Kermit Ruffins, "Didn't He Ramble"

OK... making up for some serious lost time, here's the first of THREE for today. A little Kermit to start the morning never hurt anyone. Not coincidentally, Mr. Ruffins played a phenomenal show on Saturday at Brooklyn Bowl. New Orleans, here we come...

Treme Brass Band, "The Old Rugged Cross"

Rest in Peace, Mr. Lionel Batiste.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Rebirth Brass Band, "Do Whatcha Wanna"

Kermit Ruffins & the Rebirth Brass Band, "Just a Closer Walk with Thee"

The Subdudes, "Carved in Stone"

From the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in Texas last year, here's a nice one from New Orleans' very own... you can tell by the accordion :)

OK Go and Bonerama, "A Million Ways" (Live on Letterman)

A few years ago, OK Go and Bonerama--a New Orleans Funk Brass Band--teamed up on an EP to benefit Al "Carnival Time" Johnson and other New Orleans musicians displaced by Katrina.  From You're Not Alone, here's "A Million Ways," written by OK Go and performed live on the Letterman show.  Buy the 5-song album--which includes a cover of Bob Dylan's "I Shall be Released" with Al Johnson on vocals--on iTunes or Amazon.  Enjoy!

The Meters, "Funkify Your Life"

How can you not love this one from the Meters (another N.O. institution)?  Get on down.

Irma Thomas, "Time Is on My Side"

Great version of a classic song by a New Orleans legend.  Irma's take heavily influenced the Stones, which released it a year later.  Enjoy.

Allen Toussaint, "St. James Infirmary"

A different take on the same number... made all the more haunting without the words.  Love the tempo (and the clapping)... enjoy.

Kermit Ruffins, "St. James Infirmary"

To continue with the NOLA tribute, here's Kermit Ruffins & Co. with the classic once recorded by Louis Armstrong... live from Tipitina's.  Ruffins, a New Orleans legend, kicked off his career by co-founding the Rebirth Brass Band while in high school in Tremé in the early 1980s.  These days, you may recognize him from his appearances on HBO's Tremé.  Enjoy. 

Hot 8 Brass Band, "What's My Name (Rock with the Hot 8)"

To kick off the first weekend of Jazz Fest, here's the Hot 8 performing live in Paris.  If you start getting funny looks for jumping up and shaking it... it's everybody else who is crazy, not you.  Enjoy.