Ceasar Elloie - New Orleans to Paris 2010


Wow!!! Ladies and gentlemen, today I'm presenting one of the best albums in 2010. I decided to present this album because in a few days the year will finish. In this way I want to honour this artist and his great album.
Ceasar Elloie is the "Caesar" of soul and jazz music with a great deep-voice. He was born in 1953 and raised in the city of New Orleans. As a young kid his favorite toy was his voice. Later around at the age of 14, he discovered that his mother was a clone of Aretha Franklin as she kept music playing at all times in their home. They mostly listened to Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls, Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick, Otis Redding, James Brown and just everybody whose music was out there.
He began to sing Mardi Grass Indian songs on street corners with the fellows. These were known as chants. As he entered High School, he was invited to sing with his first Band. This was the beginning of his love to perform in public. Later he entered Southern University at New Orleans and was invited to sing with the Jazz Band under the direction of Dr.Edward "Kid" Jordan. During that period Dr.Jordan decided that it would be good to give the guys some Recording Studio experience. It was then that he wrote the lyrics of the songs entitled "Who Stole the Funk" and "I don't know". As a result of preparation for recording, he gained an insight on what he needed to do regarding vocal technique.He released a single entitled "I don't know / Who stole the funk" on "New Orleans Records" in 1983.





He was afforded the opportunity to work with some talented artists of New Orleans in that area. Today many of these guys travel the world as professional Musicians. To name a few, Wendall Brunious, Jonathan Moffett, Chris Severin and many others. Later in life he realized that he still loved music, as he had been making his living as a Steam Plant Engineer for the city of New Orleans. During his labor years, he remained close to the music.
Today he still have much love for the music. He released his first full album called "New Orleans to Paris" on Number Three Turbine Records in 2010. It was recorded at Axis Studios, Metairie/New Orleans. There was project prior to the "New Orleans to Paris" project entitled "Behind Closed Doors". This one was described as a maxi single to include four songs.


On the new album appear some great musicians such as Chris Severin on bass and guitar, Herlin Riley on drums, Thaddeus Richard on piano, Carl LeBlanc and Aaron Stampley on guitars, Leroy Jones and Jamelle Williams on trumpet, Wendell Brunious on Flugal Horn, Dwayne "DOC" Paulins on trombone, Clarence Johnson III on saxophone.


Most of the songs are covers. He decided to dedicate this album to Lou Rawls. Lou was one of his favorites back during his experimental years of singing. I chose 3 tracks entitled "Lady Love" of Lou Rawls, "Let's Fall In Love All Over Again" of Billy Paul and "More Than Yesterday" of Spiral Starecase. I want to mention that "Lady Love" is a fantastic cover, maybe it is better than the original of Lou Rawls. Amazing arrangement and great horns.







This album CD seems to have been well accepted by the New Orleans World Wide Community Radio as well as the locals. The Turtle in Nashville and a station in Boulder have played this CD several times.



Note: The above posted tracks are not played in full

I highly recommend this album. Available CD and digital download at CDBABY.

I want to thank Ceasar Elloie for his confidence in me.

Comments

Unknown said…
I LOVE this album. I'm going to send a copy to Jonathan Schwartz who broadcasts on WNYC-FM New York on Saturdays and Sundays. Jonathan Schwartz focuses on standards and I believe he should know that Ceasar's album is out there.

Best regards,

Elizabeth Burns
Asbury Park, NJ

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