Renard Boissiere performed typical New Orleans jazz with his jazz quartet at the Westport Arts Center.
It doesn’t have to be a night in Preservation Hall during Mardi Gras to experience the joy of New Orleans. The Westport Arts Center kicked off its jazz concert series this past Saturday with a performance called “New Orleans Jazz, Rhythm and Blues Party With Renard Boissiere and Rambunction.”
Rambunction, a.k.a. the Renard Boissiere Quartet, played a diverse musical repertoire of blues, jazz, funk, calypso and more.
The group is made up of keyboard player and vocalist Renard Boissier, bassist Steve Clarke, guitarist Chris Morrison and drummer Kurt Berglund. Boissiere, born in 1966, is a native of New Orleans. Boissiere’s family owned a funeral home in New Orleans, and they often hired jazz bands for the funerals which led to Boissiere’s interest and participation in playing jazz.
The band entertained the crowd with groovy solos, strong vocals and Boissiere’s mouth trumpet technique: using the vocal chords to produce a desired pitch and passing the sound through the lips to produce a trumpet-like sound. Guitarist Chris Morrison said that they have been playing together for four years and Boissiere kept the other musicians on their toes because he never played a song the same way.
“That’s why you call it jazz!” Boissiere replied.
Rambunction got feet tapping and heads bopping to “Go to the Mardi Gras,” “Mardi Gras Mambo,” Ray Charles’ “I Got A Woman,” and Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie On Reggae Woman.” Boissiere played “Dontcha Feel My Leg,” a song from the 1920s. He learned it in tribute to his maternal grandmother, whom he referred to as a great piano player even though she could not read music. Boissiere joked that it wasn’t until later, after understanding the lyrics and what the song was about, did he realize why his grandmother never sang the lyrics for him.
The tune “Yellow Moon” was a crowd favorite, along with “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” that featured the keyboard and vocals.
The Westport Arts Center provided an intimate setting for the concert. The band talked to the audience in between their songs. Boissiere shared stories of his family and his days playing with the Neville Brothers as well as discussing the background to the songs they were playing.
Boissiere had moved back to New Orleans in 2003 but left after Hurricane Katrina hit. The three other players are all from the Connecticut area and formed the band with Boissiere after he moved up to this region.
“One great thing about New Orleans musicians is generally speaking they give back to the community,” Boissiere said. He had taught at the Jean Gordon School in New Orleans and told the story of three men who stood outside the school in the blistering heat to play for a few hours for the children. Older musicians know how important it is to pass on the importance of music to today’s youth, Boissiere explained.
The Westport Arts Center is a visual and performing arts organization dedicated to creating experience that enrich the local community. It is holding a number of upcoming events, including live performances of “Introduction to Jazz” on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m., “A Holiday Jazz Party In Honor of Sally White” on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m., and an exhibition called “Jazz Photographs by Milt Hilton” running from Dec. 4 to early next year. Visit the website at www.westportartscenter.org for a complete list of events.
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