Articles by Tod Smith

Kermit Ruffins: Swingin' and Smilin'

by Tod Smith
June 30, 2009

There's a rebirth occurring in New Orleans music, and trumpeter/vocalist Kermit Ruffins finds himself front and center. While the post-Katrina recovery has meant many things for the Crescent City, in a number of ways it's been musicians who have taken the lead in bringing the city back to its traditions. Prior to the storm, many musicians and fans of the traditional New Orleans sound spoke despairingly about the musical future for the city that many considered to be the place ...

Ran Blake: Lurking in the Shadows

by Tod Smith
June 8, 2009

If you close your eyes while listening to Ran Blake's Driftwoods (Tompkins Square, 2009), you may find yourself transported into the grainy, low-key black and white world of a 1940s or '50s classic noir film. Try to leave the theater and something quietly, without much fanfare draws you back into the story. This is the music of Ran Blake. While the vaguely familiar exists, there's enough hidden in the shadows of Driftwoods to make each listen seem like a world ...

Marcus Roberts: Has A Lot More To Do

by Tod Smith
May 12, 2009

With a foundation in the church and a passion for America's music, Marcus Roberts is easily one of the most prolific pianists of his generation. Hailing from Jacksonville, Florida and influenced by the early exposure to his mother's gospel singing, he decided that he wanted to be a jazz pianist after listening to the music of Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Mary Lou Williams and others on the radio. A student of classical piano at Florida State University, Roberts joined the ...

Ken Field & The Revolutionary Snake Ensemble: The Musical Road Less Taken

by Tod Smith
March 10, 2009

Saxophonist/composer Ken Field describes the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble as a “funk and street beat brass band playing New Orleans and other modern improvised celebratory styles." Playing original compositions and those of artists as diverse as Billy Idol and Ornette Coleman, the RSE was formed in 1990 to entertain a at a pagan women's ritual celebration. The project continued and today RSE is a fixture on the Boston, New York and New Orleans musical scenes. RSE's two discs--Year of the Snake ...

40th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Preview

by Tod Smith
January 26, 2009

Seven days, two weekends, forty years. No matter how you measure it, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell is a musical and cultural rite of spring for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. From its humble beginnings at Congo Square, to this the 40th anniversary, Jazz Fest always provides enough musical variety to satisfy even the most diverse musical appetites.

Yet, it's the variety of musical styles that has been perceived as both a ...

The Monterey Jazz Festival 2008 Music Sampler

by Tod Smith
December 27, 2008

Frequently, even free music downloads can be overpriced. Of course, there are always exceptions to any rule and the Monterey Jazz Festival 2008 Music Sampler from iTunes is one fine example of how free can be worth so much more than nothing.Upon entering the Monterey Fairgrounds on a festival day, there's an assortment of people selling programs, providing security and generally just wandering around. Add to it the sounds of music emanating from the various stages and the ...

Christian Scott: Live at Newport

by Tod Smith
November 18, 2008

Christian Scott Live at Newport Concord Music Group 2008

Creativity is most often found outside the boundaries of established tradition. It's while looking outside of those traditional boundaries that an artist frequently finds his or her own voice. In two previous releases, Rewind That (Concord, 2006) and Anthem (Concord, 2007), trumpeter Christian Scott has attempted to do just that. While paying homage to the past, he certainly had his eyes fixed on discovering his ...

The Gathering Tradition

by Tod Smith
April 26, 2006

Tradition is powerful. Sometimes a return to the tradition is the only clear path to the future. For New Orleans, a city's whose recent troubled past has sometimes overshadowed a history rich in culture, its traditions can have healing, almost mystical powers. And so it was on this bright Sunday afternoon, that tradition brought together a city that had been torn apart by the ravages of a storm that threatened both the land and its people. It was the tradition ...

Shirley Horn: No Regrets

by Tod Smith
May 23, 2005

It's 10pm on a Monday evening and I find myself anxiously dialing the front desk of a local hotel to talk to one of the true legends of jazz, Shirley Horn. I have to admit that I am more than just a bit nervous. First, it's Shirley Horn and second, it's ten o'clock. My friend, flutist Kent Jordan has arranged for me to conduct this interview, but I'm still worried that it is a bit late. He assured me that ...

Jonathan Batiste: Times in New Orleans

by Tod Smith
May 22, 2005

Do a Google or Yahoo search on the name Jonathan Batiste and the first listing is for an Atlanta real estate agent. No offense to Atlanta's Mr. Batiste, but in the very near future his first place listing maybe in jeopardy. You see, the other Jonathan Batiste is an up and coming pianist hailing from jny: New Orleans and if his recent performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is any indication of things to come, he will ...