Singer and trumpeter Leroy Jones
There was a nice moment, New Orleans trumpeter Leroy Jones says, a number of years ago when drummer Shannon Powell, bassist Mitchell Player and trumpeter Kermit Ruffins all lived within a block of Jones’ home in Treme.
The oldest African-American neighborhood in the U.S. has historically been home to many of the pioneers of jazz and the city’s cultural traditions, and four prominent New Orleans musicians living so close together was a good reminder of Treme’s legacy, Jones notes.
There are musicians “nurturing and keeping the traditions alive there,” Jones says. “It’s very significant, and the fact there are still musicians, like myself and Shannon and Mitchell, James Andrews and Trombone Shorty … it’s very important to the culture of New Orleans.”
Jones spoke to Gambit shortly after playing a show in Mannheim, Germany, as part of a tour he takes every two years with clarinetist Uli Wunner. But Jones will be back in time to play the Treme Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 25.
The festival, which marks its 10th anniversary this year, celebrates the history of Treme and its impact on New Orleans’ cultural traditions. The event takes place in the area around St. Augustine Catholic Church, built in 1841 by free people of color and dedicated in 1842.
Treme Fall Fest opens with a second line, starting at Kerlerec and Henriette Delille streets and parading through the neighborhood with brass bands, Baby Dolls, Zulu Tramps and Big Chief Victor Harris of the Mandingo Warriors, who is being honored by the festival this year.
Jones & the Treme All Stars will be joined by Player and Powell at noon for a set of traditional New Orleans jazz and swing music. Vocalist Eliza Sonnenschein will kick off the music at 11 a.m., and there will be performances by the Original Pinettes Brass Band, the Herlin Riley Quartet with Kermit Ruffins and Shamarr Allen’s Ratchet Jazz. DJ RQ Away will perform throughout the day.
There will be local restaurants and caterers serving food, an arts and crafts marketplace and street performers in the area. St. Augustine also will host mass at 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.
Jones grew up in the 7th Ward and began playing first the cornet and then the trumpet while at St. Leo the Great Elementary School. He caught the attention of his neighbor, banjoist and music preservationist Danny Barker, who invited him to join his Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band — the outfit that nurtured Riley, Gregory Davis, Michael White and many other New Orleans luminaries and seeded a generation of new brass bands. Jones went on to lead the Hurricane Brass Band, which formed out of the Fairview Baptist band.
Along with a stint in the ’90s with Harry Connick Jr.’s band, Jones has led his own bands and, over the years, has worked with a number of groups and with Preservation Hall, where he performs a Sunday show. He also has recorded numerous releases, including the singles “My Cherie Amour” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” two songs he performed in the ’80s with his quartet featuring Powell.
Along with Powell and Player, Jones’ Treme All Stars band on Saturday will include Hall trombonist (and Jones’ wife) Katja Toivola, guitarist Mike Clement and saxophonist Daniel “Weenie” Farrow.
Although Ruffins and Player have moved away from Jones’ Treme block, his area near Ursulines Avenue and N. Rampart Street is still busy with young musicians and brass bands associated with second-line clubs.
“I can’t keep up with the youngsters, and I get to see them performing past my front door,” Jones says. There are “many young guys who are still maintaining the legacy.”
The Treme Fall Festival runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is free. Find more info at tremefest.org.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source bestofneworleans.com ’
