Bart Ramsey | |
---|---|
Born | November 3, 1954 |
Genres | Gypsy Jazz, Jazz, Folk rock |
Occupation(s) | Songwriter, bandleader, musician, author |
Instrument(s) | piano, accordion, guitar, |
Years active | 1978–present |
Labels | Jumping Man Records |
Bart Ramsey (born November 3, 1954) is a New Orleans [1] composer, author, singer and jazz musician who formed the gypsy swing band Zazou City. [2] Through his countless performances of Ramsey's original compositions in New Orleans, and especially in the Faubourg Marigny area of the city, Gypsy Swing has recently become solidly infused into the New Orleans jazz repertoire. In Zazou City, Ramsey performs on piano [3] and accordion, backed by a four or five piece band that moves between upbeat and mellow tunes. He has recently toured Italy, performing with the famed Gramo Gramentieri and other virtuosi.
Bart Ramsey performed [2] at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on May 4, 2012, with Zazou City, where the performance garnered a standing ovation. He has performed with many New Orleans musicians through the years of 1988–present, including the New Orleans Jazz Vipers. [4] He has written several novels and recorded numerous solo and band albums.
Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, known as the swing era, when people were dancing the Lindy Hop. The verb "to swing" is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong groove or drive. Musicians of the swing era include Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Benny Carter, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Earl Hines, Bunny Berigan, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Jimmie Lunceford, and Django Reinhardt.
Theodore Shaw Wilson was an American jazz pianist. Described by critic Scott Yanow as "the definitive swing pianist", Wilson's piano style was gentle, elegant, and virtuosic. His style was highly influenced by Earl Hines and Art Tatum. His work was featured on the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Ella Fitzgerald. With Goodman, he was one of the first black musicians to perform prominently alongside white musicians. In addition to his extensive work as a sideman, Wilson also led his own groups and recording sessions from the late 1920s to the 1980s.
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is an annual celebration of local music and culture held at the Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana. Jazz Fest attracts thousands of visitors to New Orleans each year. The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Foundation Inc., as it is officially named, was established in 1970 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (NPO). The Foundation is the original organizer of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell Oil Company, a corporate financial sponsor. The Foundation was established primarily to redistribute the funds generated by Jazz Fest into the local community. As an NPO, their mission further states that the Foundation "promotes, preserves, perpetuates and encourages the music, culture and heritage of communities in Louisiana through festivals, programs and other cultural, educational, civic and economic activities". The founders of the organization included pianist and promoter George Wein, producer Quint Davis and the late Allison Miner.
Kermit Ruffins is an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer from New Orleans. He has been influenced by Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan and says that the highest note he can hit on trumpet is a high C. He often accompanies his songs with his own vocals. Most of his bands perform New Orleans jazz standards though he also composes many of his own pieces. Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote, "Mr. Ruffins is an unabashed entertainer who plays trumpet with a bright, silvery tone, sings with off-the-cuff charm and never gets too abstruse in his material."
Reggie Houston is an American musician who plays soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone and baritone saxophone. He is best known for his association with the New Orleans pianist Fats Domino.
The Hot Club of Cowtown is an American Western swing trio that formed in 1997.
Zydepunks is an American folk punk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 2003, they play a wide variety of multicultural music, including Cajun music and zydeco, Eastern European music, and punk rock. They perform in English, French, Spanish, Yiddish, Portuguese, and German. Their instrumentation includes vocals, violins, accordions, bass guitar, and drums.
Cyril Garrett Neville is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans–based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band upon the dissolution of the Meters.
Gypsy jazz is a musical idiom inspired by the Romani jazz guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–1953), in conjunction with the French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli (1908–1997), as expressed by their group the Quintette du Hot Club de France. The style has its origins in France and the Manouche clan of Romanis, and has remained popular amongst this clan. Gypsy jazz is often called by the French name jazz manouche, or alternatively, manouche jazz in English-language sources.
Troy Andrews, also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is a musician, most notably a trombone player, from New Orleans, Louisiana. His music fuses rock, pop, jazz, funk, and hip hop.
OffBeat is a New Orleans, Louisiana monthly local music magazine founded by Jan V. Ramsey in 1987. The magazine, published by OffBeat, Inc., focuses on the popular music of New Orleans and Louisiana, which is generally R&B, blues, jazz, rock, hip-hop, funk, and many other traditional styles of music popular in Louisiana. OffBeat was the first magazine in New Orleans to resume publishing after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, despite losing all its staff and its printer.
Sammie "Big Sam" Williams is an American trombonist and band leader from New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been a member of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and leads Big Sam's Funky Nation.
Sidney Desvigne was an American jazz trumpeter.
Thor Harris is an artist, sculptor, musician, painter, carpenter and handyman. He was the percussionist for Swans (2010–2016). He has performed with Shearwater (2001–2010), Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light, Lisa Germano, Yonatan Gat, Gretchen Phillips, Devendra Banhart, Rebecca Cannon, Xiu Xiu, Flock of Dimes & Amanda Palmer, Whalesong, and the Grand Theft Orchestra. He has recorded at least six instrumental albums with the Austin producer Rob Halverson. He also contributed to Ben Frost's 2014 album, Aurora. He joined the touring lineup of Xiu Xiu as a percussionist in February 2017 and he has enjoyed touring with Thor & Friends since 2015.
The Belleville Outfit was a cross-genre American folk band based out of Austin, Texas. Their sound has been described as "a mix of gypsy swing, big band jazz and cross-genre Americana music". In April 2007, after three days of practice, they performed their first gig at MerleFest in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Members Rob Teter and Marshall Hood are from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Additional band members were recruited through connections Rob had made while studying music business at Loyola University New Orleans of New Orleans, Louisiana. Fellow students Jonathan Konya and Connor Forsyth left New Orleans for Austin to join the band that was to become The Belleville Outfit. Marshall Hood invited Austin's darling Phoebe Hunt, who had been playing with the folk band The Hudsons out of Austin for four years. When the original bassist Jeff Brown retired from the Belleville Outfit to pursue a career riding sharks in the pacific, Forsyth brought in Nigel Frye, a talented bassist he knew from Tulsa, Oklahoma who had previously quit music all together, and was living out his life as a meat inspector.
Matthew Davidson is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter originally from Shreveport, Louisiana and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is currently touring with Conner Smith after touring for five years with Travis Denning. He has performed at the Grand Ole Opry, on Today with Hoda and Jenna, and on Broadway in downtown Nashville at venues such as Dierks Whiskey Row, The Stage, Legends Corner, Second Fiddle, Jason Aldean's, and Tootsie's. He graduated in 2020 from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Guitar.
Roots of Music, Inc. is a non-profit educational organization based in Orleans Parish, New Orleans, Louisiana. The organization operates an after-school program which provides academic tutoring and music mentoring for at-risk middle school students ages 9–14.
Tank and the Bangas is an American musical group based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band won the 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest and in November 2019, they were nominated in the Best New Artist category for the 2020 Grammy Awards. They have released three studio albums, Thinktank (2013), Green Balloon (2019), and Red Balloon (2022).
Charenee Wade is an American jazz, soul and R&B singer, composer, arranger, improvisor, and educator.
Smithfield Fair is a group of three musicians from Baton-Rouge, Louisiana. The members are Dudley-Brian Smith on vocals and guitar, Jan Smith, Dudley-Brian's wife on vocals and accordion, and Bobby Smith, Dudley-Brian's brother on vocals and bass.
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