Basin Street Records Label Sampler

Jocimo (with Davell Crawford, Cyril Neville), from Los Hombres Calientes' Vol.4: Vodou Dance

Evolution Revolution, from Headhunters' Evolution Revolution

You Are My Sunshine, from Henry Butler's PiaNOLA Live

Got To Be More Careful, from Jon Cleary's Pin Your Spin

A stand-alone CD with fourteen handpicked tracks from Irvin Mayfield’s Basin Street Records catalog. The music is also available as a CD/book combination. In the richly illustrated book, A Love Letter to New Orleans, Grammy Award – winning trumpeter Irvin Mayfield reflects and reports on the people and places his music has brought into his life thus far. From rowdy New Orleans recording sessions to late night introspection with mentors like Wynton Marsalis and the late Herman Leonard, A Love Letter to New Orleans is a poignant chronicling of Mayfield’s resilient love affair with his city’s legacy – Jazz.

Mo' Better Blues w  Ellis Marsalis, from Irvin Mayfield's Love Songs, Ballads and Standards

Sure, Jeremy Davenport is "easy on the eyes," as Cosmo magazine points out, but it s his vibrant trumpet and classic crooning that won over the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Paul McCartney, Sting, and Harry Connick, Jr. Pairing up with fellow prominent New Orleanians Basin Street Records, Davenport is set to win even more hearts of fans with his fourth release, We'll Dance 'Til Dawn.

Jeremy Davenport is no stranger to the jazz world. Raised in St. Louis by a music educator mother, and trombonist father, who performs in the St. Louis Philharmonic Orchestra, his love of the music and performing arts were in his blood. So much so that in the eighth grade his father arranged an auspicious introduction to trumpet idol Wynton Marsalis that would change his life forever. A merit scholar at the prestigious Manhattan School of music, Davenport began private study with Raymond Mase and Wynton Marsalis. He went on to study at the University of New Orleans with the patriarch of the Marsalis family, music educator and jazz pianist Ellis Marsalis.

Davenport was honored to become the youngest performer on four world tours with Harry Connick Jr.'s Big Band, after being introduced to Connick by Ellis. Coming off tour in 1989, he finally settled in New Orleans, and has been a well-respected member of the New Orleans family ever since, including being inducted into the New Orleans Jazz Hall of Fame in 2000. 

I Didn't Know What Time It Was, from Jeremy Davenport's We'll Dance 'Til Dawn

Coming June 24, 2014 on CD, 150g deluxe vinyl and by download, the follow up to Rebirth Brass Band's Grammy winning Rebirth of New Orleans: Move Your Body. It will keep the party going! Also look out for the release on 150g deluxe vinyl that same day of Rebirth of New Orleans!

Move Your Body, from Rebirth Brass Band's Move Your Body

Following 2013’s In A World of Mallets (hitting #1 on JazzWeek radio charts), the youngest of New Orleans’ Marsalis Jazz dynasty, Jason Marsalis, is back with his second Vibes Quartet release, The 21st Century Trad Band.

Backed once again by Will Goble on bass, Austin Johnson on piano, and David Potter on drums, The 21st Century Trad Band puts a spotlight on the growing synergy between these young and talented musicians.

With songs like “Offbeat Personality” Marsalis takes us on a journey through a complex arrangement combining hard-swinging sections with more melodic interludes, unexpected turn-arounds, and an introspective outro. While songs like “The Man With Two Left Feet” and the titular track play with the trad jazz idiom in a contemporary modality. What’s clear throughout the album is the developed control the band has cultivated through further years of playing together; the unspoken communication is evident.

As with previous albums, Marsalis continues his “Discipline” series accompanying himself on a variety of mallet-based instruments including Marimba, Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells, Vibraphone, and Xylophone, further establishing his voice as a mallet-player with the off-kilter blues of “Discipline Meets the Offbeat One” and several interludes with unusual rhythmic patterns and meters.

In addition to including original compositions from his band mates, Marsalis has taken a step further in encouraging the vanguard of the next generation of jazz by including compositions of the young New Orleans musicians Cliff Hines (“Interzone”) and Jasen Weaver (“Blues for Now”), both graduates of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

The shear amount of music, seamless interludes, and a track reflecting on the BP Oil Spill,“BP Shakedown” are testaments to Marsalis’ serious nature towards his work. But just as he touched on playful, uncharted territory with In A World of Mallets’ “Ballet Class” he explores a film noire theme with “Nights in Brooklyn”.

