Previous Jazz at the Rat Performances

Germaine Bazzle
Thursday, February 9, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Germaine Bazzle, also known as New Orleans' "First Lady of Jazz," is one of the city's most important jazz vocalists and educators. Her rich singing style and stirring, improvised scatting have delighted audiences for decades.

Keyon Harrold
Thursday, March 9, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Raised from the fires of (now infamous) Ferguson, Missouri, Keyon Harrold has developed a reputation as one of the world's most sought-after, emotionally electric young trumpeters. The 2016 Grammy Award nominee has toured, recorded with, or produced for some of the world's top artists, including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, and Maxwell. He was also featured in Miles Ahead as the trumpet sound of actor Don Cheadle, who played Miles Davis in the 2016 biopic. (Photo by Deneka Peniston)

Brandee Younger
Thursday, October 20, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Known for expressive interpretations of traditional harp repertoire as well as her work with a diverse cross-section of musical talents, harpist Brandee Younger is as a creative linchpin who's willing to push boundaries on record and in performance. Based in New York, Younger's quest to ”make the harp a more relevant force in today’s music” has led her to sharing stages with jazz leaders and popular hip hop and R&B titans including Ravi Coltrane, Common, Jack Dejohnette, Lauryn Hill, John Legend, Pharoah Sanders, and many more. Her latest album, Wax and Wane, is produced by Casey Benjamin of the Robert Glasper Experiment.

A Tribute to Alvin Batiste
Thursday, November 3, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Jazz at the Rat will celebrate the musical legacy of clarinetist and educator Alvin Batiste, an avant-garde instrumentalist who once toured with Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley, and helped to establish New Orleans' modern jazz scene, alongside artists such as Harold Battiste and Ellis Marsalis. He also founded Southern University's Jazz Institute, one of the first jazz studies programs of its kind in the U.S. Batiste died in 2007 at age 74. Featuring "Jesse McBride presents The Next Generation."

Ellis Marsalis Center Jazz Orchestra
Thursday, November 10, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Carl Allen
Thursday, November 17, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

With over 200 recordings to his credit, the gifted Milwaukee-born, New York-based drummer, sideman, bandleader, and educator Carl Allen has provided soulful and syncopated support for nearly three decades. The one-time musical director for Freddie Hubbard remains active today as leader of the Carl Allen Quartet and The Art of Elvin, as well as sideman with Christian McBride and Inside Straight, Benny Golson, and others.

Chelsea Baratz
Thursday, March 27, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Saxophonist Chelsea Baratz is a young band leader whose music follows in the footsteps of 1960’s soul jazz and the hard bop roots of her hometown of Pittsburgh. She's performed with artists such as The Roots, Soulive, Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, DJ Logic, and Branford Marsalis, to name a few. She's also a current member of the Maurice Brown Effect.

Yolanda Windsay and Kelly Love Jones
Thursday, April 3, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

As one of New Orleans' leading vocalists, Yolanda Windsay (pictured) regularly performs alongside her mother, the acclaimed Topsy Chapman, and her sister Jolynda Phillips in their vocal trio Solid Harmony, recently featured in the 2013 documentary Tradition Is a Temple: The Modern Masters of New Orleans. During her career, Windsay has shared the stage with legendary musicians such as Terence Blanchard, Betty Carter, Dr. John, Dizzy Gillespie, Leroy Jones, Max Roach, and many others. Kelly Love Jones is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who The Advocate described as "(embracing) the cultural richness of her native New Orleans in her unique mixture of reggae, soul and hip-hop."

Tia Fuller
Thursday, April 10, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Touring and recording with superstar Beyoncé, and also as the assistant director of Esperanza Spalding's Radio Music Society, has put saxophonist Tia Fuller at the center of the pop music universe, reaching millions of listeners with her concise, beautifully crafted solos. On her own time, the 37-year-old is one the most important new instrumentalists in jazz, as a savvy bandleader, composer, and arranger who follows in the scorching footsteps of masters like Cannonball Adderley, Jackie McLean, and Kenny Garrett. She’s racked up an imposing range of credits, including Jon Faddis, Jimmy Heath, Gerald Wilson, and Nancy Wilson. Fuller is also a devoted educator, lecturing and presenting master classes at music institutions around the world.

Johnaye Kendrick
Thursday, April 17, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

A San Diego native and graduate of the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, vocalist Johnaye Kendrick has worked with many contemporary jazz legends, including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, Danilo Perez, Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ellis Marsalis, and Brian Blade. Kendrick was also featured on the Grammy-winning 2009 album by Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Book 1. When not touring with her own group, she serves as assistant professor of jazz voice at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Trumpeter Nicholas Payton raved, "Johnaye has the potential to be a vocalist of the highest order; the likes of which we have seen seldom since the grande dames of the golden era of jazz roamed about the earth."

Mike Clark
Thursday, October 24, 2013, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.

