ReBirth by Terrance Osborne
Music percolates through the streets of New Orleans and permeates the soul of those in the City. One extraordinary such soul is Philip Frazier who formed the ReBirth Brass Band in 1983 while still in high school. His tuba pumps New Orleans' greatest natural resource for all it’s worth as it gives the band its foundation. The renewable energy ReBirth brings to this timeless street music respects the old as it pursues the new. Frazier's well-worn tuba has propelled ReBirth from the modest Treme neighborhood to world renown. Its Sousa-funk pulse proves the heart still beats strong deep in New Orleans. If you’re looking for assurance that the past has a future, ReBirth is it. Making the soul of New Orleans manifest on paper takes an artist steeped in its culture. Native son Terrance Osborne’s intuitive sense of color, light and form make this poster a luminous modern classic; an audible visual. The concept was inspired in part by a photograph by former New Orleans Saint, Brad Edelman. The result is a visual legacy as vibrant as the music that inspired it.
by Douglas Bourgeois
There are many ways to measure the greatness of performing artists: The permanency of their work, the depth of their fans’ embrace, their accessible humanity, their influence on fellow artists, and their staying power. By these metrics, Irma Thomas is indeed great. Irma began singing in 1959 while waiting tables at a New Orleans club. She was eighteen and got fired for her efforts but landed a recording contract the next year. Her career flourished when Allen Toussaint began producing her recordings of his songs. From 1961 to 1963, the duo turned out “It’s Raining”, “Ruler of My Heart”, “I Did My Part” and “I Done Got Over It,” among other classics. In early 1964 Thomas recorded another writer’s song, “Time Is On My Side” with lyrics written for her literally as she entered the studio. Six months later the Rolling Stones recorded a note-for-note cover and rode it to their first top-10 U.S. hit. Otis Redding did much the same thing, reworking the spare “Ruler of My Heart” into “Pain in My Heart”. Other artists leveraged her innovations to their benefit. Not to be denied national recognition, Irma wrote and recorded the powerfully autobiographical “Wish Someone Would Care”, a top-20 pop hit that rose to #2 on the R&B charts in 1964. The B-side of that record, Irma’s pioneering interpretation of “Breakaway”, defines girl pop’s voicing and tempos to this day. The British invasion changed the pop chart equation and in 1969 Hurricane Camille blew away the clubs that Irma relied on to hone her craft. A few years later she opened her own club in Mid-City, the Lion’s Den, where she performed when not touring – until Katrina blew it and her home away in 2005. Again turning hardship to inspired art, Irma released the Grammy-winning album “After the Rain” in 2006. Her style and voice enthroned her as New Orleans’ Soul Queen. Her indomitable spirit makes her reign an enduring inspiration. Time has truly been on her side. If the name Douglas Bourgeois is familiar, but you can’t quite picture the work, there’s good reason: He creates just a handful of paintings a year. His art is characterized by meticulousness in the service of dramatic allegory, and it takes time to craft the painstaking detail that distinguishes it. Bourgeois’ intelligently precise, yet playful juxtaposition of cultural symbolism brought him to national prominence over two decades ago and he carries that style forward in this print, the artist’s first published serigraph. Bourgeois brings his fondness for surreal depictions of pop culture’s glamour to bear on Irma as an icon of New Orleans’ heyday as an R&B recording hub and the City’s endurance in the face of rising tides. The dreamy perfection of Irma’s bouffant do, shimmering satin dress and matching shoes contrast sharply with the equally perfectly rendered but unruly lush environment that surrounds her. After the rain, flowers bloom, songbirds return and vinyl remains ascendant. In this loving portrait, Irma imposes order on nature and revels in their mutually indomitable power.
Lewisiana by Francis X. Pavy.
Thirty-third in the series. One hundred and eighty-three miles upriver from New Orleans off Highway 61, Ferriday, LA made rock and roll history when it gave Sun Records “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis. This longhaired, piano-banging eccentric was rock’s first honest-to-God wild man. He took Louisiana to Memphis and founded the state of “Lewisiana.” Lewis’ first #1 hit in 1957 “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” was recorded in one take. His next release, “Great Balls of Fire” – amazingly just Lewis and a drummer – did even better. More hits followed, including “High School Confidential,” some of the lyrics of which, along with those from “Lewis Boogie,” are on the curtain behind him in the poster. At his peak, the career of this charter member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame rivaled that of Elvis. Rolling Stone ranks him #24 on its list of “Top 100 Artists of All Time” (next to another Louisiana immortal, Fats Domino).
Internationally renowned Lafayette, LA painter Francis X. Pavy, creator of the sold-out 1997 Jazz Festival poster of the Neville Brothers, is back with a star turn portrait of his fellow Lewisianian. Pop colors, iconic imagery and spatial anomaly fuse into a contemporary time-compressed fantasy: A mid-20th century Killer at a late-20th century Jazz Fest night concert, pounding into the 21st century. In this exploration, Pavy focuses on his favorite themes; the music and cultural curiosities of Louisiana juxtaposed against the fabric of popular American culture. Dubbed “the Picasso of Zydeco” by Rolling Stone, his work is in the private collections of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Buffett, among others.
As Time Goes By by Margaret Slade KelleyKermit Ruffins came to prominence wielding a trumpet with the Rebirth Brass Band then moved to traditional club gigs with his own band, the Barbecue Swingers. Unlike a long line of trumpeters who left town to conquer bright lights and big cities, Kermit stayed in the city that gave birth to the music he loves. Not even Katrina could dislodge him from the source that nurtured his soul. Jazz devotees worldwide are richer for his immovable devotion to advancing the art of jazz vocals and trumpet in the city that first provided jazz’s uniquely American voice.
Margaret Slade Kelley’s portrait of New Orleans’ native son is as timeless as his music. With a nod and a tip of his hat, Slade Kelley’s Kermit conveys his delight at exploring and expanding the territory first trod by Buddy Bolden a century ago. Her classic forms convey the jazzman’s spirit echoed in the cultural verity of this courtyard scene. The palette captures the City’s centuries-old patina. Slade Kelley’s embraceable classic is drenched in timeless authenticity.