Banjoist Bela Fleck has praised Marsalis for “brilliant ideas that sound as if he’s played them his whole life, but are really coming off the top of his head.” The NEA Jazzmaster stated himself that his last record was “the beginning of a new chapter.” It’s clear The 21st Century Trad Band is a continuation of that chapter, and it’s full of those “brilliant ideas” for which the bandleader has become known.


Offbeat Personality from Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet's The 21st Century Trad Band

In celebration of their 20th anniversary, Basin Street Records has announced forthcoming the collaborative album between its two most recorded artists, Kermit Ruffins and Irvin Mayfield, A Beautiful World, out nationally October 13, pre-orders (including signed copies) available now on BasinStreetRecords.com, physical product (CD, Vinyl) available in New Orleans area September 22.

A Beautiful World is a collaboration between two friends, Kermit Ruffins, the big easy ambassador of good times and Rebirth Brass Band co-founder, who has appeared on HBO’s Treme, Bravo’s Top Chef, Late Night with Stephen Colbert, and the soundtrack for Disney’s Jungle Book in a duet with Bill Murray and backing Christopher Walken, and Irvin Mayfield, two-time Grammy-award winner, Billboard Music Award-winner, author, and producer. Combined, the two musicians share a staggering output of nearly fifty records, the majority released on Basin Street Records, an international independent music powerhouse that asked its two most recorded artists to collaborate on this centerpiece of the label’s 20th anniversary celebration. A Beautiful World is the ultimate party in record form. Producer Mayfield worked tirelessly to translate the eclectic soul of Kermit Ruffins to twenty-six tracks. On the process of making the album, Ruffins explains, “Good food and good music are my passions. I wanted to make a record people could eat.”

Mayfield realized that vision by bringing in 57 musicians arranged in four configurations built around a jazz structure: big band, traditional jazz marching band, chamber orchestra and an amended funk ensemble. Some Basin Street Records artists joined to accomplish this goal: The king of New Orleans brass, Rebirth Brass Band; the professorial clarinetist Dr. Michael White; the musical genius, Jason Marsalis; and world-renowned percussionist, Bill Summers. Other notable featured artists include: Haley Reinhart of American Idol, Cyril Neville (of the Meters and Neville Brothers), New Orleans bass legend George Porter Jr. (of The Meters and countless other bands), Tremé-crooner John Boutté, the inimitable and monstrous voice of Glen David Andrews, The King of Tremé Shannon Powell, a nine-piece string ensemble, and the silky-smooth spoken word bass of New Orleans-born actor Wendell Pierce (USA’s Suits, HBO’s The Wire, HBO’s Tremé).

A Beautiful World will be available nationally on October 13, 2017 on all digital platforms and on CD and Vinyl (includes free digital download) at your local record store. Available for pre-order (including signed copies) from BasinStreetRecords.com now, physical product (CD, Vinyl) available in New Orleans area September 22. Additionally, in conjunction with the album, Basin Street Records plans to release a graphic novel by writer Amen Neville—more details to come soon. Finally, a documentary about Kermit Ruffins is also in the works, and is slated for a 2018 release.

A Beautiful World

Drop Me Off In New Orleans from Kermit Ruffins' & Irvin Mayfield's A Beautiful World

After four years since their last recording Shake It Baby, New Orleans Brass & Rollers Bonerama return with their seventh album Hot Like Fire on CD November 24, 2017 and out digitally October 6, 2017, their first to be released by independent music powerhouse, Basin Street Records.
Formed in New Orleans in 1998, by trombone players Mark Mullins and Craig Klein (who from 1990 -2006, were also members of Harry Connick Jr.'s big band), Bonerama bills itself as a brass/funk/rock band but Bonerama is much more than that. Bonerama is a New Orleans musical institution. They are one of the most genuine, unique and interesting bands to have ever come out of the Crescent City. Bonerama incorporates jazz, brass, funk, fusion, soul, pop, rock, blues, a touch of alternative and even a bit of reggae into its one-of-a-kind sound. Three trombones front the band, plus a sousaphone, guitar and drums all delivering a powerful sound that you have to hear to believe.
Known the world over for its incendiary live performances, Bonerama has been bringing its specialized brand of New Orleans music to the masses for 20 years. Bonerama is currently comprised of Mullins (trombone, electric trombone and lead vocals), Klein (trombone and lead vocals), Greg Hicks (trombone and vocals), Bert Cotton (guitar), Matt Perrine (sousaphone and electric bass) and Walt Lundy (drums).
Hot Like Fire finds Bonerama developing its dynamic, high-energy, fun, happy and bold moods further than ever before. The New Orleans stalwarts deliver nine wonderfully brassy musical landscapes--seven of which are original compositions (including the concert staple "Mr. Okra") along with powerful covers of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" and the late Allen Toussaint's "Basic Lady."  The album was produced by Mark Mullins, Craig Klein and Tracey Freeman and recorded at Music Shed Recording Studios in New Orleans.

