INTERVIEW: Irvin Mayfield releases new ‘Jazz Playhouse’ book, CD set

Irvin Mayfield, the accomplished jazz trumpeter from New Orleans, recently released New Orleans Jazz Playhouse, an expansive book and seven-CD set through Basin Street Records. The project brings together images, words and live recordings from Mayfield’s Bourbon Street club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel.

“The Jazz Playhouse has been around for six years, and we wanted to do something that really represented what was going on at the Playhouse,” Mayfield said in a phone interview. “And, you know, six years of performances, six years of food, six years of waitresses and guests, and so we thought about the notion that the club was a lot bigger than just the four walls. And to talk about those four walls and the things that go on outside of them and inside of them, we thought we needed to tell the story through images, through words and through music.”

The trumpeter, composer and arranger said the music for the project was recorded over nine days at the club. The resulting book is an “advocate for small venues” with an introduction by Walter Isaacson, foreword by Ernest Gaines and afterword by Wynton Marsalis.

Basin Street’s official website states that the music showcases The New Orleans Jazz Playhouse Revue, including Vincent Gardner, Adonis Rose, Peter Harris, Jason Marshall, Derek Douget and John Chin. Among the guest artists: Jamison Ross, Michael Watson, Davell Crawford, Sasha Masakowski, Steve Masakowski, Gerald French, Shannon Powell, George Porter Jr., James Rivers, Don Vappie, Leon Brown and Ronald Markham.

“I kind of wanted to put this notion that there’s an intimacy in the small room approach and also in the live performance,” he said. “Today I’ve always loved live records, and I wanted folks to know the experience of what goes on right now in the club. Looking back over the last 10 years, of course, we’ll be getting to Aug. 29 this year, the 10^th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I wanted to give folks an idea of what’s really happening in New Orleans, and my biggest reason for that is … Ellis Marsalis, legendary patriarch of jazz here in New Orleans. He said that, you know, there were great clubs, and all they wind up becoming are stories and legends. … So when you look in it, it’s life, it’s alive, it sings, and it’s not a history book about New Orleans. It’s kind of what’s happening in New Orleans right now and the things that make us who we are.”

A visit to the club in early 2015 showcased these sentiments.

In January, Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse played host to the jazz singing of Germaine Bazzle, a frequent presence on the club’s stage. Audience members left the loud partying of Bourbon Street and entered the quiet of the Playhouse; it was a striking dichotomy that only seemed to heighten Bazzle’s performance. Drinks were served in a non-garish manner, especially compared to the mile-high hurricane cocktails that lined the sidewalks of Bourbon. Concertgoers took in a set or two of music, sitting back in chairs, toe tapping to Bazzle’s unique vocals. It was a blazing concert in a vacuum.

“Years ago, you used to have jazz clubs on it [Bourbon Street], and so when we opened six years ago, it was actually a big deal for us to come, and step up and say, ‘Jazz back on Bourbon Street,'” Mayfield said. “And so we decided to be at that point the pioneers on the street to say, ‘Hey, how about jazz again?’ And, of course, six years later, I think everybody knows it makes a lot of sense. And I think people find it fantastic to be able to walk into this calm from the storm because we have the great opportunity to be in a hotel at the Royal Sonesta.”

Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, currently based in the New Orleans Jazz Market, regularly play the club on Wednesday nights. A weekly residency is a staple in the musician’s life that he seems to enjoy.

“I think that’s one of the coolest things,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve admired about Ellis Marsalis, that he plays every Friday. I think there’s a magic to playing where you live, and I know a lot of folks don’t. I think there’s a magic to it. I love the story of John Mayer with his weekly residency that he had for years. I love the story of Prince building his own club in Minneapolis and just having spontaneous concerts. I think there’s something special about what you’re giving back to the place that you live, but I think the artists themselves, I think that they feel a certain magic.”

NOJO tries to liven up concerts and be adventurous. They honor the jazz greats and focus on the evolution of the genre as well. Mayfield said at the recent French Quarter Fest, the orchestra reinterpreted the music of Nirvana, Queen, Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and the Grateful Dead. Another day they performed children’s songs and then brought to life the New Orleans songbook.

“I think it would be pretty safe to say that’s pretty adventurous, especially for a jazz band,” he said. “We’re constantly adventurous together, and one of my jobs as the creative director is to push for that and to require that. And I’m trying to do it all the time.”

Remembering the past — Mayfield counts Sidney Bechet and Jelly Roll Morton as favorites — and stepping into the future can be a struggle for musicians. The trumpeter talked about the “rules” that are tied to the genre of jazz. However, he seemed to want to break some of those rules, or at least “do something different.”

“Just recently, just here for the Jazz & Heritage Festival, we had Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga,” he said. “And they said they were singing jazz, and there’s a robust conversation about that, whether or not Gaga sings jazz. So that’s always a part of the conversation. You know, much like I know that people today aren’t jazz fans. They’re fans of what they respect. They’re fans of what they embrace, and that’s really what I think every artist is trying to aim for. How do you talk directly to your audience?”

When Mayfield, a Grammy winner, takes NOJO on the road, they become ambassadors of this iconic Louisiana city. With a name like the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, there’s a certain expectation for their performances.

“Playing at home is a very different vibe because playing home people you know, they’re educated on the social aspects,” he said. “Once again, I don’t think at home they think about it necessarily just as jazz; they think about it as good music. … Recently we were at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, and it was on Mardi Gras Day, and they just went crazy. I told them, I said, ‘Look, this doesn’t seem like the Philadelphia Symphony audience.’ Somebody said, ‘It is; it’s just Mardi Gras.’ I love that.”

On the musical horizon for Mayfield and NOJO is an August album with Dee Dee Bridgewater. “She’s a master,” he said. “And when you work with a master, it raises everybody’s bar.”

Before then, Mayfield fans can check out Basin Street Record’s New Orleans Jazz Playhouse box set.

“It’s unusual to have a book with this much music and also someone really trying to tell you stories in three ways,” Mayfield said. “We just thought that was a very unique opportunity for us to tell the story of New Orleans from a musician’s perspective through images, words and sounds, and my hope is that it brings people in closer to the music.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Click here for more information on Irvin Mayfield’s New Orleans Jazz Playhouse.