Events

Charlie & the Tropicales bring the sound and spirit of a 1950s Caribbean hotel band to life with torrid horns, tropical rhythms, and infectious grooves. Drawing on New Orleans' deep connections as the northernmost port of the Caribbean, the group explores musical traditions from Trinidad, Venezuela, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and beyond.

As jazz pioneer Jelly Roll Morton famously said, New Orleans music carries a "Spanish tinge," an essential seasoning in the city's musical DNA. The Tropicales embrace this spirit, blending traditional New Orleans jazz with 1950s R&B, beguine from the French Antilles, and Trinidadian calypso to create a sound that feels both timeless and transportive, equally suited for listening and for the dance floor.

Led by trombonist Charlie Halloran, a fixture of the city's traditional jazz scene, the band reflects a broader exploration of Caribbean and New Orleans musical exchange. Halloran has been twice named a "Rising Star" in DownBeat Magazine and is a multi-time honoree in OffBeat Magazine's "Best of the Beat" awards, with credits including Jon Cleary, Allen Toussaint, Rickie Lee Jones, and U2.

Yusa is a Havana-born guitarist, vocalist, tres player, and composer who relocated to New Orleans in 2020 and has since become one of the city's most distinctive musical voices. She was a founding bandleader of Cuban ensembles Interactivo and Quasi Jazz, and is regarded internationally as an ambassador of 21st-century Cuban music, a description earned through nominations at the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards and collaborations with artists including Omara Portuondo and Deacon John. Her sound blends trova, son, jazz, pop, and Brazilian rhythms into something that resists easy categorization. She has performed on the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

The Desert Nudes are a New Orleans trio bringing impeccable vocal harmonies and a well-developed sense of humor to cowboy songs, classic country, and roots rock. The band is J.P. Carmody, bassist and vocalist Dave Pomerleau of Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes, and multi-instrumentalist Andre Bohren, a classical pianist and longtime drummer for Johnny Sketch. They formed during the pandemic while together in the Western desert, in conditions that may have inspired the name.

Their debut record, Keep A-Movin', Dan: Songs of Hydration, Vigor, Horses, and Wide Open Spaces, earned immediate local acclaim and led to performances at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Bayou Boogaloo, and venues from Florida to the Rocky Mountain states. They call Marty Robbins their patron saint. Tonight, they add some classic cowboy Christmas tunes to their repertoire.

Sally Baby's Silver Dollars is a New Orleans band playing jazz-rooted, old-timey, soulful music with a touch of Latin flavor. Bandleader Salvatore "Sally Baby" Geloso, who sings and plays guitar, moved to New Orleans from New York nearly twenty years ago and built his reputation playing on the street and in the city's clubs. He formed the Silver Dollars in 2023, and their sets pair original songs with material from New Orleans figures like Ned Towns and Paul Barbarin. The band's early 2026 NPR Tiny Desk Concert brought them national attention to go with their local following.