A Night In Treme

The Treme neighborhood of New Orleans has been a source of African- American music and culture for as long as cooks in the Crescent City have been serving red beans and rice on Monday nights. Birthplace of the great New Orleans brass band tradition and one of the first black neighborhoods in America, Treme (pronounced truh-MAY) is the heartbeat of New Orleans and the home to Congo Square. Ted Kurland Associates and Absolutely Live Entertainment in association with Wendel Pierce (who plays the smooth-talking trombonist Antoine Batiste on Treme) have an exclusive agreement with HBO to present “A NIGHT IN TREME” (The Musical Majesty of New Orleans) in conjunction with the airing and promotion of the second season of the HBO Series, Treme. From David Simon and Eric Overmeyer (both of The Wire®), Treme follows musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians and ordinary New Orleanians as they try to rebuild their lives, their homes and their unique culture in the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane and levee failure that caused the near-death of an American city.

“A Night in Treme” will feature the legendary REBIRTH BRASS BAND along with at least two to three special guests nightly including singer and trumpeter KERMIT RUFFINS, historian and clarinetist DR. MICHAEL WHITE, Mardi Gras Indian Chief and alto saxophonist DONALD HARRISON, JR., young trumpet lion CHRISTIAN SCOTT, and funky trombonist BIG SAM WILLIAMS, among others. Wendel Pierce will offer a recorded narration on the history of the neighborhood and the struggle to repair and rebuild lives after Katrina. He will be available as a live orator as his schedule permits. HBO will actively publicize and promote the tour, which will run from May-July and October-November, 2011. The members of Rebirth Brass Band and the guest artists are available for educational and outreach programs. Rebirth’s drummer, Derrick Tabb, was a nominee for the 2009 CNN/Hero of The Year Award for his “Roots of Music” program.

Produced by Danny Melnick for Absolutely Live Entertainment in association with Wendell Pierce.

http://www.hbo.com/treme/index.html/

REBIRTH BRASS BAND
Hailed by the New York Times as “a New Orleans institution,” the Rebirth Brass Band have been at the forefront of the brass band revival that they helped kick off almost 30 years ago. Formed by the Frazier brothers, Phil and Keith, along with Basin Street labelmate Kermit Ruffins in 1983, The Rebirth Brass band has gone from playing on corners in the French Quarter to selling out concert halls across the world and appearing in David Simon’s HBO hit “Tremé.”

It’s been a long road, but The Rebirth Brass Band has become one of the most beloved brass bands in New Orleans and around the world.

Since their founding, they’ve developed a signature brand of heavy funk that they expand upon on their latest effort, Rebirth of New Orleans. Opener “Exactly Like You” starts the album off with a rollicking, Mardi Gras stomp. “The Dilemma”
and “Do It Again” find the group locking in to a down-tempo, Latin-influenced grooves, anchored by Phil Frazier’s tuba. And “Shrimp and Gumbo” and
“Feelin’ Fine” find the band effortlessly perfecting the New Orleans-style brass lines that put the city on the map.

Rebirth Brass Band were featured in the opening scene of David Simon’s hit HBO show “Tremé” as well as on the GRAMMY® nominated soundtrack. No band exemplifies the essence and soul of New Orleans like Rebirth Brass Band.

http://www.rebirthbrassband.com/

KERMIT RUFFINS
It takes all of 30 seconds.

Whether listening to a track on his newest CD, engaging him in conversation or hearing his voice on an answering machine message, one word springs immediately to mind to describe Kermit Ruffins.

Passion.

The 44-year-old New Orleans native lives it, plays it and sings about it, and nowhere is it more evident than when he discusses his craft  the swinging, good-time jazz that lured him in as a teenager and continues to whet his appetite even three decades and 10 solo recordings later.

"You definitely pick that up from me. Thats definitely the way I live, man," he said. "From the time I wake up in the morning, Im itching for my next show to happen. It cant get here fast enough for me. I think thats the basic ingredient of New Orleans music. Our traditional music. Its really just happy music. A lot of other jazz players are very technical and concentrating on studying hard.

"We study hard, too, but what we most want to do is just get up there and experiment with the tunes that weve been playing for years and years."

At this point in his career, in fact, having fun at work is a prerequisite.

