New Orleans Nights Treats the Masses to Big Easy Jazz
New Orleans Nights swing to life as touring legendary musicians play the traditional jazz exemplifying the Big Easy.
The lineup, recipients of awards aplenty, consists of the multi-talented Allen Toussaint, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and the Joe Krown Trio hailed by off BEAT Magazine as a "killer combination between three of New Orleans' greatest players.
" Keyboardist Krown and his trio are, in his words, an old school New Orleans funky band.
For the past three years, he and guitarist/vocalist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and drummer Russell Batiste, Jr.
have been featured at the Maple Leaf Bar where their 2008 album "Live at the Maple Leaf" cemented the partnership.
Toussaint, a classic jazz musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, performs some of his greatest hits, while Payton demonstrates why he is a Grammy Award winner and his jazz albums have been consistent Billboard toppers since age 19.
All have worked with some of the biggest names in the business and are regarded wherever they perform as the finest New Orleans has to offer.
This tour allows them to share their talents with audiences cross-country through mid-December.
Unlike Louisiana natives Toussaint and Payton, Krown grew up on Long Island and attended New York State University at Buffalo before striking out as a professional musician.
He gravitated to New Orleans style jazz, boogie-woogie and ragtime played by such stars as Professor Longhair and Dr.
John.
Before leaving school, he found his special niche playing the Hammond organ, the instrument that has dictated his life.
From backup player with Chuck Berry, he moved on to touring and recording with the band led by Luther Johnson, the former Muddy Waters guitarist.
In 1992, he finally settled in New Orleans for good after joining Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's band, Gate's Express, as keyboardist chair, a position he held until Brown's death in 2005.
Along the way, he recorded four albums with Brown and traveled with him as the opening act for Eric Clapton's world tour.
Krown launched his solo career in 1998 with "Just the Piano...
Just the Blues," an album capturing the traditional New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie styles.
Ten albums later, "Triple Threat," his first studio recording, features the Trio on 12 numbers, nine of them original, the other three covers.
Some of the numbers were written individually, the others collectively.
The organ is featured throughout.
After Katrina, Krown ran across a vintage Hammond organ in Tallahassee and bought it thinking it would be nice to have an extra organ.
Soon afterward, he approached a couple of places to see if they were interested in having a house organ.
At first, the Maple Leaf Bar gave them two Sundays a month drawing a huge crowd at each performance.
Then Krown went on tour with Mavis Staples and others and was gone for a long time.
When he got back, the bar had missed the business the trio drew so much they wanted them every Sunday.
The first time the New Orleans Jazz Fest was held there, a booking agent was waiting in Krown's dressing room and they haven't stopped since.
The lineup, recipients of awards aplenty, consists of the multi-talented Allen Toussaint, trumpeter Nicholas Payton and the Joe Krown Trio hailed by off BEAT Magazine as a "killer combination between three of New Orleans' greatest players.
" Keyboardist Krown and his trio are, in his words, an old school New Orleans funky band.
For the past three years, he and guitarist/vocalist Walter "Wolfman" Washington and drummer Russell Batiste, Jr.
have been featured at the Maple Leaf Bar where their 2008 album "Live at the Maple Leaf" cemented the partnership.
Toussaint, a classic jazz musician and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, performs some of his greatest hits, while Payton demonstrates why he is a Grammy Award winner and his jazz albums have been consistent Billboard toppers since age 19.
All have worked with some of the biggest names in the business and are regarded wherever they perform as the finest New Orleans has to offer.
This tour allows them to share their talents with audiences cross-country through mid-December.
Unlike Louisiana natives Toussaint and Payton, Krown grew up on Long Island and attended New York State University at Buffalo before striking out as a professional musician.
He gravitated to New Orleans style jazz, boogie-woogie and ragtime played by such stars as Professor Longhair and Dr.
John.
Before leaving school, he found his special niche playing the Hammond organ, the instrument that has dictated his life.
From backup player with Chuck Berry, he moved on to touring and recording with the band led by Luther Johnson, the former Muddy Waters guitarist.
In 1992, he finally settled in New Orleans for good after joining Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's band, Gate's Express, as keyboardist chair, a position he held until Brown's death in 2005.
Along the way, he recorded four albums with Brown and traveled with him as the opening act for Eric Clapton's world tour.
Krown launched his solo career in 1998 with "Just the Piano...
Just the Blues," an album capturing the traditional New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie styles.
Ten albums later, "Triple Threat," his first studio recording, features the Trio on 12 numbers, nine of them original, the other three covers.
Some of the numbers were written individually, the others collectively.
The organ is featured throughout.
After Katrina, Krown ran across a vintage Hammond organ in Tallahassee and bought it thinking it would be nice to have an extra organ.
Soon afterward, he approached a couple of places to see if they were interested in having a house organ.
At first, the Maple Leaf Bar gave them two Sundays a month drawing a huge crowd at each performance.
Then Krown went on tour with Mavis Staples and others and was gone for a long time.
When he got back, the bar had missed the business the trio drew so much they wanted them every Sunday.
The first time the New Orleans Jazz Fest was held there, a booking agent was waiting in Krown's dressing room and they haven't stopped since.
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