Kermit Ruffins
(born December 19, 1964) is a jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has been heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Eddy Jefferson. Ruffins accompanies a large portion of his songs with his own vocals, and he says that the highest note he can hit on trumpet is a fortissimo C note. 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 of Ruffins in a July 16, 2001 article, stating that "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". [1]
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KERMIT RUFFINS TICKETS
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Early life
Kermit started playing trumpet in 8th grade at Lawless Junior High School in the
Ninth Ward of New Orleans. He attended Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in New Orleans' 6th Ward.
[2] In high school, he played a little bit of
classical music at the behest of a strict band teacher.
[3] Ruffins developed an appreciation for cooking through his grandmother, observing her movements in the kitchen growing up.
[4]
Career
Rebirth Brass Band
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He co-founded the
Rebirth Brass Band in
1983 while attending Clark High School, also in the Tremé neighborhood.
[5] Ruffins made his first recordings with the Rebirth in 1984. The group was inspired by another
New Orleans brass band called
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, a band of slightly older musicians credited with bringing influences of funk and contemporary bebop into New Orleans style brass bands. Before they achieved the popularity allowing them to play regularly in local music venues, the Rebirth often
busked around the
French Quarter for
tips. They soon became a houseband at the Glass House, previously the Dirty Dozen's home venue. The Rebirth once had a gig in
New York City at Lone Star Café, but were hassled by
police for having no permit when they began marching outdoors as they always did in New Orleans.
[6]
Barbecue Swingers
Ruffins founded the Barbecue Swingers in
1992, a
traditional jazz quintet. Kermit is famous for cooking
barbecue at his shows. Every Thursday since the early 1990s, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers have played a weekly show at Vaughan's Bar in the
Bywater neighborhood which is very popular with both locals and visitors. His 2007 album
Live at Vaughan's
was recorded during one of his performances at the establishment.
He has also performed at hundreds of funerals during his career in The Crescent City.
[7] In 2003 the band received a nomination at the Big Easy Entertainment Awards, which recognizes local talents.
[8]
Venues
- Austin City Limits Music Festival
- French Quarter Festival
- New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
- Strings In The Mountains Music Festival
- Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival
- Tabasco Pepperfest
Personal life
On
April 14,
2007, he married his fiancée Karen "Juicee" James onstage during his performance at the New Orleans French Quarter Festival. This was the couples' second vow exchange of the day as they had earlier been married in a
Catholic ceremony at St Peter Claver Church. A reception was held at The Parish at The
House of Blues. The couple had their first daughter together a year earlier, aptly named Kaylin Orleans Ruffins. Ruffins also has children from a previous marriage.
[9]
Ruffins has said he loves drinking
Bud Light beer and smoking
cannabis, stating that
Amsterdam is his second favorite place to perform outside of New Orleans due to its many legal
coffee shops that sell premium grade cannabis and
hashish. He is also a good friend—and sometime local competitor of—
Irvin Mayfield, a fellow New Orleans trumpeter.
[10]
Gallery
Discography
Year
| Album
| Notes
| Label
|
1993
| "World On A String"
| debut album
| Justice Records
|
1994
| "The Big Butter and Egg Man"
| -
| Justice Records
|
1996
| "Hold On Tight"
| -
| Justice Records
|
1998
| "The Barbecue Swingers Live"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
1999
| "Swing This"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
2001
| "1533 St. Philip Street"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
2002
| "Big Easy"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
2005
| "Throwback"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
2007
| "Live at Vaughan's"
| -
| Basin Street Records
|
Filmography
- New Orleans Music in Exile (2006)
Awards
- 2003 - Offbeat's Best of The Beat Awards in Best Traditional Jazz Band or Performer for Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers
References
- The Good Times of Way Down Yonder...
- Musical Gumbo: The Music of New Orleans
- "Ibid"; Kermit Ruffins: Trumpeter of Kermit Ruffins and
- Kermit Ruffins at All About Jazz
- New Orleans
- "Ibid": Lichtenstein, Grace
- "Ibid"; Kermit Ruffins: Trumpeter of Kermit Ruffins and
- Keys to the Kingdom
- Ruffins gets hitched before crowd
- Kermit Ruffins: Trumpeter of Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers