Kermit Ruffins
NewMusicForOldFolks says …
For 20 years you knew where you could find Kermit Ruffins on Thursday nights — at Vaughan's a bar in New Orleans, and that was the place to be. Like the Rebirth Brass Band Tuesday nights at the Maple Leaf, and Walter "Wolfman" Washington Wednesday nights at d.b.a., you could plan your week's vacation around these artists and venues. But, alas, Ruffin gave up his standing Thursday night shows at Vaughan's. You'll have to watch his website (and link to it below) for upcoming shows. He still stays pretty close to home and chances are he'll be somewhere in town during the week you're there. If so, catch Kermit Ruffins and his band, the Barbeque Swingers for quintesential New Orleans Jazz.
Artist's Info
See him live: Tour dates
Record company: Basin Street Records
Genre: Jazz
If you like this, look into: Jon Cleary, Rebirth Brass Band, Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Bio (From AllMusic.com)
New Orleans-based trumpeter, bandleader, singer, and songwriter Kermit Ruffins is an ever-inventive musician who projects a warmth from the stage. He's got charisma, so as a consequence, he and his bandmates in the Barbecue Swingers are not in danger of overexposing themselves in their native Crescent City. Ruffins, born in 1964 in New Orleans, reminds many people of a sort of modern-day Louis Armstrong, though he's far from becoming the international ambassador of goodwill that Armstrong eventually became. Fortunately for fans of contemporary New Orleans music and the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Ruffins, a mainstay of both arenas, was picked up and marketed and distributed by the Crescent City-based Basin Street Records, which has issued a steady stream of very well-recorded albums by Ruffins and his Barbecue Swingers into the 21st century. (more)
Spotify sampler
Recordings
Most Recent
#IMSONEWORLEANS (2015): Ruffins is a trumpeter, singer and all-around entertainer whose indelible association with his hometown, New Orleans, has become its own subject. To that end, he celebrates the release of his upbeat new album, “#imsoneworleans,” with the Barbecue Swingers, his steadfast band.
Others
World on a String (1993)
The Big Butter and Egg Man (1994)
Hold on Tight (1996)
The Barbecue Swingers Live (1998)
Swing This (1999)
1533 St. Philip Street (2001)
Big Easy (2002)
Throwback (2005)
Live at Vaughan's (2007)
Livin' a Treme Life (2009)
Have a Crazy Cool Christmas (2009)
Happy Talk (2010)
We Partyin' Traditional Style! (2013)
