JUST ANNOUNCED: PHJB to tour with My Morning Jacket!

Just Announced!


My Morning Jacket, the electrifying rock band that took nearly a year away from touring, is set to hit the road in April for a 9-date outing through several Southeastern states. The tour kicks off April 20 in Birmingham, Ala., winds up in Columbus, Ohio on May 2 an includes a stop at the annual New Orleans Jazzfest.

Joining the group for the entire tour will be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a New Orleans favorite whose ranks were deeply affected by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. While the group's namesake venue was relatively unscathed, in the wake of the storm -- and even four-and-a-half years later-- many of the musicians have been displaced and cannot find work or paying gigs. The upheaval also threatened Preservation Hall's Music Outreach Program, which provides private lessons for students who would otherwise be unable to afford them.

MMJ and the PHJB first collaborated in Spring of 2009, when MMJ mainman Jim James performed with the band in its legendary French Quarter venue. Two of the songs James recorded that night with the PHJB, "St. James Infirmary" and "Louisiana Fairytale." will appear on a forthcoming benefit album.

Ove the past three years, 25 acts have recorded songs with the band. The results can be found on "Preservation: An Album to Benefit Preservation Hall & the Preservation Hall Music Outreach Fund," which RED will release Feb. 16.

"Del McCoury was the first artist to record a track," Preservation Hall creative director Ben Jaffe says. "Then Jason Isbell responded, and we went from there. We put together a wish list of artists and just started reaching out. Some of them were artists we'd worked with; others, like Pete Seeger, had no connection to the hall but were musical institutions."

Cory Chisel, who performs the track "Some Cold Rainy Day," heard about the project during a visit to the RED offices. "They had a list of all the songs they wanted artists to do, and I ended up having to fight it out to get what I wanted," he says. To save money, the songs on the album are all in the public domain.

For Steve Earle, being part of the project meant supporting his childhood home, and he went to great lengths to record his track.

"I was touring and having trouble scheduling it, and I finally took a few days on my way home and got it done," he says. "I was exhausted, but all the guys in the band are older than I am. They do two shows a day at the hall, so the only time you can record is early in the day or late at night, and we did it late. The guys just kept going, and it really woke me up."

In addition to the tracks by Earle and Chisel, the album features such artists as Tom Waits, Ani DiFranco, Jim James and Andrew Bird.

The PHJB's leader Ben Jaffe is looking forward to spending more time with James. "I couldn't have imagined Jim fitting in any better with the guys at Preservation Hall," he has said about the 2009 concert. "Creating music is not a science. There is no tried and true formula. There is an unspoken bond amongst musicians. One that exists in the notes we choose. Jim's like our long lost cousin coming home for the first time."


MMJ Tour Dates With The Preservation Hall Jazz Band:


Apr. 20: Birmingham, AL (Alabama Theater)
Apr. 21: Nashville, TN (Municipal Auditorium)
Apr. 23: Atlanta, GA (Chastain Park)
Apr. 24: New Orleans, LA (Jazzfest)
Apr. 27: St. Augustine, FL (St. Augustine Amphitheater)
Apr. 28: Charleston, SC (Family Circle)
Apr. 30: Raleigh, NC (Koka Booth)
May 1: Columbia, MD (Merriweather Post Pavilion)
May 2: Columbus, OH (LC Outdoor Pavilion)

------------------------------------------


Also announced this week: Terence Blanchard and My Morning Jacket's Jim James will be joining PHJB for a very special performance at Jazzfest on April 25th! More info on this groundbreaking collaboration soon.

"PRESERVATION" Preview #13: Joining the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on their Upcoming Release - MR. TOM WAITS

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

TOM WAITS
Tom Waits has built a career as varied as there are creative outlets—delving into cinema (both composing and acting), musical theater, opera, live performance, and literature—yet seamlessly interweaving a truly distinctive and fully-realized persona. The tools of his trade have included such things as the marimba, trombone, brake drum, metal aunglongs, banjo, bell plate, bullhorn, conga, accordion, optigon, mellotron, maracas, pump organ, basstarda, chamberlain, harmonium, viola, sticks, chairs, a musical saw, as well as the regular old guitar, bass, piano and drums and, of course, that trademark voice.

