Round 11 (2019)

 

 

Sascha Just – Ellis Marsalis the Film

ELLIS, produced by Sascha Just, is a deeply personal film which chronicles Ellis Marsalis’ life, his struggles building a career and raising a family during segregation, his unique teaching methods and the far reach of his contributions to modern jazz through interviews with Ellis, with his sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason, and with students and fellow musicians. Interlaced with archival footage and family photos we meet Ellis at home, the house where he has lived with his late wife for over thirty years, and other iconic locations in New Orleans, accompany him to his regular gigs, and capture his concerts at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Snug Harbor, and the Marsalis Center for Music (a solo concert exclusively performed for the film). https://www.facebook.com/EllisMarsalistheFilm/


 

Dance for Social Change

Dance for Social Change (DSC) is a year-round arts and leadership program that supports New Orleans’ high school artists in developing new artistic skills, self- and social awareness, and tools for social justice organizing. Youth from across the city will work with professional dancers, musicians, poets, and visual artists to create original, site-adaptive performance pieces about pressing issues facing their communities. This year, they will present an original performance about gentrification and displacement at the Contemporary Arts Center on March 28-29, 2020, and subsequently tour the piece to local festivals and community events. For more on Dancing Grounds programs go to https://www.dancingrounds.org/ .


 

New Orleans Airlift

New Orleans Airlift presents an immersive and interactive musical performance at their flagship site, the Music Box Village, that will celebrate the collaborative album recording of Lost Bayou Rambler’s Eric Heigle and Big Chiefs Romeo Bougere and Jermaine Cooper Bossier of the 79rs Mardi Gras Indian Gang entitled “Expect the Unexpected.” A 2017 Grammy Winner, Heigle will be bringing his expertise in Louisiana Cajun music and progressive styles of the state’s other traditional music forms; the 79rs Gang will bring their amazing talents in Black Indian song and dance together with Heigle to perform original songs from their joint album, and more. Heigle and the 79rs will be using the interactive musical houses of the Music Box Village in their realization of the music. For more on N.O. Airlift go to https://www.neworleansairlift.org


 

Borealis Rex

Borealis Rex will finish recording and pressing a vinyl LP being produced and engineered by Ben Mumphrey at the legendary Studio in the Country in Bogalusa, LA. An early release of a single off this forthcoming album has been in radio rotation nationwide, including on Sirius XM. Borealis Rex is slated to be a showcasing artist at SXSW 2020 in Austin this year. Borealis Rex is an American rock band hailing from South Louisiana and New Orleans. The band’s organic sound blends hot guitars and harmonies. Guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Chance Casteel fronts this garage-roots-rock band. Guitarist, songwriter, and Louisiana Music Hall of Famer Bill Davis brings the swamp grease. Not shy with the harmonies, catchy and blues-indebted, Borealis Rex’s music is modern yet homespun—fully amped Americana–wholly new but reminiscent of 70s rock icons at their best. For more on Borealis Rex go to https://www.borealisrex.com/


 

Make Music NOLA

Founded in September 2011 under the name, “Youth Orchestra of the Lower 9th Ward”, this program began with just five students in a converted Walgreens on Saint Claude Avenue. Although the program has expanded to eight locations around the city, including four charter schools and four community centers, the mission remains the same. MMN was founded to foster academic achievement, cultivate artistic expression, and promote the healthy growth of children in New Orleans through culturally relevant music instruction and performance. Through consistency, discipline, and a supportive community, MMN strives to create opportunity and access for students from underserved communities. MMN now provides high quality music instruction for over 400 students each year in K-4 general music classes and group string classes. MMN primarily offers instruction on the violin, viola, cello, and double bass. Additionally, all students enrolled in our programs perform over fifteen community-based concerts each year, participate in guest artist visits and workshops, and have the opportunity to audition for summer camp scholarships. This year, MMN students have performed at the Grand Opening for the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the St. Louis Cathedral with Opera Creole, and on WWL Eyewitness News with T-Ray the Violinist. For more info on MMN click https://www.makemusicnola.org/ 


 

Save the Music (STM)

Save The Music (STM) helps local students, schools, and communities reach their full potential through the power of making music. With Threadhead support, STM will provide pre-K-5th grade students at a qualifying New Orleans public school in the 2020-21 school year with an ‘Intro to Music Grant,’ which includes 150+ general music instruments (world drums, xylophones, hand-held percussion, triangles, tambourines, boomwhackers, recorders), as well as method books, professional development for music teachers, and program support for a 10-year period. Building off of a 2018 Music Education Convening meeting in NOLA, which included educators, national funders and city, school and district leaders discussing the future of music education in New Orleans, STM teamed up with Artist Corps New Orleans and New Orleans Arts Education Alliance to close the music education gaps that exist in the 30+ schools throughout the city, ensuring that every child has access to a quality music education. Since 1998, STM has jumpstarted 29 music education programs in New Orleans, and assisted schools post-Katrina by taking responsibility for all damaged instruments as students returned to the city. In 2015, STM also stepped in to help provide up to 10 full-time music instructors in St. John the Baptist Parish School District, ending a 12-year drought in music education there. To learn more about Save The Music, please visit www.savethemusic.org


