If New Orleans' tutelary figure Louis Armstrong ever had a spiritual son, Kermit Ruffins must be the one. Even more than trombonist Glen David Andrews. He has the trumpet, he has the growling voice, he has the rejoicing kind and warm friendliness, he has the exuberant showmanship.
Oddly enough, though he started playing trumpet at 13, he didn't get really interested in jazz before discovering Armstrong at the age of 17, which is amazing considering that he is a full New Orleanian, raised in Tremé and in a very musical family (1).
In the early 1980's he and a school mate were busking around Jackson Square in the French Quarter, playing tunes from Armstrong and other famous New Orleans jazzmen for the tourists. Later, Ruffins learned how to perform on stage with local legends “Uncle” Lionel Batiste and Danny Barker.
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| Ruffins: front right |
In 1983, with his cousins Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier and bass drum player Keith Frazier, and some of his Tremé high school mates, he co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band that durably rejuvenated the New Orleans brass bands and second-line culture.
After a little less than a decade with the RBB, now an accomplished trumpeter, vocalist and showman, but tired of the exhausting rhythm of his incessant touring life, Ruffins took his risk and left the band, soon forming a more traditional jazz quintet baptized the Barbecue Swingers. Actually a rather variable combo where members kind of rotate according to their own agenda.
From 1992, he signed with the Justice label from Houston, Texas, and recorded rather classic Armstrong-influenced albums at first. His 1992 debut World on a String was a collection of classic covers (except one self-signed title) featuring renowned veterans (tubist Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen, pianist Ellis Marsalis, bassist Walter Payton and banjoist Danny Barker).
On Big Butter & Egg Man (1993) with Philip Frazier on tuba, Shannon Powell on drums and a musician that will become a loyal partner, trombonist Corey Henry, Ruffins affirms himself as a composer with four numbers. Same thing on Hold on Tight in 1996.
In 1993, Ruffins and his band began a weekly Thursday gig at Vaughan's Bar in the working class 9th Ward's Bywater neighborhood. It lasted nearly twenty years ! Thursday nights at Vaughan’s became legendary and both the bar and Ruffins became icons. Music critic Jay Mazza, who attended over 350 of those performances (!), even wrote a 137-page book about it. The lively Live at Vaughan's released in 2007 was recorded during one of the band's hot performances there.
In 1995, in addition to gigging with the Barbecue Swingers, Ruffins decided to front a big band, like that of Cab Calloway, and put together a 17-musicians orchestra, The Kermit Ruffins Big Band. The arrangements were signed by the legendary New Orleans musician Wardell Quezergue, and the band made their first public appearance in October 1995. Regrettably no album was recorded to testify of this experience. The only works in a similar spirit were released on the seductively jumping Swing This in 1999, and in 2010 on Happy Talk.
In 1998, after signing with the young-born New Orleans label Basin Street Records, he affirmed his “modernity” by releasing The Barbecue Swingers Live, recorded at Tipitina's, including six originals.Ruffins continued building his legend with his memorable club performances and his appealing Basin Street Records albums. Released in 1999, the appropriately titled Swing This devoted to big band jazz, features a wide horn section.
1533 St. Philip Street (2001) with guest like David Torkanowsky on piano and Dr. Michael White on clarinet, includes in the liner notes a detailed recipe for rabbit ("Lapin de Kermit") reflecting his culinary skills (he learned by watching his grandma in the kitchen) that he considers comparable to his musical gifts.
The superb Big Easy (2002) featuring his cousin Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews on some titles, includes two versions of the Afro-Caribbean-flavored “Skokiaan” that'll become one of Ruffins staples on stage, his own “When I Die (You Better Second Line)”, New Orleans jazz classics like "Tiger Rag" and "Basin Street Blues", the cool Coltranesque “The World Is A Ghetto”, as well as a detour through hip-hop with “One Life”.
In 2005 Throwback was the fruit of a reunion with his former partners of the Rebirth Brass Band, and he signed half the material. That same dark year, in the middle of which Hurricane Katrina was going to devastate the city and disrupt the local musical scene, the Putumayo label broke from its usual various artists format and released a compilation entirely devoted to a single artist : Putumayo Presents : Kermit Ruffins.Two years after the release of Live at Vaughan's
(2007), a testimony of the band's legendary hot Thursday night gigs, Ruffins recorded the fine Livin' a Tremé Life (2009) which unfortunately includes the unfitting “I Can See Clearly Now”. Even the intervention of Trombone Shorty couldn't save the song.
On Have a Crazy Cool Christmas ! (2009), with Trombone Shorty again on a couple of tunes, Ruffins avoids most of the traps usually found in so many (rather boring) recordings of this kind. The album is as jazzy and exciting as his previous works.