Hot Like Fire

Bad Dog from Bonerama's Hot Like Fire

Saràyah, a young vocalist and artist out of New Orleans, LA, is poised to make her mark on the pop music scene. Spurred by the support of a musical family, after years of performing and honing her skills in various groups in New Orleans, and under the direction of manager, T.A. Charlot, she has partnered with record label Basin Street Records to create her debut album Feel The Vibe. On the album she demonstrates her talent not only as confident vocalist but also as a skilled songwriter, penning lyrics to nine original songs.

She carves her own niche in the pop music world by incorporating a polished voice with elements of club/dance music, worldbeat, Caribbean inflections (reflecting her roots performing in New Orleans groups), and R&B to form an Ariana Grande meets Rihanna meets Kehlani sound. Citing Rihanna and Bob Marley as influences, she is primed to follow in their footsteps to rise through the ranks of various music charts and establish herself as a leading crossover artist.

The leading single from Feel The Vibe “Give Me Love” combines a heavy club beat with subtle trumpet accents and introduces Saràyah to the world as the versatile vocalist that she is with breathy, ethereal calls in Spanish contrasting effortless syncopated verses featuring her understated Caribbean accent. Listeners will begin to feel the vibe of the album after hearing “That Vibe”. “Fire & Ice” finds her voice in its full pop element over a sultry beat with an unforgettable hook in the chorus. “We Party” will find its home at the VIP tables and rooms of clubs across the world, and when club goers are ready to hit the dance floor “Gimme Dat Work” will not disappoint.

Feel The Vibe

Give Me Love from Saràyah's Feel The Vibe

With his latest record, Grammy and Billboard Award winning Irvin Mayfield joins the ranks of Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin. The latest in a recording career of more than 30 live and studio albums, Live at Newport gives the listener an opportunity to hear Mayfield and the nineteen musicians of The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra fresh, raw, and uncut.

Live at Newport contrasts the intimate sound of Mayfield’s previous release, New Orleans Jazz Playhouse (2015, Basin Street Records), a 300+ page coffee table book including seven nights worth of live performances recorded at his Bourbon street jazz club in New Orleans and featuring a small selection of members of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, by highlighting the full Jazz Orchestra in front of a massive crowd. But even in front of a large crowd, Mayfield finds a way to make the performance personal. Underscoring Live at Newport is the maturity Mayfield has achieved as a bandleader and trumpeter engaged in a decades-long career. This maturity is highlighted in moments when Mayfield speaks on the need for prison reform in his introduction to his original composition named for the infamous Louisiana prison, “Angola,” or in sharing the painful memory of his father’s death in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the renewed meaning he finds in the tribute “May His Soul Rest In Peace.”

Mayfield’s evolution as a musician and bandleader are more subtly evident in his Ellington-esque willingness to step back and highlight the talents of his orchestra members, such as Ashlin Parker’s extensive and brilliant solo on “Angola,” or “Sweetbread on the Levees,” an entire track dedicated to Dr. Ed “Sweetbread” Petersen and featuring his impassioned saxophone playing. Mayfield’s talents are further articulated in the complex arrangement of “The Elder Negro Speaks,” which features several intricate transitions and sections reminiscent of one of Mayfield’s greatest influences, Jelly Roll Morton.
Mayfield and Co. are in their element tackling standards such as the funky New Orleans Mardi Gras tune “Indians” and “I’ve Got The World On A String” featuring the easy, soulful vocal stylings of one of Mayfield’s many protégés, Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown.

