Joe Krown
Moving to New Orleans 20 years ago has been a boon for former Bostonian Joe Krown.
“New Orleans has a very healthy music scene and we all get the chance for steady work,” Krown said.
“I’m also pretty well hooked up in corporate and convention-type work. I don’t have to work 250 nights a year on the road … I’ve already done that, and I try more to have a good balance now, between time spent at home with my family and working locally, and a few tour dates – generally 50 to 100 a year.”
Krown, a keyboardist is returning to Boston Friday night with one of his favorite projects, the trio he fronts with legendary guitarist Walter “Wolfman” Washington, and Meters drummer Russell Batiste, at Johnny D’s in Davis Square.
This month also marks the release of Krown’s new album, “Exposed,” on which he plays five New Orleans classics along with seven originals. The new album is Krown’s 11th since moving to New Orleans, but only his third solo effort.
When Krown was living in Boston he was part of the rock band Sally the Sophisticats, with then-wife Sally Krown. After that band and marriage ended, Krown kept busy with a variety of gigs, until he joined Gatemouth Brown’s band around 1990 and moved to New Orleans.
When not on the road with Gatemouth’s band, Krown discovered there were plenty of gigs for an ambitious young pianist who loved exploring the Crescent City’s vast musical heritage. He established regular weekly gigs, like the one he still has at the vaunted Maple Leaf club, as well as places like Le Bon Temps Roulet, Irvin Mayfield’s Playhouse, and the old Rock ’n’ Bowl, and immersed himself in the New Orleans keyboard tradition.
Krown has become such a New Orleans fixture that he was hired to portray himself in a 2010 episode of the HBO television drama “Treme,” and had more of his music used for the series’ soundtrack. But for the past few years one of his best known gigs has been as leader of the trio with Washington, the engaging frontman and singer who leads his own blues band, and Batiste, whose drumming has powered one of the city’s most enduring rb acts, The Meters.
“The big news is that Russell is going to be at Johnny D’s,” said Krown with a laugh from his New Orleans home, earlier this week. “This is our third time playing Johnny D’s, and our third swing through New England, but he had other commitments the previous two trips, so we had to use subs. We get tremendous drummers to fill in when that happens, but Russell is Russell, and there’s nothing quite like having the guy we play with all the time at home.”
The trio released its second album, “Triple Play,” last year and it has proven to be a big hit in clubs all over the nation. But Krown devoted a lot of his spare time to pursuing his love of Crescent City piano styles, hence the solo album, which came out last week.
“This is my third solo record, and they all represent different things, at different times for me,” said Krown. “My first solo record (‘Just the Piano, Just the Blues’) in 1997 was mainly blues and boogie woogie. In 2003 my second solo CD, ‘New Orleans Piano Rolls,’ tried to give a variety of piano styles, from boogie woogie, stride, ragtime, and Professor Longhair. This latest one is sort of my own Professor Longhair style, with everything pointed right at a New Orleans feel.”
The new solo disc is a personal tribute to the Longhair influence, and Krown’s originals are virtually indistinguishable in tone and creative spunk. Krown, who has also released albums where he fronts an organ trio, is convinced his fascination with the music of his adopted city can be delivered to music fans around the world. There’s a certain energy and openness in this music that makes you believe he’s probably correct, because it is above all, infectious and intoxicating.
“I like boogie woogie, obviously,” Krown said. “But since I don’t sing myself, I wanted to expand on it, and I felt I had a pretty good handle on the New Orleans groove. Take Henry Butler, for example, who really has a total New Orleans feel, and no boundaries. I recently heard Henry do a cover of the Beatles’ ‘Come Together,’ and it was all so completely different than the original, yet also recognizable as their hit, with that special New Orleans feel to it.”
Krown said 90 percent of his touring is with the trio. “But my own career is going very strong, especially here in New Orleans, and I’m so fortunate to have all these outlets for my music.”