INTERVIEW: Lena Prima honors her family history on new Basin Street album
Photo: Lena Prima is the newest signing to Basin Street Records. Photo courtesy of Shawn Flint Blair / Provided by Basin Street Records website with permission.
Lena Prima, the accomplished New Orleans singer and musician, certainly has a famous last name. The youngest daughter of Louis Prima grew up soaking in the Italian-American experience in the Louisiana city, and she has continued the famiglia’s legacy in her own right.
Prima’s new album, Prima La Famiglia, is a loving tribute to her father’s legacy and her own statement on how that unique heritage influenced her life, both personally and professionally. The recording, which was recently released, is also her first collaboration with Basin Street Records, one of the top recording homes for NOLA artists.
“I feel very honored, and I’m excited beyond belief,” Prima said in a recent phone interview about her Basin Street deal. “My heritage and my legacy inspired the album.”
Prima, who has been singing professionally for more than 30 years, said her father and another NOLA legend, Nick LaRocca, actually had similar stories, with both men’s families coming from the same town in Italy. These familial connections are all over the place in the Crescent City.
“There’s such a rich Italian culture in New Orleans, and the music that my father put forth was a mixture of his influences from New Orleans, including the Italian part,” Prima said. “So he went to New York in the early ’40s, and he recorded all these great Italian songs. … Back then, at that time, Italians revered my father as a hero for the music he recorded and how he was celebrating the Italian lifestyle. He never changed his name. A lot of Italians change their names. He was a hero to them.”
To honor this history, Prima wanted to craft an album that would celebrate this Italian music (she already had five recordings completed). The finished product is a mixture of comedic songs and moving ballads, all from the Italian songbook. Some of the selections include “Come on a My House, “Cu Ti Lu Dissi, “Oh Marie” and “Pensate Amore.”
“Not just Italian people love this music,” she said. “I perform at the Hotel Monteleone, which is an Italian family-owned hotel in the French Quarter. It’s a very tourist-based crowd, all ages, everybody celebrating different things, but when those Italian songs are played, people just latch on to them immediately and start singing along. It’s a party atmosphere. Everybody loves this music, and I just really wanted to make an album that my dad would be proud of and sort of honor the songs that I grew up with and many other people did as well.”
Prima recently finished her seven-year residency at the Hotel Monteleone. It was a special time in her musical life, especially because her father also performed at the historic venue.
“The Monteleone is a very elegant, beautiful hotel,” Prima said. “I have loved it since I was a little girl. My dad actually performed there. They had a club called the Skylight Room, and it was on the top floor. Many people performed there. I think he was one of the last people to perform there, so it’s had special meaning to me.”
Even with a famous father, Prima has always built her résumé on her own terms. She celebrates what was given to her, but in no way feels the pressure of living up to high expectations.
“I honestly never felt a burden by that because I absolutely loved my dad’s music, and he was such a love-filled, warm, gentle man,” Prima said. “There’s so much love for him and that music that I grew up with, that I just have always felt proud that I’m his daughter and that I’m a musician, too, and I get to play this music. The passion and love for being a singer and being a musician and getting to do this for a living and for my life, that’s just really where I’m coming from. And that’s really where my dad was coming from, too, so nothing ever felt like a burden. Of course, show business has always been a struggle. It’s an up-and-down life, but I really love it.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Lena Prima’s new album is Prima la Famiglia, and it’s out now on Basin Street Records. Click here for more information.