In a career that has spanned four decades, his music has taken adventurous turns, from confessional country-blues and jazz-flavored lounge, to primal rock and avant-garde musical theater. By turns tender and poignant, to strange and twisted, his songs tend to explore the dark, underbelly of society as he gives his uniquely human voice to adventurers both romantic and mercenary, drifters, con artists and those forgotten characters on the fringe and in the fray. Waits has expanded and drawn from a deep well of American song idioms: folk, blues, country, jazz ballads, polkas, waltzes, cabaret, swing, popular ballads, and a category that can only be described as Waitsian.

Named as one of VH-1’s “Most Influential Artists of All Time” it is no surprise that Waits’ body of work has long been covered (and coveted) by other musicians. Notable cover versions include: Bruce Springsteen (“Jersey Girl”), Rod Stewart and Everything But The Girl (“Downtown Train”), Marianne Faithfull (“Strange Weather”), The Ramones (“I Don’t Wanna Grow Up”), 10,000 Maniacs (“I Hope That I Don’t Fall In Love With You”), Bob Seger (“Blind Love”), Shawn Colvin (“The Heart Of Saturday Night”), plus Elvis Costello, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Johnny Cash, and many others. A diverse list of artists have cited Tom Waits as an inspiration, including Bob Dylan who has named him one of his “secret heroes.” And the adoration strikes a chord with a rabid fan following—there is even an annual celebration called “Waitstock” near Poughkeepsie, New York.

For more than 30 years now, Tom Waits has been creating music. He continues to inspire new generations of songwriters who have their own story to tell…and their own dark muse to follow.

SESSION PHOTOS BY CLINT MAEDGEN AND J. LLOYD MILLER

THE SONG:
"Tootie Ma Is A Big Fine Thing"
Tom Waits with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(traditional)

Tom Waits - vocals
Mark Braud - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Clint Maedgen - tenor sax
Lucien Barbarin - trombone
Rickie Monie - piano
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Walter Payton - string bass
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Ernie Elly - drums

ANOTHER RECENT INTERPRETATION,
BY MEDESKI, SCOFIELD, MARTIN & WOOD:

"LIE TO ME" BY TOM WAITS - OFFICIAL VIDEO:

TOM WAITS - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PRESERVATION HALL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

PHJB in Space!

I had the distinct pleasure of speaking on the phone with NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold 2 weeks ago. He was kind enough to send us this photo of him hovering above Earth in the Space Shuttle Discovery with his Preservation Hall Jazz Band CD! How cool is that. We look forward to Mr. Arnold's visit to the Hall sometime in this year. Thanks so much Ricky! When we eventually book the band on Saturn we'll make sure you're on the guest list.


Read more about Ricky Arnold by CLICKING HERE

"PRESERVATION" Preview #12: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on their Upcoming Release - MR. DEL MCCOURY

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

DEL MCCOURY
by Sandra Brennan
for Allmusic.org
Among the most distinguished practitioners of traditional bluegrass, Del McCoury was the epitome of the "high lonesome sound" for over three decades. Born Delano Floyd McCoury, he was raised in Bakersville, NC. In 1941, he and his family moved to Glen Rock, PA, where he got his start as a five-string banjo picker with Keith Daniels & the Blue Ridge Ramblers. Later he played with Jack Cooke's Virginia Mountain Boys in Baltimore. McCoury got his first big break in 1963 when Bill Monroe hired the Virginia Mountain Boys to play a few New York gigs. Monroe was impressed by the young banjo player and invited him to join his Blue Grass Boys. Shortly after accepting Monroe's offer, McCoury became the group's lead vocalist and took up rhythm guitar. In early 1964, he recorded one single with Monroe, but a month later returned home to marry.

