In 1988, noted author, journalist, poet, activist and jazz aficionado Kalamu ya Salaam produced an album titled “The New New Orleans Music” that celebrated the richness of the modern jazz scene in New Orleans.
It included musicians like pianist, educator and composer Ellis Marsalis and master drummer and composer James Black among other great and influential musicians. Their work and teachings continue to be heard in succeeding generations of artists who carry the torch as musicians and teachers themselves.
New Orleans has long been a city where musicians have a tradition — and desire — to pass down their knowledge and passion for the music’s heritage. This sharing occurs in all genres of music in Louisiana and is carried on not only by those who are from here, but also by those choose to live in this welcoming, community-oriented environment. A credo has long been: “Each one, teach one.”
While music-loving tourists don’t necessarily flock to Frenchmen Street to hear modern jazz, if they’re lucky and curious enough, they’re likely to run into some of these next-generation, hugely talented, multifaceted contemporary jazz players during their wanderings.
Local jazz fans know that these select artists — all under 40, all teachers, all leaders in their own right — can be counted on for delivering great performances. And you can be sure the other musicians on the bandstand are worth keeping an ear out for too.
Oscar Rossignoli
When asked when he became aware of New Orleans music, pianist and composer Oscar Rossignoli, who moved to New Orleans in 2015 after studying at Louisiana State University, gave an unexpected answer.
“I’d been listening to music made by people from New Orleans without knowing that,” said Rossignoli, who studied classical music in Honduras. “I grew up listening to the early recordings of Wynton (Marsalis) for example with Herlin (drummer Herlin Riley) with whom I play with now, Victor (Goines), Wycliffe (Gordon) and Wess Anderson.”
He explained that a friend sent him burned CDs that only had “Wynton” on the label. “I didn’t know they were the musicians on those recordings. … I didn’t know if it was the name of the song,” he added, saying it was some of the first jazz that he was really was interested in.
Oscar Rossingnoli
Rossignoli, who is an adjunct professor at Loyola University and also teaches at Tulane University, feels that jazz music calls you to pass it down. Surprisingly, he said, while many outstanding jazz artists around the country rely on paychecks as academics, New Orleans offers enough gigs to make a living without teaching.
“The performance opportunities here are greater,” he explains. “New Orleans being a small city allows musicians to play multiple gigs in a day.”
After arriving on the New Orleans contemporary jazz scene, Rossignoli, whose presents a wide stylistic range, said he immediately felt embraced.
“I fell into this circle of musicians younger than me or around the same age, and I was very inspired by how much everybody was always working on something musically — always curious, always with a project in mind, always searching.”
“I wouldn’t be doing this at all if I wasn’t having fun,” he adds displaying a true New Orleans spirit.
Amina Scott
Originally from Oakland, California, formidable bassist and composer Amina Scott did her undergraduate studies at Loyola and graduate studies at Florida State University. She agreed that musicians here have more opportunities to play and make a living beyond gigging at noted clubs and teaching — weddings, birthday parties, graduations and the like.
“When I was younger, I said yes to whatever,” she said with a laugh. “There are so many different types of work here. Music is at the heart of everything that drives the city forward — pretty cool.”
“Musicians in my generation, we’re lucky enough to get that direct secondhand information from the masters,” she says mentioning Ellis Marsalis and clarinet ace and educator Alvin Batiste. “They were so inventive.”
“My favorite thing about New Orleans is that it’s always forward-thinking. It’s like something new every single day,” Scott said of the jazz scene, throwing in the name of the late James Black as an example of one of the creative forces that continue to influence the music.
Scott, who plays both upright and electric bass, was also was quickly embraced by the city’s music community.
“No one really cared about me being a woman,” she offered. “It was more like do you have a bass? Do you have a car?” she says, again with a laugh.
Adaptability also pays off, as Scott discovered when she got a gig playing on the Creole Queen riverboat one summer with banjoist, guitarist and vocalist Don Vappie, who is renowned for playing traditional and Creole music.
“So I was learning tuba lines (heard on early recordings of tunes in the repertoire) on my bass.”
Scott noted that the quality of the musicianship is so high and widespread that one can find solid artists beyond the well-known jazz clubs, festivals and concert settings. It can, she declares, be heard in “dive” bars like the Saturn Bar.
Jamison Ross
“Being in New Orleans is what I call my secret weapon to how I hear and create music as a drummer,” says Jamison Ross, who moved to the Crescent City in 2011. “Being a drummer is my second secret weapon. For me, music is how you utilize your experience as a person throughout this life in order to express yourself with notes, tones, chords and rhythm.”
“A lot of people know me from different angles,” said Ross, a Grammy-winning artist who leads his own band as both a drummer and vocalist, though he is also sought out as a producer.
Ross first garnered attention after winning in 2012 the prestigious Thelonius Monk Jazz drum competition, which included a contract with Concord Records. He remembers asking the label if he could sing on the recording. Luckily, the answer was yes, and the outcome was his self-titled, Grammy nominated album.
Jamison Ross
Singing drummers are rather a rarity, though Ross found two great ones in New Orleans — Shannon Powell and Herlin Riley.
“These guys sing and entertain at the highest level,” exclaimed Ross. “They give people moments they’ll never forget.”
“You have to embrace the culture and the history of the New Orleans music lineage,” he continues. “I took it wholeheartedly. I became like a son-in-law of the city.”
While Ross travels the world leading his own band both on drums and as a soulful vocalist, when in town he can often be found just drumming at the Bayou Bar as part of bassist Peter Harris’ jazz series, mixing it up with saxophonist Ricardo Pascal, who also attended Florida State University. Ross went on to earn his master’s degree from the University of New Orleans. Ross, who studied with Ellis and Jason Marsalis and Brian Seeger, now teaches at Loyola University.
Immediately noticeable about Ross’ approach to the drums is that he’s always attuned to the melody of a song.
“You have to support the musical moment — you can’t just be technical.”
Gladney
After attending the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Gladney, a sixth generation New Orleanian, headed to New York for his undergraduate studies at The New School.
After the Grammy-nominated saxophonist completed his four years, he felt compelled to return to his hometown because he believed his work here wasn’t done. He was eager to give back to the culture that had given him so much.
“The heritage of music is so important to me,” said Gladney, who for the last four years has been teaching at NOCCA following a rather common path from student to educator.
“I was heavily nourished by the folks who led me along this path, because I know the music, so I need to be the one to share,” Gladney said. “Musicians in New Orleans don’t hold their information behind a paywall the way same way folks in New York might. This belongs to all of us wherever you’re from,” he adds pointing out that here a player can sit in with a band on street. “There’s space for everybody. You don’t have be in a school to be schooled.”
Gladney, a saxophonist, vocalist, composer
Gladney didn’t begin singing until rather recently, though now vocals remain a strong element in his shows and recording.
“Kidd (Jordan, a saxophonist and educator) said that your horn is an extension of your voice,” Gladney remembers. “That’s both spiritual and literal. In that regard I’m always singing on my saxophone.”
Spirituality and a spirit of adventure — stemming from the music of John and Alice Coltrane as well as teachers including saxophonist Donald Harrison and Alonzo Bowens — blossom from both his horn and vocals. He’s also added some ear-catching tambourine to his repertoire, the set list of which usually includes material from the pens of Ellis Marsalis and James Black.
“Most people don’t know the legends who just weren’t famous,” says Gladney of the aforementioned artists. It’s great music that people need to hear, and I’m teaching to students too.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com ’
