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In a city where extraordinary musicianship is a routine assumption, the career of Kermit Ruffins now rises to an even more rarified standard.

Yes, the man can blow a horn. Yes, he can front as tight a quartet as New Orleans can offer. Yes, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers will, in the course any given set, mock and obliterate the boundaries that separate straight jazz from funk, standards from hip hop. Yes, the music always comes correct.

But gig by gig – and with every personal interaction in every ward of Louisiana’s stricken city – Ruffins has gradually transformed himself into something more important than a musical phenomenon. He is now – effortlessly, it seems; he will never be caught trying to be something he is not – an entertainer.

Among musicians, that phrase is sometimes suspect. And among the public, it is a title granted with equanimity on talents and fools alike. Who, in this age of easy celebrity and exalted mediocrity, can’t be called an entertainer?

Kermit Ruffins, however, is working in a particular tradition, an idiom that has its origins in New Orleans, a city in which characters are writ large. Louis Armstrong was a jazz originator, perhaps the jazz originator. He was also, as a matter of pride and standing, an entertainer, perhaps the entertainer.

Another New Orleans kid with trumpet in hand, Louis Prima was shaped by that same tradition – one that promises not just joy in the notes themselves, but in the interaction between performer and public, in that ineffable dynamic that transmits music between human beings. You went to see Pops or Prima not just to hear the high notes, but to see larger-than-live souls such as Pops or Prima hit them.

Many great musicians play much great music in America’s most essential musical city. But sometimes – with an Armstrong, a Prima, a Ruffins – a performer is experienced and embraced in all of his humanity. He gives as he gets, and he is seen doing so as a matter of routine.

That Kermit came up organically in the New Orleans brass tradition – founding Rebirth with Phil Frazier, playing in the streets, synthesizing tradition with funk – all of that is common knowledge. The sounds make perfect sense.

What is less well known is the hours he spent popping videotapes of Duke and Ella and Pops and Dizzy into the VCR, and not just to cop licks from legendary performances, but to acquire attitude and style and, well, the art of performance itself. On a Tuesday night at Bullet’s, or a Thursday night at Vaughn’s, it is all made to seem easy, natural and gracefully devoid of effort. But make no mistake – an entertainer is always hard at work.

New Orleans is battling now, scuffling against forces arrayed against it, painfully feeling its way toward some measure of a future. As one argument, it can offer the life and career of one Kermit Ruffins, who plays the music of his city, but more than that, reminds us that true entertainers are rare creatures that New Orleans manufactures time and again, that the city has given America so much more than its songbook.

Pops went to Chicago for the world to find him. Prima, sadly, went to Las Vegas. But the current incarnation stays in the city of his birth and blows his horn night after night, giving friends and neighbors and music lovers the kind of quotidian affirmation that New Orleans now requires.

The new record is “Livin' a Treme' Life,” named for a neighborhood essential to the town’s musical and cultural history. But make no mistake – all of the city is in those horn lines, from Ruffins’ native Lower Ninth Ward to the Bywater where he gigs to the Treme' where he lives, to the Uptown streets where he can routinely be seen videotaping the latest second line.

Play it loud. And remember how much is still at stake.

David Simon New Orleans, La. December, 2008

BIO

New Orleans is the only place on the planet that could have produced native son Kermit Ruffins. Whether hes blowing trumpet on a Louis Armstrong classic or one of his own hot numbers, Ruffins embraces the tune with the true spirit of the city. Ruffins music, like New Orleans itself, swings hard with a big heart as it remembers tradition and the importance of good-timin fun. Born on Dec. 19, 1964 (sharing the birthdate with New Orleans legend Professor Longhair!), Ruffins is a modern hipster in possession of an old soul.

Theres a knowing grin on Ruffins face and a smile in his voice and trumpet when the stylish leader steps out with his Barbecue Swingers. Formed in 1992, the band is aptly named as it reflects the two things for which Ruffins is highly noted -- hot jazz and a smokin barbecue. The smell of sizzling sausage browning on the grill set up in the back of the trumpeters gleaming red pickup truck usually greets folks heading for Ruffins' shows. Meanwhile, inside the club, Ruffins brushes his own spicy sauce on uptempo favorites like "Swing This!" the title cut from his 1999 disc on Basin Street Records.

Ruffins learned to cook by his grandmothers side, chopping onions at the kitchen table while observing her techniques at the stove. As a musician and chef, he believes that the arts of music and cooking share many qualities.

"Music is real real good for the soul and so is food super good for the soul," declares an enthusiastic Ruffins. "Its a spiritual thing too," he adds. "I mean when you put both of them together, I think you have the biggest party ever. And thats what New Orleans is famous for, putting that good food on the table at the same time while they have the hottest band in the city on stage."

