New Orleans-Bred Music From HBO® Series Treme℠
TREME: MUSIC FROM THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES, SEASON 1
The HBO series Treme, named for the historic neighborhood where
jazz was born, chronicles the rebuilding of a unique American
culture where music plays an integral role in the city's way of
life. The show and soundtrack capture the sounds of many of New
Orleans' extraordinary musicians and other artists.
The soundtrack album includes 19 tracks featuring music heard
throughout the groundbreaking series over the course of its first
season, offering a cross-section of New Orleans-bred music
including rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, rock and roll, funk, folk
and country that reflects the diversity of the city's musical
tradition.
Artists heard on the soundtrack -- and seen in the series --
include John Boutté whose "Treme Song" is the series' theme. The
Rebirth Brass Band's "Feel Like Funkin' It Up" reflects the
melding of the city's brass band tradition with a contemporary
funk cadence that exemplifies the musical melting post that is
New Orleans. Steve Zahn who plays DJ/musician Davis McAlary in
the series is heard performing "Shame, Shame, Shame" The album
includes Dr. John's "Indian Red," as well as "Time Is On My Side"
by Irma Thomas and Allen Toussaint plus Steve Earle's "This City"
and much more music that evokes the tenor of the series and the
spirit of New Orleans.
David Simon, Treme co-creator and executive producer, noted, "In
the course of filming Treme, we were treated to some remarkable
performances - only a portion of which we could highlight in the
series." He added, "Some great music ended up on the cutting room
floor, so to speak." Among these are performances and music from
Elvis Costello, Kermit Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers, John
Boutté, Glen David Andrews, Paul Sanchez & New Birth Brass Band,
Pine Leaf Boys with Lucia Micarelli, John Mooney & Soul Rebels
Brass Band and Irma Thomas, Dave Bartholomew, Allen Toussaint &
Friends.
Eric Overmyer, who co-created the series, provides introductory
notes about filming the series on location in New Orleans. Jazz
journalist Larry Blumenfeld's essay "Treme and the Abstract
Truth" provides atmospheric liner notes that further underscore
the relationship between the city and its music creators and
practitioners.
From David Simon and Eric Overmyer (both of The Wire®), Treme
follows musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians and ordinary New
Orleanians as they try to rebuild their lives, their homes and
their unique culture in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The
accled show has been renewed for a second season which will
air in 2011.
The album was produced by Treme music supervisor Blake Leyh and
Tony Seyler, Universal Music's Vice President for Film and
Television Marketing; executive producers are David Simon, Eric
Overmyer and Nina K. Noble, who along with the late David Mills
produced the series for HBO. The Treme Live Video Performances
were produced by Karen L. Thorson and the lead director is
Anthony Hemingway. Complete, annotated audio track-listing
follows.
1. TREME SONG (MAIN TITLE VERSION) - JOHN BOUTTÉ
The house in the 6th Ward where John Boutté wrote Treme Song in
the summer of 2002 is gone, like so many others, in Katrina's
wake. A few concrete steps and the remains of a porch stand on
the spot where he first played the 1-3-5 bass line on his piano
after watching a funeral sashay down the block. The song was used
as end-credit music in the 2008 documentary "Faubourg Tremé: The
Untold Story of Black New Orleans" before becoming the theme song
for HBO's drama series.
2. FEEL LIKE FUNKIN' IT UP (LIVE STREET MIX) - REBIRTH BRASS BAND
Rebirth Brass Band formed in 1983, when the Frazier Brothers,
sousaphonist Phil and bass drummer Keith, joined high school
classmates, including Kermit Ruffins, to pursue an agenda of
brass, funk, and traditional music. The members of Rebirth have
remained at the forefront of the modern Brass Band movement in
New Orleans ever since. This version of their best-known track
was recorded live in the street for the pilot Episode of Treme.