The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra never fails to please crowds, and in recent years they’ve accomplished this with several performances highlighting the music of famous rock and pop artists such as Nirvana, Stevie Wonder, Queen, The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin. They included three contrasting examples of these works with the Lennon/McCartney ballad classic, “Yesterday,” an ardent rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” with the oft-featured vocals of trombonist, Michael Watson, and they close out the set with a bombastic version of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”

Live at Newport takes a well-rehearsed Jazz Orchestra, a veteran trumpeter/bandleader, and brings you through a world of jazz experiences from well-known standards, heavily orchestrated traditional New Orleans-style jazz, and jazzified rock and pop. It’s a live experience entertaining to all and is not one to be missed.

Live at Newport

Angola (feat. Ashlin Parker) from Irvin Mayfield's Live at Newport

Davell Crawford, the “Piano Prince of New Orleans,” released the first volume of a six part set entitled Piano in the Vaults during New Orleans Jazz Fest on Basin Street Records. The set is a collection of solo recordings done by the piano/vocalist phenom between 1998-2013, and it solidifies his position as the modern torchbearer of New Orleans piano music.

A follow-up to his eclectic and heavily-orchestrated My Gift To You (2013, Basin Street Records), Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1 highlights Crawford’s raw talent as a performer saturated with the soul and history of New Orleans music. A native son of the Crescent City, Crawford’s ties to the music go back to his relationship with his grandfather, the New Orleans songwriter, James “Sugarboy” Crawford of “Jock-A-Mo” fame. Aside from his familial ties, it is evident Crawford draws inspiration from the long lineage of New Orleans piano players including Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, and James Booker—a recent French Quarter Fest performance saw him sticking to a New Orleans-music exclusive set featuring music by many of the above in addition to his own original compositions that carry on the iconic New Orleans sound infused with his inimitable soul. Crawford will continue with a string of performances in New Orleans including opening for The O’Jays at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Opening Gala, as well as multiple performances at Jazz Fest itself.

Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1 demonstrates a continuation of New Orleans tradition by opening with two tracks in tribute to the piano player Crawford has drawn the most comparison, James Booker, a musician who has shared the title “Piano Prince of New Orleans.” “Song for James” plays like a true tribute in the enigmatic style of Booker full of jaunty trills and a strutting bass line while “Booker Days” is a slower ode to the late piano player, where Crawford pines for the opportunity to hear him play.

Crawford pays tribute again to his grandfather, James “Sugarboy” Crawford by playing two songs he co-penned with songwriter Dave Bartholomew, the instrumental “Morning Star” and the heartfelt “You Gave Me Love.” The album features one playful duet with the song “Fine Brown Frame” featuring the Louisiana blues singer and NEA Heritage Fellow, Carol Fran, who also shares a familial tie to Crawford as his mother’s godmother.

“Buddy Bolden’s Blues” written by the iconic father of New Orleans piano music, Jelly Roll Morton, the classic story telling song, “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (a song previously recorded by New Orleans string legend, Danny Barker), and “Make Me A Pallet On The Floor” bring to mind turn of the century New Orleans—cabarets, Storyville brothels, seedy barrooms, and all. One can envision Crawford’s music seamlessly fitting in such a venue 100 years ago.

Davell delights with original tunes in the vein of the New Orleans tradition such as “What Is A Home Without A Mother?”—a nod to that so important family member, “Baby Please Be True,” and the vintage sounding “Teana Titty.” Crawford ends the album on a chord he’s become known for—the sentimental one—with a soulful cover of yet another Louisiana artist, Percy Mayfield, with the hit “Please Send Me Someone to Love.”

Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1 secures Davell Crawford’s role as a tour-de-force of the New Orleans piano tradition with a unique vocal talent. Listeners of Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1 will have no trouble listing Crawford’s name in the short list of truly great New Orleans piano players.

Piano in the Vaults: Volume 1

Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1

Song for James from Davell Crawford's Piano in the Vaults, Vol. 1

Theresa Andersson's new CD (coming 4/24/12) Street Parade.  What Comes Next features a duet with Peter Moren of Peter, Bjorn and John. Pre-order it today from your favorite retailer or www.BasinStreetRecords.com