Following his marriage, he and fiddler Billy Baker spent three months in California playing with the Golden State Boys. Upon his return back east, McCoury began playing and recording with the Shady Valley Boys. McCoury left the group in 1967 and founded the Dixie Pals with Bill Emerson, Wayne Yates, and Billy Baker. McCoury & His Dixie Pals, which underwent several membership changes, played together for over 20 years and recorded on such labels as Rounder, Revonah, Leather, and Rebel. In 1987, the unit was renamed the Del McCoury Band following the additions of his sons Ronnie on mandolin and Robbie on banjo along with fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley.

The period following the formation of the Del McCoury Band proved to be very productive, with several terrific releases for Rounder. The band carefully bridged the gap between the interesting song choices and instrumentation of the best progressive bluegrass groups, while still retaining the high lonesome style of traditional bluegrass. In early 1999, the band reached a whole new group of listeners when they backed singer/songwriter Steve Earle on his successful traditionally themed album The Mountain. Around that time, McCoury and sons amicably ended their relationship with Rounder, moving to Ricky Skaggs' Ceili label for the Family and Del and the Boys records. The band released It's Just the Night in 2003, followed by The Company We Keep in 2005 and the gospel-influenced Promised Land in 2006, and Family Circle in 2009.

Keep an eye on the Preservation Hall Jazz Band touring schedule for dates featuring PHJB and The Del McCoury Band together in performance!

SESSION PHOTOS BY ERIKA GOLDRING

THE SONG:
"After You've Gone"
Del McCoury & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

(Turner Layton / Henry Creamer) Morley Music Co. (public domain)

Del McCoury - vocals
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Freddie Lonzo - trombone
Rickie Monie - piano
Walter Payton - string bass
Joe Lastie - drums

Del McCoury appears courtesy of McCoury Music

AS PERFORMED BY SOPHIE TUCKER WITH MIF MOLE AND HIS MOLERS (1927)

THE DEL MCCOURY BAND PERFORMS
1952 VINCENT BLACK LIGHTNING

THE DEL MCCOURY BAND - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PRESERVATION HALL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

"PRESERVATION" Preview #11: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - DR. JOHN!

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

DR. JOHN
Dr. John, or Mac Rebennack as known to friends and family, is universally celebrated as the living embodiment of the rich musical heritage exclusive to New Orleans. His very colorful musical career began in the 1950s when he wrote and played guitar on some of the greatest records to come out of the Crescent City, including recordings by Professor Longhair, Art Neville, Joe Tex and Frankie Ford. A notorious gun incident forced the artist to give up the guitar and concentrate on organ and piano. Further trouble at home sent Dr. John west in the 1960s, where he continued to be in demand as a session musician, playing on records by Sonny and Cher, Van Morrison and Aretha Franklin to name a few. He also launched his solo career, developing the charismatic persona of Dr. John The Night Tripper. Adorned with voodoo charms and regalia, a legend was born with his breakthrough 1968 album Gris-gris, which established his unique blend of voodoo mysticism, funk, rhythm & blues, psychedelic rock and Creole roots.

Several of his many career highlights include the masterful album Sun, Moon and Herbs in 1971 which included cameos from Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger and 1973’s In The Right Place, which contained the chart hits “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Such A Night.” Dr. John garnered Grammy award wins in 1989, 1992, 1996 and 2000. In 2004, his musical love letter to the city of New Orleans, “N’awlinz Dis Dat or D’udda,” was awarded the prestigious Académie Charles Cros 57ème Palmarès award in France. It was the first time since the 1970s that an artist from North America received the award. He has also received six other nominations over the years.

In 2007 he was nominated for a Grammy for “Sippiana Hericane,” his Hurricane Katrina benefit disc. Other awards include the American Society of Young Musicians 2007 Trailblazer Award. After Hurricane Katrina and government bunglers bashed New Orleans in 2005, Dr. John immediately stepped up to the plate with both generous relief fund-raising concerts and recordings and angry public words of protest. One of the Crescent City's most favored sons, Dr. John does his considerable bit to keep the world's attention focused on what needs to be done to help New Orleans come back. In 2008, he released the album “City That Care Forgot,” which deals with various aspects of post-Katrina New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. In 2009, “City That Care Forgot” won the Grammy for “Best Contemporary Blues Album.” It is considered to be his finest recording in twenty years.

