Respond to this Story

Big Easy Entertainment Awards music honorees tickle the ivories -- and the city's musical heritage.

By David Lee Simmons

Art Neville, whose impact includes helping start the Hawkettes, the Meters and the Neville Brothers, will receive the Big Easy Entertainment Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award in Music.

They say piano players rarely ever play together, but at least this time they'll share some impressive honors. Art Neville and Eddie Bo will both receive tributes for their impact on the New Orleans music scene at the 16th annual Big Easy Entertainment Awards.

Art Neville, co-founder of the Hawkettes, the Meters and the Neville Brothers and a master of the Hammond B-3 organ, will receive the Big Easy Entertainment Awards' Lifetime Achievement Award in Music. Bo, songwriter, keyboard player extraordinaire and record producer, will serve as the honorary music chairman while aiding returning master of ceremonies Harry Shearer (National Public Radio, The Simpsons) in handing out the awards. They will be joined by 92-year-old trumpet player Lionel Ferbos, who will receive the Music Heritage Award. Ferbos' storied career includes work with the Creole Serenaders, the musical One Mo' Time and the Pretty Baby soundtrack along with his weekly performance at the Palm Court Cafe.

The Big Easy Entertainment Awards, which honors achievement in local music and theater, will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, April 21, in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Riverside New Orleans Hotel.

V.I.P. tickets are $125 and include an open bar, buffet dinner, special reserved seating for the awards ceremonies and the Celebration Bash at Club 360 that follows. Tables for 10 are $1,000 if purchased by March 31. To purchase tickets contact Lindsay Moylan at 486-5900, ext. 160. The Big Easy Entertainment Awards benefit the Foundation for Entertainment Development and Education, which supports projects that nurture the future talent of New Orleans in the performing arts. Sponsors include Absolut Vodka, Harrah's New Orleans Casino, John Jay, Gambit Weekly, Barefoot Wine Cellars, Coleman E. Adler & Sons, and Mardi Gras Productions.

2003 MUSIC NOMINEES

TRADITIONAL JAZZ

Leroy Jones Quintet

Ronnie Magri & His New Orleans Jazz Band

Dr. Michael White

Eddie Bo, the master of early New Orleans funk, will serve as honorary music chairman.

CONTEMPORARY JAZZ

Astral Project

Edward "Kidd" Jordan

Kermit Ruffins & The Barbecue Swingers

TRADITIONAL BRASS BAND

Tuba Fats & the Chosen Few

Olympia Brass Band

Gregg Stafford & the Young Tuxedo Brass Band

CONTEMPORARY BRASS BAND

Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Li'l Rascals

ReBirth Brass Band

GOSPEL CHOIR

McDonough No. 35 High School Gospel Choir

Shiloh Baptist Church Mass Choir

Tyrone Foster & The Arc Singers

Lionel Ferbos' myriad accomplishments over his 92 years earn him the Music Heritage Award.

GOSPEL GROUP/INDIVIDUAL

One-A-Chord

Paulette Wright Davis

Trin-I-Tee 5:7

FUNK

Brotherhood of Groove

Galactic

Papa Grows Funk

RHYTHM & BLUES

Eddie Bo

Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen

Walter "Wolfman" Washington & the Roadmasters

RAP/HIP-HOP

Choppa

Mystikal

Soul Remedy

BLUES

Tab Benoit

Snooks Eaglin

Joe Krown

Paulette Wright-Davis scored a nomination for Best Gospel Group/Individual.

Myshkin

Fiddling wunderkind Amanda Shaw received a nod in the Emerging Artist category.

LATIN

Los Vecinos

Otra

Vivaz

WORLD MUSIC/REGGAE

007

Revealers

Higher Heights

MALE PERFORMER

Jon Cleary

James Hall

Kermit Ruffins

FEMALE PERFORMER

Theresa Andersson

Ingrid Lucia

Marva Wright

EMERGING ARTIST

Maurice Brown

Kelly Love Jones

Amanda Shaw

BEST ALBUM

Astral Project
Big Shot
Produced by Michael Pellara
Recorded live at Word of Mouth Studio, Algiers

Jon Cleary
Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen
Basin Street Records
Produced by John Porter
Recorded at Sir Ronald Pudding's Emporium of Groove in Los Angeles and Lucy Lou's Palace of Fonk in the French Quarter, New Orleans

Pleasure Club
Here Comes The Trick
Purified Records
Produced by Jay Joyce and recorded at his studio in Nashville, Tenn.

Kermit Ruffins
Big Easy
Basin Street Records
Produced by Tracey Freeman
Recorded at Ultrasonic Studios in New Orleans

Other Stories This Week in Features:

Cover Story
Wooing Oscar
Most Likely to Succeed
Whine and Cheese
Statue of Limitations
Fight for Independents
Writers on the Form

Blake Pontchartrain
New Orleans Know-It-All

Recently in Feature Story:

Street Regal 03 11 03

The Stuff of Legend 03 11 03

Razzle Dazzle 03 11 03

Feature Story Archives

Other Stories by David Lee Simmons:

The Cockettes 03 04 03

Perfect Ten 02 11 03

Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bete) 02 11 03

David Lee Simmons Archives