Rock'n'roll meets ragtime meets Dixieland Jazz

1 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, JAZZ: Dixieland

Show all album songs: Mardi Gras Queen Songs


Details:
Brad Smolkin is a singer/songwriter from New Orleans who made his first appearance on Bourbon Street at age 15, until he was busted for being under age. During the late Sixties and early Seventies, he played in rock bands Armadillo and Simmer, and then as a solo in folk bars such as Jed's, The Maple Leaf and Clarity f/k/a Andy's. He also performed regularly at pizza joints, hotel lounges and on the riverboat Natchez.

His release of "Mardi Gras Queen" as a 45 rpm record in 1975 resulted in every radio station in New Orleans playing it during that year's Mardi Gras season. The distinctive New Orleans sound of "Mardi Gras Queen" combines the rhythms of rock'n'roll and ragtime with classic Dixieland Jazz (lineup of performers listed below*).

Flash forward thirty years. After Hurricane Katrina, many New Orleans area musicians were displaced due to the havoc wreaked by the storm, and their livelihoods were disrupted in its aftermath. Harry Connick, Jr., and Branford Marsalis are serving as honorary chairs of Habitat for Humanity's Operation Home Delivery, which is constructing The Musicians Village in New Orleans. In order to help rebuild his home town, Brad decided to distribute "Mardi Gras Queen" to radio stations across the Gulf Coast region. He has pledged to donate 100 of the net proceeds of sales of "Mardi Gras Queen" to Habitat, to aid in its work in rebuilding New Orleans and it's music community, which is such a vital part of the city's life's blood.

This being a single, it is available only as a download, e.g., through Emusic.com.

May the Lord bless you for your donation, and may New Orleans and its music community rise like the phoenix!


*Flambeau (in alphabetical order):

Paul Crawford - trombone
Susan Means Dyer - backup vocals
Ben Fastring - electric bass
Orjan "Orange" Kellin - clarinet
Giles Meier - drums
Betty Wynn - backup vocals
(unfortunately, not recalled) - cornet

Brad Smolkin - lead vocal, tack piano and electric slide guitar