"Thats really the only way I can do it anymore," Ruffins said. "I do occasionally play a straight-ahead gig like a business meeting or a private party once in a while, where all theyre asking me for is background music, but Id rather get people up and dancing than just having dinner and listening. Id rather be in one of the New Orleans clubs, and Ill only take gigs in places that have a dance floor. There are places around the city that I played for years, but now I wont do it because nobodys dancing."

The mandate for fun in performing traces back to a musical role model  Louis Armstrong.

Though he grew up in a decade when Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna were at the top of late-teen playlists, Ruffins still vividly and emotionally recalled the moment when Armstrong  a New Orleans icon  became the be-all and end-all of his musical universe.

"When I started out playing, it was down on the streets in the French Quarter for tips, and wed sit and watch all the guys in suits going inside to play in the clubs," he said. "I was watching one day when, all of a sudden, I heard one trumpet on the juke box. I was 19 or 20 years old, and it was Louis doing a solo on When Youre Smiling.

"I was so overwhelmed that I went that day and bought all the CDs of his that I could find. I started to watch videos all the time, and from then on, whenever my friends got together to play, wed be drinking, eating barbecue and watching Louis Armstrong."

A visit earlier this year to "Satchmos" former home in New York  since labeled a national landmark and transformed into a Queens College museum  was similarly life-changing for Ruffins, who eagerly, and humbly, accepts any comparisons to his idol.

"I really cant put into words what that meant," he said. "You look at the stairs out front where he would give lessons to neighborhood kids, and then you go through the house and see his rooms and press buttons and hear his conversations, it was so powerful for me. I was very choked up.

"Thats someone who really, really led one of Americas true art forms. He was really the cherry on top of New Orleans music. And now I see it being passed on to younger kids, and for me to have a role in that and to maybe do the things he did is so spiritual to me."

Ruffins legacy-in-progress includes co-founding the Rebirth Brass Band in 1983. Rebirths creation was inspired by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band  which was credited with bringing influences of funk and contemporary bebop into New Orleans style brass bands.

In 1992, he founded the Barbecue Swingers, a traditional jazz quintet that mixes music with another of his true loves, food.

That combination helped create his first release for Basin Street Records  The Barbecue Swingers Live  recorded at Tipitina's in New Orleans on Nov. 14, 1997.

And now, hundreds of shows and barbecues later, prolonging the status of jazz in New Orleans is among Ruffins pet projects.

He consistently plays at venues that cater to the younger set and is often visible in the audience at local sporting events and other activities where some of the citys youth are performing.

"You can go out on any given night and see 30 or 40 bands playing," he said. "All over the city, whether its at the schools or somewhere else, kids are still excited about this kind of music because its the tradition thats been handed down and its what they've been listening to for years."

His own school-age efforts as a performer, however, were something less than wholly endorsed.

"They made me take off my band uniform at a football game when I started playing that second-line music," he said. "But things like that werent going to stop us. Wed be in school and itd be time for lunch and wed go straight to playing, we didnt even eat. We could usually get in two good songs before the principal shut us down."

Ironically, some three decades later, Ruffins has become one of the citys signature symbols.

He'll play himself in an upcoming HBO series named "Treme" for the neighborhood and lifestyle essential to its musical and cultural history. The area was also inspiration for his most recent CD, "Livin a Treme Life"  his seventh for Basin Street Records  released in April.

The pilot episode  produced by David Simon, creator of "The Wire"  was shot in early 2009. Production for the remaining episodes of the first season began in November 2009, with a scheduled launch in April 2010.

Simon said "Treme" would reach beyond music to explore political corruption, public housing controversy, the crippled criminal-justice system, clashes between police and Mardi Gras Indians and the struggle to regain tourism after Hurricane Katrina.

"Every day, everyone would be working, making phone calls, hauling, building things up," he said. "Then at night, when the city went dark and youd stop work to get something to eat, there was always a band playing on a porch. And for three hours, you could forget everything that happened."

The CD, which includes 12 tracks blending original and cover material, reviewed well.

"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," said All Music Guides Michael G. Nastos on Billboard.com, "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."

To cap off a busy year, the perpetually swinging Ruffins expects an early November release for his first holiday recording, which also features a blend of traditional staples and new songs  all delivered via Ruffins playful lyrics and powerful rhythms.

"I always wanted to do a Christmas record. Its my favorite time of the whole year," he said. "Every year around the holidays we do a party at the House of Blues and, as soon as one ends, Im always looking forward to the next one."

