"James Andrews has music in his blood. Both sides of his family tree have grown from solid R&B and jazz roots" --Jason Berry

Liner Notes:
Satchmo of the Ghetto

Young James Andrews -- whose graveled voice, ancient instrumental tone and outstanding musical instincts belie his twenty-something years – plays here accompanied throughout by two of the most distinguished masters of the great heritage of New Orleans popular music: on the one hand (both figuratively and literally), funkmeister, jazz hound and general all-round musical wizard, Dr. John, and on the other, the highly esteemed pianist, prolific writer, and elegantly refined producer (of many, many, many hits), Mr. Allen Toussaint.

Both of these senior members of the extended New Orleans clan also are friends of young James and, as in the way of all who share a common tradition, blood relatives.

Uniting the three is a particular love for Jessie "Mr. Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo" Hill, whose 1960 hit -- with its unforgettable call-and-response introduction ("Yo-oh!... Yo-oh!/Oh, ye-ah!... Oh, ye-ah!"), playfully boastful spirit ("they call me 'the most"), and voodoo-tinged refrain ("I won't stop tryin', 'til I cre-ate a disturbance in your mind...") -- laid the foundation for an entire school of New Orleans street funk and R&B that remains in session to this day.

Jessie Hill, who "passed," as they say in New Orleans, just one year before this recording was made, is the affectionately-referred-to "Poops" of the opening cut, which serves as a memorial to him. He also is the grandfather who tutored his young grandson, James, and brought him along on performing gigs. The same Jessie Hill served as one of Dr. John's prime inspirations and was a key member of the good Doctor's seminal Night Tripper band. Jessie Hill also was an early influence on the young Allen Toussaint, piano player for the recording of "Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo" (or, "Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo, Part 1", as it is more formally known).

Essential to the almost-endless stream of hit singles exported from the Crescent City in those days was a concentration of musical talent that resembled nothing less than the famed craft guilds of medieval Europe, in which both Dr. John and Allen Toussaint served apprenticeships. Throughout this album, you will hear sophisticated and subtle work from both master craftsmen in instrumental textures and fills (as well as right-as-rain back-up harmonizing) that, with the assistance of a classically ace New Orleans rhythm section, lift each arrangement to a level several stories above the pedestrian.

James Andrews brings something to these proceedings well beyond affection for the traditions he has been fortunate enough to inherit and for those family members who have shared with him their experience in the tradition. For him, as for many musicians who came up on the streets of New Orleans, the Treme neighborhood, located directly north of the French Quarter, represents a distinct musical heritage.

"In New Orleans," the young musical artist explains, "the Ninth Ward is really famous for that rock 'n' roll, you know, 'Poops' and 'Fats' and all them. The Treme neighborhood, where I live, is more popular for second-line parades and brass bands. It's like two different worlds in the same city. I wanted to project my love for 'Poops' and that whole Ninth Ward thing along with that Treme thing. I just brought my Treme sound to that Ninth Ward sound and put 'em both together."

Requirements for the James Andrews sound also call for substantial portions of lilting Caribbean rhythms filtered through a New Orleans sensibility. These can be heard in a gentle tempo on "Latin Cats," in a Brazilian mode on "Banana Boogie," and on my personal favorite, a bright but melancholy "Paper Moon" hung, for this occasion, over a Calypso sea.

"That New Orleans second-line thing mixed with that Caribbean sound," explains the 28-year-old Andrews, "it really lifts the music, gives it inspiration. And then that beat can really accompany the horn. In New Orleans, that's what really gets the people dancing."

Also prominent in the repertoire James has chosen are memories collected during years spent hanging out as a young teen with his elders from another branch of the family at Preservation Hall, the international shrine for traditional New Orleans jazz. From those experiences, James offers the bawdy sexual humor of "Last Night on the Back Porch," draws a visual portrait of one the Hall's early headliners in "Sweet Emma," sashays his own way to a classic parade beat on "Catch the Willie" ("Hey, Allen, I think I need a 'party' track on that one!"), and brings it all home the way it ought to be brought -- in the sort of celebration of life that is at the heart and soul of the New Orleans legacy -- with the cornerstone hymn "Old Rugged Cross," played "upstairs" as James says, meaning, in musician's lingo, at a lively tempo.

Okay, we've looked through the family album, let's get up close with the music. And, hey, isn't that red beans and rice I smell cooking? What? They're servin' it already? Why, where's the line at? Hey, man? Can you pass me a bowl and spoon?

Enjoy.

Roger Hahn

CD Tracks

1. Poop Ain't Gotta Scuffle No More
2. Last Night On The Back Porch
3. Latin Cats
4. Sweet Emma
5. Going For The Money
6. Got Me A New Love Thing
7. Banana Boogie
8. Catch The Willie
9. It's Only A Paper Moon
10. Your Mama Don't Dance
11. The Old Rugged Cross

Buy on line now at Amazon.com