Just finished watching TREME season 2 finale on HBO for the 3rd time. It’s amazing TV. Thank you to HBO, David Simon, Eric Overmyer, Nina Noble, Blake Leyh and all the rest of their amazing writers and crew.
The lagniappe for us are the numerous references to our artists and music. Here are just a few things you may have seen or heard just in the season 2 finale related to our label (there were performances this season by Jon Cleary, Kermit Ruffins, Henry Butler and Rebirth Brass Band, and additional music licensed from Dr.Michael White.)
- Cornell Williams (of Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen) continues to shine as an actor
- Wendell Pierce (who narrated Irvin Mayfield’s Strange Fruit CD and attended Ben Franklin High School with BSR president Mark Samuels) who deserves an Emmy
- References by Trombone Shorty (who has performed on several of our CDs) to the fact that he’s leaving for Japan to take a gig with Henry Butler (who has recorded 3 CDs with us)
- Performances by Rebirth Brass Band (who just released their latest CD with us) at the Maple Leaf Bar
- A poster of Kermit Ruffins’ Swing This! in the WWOZ studio
- A poster of Basin Street Records artists in LaDonna’s bar
- A performance at Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse (Irvin has released 11 projects with us)
- Jazzfest performance by Donald Harrison (who performed on Irvin Mayfield’s first CD extensively, and a few other BSR projects)
- The Jazzfest performance by Donald Harrison included Mike Clark on drums (Mike is a c0-leader of the Headhunters, who released Evolution Revolution on our label)
- Near the end DJ Davis announces that a song playing was by Kidd Jordan. He serves as the artistic director of Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp that starts for its 17 year on July 5, 2011. Please make a donation TODAY to the camp at http://www.LouisArmstrongJazzCamp.com/donation and help the next generation get the education (musically and otherwise) that they deserve.
Can’t wait for season 3! In the meantime, I’ll probably watch seasons 1 and 2 a few more times.