Mike Clark gained worldwide recognition as one of America’s foremost jazz and funk drummers while playing with Herbie Hancock’s group in the early 1970’s. He first became known as a major innovator through his incisive playing on Hancock’s Thrust album, and Hancock once remarked, "the solo he played on Actual Proof is one of the best drum solos on any of my albums." Next to James Brown's drummer Clyde Stubblefield, Clark's beats with The Headhunters (most notably on "God Make Me Funky") are some of the most sampled in hip hop. While often referred to as the “Tony Williams of funk”, Mike considers himself a jazz drummer, and in fact has become one of the most vital to sit behind a set. He's performed with jazz greats such as Chet Baker, Tony Bennett, Wayne Shorter, Christian McBride, Bobby Hutcherson, Al Jarreau, and many more.

George Porter Jr.
Thursday, April 18, 2013, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.

Bassist George Porter Jr. is a legend of New Orleans music and one of the founding fathers of funk music. As a co-founding member of The Meters, the influential band recently nominated for induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, Porter recorded several albums in the 1960s and 1970s, toured with The Rolling Stones, performed with Paul McCartney, was a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and has been sampled in countless hip hop recordings by artists from the Beastie Boys to Public Enemy. Still active as an in-demand studio musician and the bandleader of the Runnin’ Pardners, Porter continues to perform with the funky Meters and The Meter Men, among others, and at occasional, wildly popular original Meters reunion shows.

The Original Pinettes Brass Band
Thursday, October 4, 7:00 p.m.

The Original Pinettes, the world’s first all women’s brass band, was founded in New Orleans in 1991 and performs in the “funky, modern style” of New Orleans brass band music, influenced by R&B and hip hop. Led by snare drummer and original member Christie Jourdain, the band is a mainstay at New Orleans’ biggest festivals, including Jazz Fest, Essence Fest, and French Quarter Fest, and has also been featured on HBO’s Treme.

Kalamu ya Salaam
Thursday, October 25, 7:00 p.m.

Kalamu ya Salaam, a revered figure in New Orleans’ spoken word and literary communities, combines poetry with jazz, blues, and other forms of music. In addition to writing several books of poetry, founding the NOMMO Literary Society, and leading local creative writers’ workshops and poetry performance ensembles, Salaam has served as an editor and contributor for a number of respected cultural and music publications. His work includes the spoken word CD My Story, My Song (AFO Records).

Wendell Brunious
Thursday, November 8, 7:00 p.m.

Trumpeter/vocalist Wendell Brunious began playing and performing in New Orleans by the time he was a teenager. Since then, he’s become of the city’s most revered jazz elders, and has led his own band, as well as performed with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and several other local modern, traditional, and brass band jazz artists.

New Orleans Afro-Cuban Connection
Thursday, November 29, 7:00 p.m.

Don't miss a special night of Latin jazz featuring an ensemble of New Orleans artists including Pat Casey, bass; Alexey Marti (pictured), percussion; Mike Watson, trombone; and other TBA special guests.

Don Vappie
Thursday, February 2, 7:00 p.m

Banjo virtuoso Don Vappie is descended from a long line of New Orleans musicians that go back to the nineteenth century, including early jazz greats Papa John Joseph and Willie "Kaiser" Joseph. Vappie leads and tours with his Creole Jazz Serenaders, whose music incorporates the musical legacy of his own heritage of New Orleans Creole culture, a society that sprang from the mixture of French, Spanish, African and American Indian people with strong ties to the Caribbean islands. A frequent performer with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Center, member of the Four String Banjo Hall of Fame, former member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and recipient of the Louisiana Creole Society Award, Vappie also plays mandolin, guitar, tuba, bass violin, string bass, and is a vocalist as well.

Rex Gregory
Thursday, March 1, 7:00 p.m.

Since moving to New Orleans in 2002, saxophonist and composer Rex Gregory has performed with some of the city’s finest musicians, including Germaine Bazzle, Simon Lott, James Singleton, and many others. While he is a staple in the local jazz community, Gregory is equally comfortable expressing himself in other genres of music, much like the keyboard work he’s done for the rock band Bionica. He also recently released a CD of original compositions, An End to Oblivion.

Steve McKie
Thursday, March 8, 7:00 p.m.

Steve McKie is one of the most influential forces in Philadelphia's rich, contemporary music scene. He has successfully made the transition from respected drummer, having shared the stage with Joss Stone,Common, Jazmine Sullivan, Robert Glasper, and many others, to pop and R&B producer for heavyweights such as Jill Scott, Estelle, John Legend and Bilal, while racking up scores of Gold records as he goes.

Stephanie Jordan
Thursday, March 29, 7:00 p.m.

Vocalist Stephanie Jordan is the fifth performer to emerge from a family of New Orleans bred musicians. The daughter of renowned saxophonist and educator Edward “Kidd” Jordan, Stephanie's lyrical style has been compared to that of Norah Jones and Cassandra Wilson. All About Jazz writes, “Her tone is crisp, perfect, but not in that polished way that sounds like an opera singer attempting jazz. She is more like a master of technique, yet with plenty of soul.”

