Northshore Conifer posted on April 29, 2010 08:31
That "Delta Bound" songstress Ingrid Lucia is actually Mandeville
bound on May 8 as part of a 3-hour double bill at the Dew Drop Social & Benevolent jazz hall sharing the historic stage with The Cottonmouth Kings, a classic New Orleans swing dance band.
Lucia and her band and The Cottonmouth Kings will perform from 3-6 pm. in a concert sponsored by The Friends of the Dew Drop. Admission is $10 and tickets will be available at the door. There will be a cash bar, a Dew Drop merchandise table and opportunities to join Friends of the Dew Drop.
Those attending can sit inside the 1895 Dew Drop jazz hall or bring
chairs and sit outside under the ancient live oaks framing the building
which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The history of the
site and other information can be found at www.dewdropjazzhall.com.
Lucia, born in New Orleans, has emerged as one of the region's most
adored and distinctive vocal stylists since she and cousin Todd Londagin took over the family street band, The Flying Neutrinos, in 1994. Her career began its climb with her 1999 record, "I'd Rather Be In New Orleans,'' which opens with her compelling cover of the Alexander Hill song, "Delta Bound,'' first recorded in 1939 by Ivy Anderson fronting an early Duke Ellington big band.
Since then Lucia, often backed by the most prominent New Orleans
traditional jazz musicians, has released seven more Cds including the
most recent, "Midnight Rendezvous" recorded in New Orleans on Jan. 31 and Feb. 2-3, 2010 and released in time for the music tent at the just completed New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival Presented By Shell where Lucia also performed. The new record contains 14 original songs written by Lucia and her guitarist John Fohl including the title track.
Often compared to Billie Holiday in her unique style of vocal
phrasing, Lucia has also garnered positive reviews in New Orleans and
around the country for her at times impish Betty Boop personality and
her dedication to the rhythms of her native city.
Born into a loosely structured gypsy family headed by her dad, David
Pearlman or Poppa Neutrino as he is fondly known around the world,
Ingrid and her siblings and relatives were singing for food when she was eight in Mexico and later in New York finally returning down the
Mississippi River to New Orleans on a raft made of discarded materials.
They began performing on the streets of the French Quarter as a family
band composed of the parents and their five children until Poppa and his wife, Betsy Terrell left for Vermont to build another large raft of
discarded materials they have since sailed to Europe. Ingrid stayed
behind, has since married and has established her busy singing career.
Until 2009 the six members who will take the Dew Drop stage as the
New Orleans Cottonmouth Kings were actively performing around the region as the New Orleans Jazz Vipers. But that year the Vipers split into two classic jazz swing bands with lively interpretations of traditional jazz standards and a heady mix of European numbers.
Regular visitors to the Dew Drop shows now will be able to see many
of the original Vipers under a new name and on April 24 saw the revamped Vipers led by original members Joe Braun and Jack Fine during the annual Dew Drop Tamarama mini jazz festival.
Performing May 8 as the Cottonmouth Kings will be John Rodi, guitar
and vocals; Robert Snow, bass; Bruce Brackman, clarinet; Charlie
Fardella, trumpet; Matt Rhody, violin and Tom Saunders, bass saxophone.
The performance is the next to last event in the spring schedule of
the Dew Drop. The season will end on June 19 with a special Junteenth show with details to be announced.