Latest News
January 2010
Happy New Year, I'm looking forward to a great year. Back in October I joined Walter "Wolfman" Washington and the Roadmasters, it has been great so far and there are plans to do some touring this year. Walter is one of my favorite New Orleans artists and it's a pleasure to work with him and his great band. I'm also exited about Jimmy Carpenters band and I have high hopes for his CD and some good playing opportunities to come. My good friend Chuck Chaplin is back in town so I'm sure we'll do some gigs soon and possibly some recording. Back in August we played at Snug Harbor with bassist Tommy Sciple and it was killin'. More to come soon,
Wayne
February "09
It's good to be back. I just finished a 2 week tour of Germany with the Pfister Sisters and it was a great trip. The people were nice the accommodations were fantastic the country was beautiful and the beer was delicious. Just before leaving I had a great gig with John Gros, Robert Walter and Rich Vogel at the Maple Leaf. We all had a great time playing some cool funky tunes. So now it's back to teaching and local gigs for awhile. I've got lots of students this semester and hopefully some good combos at Loyola.
Wayne.
September '08
Hi all, some cool stuff coming up this fall. First TriFunctA is back after a short summer break. We have several local gigs as well as our big CD release bash at Blue Nile on September 20th. You don't want to miss that one they'll be lots of special guests. October 10th & 11th I'll be performing with Vivaz Latin Band at the Brownsville, TX Latin Jazz Festival, should be a great trip. Saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter is about to release his CD and I'll be joining him for the release party on December 4th at d.b.a. It was a fun studio session and I'm looking forward to performing live with that group. I'm teaching again this fall at Loyola University and Delgado Community College, I have some good returning students as well as some new ones. Last but not least Sessions for Mark Carson's solo project have started, it's going well so far.
Keep it Funky,
Wayne.
June '08
Here comes another summer in New Orleans. Before it gets too hot to type let me tell you about things this year so far. Trifuncta is holding down a steady gig Wednesday nights at Blue Nile on Frenchmen Street and the new CD Hangin’ is now out. We also opened for Bonerama at the Maple Leaf, it was a great gig. I’ve been having a great time playing with Vivaz Latin Band, we played Jazz Fest and Broadmoor Fest as well as weekend gigs at Blue Nile. The Mark Carson Band is planning a recording project very soon and I’ve been having fun playing with The Dave James Band. In April I did some gigs in Washington D.C. with my good friend and great trumpet player Graham Breedlove, then I went up to Mercersburg PA and performed a Dave Brubeck show with the Mercersburg Symphony and Chorus. During the month of June I’ll be playing with my old friend Chuck Chaplin in a piano trio at Houston’s Restaurant every Sunday and Monday.
That's all for now,
Wayne,
November '07
Ok, I admit I haven’t been keeping this page updated as I intended to. This year has just been extremely busy. Here’s some of the highlights. During the Spring I played the Musical “Hats” at Harrah’s Casino New Orleans. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I also did a live radio broadcast with Astral Project and a tribute to Hermeto Pascoal show with Brasilliance as part of the Loyola underground series. Twice this year I’ve had the pleasure of performing with Brad Goode at Club 300. He’s a great trumpet player and a fun guy to work with. On the Latin front I did several gigs with Moyuba, (an Afro-Cuban vocal group) and I’m also doing some gigs with Vivaz Latin Band.
This year has been busy in the studio as well. TriFunctA recorded our first CD with Steve Masakowski and special guests George Porter Jr. and Mark Mullins. It should be ready for release early 2008. Jimmy Carpenter (of Walter Washington’s band) did a project with John Gros, John Fohl, Cass Faulconer and Myself. That was a great session and it was a pleasure working in that rhythm section. I’m also doing some recording with bass player Nick Soderstrom and cutting some tracks for American Idol.
I also had the honor this year of instructing the first ever Latin Jazz Combo at Loyola. We had a good group and it was very well received by the students and faculty. Hopefully we can continue to offer Latin Jazz as part of the curriculum. This Christmas I’ll once again be performing Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Swing with an all star big band at Loyola. I hope it won’t be next Christmas before I update this page again.
Groove on,
Wayne.
August '06
Home at last. Just two weeks short of an entire year since we left home for Hurricane Katrina we have moved back into our house. Although there is still countless hours of work to be done (on my home as well as the entire city) it's a great feeling to once again have a place of our own. Thanks again to all those who helped us get here. The fall semester will soon begin and I will once again be teaching at Loyola and Delgado. However, I will not be returning to Tulane. In late September I'll be making a trip down to San Salvador to do some master classes and performances with the Central American Big Band. Then it's back to New Orleans to start preparing for my next recording project.
Wayne. W
May '06
The city of New Orleans is slowly recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina last August. I am back in town since late October and have been playing a lot of gigs. Most music clubs have reopened and I've had the pleasure of working with some great musicians. My good friend (and great keyboard player) Mike Lemmler and I have started a new Jazz/Funk group and we plan to do a CD in the near future. I have resumed teaching at Loyola and Delgado as of January '06 and hope to return to Tulane in the fall. Although all copies of my Instruction book were lost in the flood I hope to have new copies for the fall semester. I am also thankful I was able to save my Fortune drums that were damaged by flood water. Dale Flanigan at Fortune sent me all the parts I needed to restore them and they still sound great. Michael Vosbein at Bosphorus hooked me up with incredible sounding cymbals and Roy Burns at Aquarian sent me some heads. Thanks to all of you I'm proud to endorse your products.
During the evacuation I met and performed with some great musicians in other cities around the south. I also had the opportunity to do some teaching at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. I worked with many of the drummers there and did a master class on Brazilian rhythms. This past April I was invited to Atlanta, Georgia to do clinics and perform as guest artist with the Norcross High Jazz Band. I have also had students coming in from as far as Mobile, Alabama to take lessons.
My family and I are still displaced from our home but hope to return by August 12th. It has been a long and difficult road since the hurricane. We would like to thank all our family and friends who opened their homes to us during the evacuation and who gave their time, support and labor (often at their own expense) to help us recover from this tragedy. Our sincerest love to all of you.
I wish the best of luck to all who were affected by the storm. The recovery will take years but I am confident that we will have a better city for the future.
Wayne.