Roderick Paulin
Thursday, September 29, 7:00 p.m.

Saxophonist Roderick Paulin grew up in the New Orleans jazz tradition, beginning to study and play music while he was in the fourth grade. He soon became the youngest member of his father’s renowned group, the Doc Paulin Brass Band. In 1990, Kermit Ruffins invited Paulin to join the ReBirth Brass Band, a group that transformed traditional second-line and brass band music by incorporating urban, funk, hip-hop and other contemporary elements. He composed and arranged several tunes with ReBirth , and when the band toured with legendary James Brown saxophonist Maceo Parker, Paulin found his musical mentor. Since then, Paulin had led his own Big Easy Groovers and has worked with a range of pop and R&B artists from AfghanWhigs to Patti Labelle.

Vicente Archer
Thursday, October 6, 7:00 p.m.

Born in Woodstock, New York, Vicente Archer began his musical career on guitar at age sixteen. Primarily self-taught, he learned from his parents’ Wes Montgomery and George Benson records. While studying at Boston’s Northeastern University, he switched from guitar to acoustic bass. Soon after, New Orleans-based saxophone master Donald Harrison Jr. utilized his talents on Harrison’s Free to Be release on Impulse Records. Archer has since performed and toured with several modern jazz giants including Freddie Hubbard, Terence Blanchard, Stefon Harris, Kenny Garrett, Roy Haynes, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Nicholas Payton and many others.

Ed Petersen
Thursday, November 10, 7:00 p.m.

When not teaching saxophone and jazz improvisation as the “Al Beletto Professor of Jazz Studies,” the multiple Grammy-nominated Petersen performs with Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. In the past, he has played with legends such as J.J. Johnson, Johnny Griffin, Clifford Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, David Liebman, Ellis Marsalis, and several others. Petersen has also recorded with Kurt Elling, Ron Carter, Cedar Walton, Clark Terry, Art Farmer, and Ruth Brown, to name a few.

Reggie Quinerly
Thursday, November 17, 7:00 p.m.

Modern jazz drummer Reggie Quinerly was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and moved to New York City, the “jazz capital of the world,” for college. While there, he performed with Vincent Herring, Joe Lovano, Jason Moran, Jimmy Cobb and Lewis Nash, among many others. He is committed to the education of young people and has been affiliated with the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ “Jazz in Schools” project (NYC), “Redefinition: An Artistic Experiences” (Houston), and his own creation, the Substantive Discussion Arts Forum.

John Doheny and the Professors of Pleasure, featuring guest vocalist Colleen Savage
Thursday, February 3, 8:00 p.m.

John Doheny serves as a professor of practice in Tulane’s Jazz Studies program and also leads its faculty quintet, better known as the Professors of Pleasure. Before settling at Tulane, Doheny kept busy as a well-respected saxophonist in the Vancouver music scene, and also spent time touring with blues legend Albert Collins’ band. Colleen Savage, also an established Vancouver jazz artist, is a voice teacher and coach who continues to perform on concert stages and at major jazz festivals across Canada.

Mark Braud
Thursday, February 10, 8:00 p.m.

Born into New Orleans’ legendary Brunious musical family, Mark Braud has been described by his peers and predecessors as one of the city’s most versatile young trumpeters. He has performed with artists as varied as the famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Blind Boys of Alabama, Nicholas Payton, Dr. Michael White, Harry Connick, Jr., and the Nashville Symphony, not to mention leading his own groups The New Orleans Jazz Giants and the Basin Street Brass Band. Influenced by the traditional jazz style of greats like Waldren “Frog” Joseph and Percy Humphrey, Braud continues to be an active player in the jazz scene, which he has been an integral part of since beginning his professional career at age fifteen.

Andrew Baham
Thursday, March 24, 8:00 p.m.

Currently a member of the popular Big Sam’s Funky Nation, trumpeter Andrew Baham has performed with everyone from contemporary jazz stalwarts Adonis Rose and Delfeayo Marsalis to the Soul Rebels Brass Band and Ellis Marsalis. Having played trumpet since age eleven and inspired by New Orleans marching bands, Baham is a graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and was the first recipient of the Doc Cheatham Memorial Scholarship. He has released two albums with his own band, featuring “jazz with a progression into the future.”

This edition of Jazz at the Rat will also feature saxophonist Godwin Louis, formerly a member of the Grammy-nominated The Either/Orchestra and currently performing with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Ensemble.

AFO Records 50th Anniversary Tribute
Thursday, April 7, 8:00 p.m.

Musicians Max Moran, Joe Dyson, Rex Gregory, Godwin Louis, James Westfall, Andrew Baham and Jesse McBride pay tribute to the legendary AFO Records, founded in New Orleans in the 1950s by Harold Battiste. AFO Records was the first African American musician-owned and –operated record label in the United States.