performances in more than 45 countries, and released dozens of solo recordings and collaborations. He has shared studio and stage with the likes of Paul Simon, Dr. John, The Meters, Marcia Ball, Dave Matthews, Stevie Wonder, Robert Palmer and Los Lobos. In 2008, Simien and his group won the Grammy Award for Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album, and in 2013, he and several of his other band mates won their second Grammy for Best Regional Roots Record.

Simien has appeared on screen and contributed to the soundtracks of multiple movies, television films and commercials. He contributed to the soundtracks of the films, The Princess and the Frog, The Big Easy, Exit To Eden and A Murder Of Crows. Simien and his business partner/wife, Cynthia, are active in Creole music education and advocacy, having created the "Creole for Kidz & The History of Zydeco" performing arts program, and MusicMatters, Inc., a non-profit for education and advocacy.

Simien is one of the most accomplished and respected artists in American roots music. Today we celebrate and wish Terrance a very happy birthday!

Photo: Carl Lender

Happy Birthday, Aurora Nealand!

Bandleader, composer, saxophonist, clarinetist, accordionist, and vocalist Aurora Nealand was born on May 28, in California. The following biography is from http://www.auroranealand.com.

An established bandleader, composer, performer and improviser, Aurora Nealand has become a prominent force in the New Orleans music scene since she first arrived in 2004. Combining the “formal education” – a music composition degree from Oberlin Conservatory and training at the Jacques Lecoq School of  Physical Theatre in Paris –  with the “informal”  experience of playing music in the streets and clubs of New Orleans and throughout the northern Hemisphere, Nealand has emerged as an innovative, sensitive and daring music creator and performer.

She is most recognized for her performance on saxophones, clarinet and vocals and has been at the forefront of the revival of New Orleans Traditional Jazz amongst the younger generation of the city’s musicians. After playing and learning as a sideman in established New Orleans Bands for several years, (Panorama Jazz Band, VaVaVoom, The New Orleans Moonshiners), in 2010 she formed her own Traditional Jazz band “The Royal Roses”. The Royal Roses released it’s first album, “A Tribute to Sydney Bechet: Live at Preservation Hall” to national acclaim and Nealand was voted as one of Downbeat Magazines top ten rising stars for soprano saxophone in 2010.

Nealand grew up in a musical family in California listening to Preservation Hall Jazz Band recordings side by side with Stravinsky, Joan Baez and the Pixies. Later, during her time at Oberlin College/Conservatory she was exposed and fell in love with the recordings of Mingus, the soundscapes of Mort Subotnik and the performances of Laurie Anderson. With a strong interest in interdisciplinary work and sound for theatre and installation, she moved to Paris to study at the Ecole du Theatre Physical Jacques Lecoq. Upon returning to the states, she bicycled cross-country collecting audio interviews and stories in rural America to be used in a series of compositions about true “American Dreams”. This bicycle trip landed her in New Orleans, which has acted as her home base since 2005. In New Orleans she began playing traditional jazz, jazz manouche of Django Reinhardt, as well as Balkan/Klezmer music. She quickly became involved in the local improvisation scene as well, making frequent appearances at the Open Ears series playing her own compositions with various ensembles and artists.

In addition to leading the Royal Roses, Nealand is also the leader/frontman ofNew Orleans premier rockabilly band “Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers”, and as performs frequently with her solo project, “The Monocle”. She also is a member of Panorama Jazz Band and Why Are We Building Such A Big Ship.  In 2010 and 2011 she appeared frequently as herself  in the HBO TV series, “Treme”.

Nealand has performed extensively in New Orleans at clubs, in the Jazz and Heritage Fest, FrenchQuarter Fest and Satchmo Fest. She has also performed frequently in New York City at Lincoln Center Summer Festival in NYC, the BlueNote, Knitting Factory, Barbes and has premiered original works at Symphony Space and Alice Tully Hall.  Internationally she has appeared at the Istanbul Jazz Festival, London Swing Festival, Barcelona Swing Out, and has toured several times around Irealand, Sweden, Germany , France and the Balkans.

Today we wish this uniquely talented artist a very happy birthday!

Photo: http://www.auroranealand.com