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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 October 13. 

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 on October 13, 2017 on all digital platforms and on CD and Vinyl (includes free digital download)form your local record store.  The album will be available on physical in new Orleans October 13, 2017. Additionally, in conjunction with the album, Basin Street Records will release a companion 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

When the Saints Go Marching In

Trumpet Bounce

Do Whatcha Wanna Interlude (feat. Rebirth Brass Band)

Move On Ahead (feat. Jolynda "Kiki" Chapman)

Mystic

Good Morning New Orleans

Drop Me Off In New Orleans (feat. Dr. Michael White)

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

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.

Trumpet Bounce

BasinStreetRecords

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