SESSION PHOTOS BY SHANNON BRINKMAN

THE SONG:
"Winin' Boy"
(Ferdinand Morton) public domain

Dr. John - vocals, piano
Mark Braud - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - trumpet
Clint Maedgen - tenor sax
Freddie Lonzo - trombone
Walter Payton - string bass
Ben Jaffe - tuba / tambourine
Joe Lastie - drums

Dr. John appears courtesy of 429 Records

AS PERFORMED BY JELLY ROLL MORTON, 1939:

VINTAGE DR. JOHN - SUCH A NIGHT, 1981:

DR. JOHN - OFFICIAL WEB PAGE
DR. JOHN - OFFICIAL BOXER SHORTS
"PRESERVATION" - OFFICIAL WEBSITE

"PRESERVATION," the widget!

"PRESERVATION" Preview #10: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. JASON ISBELL!

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

JASON ISBELL
by James Christopher Monger & Andrew Leahey
for Allmusic.com
After spending six years with the genre-defying roots rock ensemble Drive-By Truckers, singer/guitarist Jason Isbell amicably left the group in 2007 to pursue a solo career. Isbell had already displayed his songwriting prowess during his tenure with the Truckers, and he funneled those talents into Sirens of the Ditch, a bluesy, punk-infused lesson in guitar tones and Southern swagger that marked his solo debut in summer 2007. Backed by a band dubbed the 400 Unit, Isbell took his songs on the road and soon began penning another album, which he recorded with the 400 Unit in 2008. Released the following year, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit found the songwriter ruminating on issues of love, youth, and war.

SESSION PHOTOS BY SHANNON BRINKMAN

THE SONG:
"Nobody Knows You"
Jason Isbell & The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Jimmie Cox) Universal / MCA Publishing

Jason Isbell - vocals, guitar
Leroy Jones - trumpet
Rickie Monie - piano
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Walter Payton - string bass

Jason Isbell appears courtesy of Lightning Rod Records

AS PERFORMED BY BESSIE SMITH (1929):

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT - "SOLDIERS GET STRANGE"

JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PRESERVATION HALL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

"PRESERVATION" Preview #9: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. PETE SEEGER & MR. TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

PETE SEEGER
by Zac Johnson for Allmusic.com
Perhaps no single person in the 20th century has done more to preserve, broadcast, and re-distribute folk music than Pete Seeger, whose passion for politics, the environment, and humanity have earned him both ardent fans and vocal enemies since he first began performing in the late '30s. His never-ending battle against injustice led to his being blacklisted during the McCarthy era, celebrated during the turbulent '60s, and welcomed at union rallies throughout his life. His tireless efforts regarding global concerns such as environmentalism, population growth, and racial equality have earned him the respect and friendship of such political heroes as Martin Luther King, Jr., Woody Guthrie, and Cesar Chavez, and the generations of children who first learned to sing and clap to Seeger's Folkways recordings must number in the millions. Rising above all of Seeger's political ideals and his passion for authentic folk music is his clear voice and chiming banjo which both sing out with a clarity that rings true...

READ MORE

TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER
From Wikipedia.org
Tao Rodríguez-Seeger (b. Poughkeepsie, New York, 1972) is an American contemporary folk musician. He plays banjo, guitar, harmonica, and sings in Spanish and in English. He is known as a founder of The Mammals and is the grandson of legendary folk musician Pete Seeger. Tao spent nine years of his childhood in Nicaragua. Tao's father, Emilio Rodríguez, a Puerto Rican filmmaker, was invited by the Sandinistas to document the nation's civil war. Tao's mother is Mika Seeger. When he was fourteen, in 1986, Rodríguez-Seeger started performing with his grandfather Pete Seeger. In 1999 he was a member of the band RIG, with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion. In 2001 he was a founding member of the Mammals with Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar. In 2006 he recorded an album, Que Vaya Bien, with Puerto Rican folk singers Roy Brown, and Tito Auger of the Puerto Rican rock band Fiel A La Vega and he formed the Anarchist Orchestra (now known as the Tao Rodriguez-Seeger band) with Jacob Silver, also of the Mammals, Laura Cortese and Robin McMillan.

