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Irvin Mayfield is no stranger to the city of Utica. Mayfield previously stopped in Utica a few years ago, performing at the MWPAI's Concerts in the Court series. At that time the New Orleans born trumpeter was playing with the New Orleans-flavored Latin jazz band Los Hombres Calientes, a band that he co-founded with percussionist Bill Summers. This night's performance brought Mayfield to Utica again only this time with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, a band that Mayfield is the founder and Artistic Director of. According to their web site, NOJO is an "organization dedicated to celebrating and advancing, through performances and educational presentations, jazz’s role in American culture and New Orleans’ role in jazz." From the first rush of notes NOJO performed, the band certainly took the audience on a musical tour of New Orleans, highlighting everything from straight-ahead jazz to arrangements influenced by the music of Cuba and the West Indies. Throughout the night, Mayfield was very complimentary of the Stanley Theater, even joking that he and the NOJO would like to bring the Stanley back to New Orleans with them. Mayfield went on to joke they however, would have to raise the theatre a few feet off the ground. Several times during the concert Mayfield shared stories that gave the audience a glimpse of how New Orleans has been affected by Katrina. A touching moment came at the conclusion of the concert when Mayfield, serving in the role of Cultural Ambassador to the city of New Orleans, decreed a proclamation thanking the People of the City of Utica and The Great Artist Series for aiding in the cultural rebuilding of New Orleans.
For their final tune of the nights performance the band gave us a peek at what must be an all too familiar scene in New Orleans, since Katrina, by playing a traditional New Orleans "Second Line" with their version of St. James Infirmary.
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