RICK TROLSEN: Press

SUNRISE ON BOURBON STREET
New Orleans trombonist Rick Trolsen, along with fellow musicians Tom Saunders, Steve Pistorius, Herman LeBeaux, and others, gives a phenomenal tribute to traditional jazz classics including “Milenburg Joys” and “The Pearls” from Jelly Roll Morton; “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter; “Puttin’ On The Ritz” by Irving Berlin; and “Ory’s Creole Trombone” by Edward “Kid” Ory. The musical interpretations of Trolsen take the listener back in time, to the days of Bourbon Street when jazz music itself was a risqué and sexy taboo in society. The sound from the ragtime piano, simple back bass beat, and rough brassy sound of Trolsen’s trombone simply screams of what makes New Orleans the unique city it is, and allows the listener to truly experience the essence of NOLA. Trolsen reaches down into the dirty grittiness of his voice to give the listener that memorable hangover feeling on his own “Sunrise On Bourbon Street,” which can simply be described as a colorful musical interpretation of any evening one may have partied too much and drank one too many Pat O’Brien’s Hurricanes. Throughout the entire CD, Trolsen captures the sweetness and purity of his chosen traditional jazz classics, giving a form of NOLA rebirth to another generation. Any lover of traditional jazz music, historian, and collector of New Orleans music in general will easily fall head over heels for this CD, which quenches the thirst for so many classics that could never be forgotten.

NEW ORLEANS LULLABY
In a town where musicians move freely between styles, Rick Trolsen still stands out for his genre jumps. Back in the mid-1990s, the trombonist’s explorations took him to the fringes of jazz when he headed his unorthodox group Neslort that produced the curiously wonderful Martian Circus Waltz. In 2004, Trolsen expressed his immersion into Brazilian choro music on his fine release, Gringo do Choro. This time, he’s all about New Orleans and tradition with a sweet tribute to his adopted hometown on an album full of classic jazz standards. The constant through all of these endeavors is the quality of Trolsen’s musicianship and the sensitivity and honesty he brings to each project.

He chooses artists to be by his side who share his talents and values. On New Orleans Lullaby, Trolsen and the band with pianist Tom McDermott or Frederick Sanders, bassist James Singleton or bassist/sousaphonist Matt Perrine, drummer Ronnie Magri and banjoist Larry Scala offer excellent versions of songs that fill this city’s air. It starts with the rich tones of Trolsen’s trombone mournfully alone ‘singing’ “What a Wonderful World.” The band jumps in with Tom McDermott on the piano for “Blue Turning Grey Over You” with Trolsen chiming in on vocals. McDermott seems to be called in when Trolsen aims for a classic sound, as on “Creole Love Song.” Here the trombone takes on the part typically played on clarinet or soprano saxophone.

Having the ‘bone as the only horn makes this traditional jazz gathering tonally unique and opens up new ways to approach old chestnuts. At points, Trolsen really goes for the high end of the register, almost emulating a trumpet on “Sleepy Time Down South.” Frederick Sanders gets onboard here and for other swinging numbers like “Give Me a Kiss To Build a Dream On.” The sousaphone and banjo team up for the uplifting “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” and the always articulate James Singleton gets some slapping bass going on “Ain’t Misbehavin’.”

New Orleans Lullaby satisfies on many levels because it’s damn good music played by damn good musicians. As the song says, “You can’t ask for anything more.”

GRINGO DO CHORO
For 20 years, Rick Trolsen's trombone has turned up in dozens of local settings: Aboard the Delta Queen Steamboat. Funking up the New Orleans Nightcrawlers brass band and the Bonerama trombone collective. Fronting Trolsen's own jazz-rock project, Neslort. Backing Al Belletto, Harry Connick Jr., Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and dozens more.
In 2001, Trolsen journeyed to Brazil with the Nightcrawlers.There he was smitten with choro
music, and indigenous fusion of European melodies and Brazilian rhythms related to bossa nova. The following year, he and his wife returned to Brazil for a longer visit, and he collected choro sheet music and CD's. Back home he immersed himself in the material.
Last September, Trolsen again traveled to Brazil, this time to record his tribute to the country's traditional music. He and a band of Brazilians spent four days in a Rio De Janeiro studio recording "Gringo Do Choro," Trolsen's new CD. An astute student, Trolsen communicates his respect for the choro form via his democratic interaction with the Rio pick-up band throughout a program of Brazilian standards, augmented by two Trolsen originals.
In the sprightly opener, "Tico Tico no Fuba," he steps back to give the other players, especially mandolist, Henry Lentino, their turns. In "Saxophone porque choras," Trolsen defers to Guilherme Maravilhas' accordion, then locks into the percussive groove of his own "Medicine Lodge." His nimble trombone slides under and around the acoustic guitars and mandolin of "Abracando Jacare," then is featured against the backdrop of Clare Fischer's bossa nova "Pensativa."
Like New Orleans, Brazil is a melting pot of musical cultures, it's Spanish tinge intermingled with African and Caribbean influences. Trolsen and his visiting trombone are right at home in this mix.