back to calendar ›

New Orleans Suspects and Glen David Andrews with Glen David Andrews

Share this event:

Have you been to New Orleans and and loved the beat of the street? Have you always wanted to go and experience the spirit of Mardis Gras? Now is your chance as we bring a lil’ bit of New Orleans to downtown Hartford with two of the city’s hottest emerging bands the New Orleans Suspects and Glen David Andrews. The Suspects comprises some of the best, most highly respected players in New Orleans, including: Reggie Scanlan, bass (Radiators, Professor Longhair Band); Mean Willie Green, drums (Neville Bros.) Jeff Watkins (James Brown Band, Joss Stone Band), saxophone; Jake Eckert, guitar/vocals (current member of The Dirty Dozen Brass Band); and C. R. Gruver (The Meters Experience, Outformation), keyboards and vocals. Glen David Andrews describes himself as being born “in a second line” and comes from a family full of music influence (Trombone Shorty, Rebirth Brass Band)! Hailing from the historic Tremé neighborhood, Andrews brings to life what the popular HBO series embodies, the spirit and the music that defines New Orleans culture. You’ve got to come and see this show to experience the pure energy these guys bring to the table . . . . don’t forget your beads!

New Orleans Suspects

Connect with this artist:

www.neworleanssuspects.com

Video:

Artist Bio

New Orleans Suspects began playing together in 2009 as a pick-up band at the Maple Leaf in New Orleans. Comprised of some of the most seasoned, highly respected players in NOLA, the group called themselves The Unusual Suspects. Their chemistry was undeniable and by the summer of 2011 they decided to tour full-time, renaming the band New Orleans Suspects. They quickly began attracting large crowds from San Francisco to New York. In three short years they released two CDs and established themselves as one of New Orleans’ best supergroups.

The New Orleans Suspects are:

“Mean” Willie Green was the drummer for the Neville Brothers for over thirty years. His unparalleled style has helped shape New Orleans funk, and his drumming has graced recorded tracks by dozens of artists, including The Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Edie Brickell.

Reggie Scanlan’s career has been defined by his thirty-three years playing bass in The Radiators – the longest running rock act in the history of New Orleans – but his résumé is far deeper; Scanlan spent much of the 1970’s in the bands of legends James Booker, Professor Longhair, and Earl King.

Jake Eckert was the lead guitarist in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. While living in Los Angeles he played in the band New Soul Underground along with jazz great Larry Carlton. He has performed with some of the biggest names in the business, including Warren Haynes, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and Dave Matthews.

CR Gruver is a classically trained pianist who immersed himself in New Orleans piano styles after touring with national bands such as Outformation and singer/songwriter Angie Aparo. Adept at James Booker-style piano and the swelling B-3 stylings of Art Neville, Gruver has also become a well-regarded sideman for Leo Nocentelli of The Meters.

Jeff Watkins is an accomplished sax player, engineer and producer. He spent twelve years leading the James Brown Band, including Brown’s induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame. He also worked for six years with Joss Stone as her producer, engineer, and bandleader.

Glen David Andrews

Connect with this artist:

glendavidandrewsband.com

“Glen is one of the giant talents of New Orleans music”

- Quint Davis, Producer, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

“Onstage and off, electrifying club audiences and street scenes, speaking his mind at civic rallies, Glen David Andrews perhaps best embodies what David Simon, creator of the HBO series Treme meant when he said, ‘Culture is what brought New Orleans back.’”

- Larry Blumenfeld,The Wall Street Journal

In a city whose spirit world is as old as Mother Africa’s children, Glen David Andrews, a native son of New Orleans, has made a compelling case for his own deliverance. Redemption (Louisiana Red Hot Records), Glen’s critically acclaimed new release, is his balm after a very personal storm. It’s about acceptance and forgiveness, about rebirth and renewal. “This is a record about my journey back from the living dead.”

Born in the historic Tremé neighborhood Glen and his older brother, Derrick Tabb of the Rebirth Brass Band, along with their younger cousin Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, soaked up life’s musical lessons by learning the history of the brass band tradition from iconic figures like Tuba Fats. Andrews says. “Jesus was born in a manger, I was born in a second line.” He was blowing a joyful noise by the time he was 12 and practiced his musicianship and showmanship with the city’s most energetic brass bands, from New Birth and L’il Rascals to ReBirth and Tremé. That presence and sweetness have long endeared Andrews to audiences at his regular gigs at such New Orleans clubs as dba and Three Muses. In recent years he began making waves as a headliner at the world’s biggest block party – the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, as well as many other festivals and legendary clubs around the US, including The Lincoln Center, Voodoo Music Experience, Chicago Folk and Roots Festival, Houston International Festival, Joe’s Pub, House of Blues Nola, Tipitina’s, American Jazz Museum KC.

Video:

---

buy tickets for this show ›