Track Listing

1. Make Way for the Rebirth
2. Mr. Big Stuff
3. Here to Stay
4. Mardi Gras Day
5. It's Later Than You Think
6. Happy Weekday Blues
7. I Got a Woman
8. What Is New Orleans, Pt. 2
9. Just a Closer Walk with Thee
10. Happy Birthday
11. Rebirth Medley: My Song/Pie, Pt. 2/Mexican Special
12. Up in tha Hood

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #86402 in Music
• Released on: 2005-04-05
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Amazon.com
New Orleans native Kermit Ruffins was aptly born on the birthday of one of that city's most deservedly heralded masters of music, Professor Longhair. The 40-year-old trumpet player came blasting out of high school with the Rebirth Brass Band. Formed with tuba player Philip Frazier, the ensemble stormed across 10 years, several continents, and 7 albums before disbanding in 1992. Here reconvened, they've lost none of their exuberant flair and verve. The seven originals by Ruffins are mixed with numbers by the city's current elder statesman, Mac Rebennack, as well as Ray Charles, Mildred Hill's perennial "Happy Birthday," and more. Unobtrusively produced, the set bristles with the immediacy of a true celebration. --David Greenberger

Customer Reviews

Let the good times roll with Kermit
If you want to get a taste of street band, foot tapping, jigging music, Throwback is for you. Kermit teams up with the ever so awesome Rebirth Brass Brand to produce a sound that is reminicent of good times in the Big Easy.

"It's Later Than You Think", Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman", and "What is New Orleans" are my personal favorites. The CD is just host to great musicians who show their enthusiasm and chops through the CD. Recording this thing must have been one big party. The ONLY weird spot? The last song, "Up In Tha Hood"--clearly a lot of fun for the band, but a little scary for the rest of us who are used to straight up brass band and not Kermit as Master P...otherwise, an exceptional CD from, by the way, a great example of a local record label--Basin Street puts out some great local artists. Check out their other artists-- Los Hombres Calientes w/ Bill Summers and Irvin Mayfield, Theresa Anderson, and Dr. Michael White, to name a few.

Ruffins Goes Full Circle
I guess Rebirth is the perfect name for his Brass Band after all. After a long and successful stint with his Barbecue Swingers, Kermit Ruffins has rejoined the Rebirth Brass Band for this delightful funky blue CD. If there was ever such a thing as fraternity rock, New Orleans Style, this would be it. It is obvious that these pieces have all been well polished in regular club dates. From the Happy Weekday Blues to his cover on I Got a Woman, it is clear that his years as a working live performer have given him the confidence to make a studio take sound as easy as a march down Bourbon Street. I will always admire his work with the Barbecue Swingers and how Louis and Muggsy would have loved to have heard him. Even though he shifted music gears, Ruffins didn't disappoint the trad fans with his funeral pacing on the dixieland classic Just a Closer Walk With Thee. This is a delightful party CD. The highlight of the entire project may well be his lively second line strutter, It's Later Than You Think. It is almost impossible not to dance to it. For pure fun, this CD is higly recommended.