If you're from New Orleans, you already know that Kermit Ruffins is the King of Treme. But, with the recent success of the new HBO series "Treme," in which Kermit plays himself, a whole new audience is being introduced to his music. His most recent release, “Livin’ a Treme Life”, is inspired by the same neighborhood that is essential to the city’s musical and cultural heritage.
Kermit's sole priority while on stage is to make the people dance. In fact, he won't play a club if there's no dance floor. As he puts it, "I'd rather get people up and dancing than just having dinner and listening. I'd rather be in one of the New Orleans clubs, and I'll only take gigs in places that have a dance floor. There are places around the city that I played for years, but now I won't do it because nobody's dancing."
Often compared to Louis Armstrong, which Kermit humbly accepts, he co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band in 1983. Then, in 1992, a traditional jazz quintet, the Barbecue Swingers was born, mixing music with Kermit's other true love, food. Don't miss his famous BBQ at one of his Thursday night gigs at Vaughan's in New Orleans. But, if you do miss him at Vaughan's, you'll find him at Bullet's on Tuesday. In fact, for Kermit, this week's Jazz Fest schedule looks something like this: Today at Louisiana Music Factory at noon, Wednesday at House of Blues, Thursday at Vaughan's, Friday at Jazz Fest, and Saturday at Rock and Bowl.
If you're in New Orleans, for Jazz Fest or any other time, be sure to make a Kermit Ruffins show part of your itinerary. If you can't see him live, be sure to pick up "Livin' a Treme Life" or one of his other CD's available from Basin Street Records.
Links: Official | Facebook | Twitter | MySpace | iTunes
No comments:
Post a Comment