 

Keith Burnstein

Keith Burnstein will record “Things That Are Heavy Make Me Feel Light”. It is songwriter and film composer Keith Burnstein’s first studio album since The Mumble’s 2014 release Syncopatience. Keith is writing a new American songbook, one that draws as much from Tin Pan Alley as it does from modern geniuses like Jeff Tweedy, Dr. John, and Amon Tobin. “The songs, while instantly familiar, remain very much their own creations” (Secret Sound Shop), “combining the bedroom intimacy of a singer-songwriter” (Seven Days VT) with the rich harmonic palette of jazz, electronic, and “world” musics. For more about Keith go to https://www.keithburnstein.com


 

Laura Berard Huval

Laura Berard Huval (of the award-winning band Sweet Cecilia) will be releasing her solo debut album, “It’s Never Too Late” in the spring of 2020. The album will feature original faith based songs that reflect the rich musical style of Louisiana. Tony Daigle, the Grammy winning engineer and producer, along with an all-star band will record at the legendary Dockside Studio in Milton, Louisiana. “The grant from the Threadhead Cultural Foundation will allow me to utilize the best recording facilities, musicians, and sound engineers in the Acadiana Region. I am truly honored and humbled by this great honor”. For more info on Laura go to https://laurahuval.com/


 

The Lafayette Community M.I.Brary

The Lafayette Community M.I.Brary (musical instrument library) was launched in the summer of 2018 after being awarded $5000 by the 24 Hour Citizen Project.  M.I.Brary had over 20 musical instruments, including guitars, acccordions, rubboards, drums, keyboards, banjos, violins, and more. After 1 year, the M.I.Brary had 110 check-outs. The demand for trying musical instruments before buying them is high, therefore the M.I.Brary needs to buy more instruments! The funds provided by the Threadhead Cultural Foundation will help us to meet the demands of M.I.Brary patrons, some of whom have never had access to musical instruments, so the grant will help us assist them in exploring their musical potential. More information on M.I.Brary can be found at https://facebook.com/mibrary and https://lafayettepubliclibrary.org/mibrary.


 

Dayna Kurtz, Lulu and the Boardsides

Dayna Kurtz will complete the first full length recording of her band Lulu and the Broadsides. Over a 2-decade career, Dayna has toured the world building a musical community and fan base and become admired as both a singer and songwriter. She brought these talents with her when she put down roots in New Orleans in 2010 to make it her home base. In her new band she creates made-for-dancing sets combining vintage rhythm and blues with an emphasis on rhythm. According to Dayna,“The legendary players who comprise the Broadsides – James Singleton, Carlo Nuccio, Glenn Hartman and Robert Mache – are quite simply some of the most outstanding musicians I have been lucky enough to sing with and write for and I am beyond excited to record with them”. In addition to a live EP of the Broadsides in 2019, Dayna has 11 solo artist works dating back to her 1997 recording titled ‘Otherwise Luscious Life’. This full-length CD recording is as yet untitled and slated to be recorded at Esplanade Studios this winter with hopefully a Spring release. For more on Dayna go to https://daynakurtz.com/


 

New Orleans Nightcrawlers

The New Orleans Nightcrawlers are excited to announce the 2020 spring release of their long-awaited fifth record. This as-of-yet untitled album will be produced by sousaphonist Matt Perrine and is the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2008 CD, “Slither Slice.” It promises to feature new originals as well as a few unique takes on some of their favorite tunes, including Lee Dorsey’s “Great Ooga Mooga,” former saxophonist Eric Traub’s “Glass House,” and Spinal Tap’s hilarious “Big Bottom”. The Nightcrawlers’ first three albums all won Best of the Beat Awards, and their last one was nominated for Album of the Year (Offbeat Magazine said it set “an unprecedented high in the brass band world.”), so expectations are high for another outstanding Nightcrawlers effort. Like “Slither Slice,” this album is made possible with the help of the Threadhead Nation, and the Nightcrawlers would again like to thank Threadheads for their continued support of New Orleans culture. To keep up with the Nightcrawlers check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/New-Orleans-Nightcrawlers-73622788089/


