Spirit Of New Orleans Productions
Traditional New Orleans Jazz With A 21st Century Flavor


 

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The Musicians

 

 

Tricia Boutté has been performing as a soloist for different kinds of jazz, gospel, R&B, hip-hop, and reggae groups since 1984, both in her hometown New Orleans and around the world. Her talent has been of use to the likes of Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino, and Public Enemy - the list of people that Boutté has been working with is very varied. She is equally at home with jazz or reggae and her outstanding voice and her great stage personality have acquired her many fans all over the world. Recently she has been performing among others with her own jazz quintet, with Bob French’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, and with the George French Band. In the summer of 2001, she toured Finland extensively with the Riverside Rascals, a Finnish jazz band of popular and critical acclaim. The recent years she has been spending a lot of time in Norway, working with the Ytre Suløens Jazz Ensemblen all across the European festival circuit.

 

 

Leroy Jones is one of the most highly respected New Orleans’ trumpet players, who combines in his versatile playing both traditional and modern elements in a unique way. During his career he has played in bands that represent many different idioms, recently he has been working with his own quintet and Harry Connick Jr Big Band among others. Jones has recorded two critically acclaimed CDs with his own band for Columbia Records (Mo’ Cream From the Crop and Props For Pops) and has appeared on numerous other recordings as a featured soloist and as a sideman. In 2006 alone, he has been featured on more than ten different CDs – among them Harry Connick Jr Orchestra, the Bordeaux Big Band, Antti Sarpila Orchestra, Guillaume Nouaux Quintet, and the Spirit Of New Orleans. Jones' latest own CDs are Sweeter Than A Summer Breeze (2009), Soft Shoe (2007), New Orleans Brass Band Music (2005), Wonderful Christmas (2003), and Back To My Roots (2002). The Leroy Jones Quintet has performed at the world famous Village Vanguard jazz club in New York and on international festivals for example in the United States, Switzerland, Spain, France, and Scotland, and at the Storyville Jazz Club in Helsinki, Finland, and of course all around New Orleans. Leroy Jones continues to travel all over the world with his own group and as a featured soloist.

 

 

Trombonist Katja Toivola has been acquainted with the music styles of New Orleans for over fifteen years. She made her first visit to the Crescent City in 1995, and now divides her time between her two hometowns: Helsinki and New Orleans. Toivola has played with the Riverside Rascals, a popular Finnish jazz band since 1996, and has been leading her own band, the Spirit Of New Orleans since 2001. She has performed in New Zealand, Switzerland, Fiji, France, Germany, Estonia, and Norway and on most of the Finnish jazz festivals (April Jazz, Ruskaswing, Linna-Jazz, Korpo Sea Jazz, Ylläs Jazz Blues, Jyväskylä Summer Jazz, Helsinki Classic Jazz Festival, Imatra Big Band Festival,...). She works as a freelance musician around Helsinki and New Orleans.

 

 

Guitarist Todd Duke graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts in 1989. Since then, he has played with many significant bands representing a variety of styles. In New Orleans he has worked among others with the quintessential jazz vocalists John Boutté and George French, with blues man Luther Kent, big band figure Wardell Quezerque, multi-instrumentalist Loren Pickford, trumpeter Leroy Jones, and traditional jazz mainstay Bob French. Duke has toured international festivals with the award-winning New World Funk Ensemble and is a very versatile and well-respected guitarist that works with the topnotch New Orleans bands.

 

 

Versatile pianist Paul Longstreth has studied among others with Ellis Marsalis and has been working with many different bands in New Orleans for years. Longstreth has played with both traditional and more modern jazz bands; he also has performed reggae, R&B, soul, and funk. Recently he has been working with the Leroy Jones Quintet, Bob French’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, the Leon Brown Quintet, The George French Band, Whyte Chocolate, and Crönk.

 

 

Bassist Nobu Ozaki hails from Japan but has made New Orleans his home. His wonderful sense of swing and his beautiful warm tone have made him a mainstay in a number of both traditional and more modern jazz bands of the city. Often he can be seen playing at Donna's Bar & Grill or New Orleans' other premier jazz clubs. He has worked among others with the Leroy Jones Quintet, the Leon Brown Quintet, The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars, and with Jeremy Davenport.

 

 

Thomas Rönnholm has been playing the drums professionally since 1993. He works regularly with Finland’s first military band, the Guard’s Band. He has been playing jazz gigs among others with the Spirit Of New Orleans, the Riverside Rascals, the Wade Mikkola Trio feat. Montenia, the New Orleans Ramblers, the Leroy Jones Helsinki All Stars, and the Old Time Jazz band. Rönnholm got acquainted with New Orleans’ music tradition through recordings and New Orleans musicians visiting Finland. Since then, he has spent a lot of time in the Crescent City, and nowadays he is one of the best and hardest swinging New Orleans style drummers in Europe.

 

 Photos: Armand "Sheik" Richardson

Contact for further information and bookings:
kamtoivola@aol.com

Web design: Katja Toivola
© 2005-2013 Spirit Of New Orleans Productions
Last updated: September 19, 2013