On Sunday, May 3rd, 2009, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band had the great honor of joining an all-star roster at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the life and legacy of Pete Seeger at a benefit for the Clearwater Foundation thrown in honor of this amazing man's 90th birthday. You can find links to coverage of this amazing event HERE.

SESSION PHOTOS BY SHANNON BRINKMAN
THE SONG:
"Blue Skies"
Pete Seeger & Tao Rodriguez-Seeger with
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Irving Berlin) Irving Berlin Music Company

Pete Seeger - vocals, banjo
Tao Rodriguez-Seeger - vocals
Michael Merenda, Ruth Ungar - backing vocals
Jacob Silver - string bass
Leon "Kid Chocolate" Brown - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Daniel "Weenie" Farrow - tenor sax
Maynard Chatters - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Ernie Elly - drums

Check out this footage from the recording session!

PETE SEEGER APPRECIATION PAGE
TAO RODRIGUEZ-SEEGER - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
HUDSON RIVER SLOOP CLEARWATER
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

And they're off!

That's right.

The Del McCoury Band.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Together at B.B. King's, NYC.
Take a look at these great pictures by Dino Perrucci!





It's gonna be a fun year, folks.
Don't miss these American Legacies, together on tour-
More dates soon to be announced.
PHJB TOUR DATES HERE
DINO PERRUCCI PHOTOGRAPHY

"PRESERVATION" Preview #8: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. CORY CHISEL

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

CORY CHISEL
Like many artists before him, Cory Chisel first connected with the power of song – and the spellbinding possibilities of live performance – through the music he heard in church. The gospel’s rich vernacular of loss and redemption also informed his innate poetic sense and lyrical range. “For most of my life,” he says, “my dad was a Baptist minister, so I learned a lot about being a showman, and I learned a lot about music. Many of the hymns from church still are the most beautiful songs I know. I'm thankful for growing up where stories and the pursuit of happiness were on everybody's mind. I think I’m still trying to achieve the same euphoria I felt at a very young age, when I would be completely t aken over by these rhythms and these sounds and these stories.”

An equally potent influence on Chisel’s worldview and wellspring ofmusical storytelling is the American heartland from which he hails. Based in Appleton, WI, where he’s lived for almost twenty years. His family’s roots, on both sides, reach about 500 miles north and west to Babbitt, Minnesota and neighboring Ely, beside the pristine Boundary Waters, the largest wilderness preserve east of the Rockies. The vast, open spaces and clear, deep lakes of the wild north are ingrained in Chisel’s songs, which sound as if they come to him as naturally as breathing.
In an upbringing where he was largely sheltered from pop music, Chisel’s fluency with music comes in great measure from always having played it with his family, for as long as he can remember. One of his grandfathers had nine brothers and, he notes, “they’re all great guitar players, and half of them play harmonica too.” He also cites his Uncle Roger, a blues musician – whose epic record collection exposed him to Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Robert Johnson, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and countless others – as a chief source of inspiration. “He was a musical force,” says Cory. “I always felt like I possessed something similar, that I understood the exorcism I saw him receiving through music.”

PHOTOS OF CORY CHISEL @ PRESERVATION HALL BY ERIKA GOLDRING

THE SONG:
"Some Cold Rainy Day"
(Traditional)

Cory Chisel - lead vocals
Adriel Harris - backing vocals
Mark Braud - trumpet
Rickie Monie - piano
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Clint Maedgen - slapstick / tambourine

Cory Chisel appears courtesy of Black Seal

As Performed by The Georgia Cotton Pickers in 1930:

"Born Again," by Cory Chisel:

CORY CHISEL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE

LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

"PRESERVATION" Preview #7: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MR. PAOLO NUTINI

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefiting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

PAOLO NUTINI
by Stewart Mason
for Allmusic.com

In much the same way that José González hails from Sweden and not Spain, Paolo Nutini is not a smooth Italian pop star, but rather a soul-influenced adult alternative songwriter from Paisley, Scotland. Raised in a music-loving family, he grew up listening to a range of folk, opera, jazz, and his father's R&B favorites. Shortly after discovering homegrown folkies like John Martyn, the teenaged Nutini left school to focus on his own musical development, eventually moving from Paisley to London at age 16 and garnering attention via local gigs. He inked a deal with the British arm of Atlantic Records two years later, just several weeks after his 18th birthday.

