Changing Of The Guard

Adonis Rose takes over the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

- Geraldine Wyckoff

“I feel like we need to reintroduce the band in a way,” says drummer Adonis Rose, who has been named as the artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO). “Everybody’s back—all of our core members—so it’s the same configuration,” Rose adds, mentioning musicians like pianist Victor Atkins, saxophonist Ed Petersen, trumpeter Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown and others.

The Grammy-winning ensemble, which was founded in 2002 by trumpeter Irvin Mayfield, has been on hiatus since presenting its last show in May 2016. Following restructuring, the nonprofit organization performed again under its new leader in October at the New Orleans Jazz Market.

“I really missed playing with NOJO,” says Rose, a New Orleans native who moved to Fort Worth, Texas after Katrina. During his 10 years there, the drummer taught at the University of Texas and continued to travel back to his hometown to play with the orchestra. He returned to the Crescent City in December 2015. “That was my chance to be connected to home while I was gone,” he continues. “NOJO was really on a roll and we had a lot of momentum working with Dee Dee [vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater]. We went all over the world—we went from 100 to zero.”

What Rose really missed during the period that NOJO was idle were his fellow musicians. “The thing I love most about the band is being able to see the cats—it’s like a family. I love the music too. There’s no other band in the world like this one.”