Leroy Jones: Trumpet with the Harry Connick Jr Big Band.
Born in New Orleans in 1958, Leroy began studying the trumpet at age 10, in school band. By the time he was 13 years old, he was already playing gigs and leading Danny Barker's young Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band.
After a very brief stint in the Jazz Studies Program at Loyola University's Conservatory of Music, Jones joined the musicians union and went on to pursue his career as a professional musician. He has played with nearly all the famous jazz bands in town, and has performed at festivals and clubs throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America, Southeast Asia, Japan and Australia.

John Fohl: Guitar with Dr. John and The Lower 911 Band
Since his arrival in New Orleans in 1996, John Fohl has become one of the busiest guitarists anywhere. John's eclectic style has become key to many of the Crescent City's top acts. Whether funkin' it up with The Joe Krown Organ Combo or George Porter jr, playing rock and soul with Tommy Malone, swinging with Ingrid Lucia or backing up blues legends Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin when they come to town, all agree; John comes to play!

Craig Klein: Trombone with the Harry Connick JR Big Band and The New Orleans Night Crawlers
Born and raised in New Orleans.....Hanging out and listening to some of the great New Orleans musicians was the best music education in the world.....first trombone inspiration was Uncle Gerry (my mom's younger brother) then Frog Joseph, Louis Nelson, Wendel Eugene....then got lucky to be at the right place at the right time in the right city with the right people.....There is no place like N.O. and growing up there and being around its culture, well enough can't be said about it.....I feel blessed as I haven't any formal music education except maybe taking lessons as a kid and having a good high school band director, "Prof," who inspired me early on.

Who is New Orleans vocalist John Boutte?

Think of Nat Cole, and then of Jackie Wilson, and then of Marvin Gaye, and then of Sam Cooke, Joe Williams and Jimmy Scott. Not of them actually, but of the moods that surrounded them, and especially of their audiences. Think of the way they treated an audience, of the way they read the room. Think of how the audience felt about themselves on the way home. Then treat yourself to the music of John Boutte.
John has won Best Male Vocalist of the year at both the Best of the Beat Awards ('06 & '07) and the Big Easy Awards.

Herman Roscoe Ernest III:
Band leader and drummer with Dr.John and the Lower 911 Band.

Jeremy Ryan’s new album, Getting Back Down To New Orleans, took a long time to make, but a single listen will have you rocking along to its funky, New Orleans inspired groove.

Ryan asked Herman Roscoe Ernest III, the drummer from Dr. John’s band, to co-produce Getting Back Down, and drew up a set list of seven standards and seven of his own compositions and a wish list of New Orleans players. Roscoe rounded up John Folh, guitar man for Dr. John, as well as Dr. John himself, who drops a bit of piano and B3 into the mix. Horn men Leroy Jones, Craig Klein, and Lucien Barbarin, from Harry Connick’s band also joined in.

Robbie Jordan Saxophonist/flutist/clarinetist and composer/arranger Robbie Jordan's story begins in Boise, Idaho. He studied classical clarinet with James Hopper at Boise State University and later joined him in the clarinet section of the Boise Philharmonic. Robbie also studied jazz theory with Gary Peacock.

In 1976, David Lanz encouraged him to relocate to Seattle and play in Lanz's band. This turning point in Jordan's career opened the diverse world of concert touring and recording experience to Robbie. He performed and/or recorded with notable Windham Hill recording artists Scott Cossu, Michael Hedges, Michael Manring, Van Manakas, Liz Story, Alex Degrasis and Scott Vomvolakis. Jordan has also recorded and performed with Paul Speer and David Lanz, the legendary new-age jazz artist

Osama Afifi Bass:
Osama Afifi has been part of the West Coast music scene since 1985 . For several years he has been the bassist for the B Sharp Jazz Quartet. The Quartet toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe. They performed at the North Sea, Istanbul, Nice, Brecon, Umbria, and Monterey Jazz Festivals, just to name a few. Osama has recorded and performed live with many other artists, including U.S. and Canadian tours with Yanni, Vanessa Paradis, John Densmore’s Tribal Jazz and VH1’s show "Storytellers" with The Doors. He has also worked with Kurt Elling, Nnenna Freelon, the Fifth Dimension, Mindi Abair, Jeff Kashiwa, The Cadillacs, Gary Herbig, Debbie Boone, Kei Akagi, Eric Reed, Hugo Jojo, and trumpeter Tony Guerrero. Since moving to the Northwest he has worked with The Kareem Kandi Band, Darren Motamedy, David Keys, Hook Me Up, Gail Pettis, Michael Powers and many others. He also continues to record numerous jingles and TV shows, such as Wild Bills Adventure, Battledome, the new Newlywed Game, Toyota, BET, Lizzie MacGuire, Infiniti, Barbie, Hyundai and Tropicana. His education included studies at the Dick Grove School of Music. He also studied with Jeff Berlin and Gary Willis. He has taught at the Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena, California

Guest Artist: Vince Gould Guitar