There are only a handful of well-documented commercial s
of New Orleans brass music in its most comfortable setting - the
street parade. Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records captured the Young
Tuxedo Brass Band in November 1958 with remote
equipment. Few others of that caliber come to mind. This
of Rebirth Brass Band more than fifty years later makes
the cut.
3. I HOPE YOU'RE COMIN' BACK TO NEW ORLEANS - THE NEW ORLEANS
JAZZ VIPERS
The New Orleans Jazz Vipers are an exceptional Swing Era
repertory group, but "I Hope You're Coming Back to New Orleans"
is original music. Joe Braun wrote the song in late 2005, and it
became an anthem for New Orleanians far and wide after Hurricane
Katrina. "This is a new one dedicated to everybody who hasn't
come home yet," Braun says in Episode 2. In fine New Orleans
tradition, many of the musicians heard here re-appear in other
bands later on: Jack Fine at the airport in Episode 6, St. Louis
Slim in 9 with Washboard Chaz, Joe Braun at McAlary's house
party, and Brett Richardson plays tambourine on the street with
Annie during Creighton's final tour of Frenchmen St.
4. SKOKIAAN - KERMIT RUFFINS & THE BARBECUE SWINGERS
"Skokiaan" was written by August Musarurwa, a Shona musician
from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). In 1954, Musarurwa and the
Bulawayo Sweet Rhythms Band released a version in South Africa,
and it quickly spread to the United States. "Skokiaan" refers to
a type of bootleg liquor, but folk singer Tom Glazer applied
dubious English lyrics that stripped its original meaning and
replaced it with a faux veneer of "African" exoticism. Louis
Armstrong recorded "Skokiaan (South African Song)" in 1954 for
Decca Records. Trumpeter Kermit Ruffins proudly cls the mantle
of Armstrong acolyte. Ruffins and his group, the Barbecue
Swingers, consistently entertain audiences with good-time music
for the people. Ruffins originally recorded "Skokiaan" on his
album, Big Easy, for Basin Street Records. This version from
Episode 1 is a live performance captured on location at
Vaughan's, a club in the Bywater section of New Orleans where
Ruffins hosts a longstanding Thursday night engagement.
5. OOH POO PAH DOO - TROM SHORTY & JAMES ANDREWS
Jessie Hill wrote this song and recorded it for Joe Banashak's
Minit Records in 1959. Allen Toussaint was the producer. Hill had
been an itinerant drummer, playing in Professor Longhair's band
and with Huey "Piano" Smith and the Clowns. "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" won
him brief fame, but it wasn't enough to sustain a career. Hill
moved to Los Angeles to work with New Orleans experts Harold
Battiste and Mac Rebennack. He wrote more than a hundred songs,
some of which were recorded by Sonny and Cher and Aretha
Franklin. Never did his songwriting strike gold like the
multi-million seller, "Ooh Poo Pah Doo." Hill had connections to
important New Orleans music families, the Nelsons and the
Lasties. He is the grandher of trumpeter James Andrews and
Troy "Trom Shorty" Andrews, who take the lead here on Hill's
greatest hit. This version was performed live for a re-created
Musician's Clinic airport gig in Episode 7.
6. DRINKA LITTLE POISON (4 U DIE) - SOUL REBELS BRASS BAND & JOHN
MOONEY
The Soul Rebels have always been one of New Orleans' most
stylistically adaptable brass bands, and from their formation in
1991 they incorporated influences as varied as reggae and hip-hop
to create their fresh urban sound. When asked to perform this
song which they didn't previously know, they took it in stride
and worked with John Mooney to create one of the most unique and
energetic musical performances of the season. John Mooney found
an unlikely mentor in his hometown of Rochester, New York - blues
legend Son House. Mooney settled in New Orleans, and he played
with Earl King, Professor Longhair, and other blues royalty. He's
got a killer instinct for the blues, including a righteous slide
guitar technique and a voice that personifies conviction. His
2006 release, Big Ol' Fiya, features a cover of Grayson Capps'
"Poison," its title adjusted to "Drinka Little Poison (4 U Die)."
