Trumpeter Maurice Brown will be bringing his funky and soulful band, Mobetta and SOUL’D U Out, to the Frenchmen Street club on Saturday night. This is his first time playing a non-Jazz Fest show in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
Mobetta and SOUL’D U Out will feature an all-star cast of collaborators. Expect to see saxophonist Derek Douget, bassist Max Moran, drummer Simon Lott, keyboardist Jason Butler, guitarist Josh Connolly, and percussionist Weedie Braimah.
Brown, a Chicago native, burst on the scene like a trumpet-propelled rocket in the first years of the 21st century. He sat in with everyone in town, played some inspired headlining gigs that invigorated the local jazz scene with youthful energy, and released his acclaimed debut album Hip To Bop while a resident of the Crescent City.
Like so many musicians, Katrina drove him out of the city, but he returns regularly since those days to play gigs at and around the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Just this past year, he was a special guest with the massive trumpet ensemble Trumpet Mafia and played with leader Derek Douget in the jazz tent. He also had a busy schedule playing numerous night shows.
Brown released a second, equally impressive album, Cycle of Love, in 2010 and a fascinating re-imagining of the songs on another release, Mobetta vs. Brown appeared in 2013. The track-by-track remix mines the fertile territory between hip-hop and jazz.
In 2011, Brown began an extremely fruitful collaboration with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a blues-rock powerhouse led by guitarist Derek Trucks and vocalist Susan Tedeschi. He served as horn arranger, appeared on four albums, toured the world and won a Grammy award in 2012 for the album, Revelator. He left the Tedeschi Trucks Band about eight months ago to focus on his solo career.
Two new albums are in the works. A Maurice Brown record called The Mood and a SOUL’D U Out record called HORNification.
The SOUL’D U Out band originated in New Orleans in 2001 and appeared around town with players such as bassist Nick Daniels and keyboardist Jon Batiste (now the band leader for Late Night with Stephen Colbert). Expect a funky and soulful night of music featuring Brown’s unique trumpet work and tunes that push musical boundaries.
