Jazz Musician Bring New Orleans Sound To Public Theater
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Josh Charles may have been born in Kansas City and now lives in Brooklyn, but for the jazz musician, going to Joe's Pub at the Public Theater in NoHo feels like coming home.
"I think New York audiences are very respectful. They like to listen and I think you can push the boundaries a little bit," says Charles.
The show is in support of his new CD, "Love, Work And Money".
"It's a collection of songs that I actually started right after [Hurricane] Katrina in New Orleans, 10 songs that represent what I think the world's all about," says Charles.
He's gone beyond developing his own style and has his own kind of music.
"I was influenced by New Orleans music. My parents are from Detroit and they grew up with Motown music, so I had Motown music playing in my head all the time. I combined the two together and I created something called 'Notown,'" says Charles.
He was mentored by New Orleans legend Dr. John.
"I pestered him so much as a kid saying, 'I really want to learn from you,' and one of the things he told me was that he did the same thing with Fats Domino and Professor Longhair," says Charles. "Said he used to just go around and bug them and I used to bug Mac all the time. The best thing I learned from him is just life lessons, you know. It's like, just the stories about being in rock 'n' roll and the birth of music."
Influenced by New Orleans, Charles is now giving back to the city.
"I moved to New Orleans four days before Hurricane Katrina. I put out a song last year, it's on this record as well, called 'Healing Time.' And I wrote that as I was touring around the lower Ninth Ward, seeing this destruction and this devastation," says Charles. "And we donate 100 percent of the record, so when you download the song from Amazon, 99 cents of that goes to the Preservation Resource Center to help rebuild New Orleans."
Although now he is a New Yorker, Charles liked it when the New Orleans Saints came marching in in this year's Super Bowl.
"I was actually there for the parade, and I think that's probably the best thing that's happened to New Orleans in so many years," says Charles. "It really brought a new life to the city and there's a lot of exuberance and a lot of resilience. These people have such, that was so important for them. I knew the Saints were going to win because we kind of knew that they were playing for the city."
Charles will be returning to the Big Easy from the Big Apple for Jazz Fest this year.