Street Parade, from Theresa Andersson's Street Parade

Dr. Michael White Celebrates 300 Years of New Orleans Music with Tricentennial Rag.
Out April 20, 2018.
The tricentennial of New Orleans is the perfect time to reflect on the culturally rich city’s most important original artistic contribution: jazz. Acclaimed clarinetist Dr. Michael White sets out to do just that on his newest release, Tricentennial Rag. Few people stand as qualified as Dr. White for such a task with a decades-long career as a New Orleans-born musician and accolades including: Heritage Fellow of the National Endowment for the Arts (the nation’s highest award in the traditional and folk arts), six-time winner of Offbeat Magazine’s “Clarinetist of the Year,” Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities Humanist of the Year, The Jazz Hero Award from the Jazz Journalists Association of America, and several TV appearances including performing the National Anthem at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, HBO’s Treme, and many song placements in the CW’s The Originals.
Tricentennial Rag features a “gumbo pot” of song ideas, all of which are originals save the famous “When The Saints Go Marching In,” that span in style from the earliest jazz with Jelly Roll Morton-inspired tunes such as “Mandeville Stomp” that has a ragtime feel spiced with Charleston and Latin rhythms, to “revival-style” up-tempo tunes like “I Saw Jesus Standing in the Water,” to songs like the title track “Tricentennial Rag” which stands in a category of its own as a “modern” 21st century rag by both engaging with and departing from traditional ragtime forms and using an infectious repeated four-bar main section as much influenced by pop music as by early jazz and rags. The eclectic sounds don’t stop there, and other themes include the lively brass band sound reminiscent of New Orleans Carnival parades and activities present on “On Mardi Gras Day,” a medium-tempo blues on “Blues on the Bayou,” and the joyous “flirt song” in the tradition of old pop love songs, “What I Wouldn’t Do To Be With You.”
Dr. Michael White continues to push forward in his mission to keep New Orleans jazz both traditional and fresh on Tricentennial Rag, a satisfying bookend to the first 300 years of New Orleans music, and a launching-point for the next era of both preservation and innovation in the music of the Crescent City.

Tricentennial Rag

Bonerama Collaborates with Michael McDonald Paying Tribute to Allen Toussaint with “Empty World”
Out October 4, 2019 on Basin Street Records
Available for Pre-Order September 24, 2019

The epic Trombone-focused band, Bonerama has teamed up with renowned vocalist Michael McDonald to bring you “Empty World,” a heartfelt tribute to Allen Toussaint and the many lost New Orleans legends.

“By blending the world’s finest trombone section with the deeply soulful vocals of Michael McDonald, Bonerama has cooked up a brilliant jambalaya that will be savored for a long time to come!"
— Don Was - President, Blue Note Records / Founder, Was (Not Was)

“Empty World” is dedicated to Allen Toussaint, the prolific legendary New Orleans producer and musician who impacted the lives of many New Orleans musicians including those of Bonerama. The lyrics reference Toussaint's songs, paint a picture of the kind person he was, and express sadness of him no longer being with us. The song also has an alternate meaning as a dedication to all of New Orleans lost legends.

Lyrics:
A true soul sister, New Orleans mister
It was a bright and shiny day
I took the last train to catch your song
I get there anyhow, anyway
The brightest star on a hot southern night
So much love, so much love

The people worldwide have you in mind
They say you’re thoughtful and you’re kind
(He’s got the sweetness and kindness)
Never thought we’d lose you
(Can’t you stick around, stick around forever)
The whisper came
(Won’t you stay around, don’t you leave us ever)
And all the happiness that you bring
(Sweetness and kindness)
Rejuvenation with imagination
So much love, so much love

Take me down (won’t you take me)
Take me down (won’t you take me)
To the river running wild in your name

Take me down (won’t you take me)
Lay me down (won’t you take me)
To the river running wild, as the sun sets on your soul
(Stick around forever)
Now you’re gone, it’s an empty, empty world

(Stick around forever)
(Don’t you leave us ever)
(Can’t you stick around, stick around forever)
(Won’t you stay around, don’t you leave us ever)

The king of all, the king of our world
So much love, so much love

Take me down (won’t you take me)
Take me down (won’t you take me)
To the river running wild in your name

Take me down (won’t you take me)
Lay me down (won’t you take me)
To the river running wild, as the sun sets on your soul
(Stick around forever)
Now you’re gone, it’s an empty, empty world

It’s an empty, empty world

Empty World (feat. Michael McDonald)

Empty World (feat. Michael McDonald) - Bonerama

Jambalaya, from Dr. Michael White's Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part 2

Basin Street Records is a New Orleans based record label.  We are the label home to music from: Kermit Ruffins, Los Hombres Calientes, Jason Marsalis, Irvin Mayfield, Dr. Michael White, Jon Cleary, Henry Butler, Theresa Andersson, The Headhunters, Jeremy Davenport, Rebirth Brass Band, Davell Crawford, Saràyah, and Bonerama. Established 1997.