And somewhere, the "next" Kermit Ruffins can take notes from a contented mentor.

"I sit back all the time," he said, "and it amazes me to think, Man, we did it. We made it.

http://www.basinstreetrecords.com/artists/kermit-ruffins.html

DONALD HARRISON
Donald Harrison is being called one of the most important musicians of the new millennium by CBS Sunday Morning. A list of his accomplishments shows that he has developed into a musical category unto himself. In the classic jazz genre, he is the originator of the Nouveau Swing style which merges acoustic swing with modern R&B, second-line, hip-hop, (New Orleans African American roots culture), and reggae rhythms. His smooth jazz recording, “The Power of Cool” went to the top of Billboard Magazine's Smooth Jazz and R&B charts and is considered a classic. His ground-breaking recording, “Indian Blues” captured the essence of Mardi Gras Indian culture within a jazz context.

His latest New Orleans recording, “The New Sounds of Mardi Gras” updates New Orleans music. It puts the sounds of Mardi Gras into Hip-hop, R&B, and Funk. It also marks Harrison's debut as a rapper. The great singer-pianist Dr. John says of the recording, “This is the freshest thing to come out of New Orleans in years. You deserve an award for this one” Harrison's newest Classic Jazz recording, “Heroes” is now available. The CD is a trio recording with the great bass innovator Ron Carter and drum innovator Billy Cobham. The CD also features three bonus tracks with his young working band. His “Freestyle,” recorded with his young working band, showcases his Nouveau Swing in an even funkier presentation. In September Half-Note Records will release his second trio recording with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham which was recorded live at the Blue Note NYC. Presently, Harrison is recording yet another CD titled, “3D” The recording is a three CD set which features a different genre of music on each disc. The genres are Classic Jazz, R&B-Smooth Jazz, and Hip-hop. This exciting project will showcase Harrison's ability to produce, write, sing, rap, and play many instruments.

He is one of the few musicians who can play it all - from traditional New Orleans, to swing, bop, post-bop, modern, smooth, avant-garde, and beyond. Yet, Harrison has developed his own personal style that traverses and synthesizes all these mediums with great success. Through talent and perseverance, Harrison has developed into one of the most significant artist to emerge in the last twenty years!

http://www.donaldharrison.com/

BIG SAM'S FUNKY NATION
In New Orleans, a city indisputably overflowing with funk, the high honor for Best Funk Group of 2008 was awarded to Big Sam's Funky Nation at the 2009 Big Easy Music Awards. For the past few years, Big Sam's Funky Nation has been a driving force of urban funk. The band is led by trombone powerhouse, Big Sam Williams, formerly the trombonist for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, who the San Francisco Chronicle calls "the top man on the slide trombone in the birthplace of jazz." Presiding over his Funky Nation is Big Sam, a big man with an impeccable urban fashion sense, who blows the funk out of his trombone and refuses to let the audience sit still. Between solos and trombone riffs, Big Sam second-lines (a uniquely New Orleans style of street-dance) and gets the crowd going both in movement and in replies to his call-and-response MC-style. An extremely talented group of musicians makes up the Funky Nation, bringing with them a rock sensibility, the improv-style associated with jazz and the horn-heavy front section that's the hallmark of big band funk.

Big Sam is New Orleans - born and raised. He was schooled in the fertile musical streets of the Big Easy and in the classroom at the renowned New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA). He started out with the Soul Rebels Brass Band and later joined the Dirty Dozen Brass Band as a teenager. He has been working tirelessly spreading his brand of funky brass ever since. He has played with such acts as Dave Matthews, Widespread Panic, and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe among others. His distinct sound and style captivated the crowd as he played lead trombone for the Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint’s international tour and was featured on their Grammy nominated CD, The River in Reverse.

Big Sam’s Funky Nation currently has four albums to their credit: King of the Party, Take Me Back, Birth of A Nation, and Peace, Love & Understanding. Since 2001, BSFN has been searing its distinctly funky mark onto the New Orleans music scene. The band has toured across the country and internationally, spreading its high energy musical manifesto - and always bringing the party along the way.

http://www.bigsamsfunkynation.com/

GLEN DAVID ANDREWS
Glen David Andrews hopped down from an outdoor stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May, leaving his trombone behind. He sang in a powerful raspy voice, inflected with just a hint of Louis Armstrong. Segueing from one song to another - the controversial 1920s classic “Black and Blue” to the more recent brass-band tune “Cell Block Nine,” for example - he sprinkled each with improvised lyrics. “It's my time,” he shouted between numbers.