After Happy Talk in 2010, he turned again to rejoicing traditional New Orleans jazz on the excellent We Partyin' Traditional Style ! (2013) with the delicious retro mood of a gone time of carelessness way before Katrina, when clarinet and banjo used to be indispensable jazz instruments.
Meanwhile, Ruffins actively appeared in the HBO series “Tremé” (see previous Chapter), playing his own role very naturally. |
| Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge |
In 2014, he reopened a live music venue closed for several years, the Mother-in-Law Lounge on Claiborne Avenue, originally launched by Ernie K-Doe in 1994, and renamed Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge.
At the Twitter era, #imsoneworleans from 2015 sees the arrival in the band of two appealing Japanese-born musicians : lady trombonist Haruka Kikuchi and remarkable keyboards player Yoshitaka "Z2" Tsuji, as well as of singer Nayo Jones (on “At Last”). Next to them, Kevin Morris is delivering outstanding bass lines. The album gathers various styles, sometimes with a Dr John atmosphere, at other moments borrowing exotic Latin rhythms like the steel band-tinged “Mexican Special”.At the same period he recorded a new version of “The Bare Necessities” for Disney's 2016 remake of “The Jungle Book”.
Finally, the last release of Ruffins to date is the unexpected A Beautiful World (2017) with fellow trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist Irvin Mayfield, another Basin Street Rec. artist who in addition to his important educative activities, especially among the youth, leads his own sextet and is a member of the band Los Hombres Calientes.This strange musical opus is built as a mille-feuille, alternating full songs with very short introductory interludes (one is signed by William… Shakespeare !), and features a large array of guests among whom actor Wendell Pierce (see Chapter X), John Boutté, Glen David Andrews, Jason Marsalis, Cyril Neville, DJ Soul Sister on vocals, Phil Frazier on tuba, George Porter, Jr. on bass, Dr. Michael White on clarinet...
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| Mayfield & Ruffins |
Today an icon of the Crescent City, famous for wearing over a bandana his Fedora hats or fancy retro caps always carefully leaning to the right side, Ruffins is similarly at ease in traditional New Orleans jazz à la Armstrong as in post-Miles Davis jazz fusion style like “The World Is A Ghetto” on Big Easy (2002) to take just an example, or in exotic hip-hop like “One Life” in the same album… Switching from throwback to contemporary in the same opus, or even in the same title, he's preserving and passing on the tradition of New Orleans jazz as much as he's enriching it with multiple influences.
A man able to sing a Cab Calloway-like tune with an Armstrong vocal texture, not bad at scatting either, Ruffins is full of exuberance and rejoicing creativity, on trumpet and as a singer, but if you listen carefully, you'll realize that most times he plays his trumpet in a rather classic style whatever kind of tunes he performs, innovative pieces or standards of the New Orleans jazz repertoire. And even you'll feel the nostalgic mood that underlies his performances.
About his “new-Armstrong” reputation, Ruffins says : “That’s someone who really, really led one of America’s true art forms. He was really the cherry on top of New Orleans music. And now I see it being passed on to younger kids, and for me to have a role in that and to maybe do the things he did is so spiritual to me.”If you want to hear how contemporary New Orleans jazz sounds today, with the richness of its unique range of styles, Kermit Ruffins probably is the most representative musician of the genre. As he likes to shout on stage : “All aboard !” ■
(1) Kermit Ruffins is a cousin of Phillip "Tuba Phil" Frazier and his brother Keith Frazier, of Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and his brother trumpeter James Andrews, and of Glen David Andrews.
In March 2022 Ruffins' girlfriend Harmonese Pleasant who was pregnant for his baby, was accidentally (?) shot by a bullet come from nowhere while she was on the sidewalk just outside their house chatting on the phone.
The bullet pierced Pleasant's uterus and struck the nearly full-term baby girl who blocked the projectile from wounding Harmonese more severely. Unfortunately, a bullet fragment struck her spinal cord, also causing injuries to her lung and her kidney.