Mooney performs it live with the Soul Rebels for the season
finale, Episode 10.
7. WE MADE IT THROUGH THAT WATER - FREE AGENTS BRASS BAND
"We Made It Through That Water" summarizes the story of the Free
Agents Brass Band. The post-Katrina levee failure and subsequent
inundation of New Orleans displaced many of the city's musicians.
Brass players were scattered across the country. Drummer Ellis
Joseph and trumpeter Shannon Haynes returned home as quickly as
they could, assembled the available brass players and started
hustling for gigs. Work was steady. There were plenty of
funerals, but available housing was a crapshoot. The Free Agents
Brass Band is so named because they have no affiliation with any
of New Orleans' many social aid and pleasure clubs, organizations
which typically act as benefactors to brass musicians who perform
in second line parades. The Free Agents played their signature
song at a second line in Episode 5.
8. SHAME SHAME SHAME - STEVE ZAHN AND FRIENDS
There are plenty of tough break tales in New Orleans, but the
story of Smiley Lewis may be the unluckiest of all. Overton Amos
Lemons grew up in the Irish Channel neighborhood in New Orleans.
He played a little guitar, but his greatest gift was his voice.
After some modest success on DeLuxe Records, Lewis made
"Te-Na-Na," a regional hit in 1950 for Lew Chudd's Imperial
Records. He recorded "Blue Monday" before s Domino, but Domino
made it a national hit. Smiley's version of "I Hear You Knockin"
proved to be the apex of his career, and even that was soon
overshadowed by Gale Storm and s Domino covers of the same.
"Shame Shame Shame" is one of Smiley's late 1950s sides for
Imperial, and it's classic New Orleans-style rhythm and blues. It
also works well as a thinly-veiled parody, as this rendition by
Davis McAlary (played by actor Steve Zahn) from Episode 5
suggests. Kermit Ruffins plays the trumpet response originally
performed by Dave Bartholomew, Smiley Lewis's session producer.
9. MY INDIAN RED - DR. JOHN
"My Indian Red" is one of the sacred songs of the Mardi Gras
Indians, groups of African-Americans tribes that showcase their
culture in the streets, dressed in elaborately hand-sewn suits.
The song is typically sung for opening and closing processionals,
as well as to mark the passing of a tribal chief. New Orleans
griot Danny Barker recorded the first version in the 1950s,
calling the names of various tribes - the Yellow Pocahontas,
Monogram Hunters, White Eagles, Wild West Shoshone Hunters, and
others. Dr. John made his own faithful reinterpretation of "My
Indian Red" on his landmark , Goin' Back to New Orleans,
for Warner Jazz. It featured some updated tribal associations, as
well as solid horn charts from the "Creole Beethoven," arranger
Wardell Quezergue. Dr. John performs this version during a
rehearsal for a Lincoln Center Katrina benefit in New York during
Episode 3.
10. AT THE FOOT OF CANAL STREET - JOHN BOUTTE, PAUL SANCHEZ, GLEN
DAVID ANDREWS, & NEW BIRTH BRASS BAND
Call it poetic license. Most residents of New Orleans consider
the foot of Canal Street to be the end closest to the Mississippi
River. On the other side, Canal Street terminates near a vast
collection of cemeteries. For John Boutte and Paul Sanchez, the
reverse is true. Whatever the case, "At the Foot of Canal Street"
puts the New Orleans tragicomic on display. The message is simple
- Life is short. Enjoy it before it's over. John Boutte and Paul
Sanchez have been a tandem songwriting team for more than a
decade. Boutte is from a family of great singers. Sanchez is a
prolific writer and former member of Cowboy Mouth. When the two
met for an early collaboration, they talked about growing up in
1960s New Orleans. Race being the major difference (Boutte is
black, Sanchez white), there were more striking similarities.
