Named after the infamous South Louisiana swamp rat, Nutria performs genre-bending contemporary jazz compositions with an emphasis on collective improvisation. The trio's music creatively explores jazz, chamber music, and traditional music of the African diaspora and Eastern Europe, as well as the avant-garde, while staying true to New Orleans jazz and groove traditions.
"Showing a clear strategic intelligence and inventiveness and a substantial depth of artistic resourcefulness" (No Depression magazine), Nutria has toured throughout the United States playing art centers, jazz clubs and dive bars. In 2017, they performed on the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. In 2016, they were commissioned by the New Orleans-based Marigny Opera Ballet to compose "Wary Heat," a new ballet that was premiered in February 2017 and reprised in January 2018.
Nutria was formed in New Orleans in 2014 while its members were graduate students in the renowned jazz studies program at the University of New Orleans and active in different corners of the local music scene. Their sound reflects a diversity of influences yet a deep commitment to the jazz idiom.
The members of Nutria have performed with a wide array of leading talents in New Orleans and around the world, including Ed Petersen, the Revelers, Mahmoud Chouki, Nduduzo Makhathini, Sarah Quintana, and local favorites Los Po-boy-citos. Nutria has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center (Washington, DC), the New Orleans Museum of Art, the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Twins Jazz Club (DC), Chris' Jazz Cafe (Philadelphia), the Jazz Gallery (Milwaukee), the Chatterbox Jazz Club (Indianapolis), and Elastic Arts (Chicago).
1. Hopscotch & Four-Square 08:53
2. First Sight 03:44
3. Funny Honey 06:02
4. Shackleton's Hill 03:55
5. Call To The Air 12:49
6. Lapeyrouse 07:57
7. Ghosts Before Breakfast 09:58
Recorded at Bear America Records, New Orleans, LA on August 23 and 24 2017
Recording Engineer: Carson Thielen
Assistant Engineer: David Hart
Mixed and Mastered by Jeff Albert
