NAUGHTY PROFESSOR
Naughty Professor is an iconoclastic New Orleans-based jazz-funk sextet whose adventurous recordings and horn-charged, high-energy live performances have earned them an enthusiastic fan base, critical acclaim, and widespread attention from their musical peers.
Their diligent roadwork has established Naughty Professor as a beloved live act. Weaving together complex, inventive compositions and loose, organic improvisation, the band honors their hometown's jazz, R&B and brass-band traditions while looking to the future.
Naughty Professor raises the stakes on its new album Identity (Release date June 23, 2017). Where their prior four releases showcased the group's knack for self-contained instrumental experimentation, Identity finds the band teaming with a stellar assortment of more than a dozen cutting-edge collaborators, whose vocal, instrumental and compositional contributions expand the music into new musical territory....
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NAUGHTY PROFESSOR
Naughty Professor is an iconoclastic New Orleans-based jazz-funk sextet whose adventurous recordings and horn-charged, high-energy live performances have earned them an enthusiastic fan base, critical acclaim, and widespread attention from their musical peers.
Their diligent roadwork has established Naughty Professor as a beloved live act. Weaving together complex, inventive compositions and loose, organic improvisation, the band honors their hometown's jazz, R&B and brass-band traditions while looking to the future.
Naughty Professor raises the stakes on its new album Identity (Release date June 23, 2017). Where their prior four releases showcased the group's knack for self-contained instrumental experimentation, Identity finds the band teaming with a stellar assortment of more than a dozen cutting-edge collaborators, whose vocal, instrumental and compositional contributions expand the music into new musical territory.
Identity's prestigious gallery of guests includes Jurassic 5's Chali 2na, who's featured on a pair of tracks, "Darker Daze" and "Sugar Coat," which also features contributions from New Orleans legend Ivan Neville. David Shaw of the Revivalists lends his vocals on "Stray" and singer/guitarist Dexter Gilmore contributes on "I Can't Sleep At Night." Additional special collaborators include trumpet player Eric "Benny" Bloom of Lettuce, percussionist Mike Dillon, much-lauded jazz vocalist Sasha Masakowski and members of the renowned New Orleans horn outfit Soul Rebels, who turn up the brass on the album-closer "Funk 4 Lunch."
"I am loving the resurgence of jazz combined with this youthful mindstate that musicians have today," Chali continues," and Naughty Professor is pushing that envelope."
The band recorded each track on Identity live in the studio, heightening the immediacy of the performances and solidifying the band's connection with the guest collaborators. The sessions were also documented on video, with an eye towards releasing a video version of the album.
A wide range of musical impulses has driven Naughty Professor ever since the band members first convened in 2010, having met while students at Loyola University's jazz program. The musicians' potent collective chemistry quickly won attention on the New Orleans music scene. After graduating, they began touring, expanding their audience nationwide.
New Orleans' vital spirit is present throughout Identity, which combines artfully-crafted studio creations with material developed through live performance. "We like being adventurous and cerebral, but fun is also important," Shahin concludes. "We operate with a jazz mentality, but we like verse/chorus structures. We definitely embrace the idea that we're bridging the gap between the more thought-provoking side of jazz and popular mainstream music, and making the whole thing fun and accessible."
The result is Identity, Naughty Professor's most potent and ambitious musical statement to date. It is a record that, by collecting together diverse and disparate musical voices into a seamless whole, simultaneously honors the past and pushes into the future.
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