(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- New Orleans singer, songwriter, producer, trumpeter, and multi-instrumentalist Shamarr Allen is coming to Cape May on Sunday, May 15 to perform at the Exit Zero Jazz Festival on his 45+ date spring and summer tour supporting his forthcoming album, True Orleans 2. Shamarr will be appearing on the Carney’s Other Room stage with back-to-back sets: 7:00-8:10pm and 9:20pm-10:30pm.
True Orleans 2, a jubilant collection of original songs that melds the diverse styles of the Crescent City, will be released on May 6th via Allen’s own imprint POME Music Group. The 13-track set features his new single “Dance With Me,” a joyful and spirited invitation to bust out of the isolation of the last two years and feel good again.
The official music video for "Dance With Me" is a fun and beautiful visual representation of the many cultures found within New Orleans featuring Kermit Ruffins, Big Sam, Baby Dolls, Zulu Tramps, Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale, Pussy Footers, True Orleans Brass Band, Beyjorettes and DJ Polo 504. True Orleans 2 was recorded and produced by Allen at his own studio in New Orleans and features the multi-talent playing trumpet, trombone, drums, keyboards, and bass as well as programming the electronic drums.
The album marks Allen’s first collection of new music in four years and follows his previous albums: Box Who In? (2009), 504-799-8147 (2011), and True Orleans (2018), the latter of which featured “Hit the Sean Payton,” a paean to the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl-winning coach that became a major local singalong success and viral hit.
Allen will officially celebrate the release of True Orleans 2 at home with his annual appearance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Saturday, May 7.
Active professionally in his hometown since his teens as a member of the Rebirth Brass Band, Shamarr is a stylistic synthesist who brings together many sounds indigenous to New Orleans, often in the same surprising track: the city’s traditional brass bands; the in-the-alley R&B of such ‘50s giants as Fats Domino; the steamy funk of ‘60s and ‘70s stars like the Meters and Allen Toussaint; the hard-hitting ‘90s rap of such breakout Cash Money and No Limit stars as Master P and Lil’ Wayne; and the booty-shaking bounce of new-millennium performers like Big Freedia (who was featured on “The Greatest Place in the World,” the lead-off track on the first True Orleans). But his sources run well outside of the city limits, with Allen naming Willie Nelson as his favorite songwriter and Prince, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and many others as influences, thus resulting in what Shamarr has dubbed “bridge music” because of the way his music bridges a variety of styles and people. Following his time in Rebirth as the band’s third trumpet player, then a rarity, the versatile Allen has since collaborated with everyone from local icons such as Galactic and Harry Connick and international stars like Patti LaBelle, Lenny Kravitz, and Willie Nelson.
A turning point for Allen’s career came in 2009, when he not only released his debut album but had the honor of performing the National Anthem for President Obama in New Orleans, which resulted in an invitation to play at the esteemed Governor’s Ball at the White House. Since then, Allen has served as an official musical ambassador for the U.S. traveling to Brazil, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, and the Congo.
Though he’s traveled the world on behalf of his country, some of Allen’s most important charitable work takes place right at home in his own backyard. For the past decade, Shamarr has been teaching music to local children, free of charge, at weekly sessions held in his mother’s home, with some of these students even performing at Allen’s Jazz Fest dates. And in 2020, Allen launched his Trumpet Is My Weapon gun exchange program after a nine-year-old was killed and two other youngsters were wounded in a New Orleans shooting. Giving away some of his own horns and using donations and money raised online to buy instruments, Allen offered a trumpet to any New Orleans youth who turns in a gun — free of charge, no questions asked.
The 2022 Exit Zero Jazz Festival takes place May 13-15, 2022 in Exit Zero Ferry Park (1200 Lincoln Blvd) in North Cape May, New Jersey.
Photo credit: B. Dragon
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