 

Southern Rep Theater

Southern Rep’s new production, CHEMIN DU BAYOU. In New Orleans playwright Pamela Davis-Noland’s bold new imagining, the story of Bayou Road stretches over 1000 years, illuminating the stories of the extraordinary peoples–famous or forgotten, real or imagined–who made their way along the old high ground from the Mississippi River toward Lake Pontchartrain, bringing news, plying wares, and settling into remarkably diverse communities along the ridge. This Southern Rep Theatre commission tells the story of New Orleans in miniature, where many cultures meet, song and dance are integral to any tale told, and geography is inextricable from history. CHEMIN DU BAYOU seeks to capture that story through an exciting mix of storytelling, song, and dance, developed out of historical research and present-day oral histories from current and former residents, retailers, and parishioners of St. Rose de Lima. A theatrical celebration about New Orleans not to be missed! For more about Southern Rep check out https://www.southernrep.com/


 

Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund

Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund is a non- profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in March of 2007. This organization was created in memory of Dinerral Shavers, an educator, musician, entrepreneur, and New Orleans Civil Sheriff. In honor of his passing, the Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund has hosted several programs and initiatives to promote youth empowerment, community development, and enhanced educational opportunities in the city of New Orleans. In addition to its annual Scholarship Essay Contest, Back to School Extravaganza, and Operation Giveback, DSEF also hosts both a Music & Cultural Education Program and GIRLS NOLA Initiative. Thanks to the continuous support from the Threadhead Cultural Foundation, DSEF’s Music and Cultural Education Program will have the opportunity to employ cultural ambassadors and educate young people about our city’s history and cultural traditions. This project has been created to not only teach the musical and cultural history of New Orleans, but to utilize artistic, hands-on, and educational approaches to help impact lives in an effort to counter the culture of violence. For more on DSEF see their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/DSEFNOLA/ 


 

Lyrica Baroque

Lyrica Baroque is a collective of musicians and educators dedicated to supporting a diverse community of students, teachers, artists, institutions, and audiences through chamber music. Chamber music has been the leading force in our creation of ‘The Power of Language’, a series of workshops that use live classical chamber music and arts integration techniques to foster emotional intelligence and well-being in children. We have partnered with music therapists, psychologists, and local New Orleans educators to create a unique curriculum that cultivates resilient behaviors, develops empathy, strengthens a sense of self, and empowers children to become more effective communicators. Last year, we presented workshops at KIPP Leadership Primary and Opportunities Academy. In January, we will launch a new partnership with Morris Jeff Community School and Crescent City Music Therapy. For more on this program go to https://www.lyricabaroque.com/event/power-of-language/


 

Tom Leggett Band

Tom Leggett Band will record their third album of original music. The recordings will build on the successes of the roots rock band’s two existing albums and the momentum generated from their first appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in 2019. As with their previous work, the new original songs draw inspiration from legendary New Orleans musical greats, with nods to the band’s blues, funk and reggae influences. According to bandleader, guitarist, and singer-songwriter Tom Leggett, “This grant will really help us kickstart the recording of our new album, which we look forward to sharing with the world in 2020”. For more about Tom go to https://tomleggett.com/


 

Drumsville: Evolution of the New Orleans Beat

Drumsville: Evolution of the New Orleans Beat exhibit opened at the New Orleans Jazz Museum in November 2018. The historical narrative presented with the exhibit that will be extended and developed in the book covers the three-hundred-year development of the rhythms that have made the city’s music renowned worldwide, as well as the crucial role that the city’s musicians played in the development of the drum set and the ensuing techniques that have become stock in trade throughout world popular music. The musical range covered in this exhibit is expansive, from traditional Native American and African/ Afro-Caribbean diaspora to the forms introduced by European colonizers, from early militia bands to brass bands and early jazz, from the various forms of jazz (swing, bebop, free, fusion) to rhythm and blues, rock and roll and funk. It is hoped that the history contained in the book will be of interest to scholars researching the musical/ cultural history of the city as well as a general popular audience interested in New Orleans in general. For more on the New Orleans Jazz Museum click https://nolajazzmuseum.org

 


 

Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival

The Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival is a five day music event running from January 15th through the 19th celebrating the legacy of Danny Barker and bringing together prominent musicians, youth and jazz historians. The event features banjo clinics, oral history panels and public performances. Each day features several outstanding guitarists and banjo players who perform individually backed by a hand-selected house band. Most importantly, the festival holds music clinics for high school aged children in attempts to train and encourage more local youth to the art form. According to organizer Detroit Brooks “The Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival highlights great musical icons speaking of their relationship on and off stage with each other and Mr. Danny Barker. We educate our youth with the knowledge of the history and of their culture as well as the music that made their city such a special, spectacular metropolis with culture bearers and musicians who were personally tutored and mentored by Mr. Danny Barker. That is our focus on the preservation of our culture and music with our festival”. Check out the festival at https://www.dannybarkerfestival.com