Andrews, 30, has a lanky 6-foot-4-inch body and a mercurial personality. The brass-band music and traditional jazz he was raised on are still his greatest loves. “The musicians that played in my neighborhood, they brought me out of the womb,” he says, not by way of metaphor. According to his mother, Vana Acker, when she was pregnant, Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen, a traditional-music icon and mentor to many musicians, came by and blew his horn outside the house. He said the sound of the tuba would induce labor. Glen David was born the next day.

As a young boy, whenever a second-line parade passed by, Andrews tagged along with his older brother, Derrick Tabb, who is now the snare drummer with the Rebirth Brass Band. Back then, Andrews played bass drum. At 12, he picked up the trombone. Rather than studying formally, he absorbed musical skills from neighbors such as “Frogman” Joseph, Harry Nance, Harold DeJean and other local heroes -  “the cream of the crop,” Andrews says. Soon he was playing for money alongside Tuba Fats in Jackson Square, in the middle of the French Quarter.

http://www.glendavidandrewsband.com/

SOUL REBELS
The Soul Rebels formed when Lumar LeBlanc and Derrick Moss, originally members of New Orleans’ iconic Dejean’s Young Olympia Brass Band, decided they wanted to play the new, exciting music they were hearing on the radio while respecting the tradition they loved. Both New Orleans natives, the pair was steeped in the fundamentals of New Orleans jazz, but inevitably, contemporary styles of music began to seep into their psyches. While LeBlanc attended the famed St. Augustine High School, Moss went to Lil’ Wayne’s alma mater McMain High School, and paraded alongside soon-to-be Cash Money Records CEO Ronald “Slim” Williams in the school’s marching band. New sounds were all around and they found them as exciting as the horn-combo style featured in jazz funerals since the turn of the Twentieth Century.

“We wanted to make our own sound without disrespecting the brass tradition,” LeBlanc recalls, “so we knew we had to break away.” They found a stylistic middle ground when they spun off and formed a band of young, like-minded local players from all over New Orleans. Graduates of university music programs throughout the South, the band took the marching band format they had learned in school and incorporated influences from outside the city as well as late-breaking local styles – R&B, funk and hip-hop – especially through half-sung, half-rapped lyrics. “Most of our originals have vocals,” says LeBlanc. “You wouldn’t have done that in a traditional brass band.”

Soon, the Soul Rebels’ contagious originals and updated takes on standards won them a loyal local audience. They began rocking some of New Orleans’ most beloved live music venues. A chance gig opening for the Neville Brothers got them a real start—and an official name. It was youngest brother Cyril Neville who first called them “Soul Rebels,” a good name for a band that strived to incite positive change in its treasured musical heritage. Since those days, the band has settled on an eight-piece lineup, building a career around an eclectic live show that harnesses the power of horns and drums in the party-like atmosphere of a dance club. Their weekly show at Uptown New Orleans spot Le Bon Temps Roulé has been known to descend into a sweaty shout-along as the band mixes up songs from its five studio albums with hits by Jay-Z and OutKast.

While touring the U.S., the Soul Rebels have shared the stage with notable artists from many corners of the pop and jazz worlds, including Arcade Fire, The Roots, Bootsy Collins, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Counting Crows, Green Day, Drive By Truckers, James Brown, Roy Hargrove, Allen Toussaint, Chuck Brown, Terence Blanchard, The Gap Band, Better than Ezra and many more. Averaging around 250 shows per year, the Soul Rebels have brought the party to stages as far away as South Africa and Europe, playing some of the world’s best-known music events, including, Umbria Jazz Fest, Antibes Jazz Festival, The Montreal Jazz festival, Bonnaroo, the Wanee Festival and, of course, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

When Hurricane Katrina struck their hometown in 2005, the band scattered across the region. Though a few members relocated to cities in Texas, the band frequently reconvened for gigs in New Orleans, this time with a renewed purpose. “Music has been the number one vehicle for Katrina recovery,” says LeBlanc. “That catastrophe has brought so much world wide attention to our music.”