Ruffins first gained recognition with the ReBirth Brass Band, one of New Orleans hot young ensembles that helped shake up the traditional music. He and high school classmate, tuba player Philip Frazier co-founded the group in 1982. Ruffins strong musical presence and warm personality soon made him a crowd favorite. It was with ReBirth that Ruffins talents as a composer emerged, contributing what would become brass band classics "Do Whatcha Wanna" and "Put Your Right Foot Forward." Like so many New Orleans trumpet players before him, Ruffins the musician also became Ruffins the vocalist.

"Every trumpeter player I saw was singing," explains Ruffins of adding vocals to his musical repertoire. "I guess its because of Louis Armstrong. So I thought Id better start singing."

Ten years of blowing on the streets and around the globe and recording seven albums with the ReBirth honed Ruffins chops and style for his future solo career. Because of his ever-growing popularity, he had also established a ready-made audience of fans who followed him on his new venture.

"I think playing with ReBirth really exercised my chops as far as my lips, because we had to play strong all the time," agrees Ruffins, who is also skilled at reading music. "I think it made playing with the swing band a lot easier. When I put up my horn to play the lead part with the smaller band, it comes across real strong. Playing the lead with ReBirth, that really helped me as far as playing the melody," he continues. "I turned out to be the melody man." With a chuckle, the trumpeter remembers the advice given to him the late great banjoist/guitarist Danny Barker. "He would always tell me, Just play the melody, none of that funny stuff."

In 1992, Ruffins made his recording debut as leader with World on a String on the Justice label. For this important first album, the trumpeter put together an all-star cast of New Orleans musicians including pianist Ellis Marsalis. In Ruffins creative hands, classics like "Rosetta" found new young audiences while receiving approving nods from his elders. While there was only one original on the debut, Ruffins fluid pen was in greater evidence on his sophomore disc for the label, 1994s The Big Butter & Egg Man. Songs like his "Ill Drink Ta Dat" and "The Undertaker Man" stood with distinction alongside Louis Armstrongs "Struttin with Some Barbecue." Sporting just the right attitude, Ruffins made Stuff Smiths "If Youre a Viper" his own and audiences continue to demand it at all of Ruffins shows. Following up on the popularity of the tune, he wisely revamped the classic "Light Up" on his 1996 release Hold On Tight (Justice).

Finding success leading his own swinging combo, Ruffins had another dream to fulfill. After seeing a video of Cab Calloways big band, Ruffins vision was to someday stand in front of an orchestra. "It brought tears to my eyes," remembers Ruffins, "and I said, I wanna do that, I wanna swing with a big band!"

On October 28, 1995, Ruffins' 17-piece ensemble made its debut at a big band festival held in a church auditorium. Filled with young talented musicians from New Orleans, the orchestra was impressive with its tight arrangements and, of course, its sense of swing. In the Jazz Tent at the 1996 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Ruffins and his big band knocked out what could be perceived as a tough audience. Ruffins' huge talent and natural charisma as a bandleader quickly won over any potential cynics in the crowd.

Meanwhile, Ruffins bebopin and swingin combo was digging in as an established group with a solid core of musicians ready for the next venture. In the fall of 1997 the band took the stage of Tipitinas, a legendary Uptown New Orleans club, to record in front of an adoring audience. The resulting The Barbecue Swingers Live was the first release by an eager new hometown label, Basin Street Records. Ruffins was truly in his element with the crowd demonstrating its approval for the new material like Ruffins "Smokin with Some Barbecue." Tracey Freeman got the call to produce the trumpeter's second release on the Basin Street label, 1999s groovin Swing This! It moves from the very traditional "Bogalusa Strut" to Ruffins hilarious "Hide the Reefer."

New Orleanians display their love for Ruffins nightly by packing the house at every appearance. In recognition of his talents and contributions to the community, Ruffins has received a steady stream of awards for his recordings and performances from GambitWeeklys "Big Easy," OffBeat magazines "Best of the Beat" and New Orleans Magazines "Jazz All-Stars."

Ruffins is an eager player and active in the New Orleans music community. If he isnt gigging with his Barbecue Swingers, hell often pop up at local clubs to sit-in with friends. When a fellow musician passes, Ruffins is there in his "black and whites" blowing in tribute as part of a traditional jazz funeral procession. It's not unusual to find Ruffins hanging out with the older musicians he respects so much seeking their guidance and soaking up their stories.

"The most important thing is how much I love the music," declares Ruffins with unabashed sincerity. "From the time I wake up in the morning, Im just all hyped for the gig late that night. The suspense of waiting for that gig every day of the week like that is so exciting to me. Its crazy. You just have to know how much I love this New Orleans style music."

As Ruffins invitingly announces at the start of a tune, "All aboard!" - Geraldine Wyckoff