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Since 1978, Astral Project has been New Orleans' most exciting, inventive and respected morden jazz group. It's a co-op band comprised of world-class improvisers, hailed by fans and critics around the world. Down Beat calls Astral Project "one of the most distinctive and cohesive groups in jazz." JazzTimes calls Astral Project "one of the more adventurous working units in modern jazz today." The daily paper in Astral Project's home town, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, calls Astral Project simply "the city's premier modern jazz ensemble." The monthly music magazine OffBeat says Astral Project is "the finest modern jazz ensemble in New Orleans, and undoubtedly one of the most unique jazz groups period."
Visit HomepageBranford Marsalis was born in 1960 in New Orleans. He was the oldest of six sons of jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis. He started playing piano at 4 years old and a few years later took up the clarinet. At 15, he started playing the alto saxophone. When he was 16, his 15 year old brother Wynton asked him to be in his band. He went to college at Southern University and then transferred to the Berklee of School of Music. In 1980, playing baritone saxophone, he joins a big band formed by Art Blakey, and tours Europe. He also worked with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and with Clark Terry during college.
New Orleans-born Craig "Sparky" Klein received his first trombone at the age of six from his musician uncle, Gerry Dallmann. His formal musical training began in grade school, under the guidance of Papa Jac Assunto, founder of the Dukes of Dixieland. After college graduation, his professional musical career began in 1979 when he started playing with a traditional New Orleans brass band, meeting and playing with some of the New Orleans greats, such as Kid Sheik Colla, Father Al Lewis, Danny Barker, Chester Zardis, Frog Joseph, and many more.
Visit HomepageWhen clarinetist Michael White headed to the Mississippi River's west bank for a two-month residency at A Studio in the Woods, he had the rare opportunity to contemplate New Orleans traditional jazz that has been central to his life. One of the concepts that the 49-year-old musician kept returning to was the duality that occurs in the music and in the nature of existence. White's latest release on Basin Street Records, Dancing in the Sky, brims with the results of the clarinetist's retreat and reflects these musings.
White, who began his musical career in his late teens blowing with veteran trumpeter Doc Paulin's Brass Band, proclaims on this album full of original material that fresh tunes and modern flavorings can be added to the classic jazz songbook without compromising the tradition. While shades of Sidney Bechet echo through White's lively "Bounce (Out of the Woods)," the clarinetist ambitiously takes his solo into the free space of present decades.
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George French's musical profile is usually defined by whoever happens to be hearing him at the time. French is a singing bassist with an extensive background in New Orleans jazz and rhythm and blues. Pick up any of a dozen New Orleans-made hit records of the 1960s and you'll probably hear French.
George French began training and performing at an early age as a vocalist in grammar school. His musical training as a bassist started as a teenager. With no professional instruction; his musical style developed through "on-the-job-training." French's major influences during his musical development were, among others, his father, Albert "Papa" French, Sr., George Davis, and Sam Jones. "Papa" French served as his role model for musical professionalism, business style and commitment to performing. George Davis, his first teacher, ignited his desire to play bass while Sam Jones served as his mentor for musical style.
Musician, composer, arranger, performer and teacher, Harold Raymond Battiste, Jr. was born October 28, 1931, in New Orleans. Young Battiste loved the rich music of his New Orleans neighborhood. Graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1949, Battiste attended New Orleans' Dillard University, earning a B.S. in music in 1953.
Battiste's professional contributions as a producer and arranger for studio, film, stage and television include Sam Cooke's You Send Me, Sonny and Cher's I Got You Babe, Joe Jones'You Talk Too Much, Barbara George's I Know and Lee Dorsey's Ya Ya. Battiste introduced audiences to New Orleans artist Mac Rebbenack as "Dr. John" and produced his earliest albums. Earning six gold records, Battiste spent thirty years in Los Angeles, including fifteen years with Sonny and Cher.
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A four-time W.C. Handy “Best Blues Instrumentalist - Piano” award nominee, Henry Butler knows no limitations. Although blinded by glaucoma since birth, Butler is also a world class photographer with his work displayed at exhibitions throughout the United States. Playing piano since the age of six, Butler is a master of musical diversity. Combining the percussive jazz piano playing of McCoy Tyner and the New Orleans style playing of Professor Longhair through his classically-trained wizardry, Butler continues to craft a sound uniquely his own. A rich amalgam of jazz, Caribbean, classical, pop, blues and R&B influences, his music is as excitingly eclectic as that of his New Orleans birthplace.
Irvin Mayfield, born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1977, has established himself as the next musician to embody and represent the great New Orleans jazz trumpeter legacy. Mr. Mayfield has become a fast-paced pioneer in several endeavors. Beginning with his New Orleans-styled version of a Latin jazz band, Los Hombres Calientes, which he co-founded with Bill Summers. He also leads his own band, the Irvin Mayfield Quintet. In addition to his numerous recordings, he recently founded the Institute of Jazz Culture at Dillard University and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, a non-profit institution geared toward jazz performances, education and interpretation.
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