Immediately delivered, the baby stayed in intensive care for over a week, after what doctors said it was unclear if she'd ever be able to walk… Today 18 months old, the baby girl is said to cry rarely, except when... Ruffins plays the trumpet ! "She gets scared to death", says her dad with a laugh. "But when that damn alligator plays the trumpet in “Princess and the Frog”, she's jumping up and laughing ! I don't understand that !" ●
Kermit Ruffins' Discography
→ The Big Butter & Egg Man (1994, Justice)
→ Hold on Tight (1996, Justice)
→ The Barbecue Swingers Live (1998, Basin Street Records)
→ Swing This (1999, Basin Street)
→ 1533 St. Philip Street (2001, Basin Street)
→ Big Easy (2002, Basin Street)
→ Throwback (with the Rebirth Brass Band, 2005, Basin Street)
→ Putumayo Presents : Kermit Ruffins (compilation, 2005, Putumayo)
→ Live at Vaughan's (2007, Basin Street)
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| People queue up at Vaughan's |
→ Livin' a Tremé Life (2009, Basin Street)
→ Have a Crazy Cool Christmas ! (2009, Basin Street)
→ Happy Talk (2010, Basin Street)
→ We Partyin' Traditional Style ! (2013, Basin Street)
→ #imsoneworleans (2015, Basin Street)
→ A Beautiful World (with Irvin Mayfield, 2017, Basin Street)
Audio► 268 titles to listen : https://freelistenonline.com/artist/Kermit%20Ruffins
► Only two full albums available on YT :
→ Throwback (2005) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvRmw_V56DGI6mP9tUfyJ49VPXyGYzfFJ
→ Happy Talk (2010) : https://youtu.be/9mcOSqLIJcY
Docs & Itws► Report on 504 Magazine, 2012 : https://youtu.be/hnFTGx14pGc
► The Kermit Ruffins interview, The Pace Report, NYC, 2015 : https://youtu.be/i4YmkhLRWM0
Videos
► Lafayette Square, New Orleans, 2010 :
→ #1 : https://youtu.be/_J-RJ-Bj5zQ
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/p8gsTZw0keQ
► Pensacola's Deluna Fest, 2010 : https://youtu.be/x_Skt2bzI9Q
► Highline, NYC,2011 :→ #1 : https://youtu.be/AYRQokOYUOg
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/thBAXYyRFM8
► “When the Saints go Marching In” & “Iko Iko”, New Orleans Seafood Festival, 2011 : https://youtu.be/bubOmP_dHN8
► The Brooklyn Bowl, NYC, 2012 : https://youtu.be/S2D6aVqpBMI
► Bay Harbor Fest, MI, 2013 :→ #1 : https://youtu.be/p_nrIMnQSy0
→ #2 : https://youtu.be/kLYGn9cglTI
► Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans JazzFest, 2013 : https://youtu.be/P28Vqlpl0Dw
► Zulu Lundi Gras Fest, New Orleans, 2013 : https://youtu.be/sAh8k5PQn7M
► Rock n' Bowl, New Orleans, 2013 : https://youtu.be/-Vt450N0kHI► Ascona Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 2014 : https://youtu.be/595JF7zzG8Q
► The Little Gem Saloon, New Orleans, 2014 : https://youtu.be/RZwIRlVNmzE
► The Hamilton, Washington DC, 2015 : https://youtu.be/SCoNZJ2L2nQ
► "Marie", Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge, New Orleans, 2015 : https://youtu.be/E1gVOmRW4Bk► The Blue Nile, New Orleans, 2016 : https://youtu.be/RNz1y7x7N5o
► Downtown Alive, Lafayette, LA, 2016 : https://youtu.be/loi2mWDmZwU
► Benefit concert for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, Houston, TX, 2017 : https://youtu.be/3o57BLdkdFg
► Ardmore Music Hall, PA, 2018 : https://youtu.be/ofbVl3sKNa0► Venkman's, Atlanta, GA, 2018 : https://youtu.be/nLV0USBkmhk
► New Orleans Jewish Community Center, 2018 : https://youtu.be/JT4UIPMlWMI
► “Saint James Infirmary Blues”, Mother-In-Law, New Orleans, 2018 : https://youtu.be/q5200bEfqBg
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| Cooking his “Kermit Special” |
► Food & Music, Ruffins cooking his “Kermit Special” authentic New Orleans Red Beans and Rice, 2020 : https://youtu.be/KvBLGbsX4bo
► Brass Band Jam, Mother-In-Law, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/0BGnMjM4Bqc
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| The Barbecue Swingers with Kikuchi and "Z2" |
► "Iko Iko", Balistreri Vineyards, Denver, CO, 2020 : https://youtu.be/5ZjtQiuzBuE?t=15
► Jazz Jam, Mother-In-Law, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/Hix_6ZUrJWw► Live stream fund raiser during the pandemics, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/oqecuAzSmoo
► From the New Orleans Jazz Museum’s balcony, 2021 : https://youtu.be/2uM8M5VzInU?t=126
► The Howlin Wolf, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/Uz3t3mGLFGM?t=272
► “Hold That Tiger” (with Haruka Kikuchi, trombone - Yoshitaka "Z2" Tsuji, piano - Kevin Morris, bass - Jerry Anderson, drums), Mother-In-Law, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/QGZq2r1T_uo► First Lower 9 Fest (feat. DJ Smoke A Lot, Yoshitaka "Z2" Tsuji & Tonya Boyd-Cannon), New Orleans, 2022 : https://youtu.be/q8PpWqTwKXw
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