Sanchez says, "We were born three days apart, both Scorpios which
is y, we were both raised in part by our sisters. I have five
sisters and John has six. As we were walking and discussing these
things, John pointed to a cemetery across the street and said,
"You know what baby, my daddy's buried in that cemetery." I said,
"That's one more thing we have in common, my daddy's buried
across the street." He smiled at me and said, " You know baby,
sooner or later, black or white, we all gonna meet at the foot of
Canal Street. "This live version appeared in Episode 4.
11. BUONA SERA - LOUIS PRIMA
2010 marks the centennial year for Louis Prima, a
Sicilian-American who grew up in the Treme neighborhood of New
Orleans. Prima played the clown frequently, but he was a gifted
musician. He wrote one of the definitive Swing Era classics,
"Sing Sing Sing," popularized by Benny Goodman and Fletcher
Henderson. "Buona Sera" was recorded in 1956, during the same
sessions that produced "Jump, Jive, an' Wail" and "Just a
Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody." It appears on the Capitol ,
The Wildest! This is Prima essentially making a document of his
Las Ve stage show from The Sahara Hotel and Casino. Keely
Smith, his wife and showbiz partner, accompanies him, and Sam
Butera belts a magnanimous tenor saxophone solo with his band,
The Witnesses. "Buona Sera" plays in its entirety in Treme,
during an otherwise silent montage of New Orleans at night in
Episode 1.
12. NEW ORLEANS BLUES - TOM McDERMOTT & LUCIA MICARELLI
Tom McDermott is one of the piano masters in New Orleans. He has
constructed a large piano repertoire based on New Orleans music
and early jazz. McDermott's knowledge base includes the creole
dance music that contributed to the development of jazz, or more
broadly, the source code of New Orleans music - contradanzas,
habaneras, choro, and ragtime. He can also play the rumba style
of Professor Longhair, or the florid classical funk of pianist
James Booker. Tom McDermott is especially in his element when
performing Jelly Roll Morton's music. Lucia Micarelli had never
played Jelly Roll Morton before taking the part of Annie, but as
we can hear on this she now swings right along with the
best. Morton was a crucial figure in early jazz as a composer,
pianist, arranger and bandleader. He was born on Frenchmen St.,
which is still to this day an important place for the music of
New Orleans, where past is always present. Morton recorded his
solo version of "New Orleans Joys" for the famed Gennett Records
in 1923 at the Starr Piano factory in Richmond, Indiana. The
following year, he recorded it as a piano roll for Vocalstyle in
Cincinnati, where he renamed it "New Orleans Blues." McDermott
plays it as a duo with Annie (Lucia Micarelli) in Episode 3.
13. I DON'T STAND A GHOST OF A CHANCE WITH YOU -- MICHIEL
HUISMAN, LUCIA MICARELLI, & WENDELL PIERCE
Victor Young wrote "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You"
in 1932, and Bing Crosby was the first to sing it. It has since
been recorded by countless jazz artists - Chu Berry, Clifford
Brown, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Thelonious Monk. Here,
Antoine Batiste (Wendell Pierce) joins Sonny and Annie in the
French Quarter for an impromptu croon during Episode 3. The
song's title ominously foreshadows the following scene in which
Batiste is beaten down by two stressed officers.
14. INDIAN RED (Wild Man Memorial) - MARDI GRAS INDIANS
At the end of Episode 3, Big Chief Albert Lambreaux (Clarke
Peters) leads members of remaining tribes in a memorial for his
Wild Man. Traditionally, the Wild Man wears horns in his crown,
and he protects the Chief from surging crowds. He is the buffer
zone between the Boy and the Chief. Lambreaux chants with
real Mardi Gras Indian chiefs, including Daryl Montana of the
Yellow Pocahontas Hunters, Otto DeJean of the 7th Ward Hard Head
Hunters, Joseph Pierre "Monk" Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles,
Clarence Dalcour of Creole Osceola, Lionel Delpit from the Black
Feathers, Irvin Bannister of the Creole Wild West, and Council
Chief Fred Johnson. There is also a representative from the real
tribe from which Albert Lambreaux's fictional tribe derives its
name. Cherice Harrison-Nelson is the Big Queen of The Guardians
of the Flame, and she is the sister of saxophonist Donald
Harrison, Jr.