Indeed, since the storm, the band has been more successful than ever serving as an international ambassador of the New Orleans sound. Now a hardcore touring band with a solid-as-ever lineup, the band has recently represented its hometown on television, appearing in the season finale of the HBO series Treme, the Discovery Channel hit After the Catch, and the NBC broadcast of the parade before the Saints’ winning 2010 Super Bowl.

In January of 2012, the band will finally release its first international album, Unlock Your Mind, on Rounder Records. This new song-driven studio effort includes guest appearances by Cyril Neville, Trombone Shorty and Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli. The album was produced by Rounder VP of A&R Scott Billington, who was also at the helm of many of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band’s groundbreaking albums.

The Soul Rebels continue charting new territory today. Called “the missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong” by the Village Voice, the Soul Rebels combine top notch musicianship and songs with grooves that celebrate life in time-honored New Orleans style.

http://www.soulrebelsbrassband.com/

DR. MICHAEL WHITE
Dr. Michael White is one of todays primary exponents of classic New Orleans jazz. The unique experiences that the clarinetist has had throughout his career and his ability to articulate the significance and timelessness of the music has made him a highly influential force and performer. Having suffered tremendous losses due to Hurricane Katrina, White has emerged with what promises to be his finest CD, Blue Crescent. This set of new New Orleans music features him, like the Crescent City, determined to rebuild, keeping the classic style not only alive but continually creative, and looking towards both the past with loving memory and the future.

Last December, Dr. Michael White had his first break since Katrina. Exhausted from having to deal with personal and professional difficulties, he took time off to stay at the local artist retreat facility, A Studio In The Woods. Thinking about his next recording, he felt suddenly rejuvenated and inspired, writing over three dozen songs within a short period of time. The 36 plus songs represent more than I had written in my whole life, says the clarinetist. In the music what Ive tried to do is think about the importance of New Orleans, the history of the Crescent City, the after-effects of Hurricane Katrina, and the future. What I did not want to do was have a maudlin post-Katrina recording with an excess of sadness. Most of the songs are intended to represent the joyous part of New Orleans, the determination to carry on and the musics heritage.

While most New Orleans jazz performances tend to emphasize vintage standards, White wanted to bring the music into the 21st century. He gathered together an all-star group of versatile New Orleans players (including trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Gregory Stafford and drummer Jason Marsalis) and, with the exception of St. Louis Blues and the Carter Familys Will The Circle Be Unbroken, performed his new music. While the songs uphold the musical principles of New Orleans jazz, the fresh repertoire is full of variety, subtle surprises, and the influences felt by White in his life. And while a few of the tracks like the mournful Katrina reflect the tragedy of the disaster, most of the performances are joyful and optimistic.

Included are original hymns (the exuberant Sunday Morning and the somber He Leads Me On This Journey), ballads (Blue Crescent), dance hall numbers (Comme Ci, Comme Ca), a salute to social club parade tradition (King Of The Second Line), the Duke Ellington/Barney Bigard-inspired Majestic Strut, Ooh La La (which is a bit reminiscent of Sidney Bechet), the catchy Crescent City Calypso, dirges and stomps, some of which will undoubtedly become standards in the future. A special highlight is Whites showcase on his rag London Canal Breakdown.+newline+newline++newline+newline+Although New Orleans and Dr. Michael White have suffered through their worst days, both are determined to fight back, move ahead and create further triumphs. Blue Crescent is a celebration of survival and the timelessness of New Orleans jazz.

Dr. Michael White, who was born and raised in New Orleans, is related to such pioneering jazz musicians as bassist Papa John Joseph (who was an associate of Buddy Bolden), and clarinetists Willie Joseph and Earl Fouche (who recorded with Sam Morgan in 1927). In addition to being a major performer whose clarinet style is inspired by the Creole and blues playing of Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Edmond Hall, George Lewis, Barney Bigard and Omer Simeon, Dr. Michael White has many other accomplishments. He has appeared on more than three dozen recordings, including 11 CDs of his own, four of which are on Basin Street Records: A Song for George Lewis, Jazz from the Soul of New Orleans, Dancing in the Sky, and Blue Crescent. He has traveled the world, performing in over two dozen countries, and his was the first traditional New Orleans jazz band to play at the legendary Village Vanguard, where he has been a regular for 16 years. After teaching Spanish for over twenty years, White currently holds the Keller Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Xavier University. He is also featured in several dozen books, has written scores of essays that have appeared in journals, books and encyclopedias, has worked on over two dozen documentary films and worked with Wynton Marsalis in creating major concert tributes to the early New Orleans jazz greats.

