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WALTER “WOLFMAN” WASHINGTON
Born and raised in New Orleans, Walter
“Wolfman” Washington got his rst taste of
performing music in his mother’s church choir
and ultimately fell in love with the blues and
R&B while picking up the guitar. He landed his
rst major gig while still in his teens: playing
alongside Lee Dorsey, with whom he toured
for two years. In the mid-’ s, he entered the
New Orleans club circuit with his own combo,
the All Fools Band, while still carving out time
to back local belters like Irma
omas. By the
end of the decade, Washington has started what
would become a -year partnership with R&B
singer Johnny Adams, with whom he recorded
numerous albums on the Rounder label. A er
Wolfman cut his rst solo record,
Rainin’ in
My Life
, on a small local label in
, Round-
er picked up Washington and his band,
e
Roadmasters, for three albums:
’s
Wolf
Tracks
,
’s
Out of the Dark
, and
’s
Wolf
at the Door
. Another disc,
Sada
, appeared on
the Virgin Records blues imprint Point Blank
later in
. Rounder moved Washington and
e Roadmasters to its own blues imprint, Bull-
seye, for
’s
Funk Is in the House
, and the
following year Wolfman teamed up with a trio
of James Brown’s sidemen for
Blue Moon Risin’
.
He spent the next few years rekindling his as-
sociation with the live stage, taking up a weekly
residence at the Maple Leaf Bar with organist
Joe Krown and the drummer Russell Batiste Jr.
Doin’ the Funky ing
emerged in
, re ect-
ing the strength and inspiration of post-Katrina
New Orleans. Earlier this year, the -year-old
guitarist returned with
My Future Is My Past
—
produced by Ben Ellman of Galactic—reuniting
with Irma
omas on the slow-burning track
“Even Now.” Walter “Wolfman” Washington is
making his Ravinia debut.
CYRIL NEVILLE
e youngest of the four Neville Brothers, Cyr-
il was inexorably drawn to a life in music a er
a youth incubated among Art, Charles, Aaron,
and their extended family (including George
“Big Chief Jolly” Landry). Nevertheless, he
didn’t begin performing professionally until
, at age , when he joined Art and Aaron
in
e Neville Sounds, which played the New
Orleans club circuit on a regular basis. Cyril and
Aaron soon split o to form e Soul Machine,
and Cyril recorded his rst solo single, “Gossip,”
in the early ’ s, backed by Art’s new funk band,
e Meters.
e Soul Machine dissolved a er
unsuccessful moves to Nashville and New York,
and Cyril joined
e Meters as a vocalist and
percussionist—highlighting its shi away from
purely instrumental music as it joined the Re-
prise Records roster—until its own dissolution
in
. A er the group premiered its new sound
with
Cabbage Alley
( ), e Meters followed
up with the landmark
Rejuvenation
( ) and
joined the Rolling Stones on a sold-out US tour.
A er
Fire on the Bayou
( ) and
Trick Bag
(
), the group teamed up with horn section
from Tower of Power on
New Directions
( ),
but there the Nevilles splintered again, this time
all together to form e Neville Brothers Band.
e foursome created numerous recordings
during the ’ s and ’ s, winning a Grammy for
“Healing Chant” o
’s
Yellow Moon
. Cyril
infrequently led side projects such as the En-
dangered Species Band and the Uptown Allstars
during this period, with the latter group backing
his rst solo album,
’s
e Fire is Time
.
He released another two discs,
Soulo
(
) and
New Orleans Cookin’
(
), before reconven-
ing a formal backing band. Neville has been
performing with the blues-rock supergroup
Royal Southern Brotherhood since its founding
in
, and his most recent solo disc is
’s
Magic Honey
. Cyril Neville played Ravinia eight
times between
and
with
e Neville
Brothers Band, and tonight he makes his solo
debut.
KERMIT RUFFINS
Growing up in New Orleans, Kermit Ru ns was
mainly raised on a diet of the radio staples of the
s until, a er having picked up the trumpet
in th grade, he discovered the music of Louis
Armstrong. A er some experience busking for
tips in Jackson Square, Ru ns and several high-
school friends founded the Rebirth Brass Band
in
to emulate the groundbreaking Dirty
Dozen Brass Band. Nine years later he split o
to form a traditional jazz quintet, the Barbecue
Swingers, so named because of his penchant
for setting up a grill and cooking for the band
and his fans between sets when playing a small
club. e group debuted with the album
World
on a String
that same year.
e Big Butter and
Egg Man
( ) and
Hold on Tight
( ) fol-
lowed before he struck a deal with the New Or-
leans–based label Basin Street, which released
the highly regarded album
Swing is
in
.
Subsequent discs have included
St. Philip
Street
(
),
Big Easy
(
),
rowback
(
;
a reunion with the Rebirth Brass Band),
Livin’ a
Treme Life
(
),
Happy Talk
(
), and
We
Partyin’ Traditional Style
( ).
e label also
released Ru ns’s pairing with Irvin May eld on
Beautiful World
to celebrate its th anniversary.
Kermit Ru ns is making his Ravinia debut.
RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 20 – AUGUST 26, 2018
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