15. INDIAN RED - DONALD HARRISON
The third and final version of "Indian Red" in Episode 3
functions as the music bed for end credits. Donald Harrison, Jr.
is a veteran jazz saxophonist, but more central to this
narrative, he is the Big Chief of the Congo Nation. He is also
the son of the late Donald Harrison Sr., a well respected "Old
Time Indian" and Big Chief of The Guardians of the Flame. Donald
first recorded "Indian Red" on his 1992 Candid masterwork, Indian
Blues. This is an updated take, and it is mindful of John
Coltrane's devotional music, notably the "Psalm" section from A
Love Supreme.
16.TIME IS ON MY SIDE - IRMA THOMAS & ALLEN TOUSSAINT
For decades, Irma Thomas has rightfully been named "The Soul
Queen of New Orleans." No one else comes close. By all accounts,
1964 was a stellar year for Irma Thomas. One of her biggest chart
successes came with "Wish Someone Would Care," followed by
another minor hit, "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is." Oddly enough,
the B-side of "Anyone Who Knows" was "Time is On My Side." When
the Rolling Stones covered it, the blues ballad became an
international sensation. Irma Thomas appears with Allen
Toussaint, her early producer at Minit Records, for the Episode
10 finale. The special guest trumpeter is 89-year old Dave
Bartholomew, the living legend of New Orleans rhythm and blues
and its chief architect during the city's popular music heyday.
17. THIS CITY - STEVE EARLE
Steve Earle returns from a few turns in "The Wire" to play
Harley, a troubadour and confidante to Annie. In Episode 10,
Harley is working on a song. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a
Woody Guthrie-styled message, "This Guitar Floats," he sings a
snippet of "This City" with Annie near Jackson Square in the
French Quarter. The fully realized song is the final statement to
end the first season of Treme. Treme's music production team made
a special effort to place songs in the series that followed the
real timeline of late 2005-early 2006. "This City" is the lone
exception to that rule. David Simon asked Steve Earle to write a
new song that sounds as if it could have been composed in New
Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina.
18. JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE - TREME BRASS BAND
The Treme Brass Band is a marching outfit that plays the
traditional New Orleans brass style. Snare drummer Benny Jones
Sr. leads the band, and bass drummer Lionel Batiste - whose
iconic visage graced one of this year's JazzFest s (the
other was Louis Prima) and is known to everyone in New Orleans as
Uncle Lionel -- is the Assistant Leader. Near the end of Episode
1, the Treme Brass Band and members of the Sudan Social Aid and
Pleasure Club perform a traditional New Orleans funeral. Just
before Antoine Batiste joins the band in front of the church, he
strikes up a brief conversation with the trumpeter, Bunchy.
Truthfully, Bunchy Johnson was a drummer. Antoine asks how Bunchy
is doing, and the response is so authentic: "I'm just trying to
get from this world to the next." The real Bunchy Johnson died
less than three weeks before Episode 1 aired.
19. MY DARLIN' NEW ORLEANS - LI'L QUEENIE & THE PERCOLATORS
In 1977, Leigh Harris formed a duo with musician John Magnie, a
keyboardist who moved to New Orleans in 1974. They quickly added
a bassist, drummer, and horn player to create The Percolators, a
band named after a quote in jazz reedman Mezz Mezzrow's
autobiography. The Percolators were a highly successful local
band, one that incorporated elements of jazz, blues, and rock.
Despite their talents, Lil Queenie and the Percolators received
little attention beyond New Orleans, and when they disbanded
after four years their only release had been a 45rpm of
their signature tune, "My Darlin' New Orleans." It appears during
the end titles for Episode 1.