Kick off the last month of 2015 in fine style with a mid-week set at Tipitina’s. Nigel Hall has been blowing up since moving to New Orleans two years ago. He seems to pop up everywhere, with everyone, but tonight he gets the full spotlight as he celebrates the release of his first solo record, Ladies and Gentlemen… Nigel Hall.
Hall plays keyboards and sings like an old soul. He famously has said that he doesn’t listen to any music made since the early 1980s even though he was born in 1981. Some of his touch points include the Isley Brothers, Latimore, and the Crusaders, especially the keyboard work of George Duke.
His New Orleans band features some serious young talent including drummer Jamison Ross, bassist Eric Vogel, and guitarist Andrew Block. The ringers in the group, besides the leader, are trumpeter Eric “Benny” Bloom who is also a recent transplant to New Orleans, saxophonist Khris Royal, and guitarist “Big D” Perkins of Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
These cats are the next generation of local talent. You probably have seen them in various combinations around town including the recent Crusaders Tribute at Chickie Wah Wah, which featured Bloom and Hall.
Ladies and Gentlemen… Nigel Hall is a serious slice of old school R&B and soul and was produced by Eric Krasno of Soulive, Lettuce, and other jam-oriented ensembles. Some high-profile special guests make appearances including Questlove and Ivan Neville.
The album is also a snapshot of an earlier period in Hall’s musical development as its release was delayed by some music industry machinations.
His current sound is funkier, more in the pocket, courtesy of his local compatriots as well as the layer of grit and groove, which begins to accumulate once you start drinking the proverbial water in these parts. New Orleans has a way of infecting musicians once they start living here full-time and Hall is no exception. To my ears, that is nothing but a good thing.