On Blue Crescent as throughout his musical life, Dr. Michael White keeps New Orleans jazz alive not only by celebrating the past but by creating new music in the classic tradition.

http://www.basinstreetrecords.com/artists/dr-michael-white.html

IVAN NEVILLE'S DUMPSTAPHUNK
Formed in 2003, Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk was initially put together by keyboardist Ivan Neville on a whim in order to perform a solo gig at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Ivan called in cousin Ian Neville (guitar), the double-bass bottom of both Nick Daniels and Tony Hall, and drummer Raymond Weber to round out the show. Named after a song Ivan had recently written, Dumpstaphunk's informal performance became that of immediate legend. The project has since grown from chance side-project into what is now widely considered to be New Orleans' most popular musical export. The band was recently voted 2007's "New Orleans Best Funk Band" by both Offbeat Magazine and Gambit Weekly, and performs at some of the nation's largest music festivals such as Bonnaroo, Voodoo Fest, 10,000 Lakes, and High Sierra.

Founders Ivan Neville and Ian Neville (sons of both Aaron Neville and Art Neville respectively), along with Nick Daniels, Tony Hall, and Raymond Weber, were brought up in an atmosphere of sounds that have arguably become the most defining in all of New Orleans music. But don't let the pedigree of lineage from the Meters and Neville Brothers fool you either. Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk now stands on its own as the legitimate torchbearer of all things funky both in New Orleans and beyond

The members of Dumpstaphunk have recorded and performed with a veritable who's-who of popular music over the years including the Rolling Stones, Dave Mathews, Bonnie Raitt, John Mayer, Trey Anastasio, Emmylou Harris and, yes, even the Neville Brothers. And while the members of Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk will surely continue to get the calls to do such collaborations, it will become increasingly difficult to find the time as the band forges ahead creating a new identity and standard for New Orleans music.

http://www.dumpstaphunk.com/

CHRISTIAN SCOTT
Having graduated at the top of his high school class at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts, and armed with a full scholarship, Christian headed north to Boston’s Berklee College of Music, where he earned two degrees in two years and eventually launched a music career that has positioned him as one of the great innovators of his generation. Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, his 2010 release on Concord Jazz, reflects the legacy of some of his musical heroes of the ‘60s, and at the same time wields the music as a tool to address some of the very important issues of contemporary culture.

Scott has always been acutely aware of the legacy of jazz and its role within the broader context of 20th century history. He learned much of it first hand from his uncle, saxophonist Donald Harrison, an alum of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. “Some people start with bebop, some people start with post-bop, some people start with fusion,” says Scott, who first picked up the trumpet when he was 12. “My uncle took me back to the very beginning of the music. He taught me stuff that Buddy Bolden was playing in the early 1900s.”

Scott was already proficient enough to join his uncle’s band when he was 13, and he played on Harrison’s 2000 recording, Paradise Found, when he was 16 – all of which gave him a considerable head start in relation to his peers in high school and at Berklee. In 2002 he made his solo debut with his self-released and self-titled album, Christian Scott. In 2006, after earning significant attention and landing a record deal with Concord Jazz, Scott released Rewind That, an album whose mixture of modern jazz, rock and R&B garnered both criticism and praise – and ultimately a Grammy nomination. Anthem, released the following year, was in large part a statement about the political and social dynamics that enabled many people to ignore the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Live at Newport, released at the end of 2008, captures Scott and his four-piece ensemble performing at the JVC Jazz Festival in Rhode Island earlier that year.

http://christianscott.tv/

CYRIL NEVILLE
Cyril Neville maybe the last great voice of New Orleans music. One of the four Neville Brothers, Cyril Neville was the youngest, born on October 10, 1948 , in New Orleans, LA. Cyril picked up his love of music from his parents and his older brothers at an early age, but it wasn't until 1967 (at the age of 19) that Cyril began singing professionally, as he united with brothers Art and Aaron in the outfit Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, playing the New Orleans club circuit on a regular basis. Cyril and Aaron eventually left the group, forming another outfit, Soul Machine, shortly thereafter. 1970 saw the release of Cyril's debut solo