 

Louisiana Folk Roots 20th Annual Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week

Also called Balfa Week, this program is a sleepaway camp for adults who are interested in learning more about Cajun and Creole music through guitar, fiddle, accordion, vocals and traditional dance. Balfa Week features: Five days of intensive classes on fiddle, guitar and accordion; Twice-daily participatory teaching sessions on Cajun & Creole Vocals; Five days of instructor-coached Band Labs; Nightly Dances with fantastic Cajun and Creole artists; Five or more artist-led Jam des Amis sessions; Intimate afternoon words-and-music sessions with accomplished and legendary Featured Artists; Afternoon Lagniappe Sessions on a variety of topics; and more. Balfa Week is held at Chicot State Park in the heart of South Louisiana’s Evangeline Parish and caters to locals as well as music lovers from around the globe. Campers stay in cabins on the grounds to assure the immersive experience as well as events and jams that can last until the wee hours of the morning. Instructing staff comprises some of the most renowned and experienced artists; musicians, dancers, historians and culture bearers. In addition to traditional music classes, campers meet one-on-one with the artist of their choice for personalized lessons all week and have the pleasure to form bands with other campers in preparation of the final day of camp’s closing ceremony. For more on this program please go to https://www.lafolkroots.org/


 

Craigory Klein and Lucien Barbarin, ‘New Orleans Sacred Trombones’ 

A traditional jazz gospel recording titled ‘New Orleans Sacred Trombones’ featuring Craigory Klein and Lucien Barbarin. From Craig: “It’s music that’s near and dear to each of our hearts. Gospel music has been a big influence on traditional New Orleans jazz along with many other forms of music such as blues, ragtime and marches to name a few. This record will feature Lucien and I on trombones along with a rhythm section that is well versed in playing this kind of music and will be a tribute to some of our elders/mentors who played this music”. Lucien and Craig are like brothers and started out together in Harry Connick Jr’s Big Band in 1990 and both are masters of the traditional jazz form. Both are also descended from musical families, Craig whose uncle Gerry Dallmann also played the trombone and Lucien having Danny Barker and Paul Barbarin in his musical genealogy. They still find time to play together between their many projects including Craigory with Bonerama and Lucien still a featured member of Harry’s band.


 

Upturn Arts

Upturn Arts provides youth creative arts summer camps which have been held successfully since their inception in 2010. What began as a one-week summer dance camp with 23 registrants has grown into a year-round arts enrichment organization serving at-risk NOLA youth. As of 2014 their summer and holiday camps have featured local and professional artists in music, dance, visual arts and theater as master guest instructors. Grant funds will support payment for these guest artists during their 2020 summer camp session and holiday camps, anticipated to reach 1,500 New Orleans children and help provide up to 50 hours of guest artist work time. For more on this worthwhile program go to www.upturnarts.org


 

OffBeat Magazine, OnBeat Sessions

OffBeat Magazine will launch a new season of the OnBeat Sessions, a series of videos featuring performances by various New Orleans musicians, some well-known and some up-and-coming. In the spirit of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, the project is designed to offer a platform to shed light on the musical talents of the city through OffBeat’s media and social media assets. The Threadhead Foundation funds will assist in the purchase of additional camera equipment to replace that of staff members that is no longer available for use. OffBeat has partnered with the Loyola College of Music + Media to help the OnBeat Sessions come to life. Filmed at Studio A at Loyola, the music is recorded by students under the supervision of professor and seasoned producer Lovell “UP” Cooper. All videos will be available on OffBeat.com for public viewing at no charge to further the mission of nurturing and promoting local music and culture. Check out more on this and past sessions at https://www.offbeat.com/offbeat-and-loyola-school-of-music-…/


 

Frenchmen Street Fais Do Do

Frenchmen Street Fais Do Do begins its 11th series of helping to preserve the lovely Cajun tradition of a dance party while the children are put down to sleep. In this iteration however the party is for the kids as well and includes 2 bands over 3 hours of continuous Cajun, Zydeco and even some Country music. Lee Brundage and his lovely wife Sue serve as host, hostess and organizers so if you haven’t come to one then plan to join the fun soon! Fais Do Do takes place on pre-announced Saturdays from 4-7pm at the Maison on Frenchmen Street. It’s free to the public and family friendly with 2 stages offering continuous dance music in the Cajun, Zydeco and Country genres.