Christmas in New Orleans with Kermit Ruffins
So it turns out December 12th is the date of my first foray into Christmas music this year. It also happens to be the day I put my Christmas lights up – as well as that lit up metallic deer that swivels his head back and forth. Ho ho ho, people!
I trust and hope that a lot of you have been visiting Popdose’s annual month-long immersion into all that is not so good about Christmas music. Jeff and Jason’s Mellowmas series is a required visit this holiday season, so go over and check them out.
As for my family and me – other than daily viewings of Mamma Mia! (we just discovered it, and seriously, we can’t get enough), it’s Kermit Ruffins‘ new Christmas album that is helping us get into that Christmas spirit. It’s good seasonal music like this that helps me shed the layers of stress and anxiety that seem to crop up every December. It’s the Music that pinpoints that part of my brain that absolutely loves the Christmas season – the excitement, the atmosphere, the gathering of loved ones… it certainly helps to have two young daughters bouncing off the walls in anticipation – but it’s also the music that helps me see beyond the dollar signs, and actually enjoy the holiday season.
If you’re from New Orleans, you damn sure know who Kermit Ruffins is. He’s a fixture on the local scene, blowing his trumpet every Thursday night at Vaughns’s, then cooking BBQ for everyone after the gigs. Outside of New Orleans, Kermit may not be a household name, but you’d do yourself good to track down some of his music for some genuine Louisiana flavor.
The Christmas album, Have a Crazy Cool Christmas, has your standard holiday tunes – “Winter Wonderland”, “Silent Night”, “O Christmas Tree”, “Jingle Bells”, “Let It Snow”, “Little Drummer Boy” – all dipped into a jazzy, dixieland, cajun gumbo. And there’s the originals – the title track, and the fun “A Saints Christmas” – with the timely Christmas prayer to take the New Orleans Saints all the way to the Super Bowl.
Kermit also takes on this Louis Prima Christmas tune (Prima and the other Louis – Armstrong – are also from New Orleans)…
“What Will Santa Say (When He Finds Everybody Swingin’)”
Kermit Ruffins is one of the most passionate and talented New Orleans musicians out there today, so pick up his Christmas record – and feel good about supporting someone who’s stuck with the Crescent City through thick and thin. And if you’re in New Orleans on a Thursday night, stop by Vaughn’s for some tunes and barbecue courtesy of Kermit.
Kermit Ruffins Cooks!
A fixture in the New Orleans music scene, both pre and post-Katrina, is Kermit Ruffins. Every Thursday night, a club in the Bywater section of town – Vaughan’s – becomes Kermit’s place. The fact of the matter is that every Thursday, Kermit cooks. And I’m speaking literally and figuratively. Sure, Kermit cooks on stage with his band, the Barbecue Swingers. But when he’s not on stage, Kermit’s cooking outside – off the back of his red pickup truck. He sets up his barbecue, and grills it up for anyone who’s hungry. How cool is that?
Kermit Ruffins is a trumpet player, and started off as an original member of the Rebirth Brass Band. He and his high school buddy Phillip Frazier co-founded the group in 1982. Ten years later, he formed the Barbecue Swingers. Not surprisingly, Kermit’s biggest influence is another pretty decent New Orleans trumpet player: Louis Armstrong.
A few weeks ago, a reader friend of mine, Cove, was nice enough to have Kermit sign his new CD for me at one of his Vaughan’s gigs. Many thanks, Cove. I’ll be back to the Big Easy for next year’s Jazz Fest, God willing, and you will certainly be seeing me scarfing down some quality Kermit Ruffins barbecue outside of Vaughan’s on a Thursday night!
Kermit’s new CD, Live at Vaughan’s, comes highly recommended. It’s bursting at the seams with that New Orleans flavor: the great music, the rich atmosphere, the boisterousness. Support Kermit and pick one up today…
Kermit Ruffins – “Hide the Reefer”
BUY his new CD, Live at Vaughan’s: on Amazon| at the Louisiana Music Factory
Check out his Basin Street Records profile.
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