single, "Gossip" b/w "Tell Me What's On Your Mind," which included backing music by brother Art's new outfit, the Meters. Soul Machine relocated to Nashville, then New York, but both moves failed to help put the group over the top. It just so happened at this time that the Meters were looking to expand their lineup, and asked Cyril to join in on vocals and congas contributing to such albums as 1972's Cabbage Alley and 1975's Fire on the Bayou, In 74, the Rolling Stones offered The Meters a support slot on the bands sold out tour if they would hire Cyril Neville to sing and front the band. His work as a human rights advocate does not stray far from his art. The joys as well as the complications and frustrations of growing up in the oppressed South can be heard through-out his catalog as a solo Artist as well as his work with his brothers The Neville Brothers

Just as the Meters splintered in 1976, Cyril became enraptured with reggae music (thanks to Bob Marley's landmark Natty Dread album), as all four Neville siblings formed the Neville Brothers group, issuing numerous subsequent recordings. In addition to his work with the Neville Brothers, Cyril has formed other bands over the years, including the Endangered Species Band in 1983 and the Uptown All-stars Band, while he also found time to launch his own record label, Endangered Species. Cyril also founded the New Orleans Musicians Organized (NOMO), which helps musicians who need business advice with their careers. Cyril Neville has issued several solo albums on his own over the years, including 1995's The Fire This Time, and a pair in 2000, New Orleans Cookin' and Soulo. Plus he has guested on various other artist's recordings over the years, including albums by Edie Brickell, Jimmy Buffett, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Daniel Lanois, Willie Nelson, Tab Benoit, and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux among others.

One of the four Neville Brothers, Cyril Neville was the youngest, born on January 10, 1948, in New Orleans, LA. Cyril picked up his love of music from his parents and his older brothers at an early age, but it wasn't until 1967 (at the age of 19) that Cyril began singing professionally, as he united with brothers Art and Aaron in the outfit Art Neville and the Neville Sounds, playing the New Orleans club circuit on a regular basis. Cyril and Aaron eventually left the group, forming another outfit, Soul Machine, shortly thereafter. 1970 saw the release of Cyril's debut solo single, "Gossip" b/w "Tell Me What's On Your Mind," which included backing music by brother Art's new outfit, the Meters. Soul Machine relocated to Nashville, then New York, but both moves failed to help put the group over the top. It just so happened at this time that the Meters were looking to expand their lineup, and asked Cyril to join in on vocals and congas -- contributing to such albums as 1972's Cabbage Alley and 1975's Fire on the Bayou, while the Meters opened up for the Rolling Stones during a sold-out 1974 U.S. tour.

Just as the Meters splintered in 1976, Cyril became enraptured with reggae music (thanks to Bob Marley's landmark Natty Dread album), as all four Neville siblings formed the Neville Brothers group, issuing numerous subsequent recordings. In addition to his work with the Neville Brothers, Cyril has formed other bands over the years, including the Endangered Species Band in 1983 and the Uptown Allstars Band, while he also found time to launch his own record label, Endangered Species. Cyril also founded the New Orleans Musicians Organized (NOMO), which helps musicians who need business advice with their careers. Cyril Neville has issued several solo albums on his own over the years, including 1995's The Fire This Time, and a pair in 2000, New Orleans Cookin' and Soulo. Plus he has guested on various other artist's recordings over the years, including albums by Edie Brickell, Jimmy Buffett, Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Daniel Lanoisa.

Note: These are bios for all artists possible for booking HBO's "A Night in Treme". Please note which artists are booked for your event and edit accordingly.

• Bios:
• Donald Harrison | Big Sam's Funky Nation | Glen David Andrews | Soul Rebels
• Dr. Michael White | Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk | Christian Scott | Cyril Neville
• HBO A Night In Treme Key Art  (Color and B&W Logo and Photography)
• All use of this artwork must note: HBO, Treme and related trademarks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc.

• HBO A Night In Treme One Sheet
• Soul Rebels Brass Band One Sheet

• HBO's Treme Official Site
• HBO's Treme on Amazon.com
• Rebirth Brass Band Official Site
• Kermit Ruffins Official Site
• Donald Harrison Official Site
• Big Sam's Funky Nation Official Site
• Glen David Andrews Official Site
• Soul Rebels Brass Band Official Site
• Dr Michael White Official Site
• Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk Official Site
• Christian Scott Official Site
• Absolutely Live Entertainment, LLC