Working with Coldplay and Badly Drawn Boy producer Ken Nelson, Nutini generated an impressive amount of buzz before his first single, "Last Request," was released in the early summer of 2006. He appeared at special Atlantic Records showcases at Carnegie Hall and the Montreux Jazz Festival, as well as showcase sets opening for the Rolling Stones and Paul Weller. Nutini's debut album, These Streets, was ultimately released in July 2006 alongside his second single, "Jenny Don't Be Hasty." The album fared quite well in the U.K., where it climbed to double-platinum status and sent four singles into the Top 40. Accordingly, an American release followed in January 2007.

For Paolo Nutini's second album, the songwriter took a more active role in the production, partnering with Ethan Johns but helming much of the material himself. The resulting record, Sunny Side Up, appeared in June 2009, featuring increased contributions from Nutini's backing band and a bright, sprightly disposition.

PHOTOS OF PAOLO NUTINI @ PRESERVATION HALL
BY MARY ASHLEY JOHNSON

THE SONG:
"Between The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea"
Paolo Nutini with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) S.A. Music, Bughouse Music

Paolo Nutini - vocals
Mark Braud - trumpet
Charlie Gabriel - clarinet
Lucien Barbarin - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Rickie Monie - piano
Ben Jaffe - tuba
Walter Payton - string bass
Lil' Joe Lastie - drums
Paolo Nutini appears courtesy of Atlantic Records

AS PERFORMED BY LEE WILEY IN 1940:

OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR "PENCIL FULL OF LEAD" BY PAOLO NUTINI (CHEEKY!)

PAOLO NUTINI - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION" THE ALBUM

Ben Jaffe & Andrew Bird "Shake It & Break It" Live. In Paris!

"PRESERVATION" Preview #6: Appearing with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band - MS. ANGELIQUE KIDJO & MR. TERENCE BLANCHARD

February 16, 2010 - PRESERVATION: an album benefitting Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program hits the streets! (Best Mardi Gras Ever?) While we wait with baited breath, we share with you these previews of the 19 amazing tracks and special guests that make this latest offering from the Preservation Hall Jazz Band so very special. In this installment...

ANGELIQUE KIDJO

Born in Benin (West Africa), Angelique Kidjo is a Grammy award-winning music recording artist deemed "Africa's premier diva" by Time Magazine. Kidjo's internationally acclaimed repertoire includes collaborations with various recording artists such as Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Branford Marsalis, Joss Stone, and many more. Known for her dynamic and uplifting music, she has translated her distinctive work in the arts to that of philanthropy; by promoting education for girls in Africa through her foundation, Batonga and as a UNICEF Goodwill ambassador Kidjo travels the world to inspire and empower.

EXPERIENCE HER STORY HERE

TERENCE BLANCHARD
By Michael G. Nastos
for Allmusic.com
In the post-Wynton Marsalis era, jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard has become a most prominent brass player, bandleader, recording artist, orchestrator of film scores, and leader in the mainstream post-bop community. Born on March 13, 1962, in New Orleans, LA, Terence Oliver Blanchard was an only child to parents Wilhelmina and Joseph Oliver Blanchard. He began playing piano by the age of five, switched to trumpet three years later, and played alongside childhood friend Marsalis in summer band camps. While in high school, he took extracurricular classes at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Roger Dickerson and Ellis Marsalis. From 1980 to 1982, Blanchard studied under Paul Jeffrey and Bill Fielder at Rutgers University in New Jersey while touring with Lionel Hampton's orchestra. In 1982 Blanchard replaced Wynton Marsalis under his recommendation in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, working in that band up to 1986 as lead soloist and musical director. He then co-led a prominent quintet with saxophonist Donald Harrison, recording seven albums for the Concord, Columbia, and Evidence record labels in five years, including a stirring in-concert tribute to the Eric Dolphy/Booker Little ensemble...

