Creole cool
Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders keep N’Awlins heritage alive at Caltech
By Bliss 12/03/2009
If America truly is a melting pot, then pledging allegiance to Creole heritage is about as all-American as it gets. The meaning of “Creole” has morphed somewhat over the centuries, but nowadays it is generally understood to represent multi-ethnic ancestry that includes African, French, Native American and/or Spanish elements. Nowhere in America has Creole musical influence been more pronounced than in Louisiana — most notably in New Orleans.
Musician and onetime WWOZ deejay Don Vappie not only counts several generations of Creole New Orleans in his family tree, he actively celebrates that heritage in his music. Whether performing solo or with his “classic jazz orchestra” the Creole Jazz Serenaders, he has built a well-respected career out of recharting the sounds and inimitable swing of Creole and early 20th-century New Orleans jazz. As with many displaced artists, his work has taken on greater urgency in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Vappie started out playing funk before turning to the jazz beloved by his hometown and family, which over the generations has included several other musicians. Though he’s comfortable playing guitar, bass and piano, he’s probably best known for playing the banjo, an instrument whose roots wind back to Africa. He was featured throughout blues iconoclast Otis Taylor’s 2008 album “Recapturing the Banjo,” which traced slavery’s connection to the banjo and sought to reclaim it as a sophisticated, living embodiment of African-American culture and history.Vappie’s resume includes sideman stints with jazz stars like Wynton Marsalis, but over the last decade or so he’s focused on establishing himself as a solo artist and bandleader of the Creole Jazz Serenaders.
He has several recordings to his credit, both solo and with the CJS; New Orleans jazz fans may recall them from their inclusion in Shout! Factory’s excellent 2004 box set, “Doctors, Professors, Kings & Queens: The Big Ol’ Box of New Orleans.”
Onstage, Vappie displays a smooth, easygoing demeanor and engages listeners with ease, whether recalling past experiences while strapping on his banjo or guitar or performing jazz gems from his ample repertoire, which includes songs by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Duke Ellington, King Oliver, Jabbo Smith and McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, among others. The high quality of source material bodes well for a concert that will hopefully remind audience members of New Orleans’ far-reaching influence on American popular music.
The Caltech Folk Music Society presents Don Vappie & the Creole Jazz Serenaders in concert at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium, 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena, 8 p.m. Saturday; $26, $21 and $16 ($10 for youth). For more details, please call (626) 395-4652. www.vappielle.com.
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