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The Song:
"La Vie en Rose"
Angelique Kidjo & Terence Blanchard
with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
(Edith Guglieme, Luis Gugielmo, Giovanna Gasson)
WB Music Corp. obo Editions, Paul Beuscher SA

Angelique Kidjo - vocals
Terence Blanchard - lead trumpet
Mark Braud - trumpet
Clint Maedgen - clarinet
Daniel "Weenie" Farrow - tenor sax
Lucien Barbarin - trombone
Carl LeBlanc - banjo
Rickie Monie - piano
Walter Payton - string bass
Joe Lastie - drums

Angelique Kidjo appears courtesy of Razor & Tie
Terence Blanchard appears courtesy of Concord Records

EDITH PIAF PERFORMS "LA VIE EN ROSE"

ANGELIQUE KIDJO - WOMBO LOMBO

TERENCE BLANCHARD - CHOICES (Webisode 5)

ANGELIQUE KIDJO - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
TERRENCE BLANCHARD - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
LEARN MORE ABOUT "PRESERVATION"

Preservation Hall in the New York Times

Check out this fine article on Preservation Hall in the New York Times:
New Orleans Jazz Band Gets in Step With the Times
Published December 31, 2009
Phil Lutz, NY Times

THE Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which in its 48 years has built a global reputation for presenting the traditional New Orleans sound, is taking a more contemporary approach these days — recruiting younger players, expanding its repertoire and allowing surrealist elements to creep into its performances.

But even as it modernizes its approach, the band, which comes to the Tarrytown Music Hall on Thursday, is keeping the old-time faith — hiring musicians whose strong links to the pioneers of jazz assure the music’s authenticity.

The combination makes for a multigenerational mix with appeal to a range of musical constituencies, not just aficionados of traditional jazz.

“Preservation Hall is not a museum piece,” said Benjamin Jaffe, 38, the band’s director and the son of its founder, Allan Jaffe. “We’re not recreating something that existed a hundred years ago.”

Most of the musicians that Allan Jaffe recruited in the 1960s and ’70s were part of the pioneering generation. But he died in 1987, and by the time his son took over the directorship, in 1993, younger players were filling the band’s ranks. The last founding member retired nearly a decade ago, and today’s players bring different kinds of experiences to the job.

Some of current crop — like Benjamin Jaffe, who plays tuba in the band and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music — have formal training that informs their thinking. Others — like the saxophonist and singer Clint Maedgen, 40, who honed his art in a variety show that has been likened to experimental theater — reveal a postmodern sensibility.

At the same time, players like the clarinetist and saxophonist Charlie Gabriel, 77, have experience in other idioms as well as traditional jazz. Mr. Gabriel, who at the improbable age of 11 started playing beside the early jazz greats along Bourbon Street, has also performed extensively with singers like Aretha Franklin and modern jazz artists like the pianist Barry Harris.

But what unites Preservation Hall’s members, present and past, is a powerful association with the cultural heritage of New Orleans, Mr. Jaffe said. Most of the musicians were born in the city and, wherever they may have traveled since, have strong roots there...

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PHJB and Del McCoury in AllAboutJazz.com

2009: The Year In Jazz
published December 30, 2009
by Ken Franckling
AllAboutJazz.com

Bluegrass connection - The Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans forged a creative partnership with Del McCoury's bluegrass band. Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that McCoury traces many influences on bluegrass music back to New Orleans, and that McCoury's band faces "a lot of the same challenges we do" in terms of honoring their musical tradition while also trying to produce something new. Jaffe brought his tuba and sat in with McCoury's band and at the afternoon all-hands-on-deck finales at the Newport Folk Festival in August...

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