Pioneering gypsy jazz ensembleSquirrel Nut Zippers(SNZ) have announced their upcoming tour“Jazz from the Back O’ Town”—a spellbinding tribute to the legendary New Orleans neighborhood that gave birth to a musical revolution.
Kicking offFriday, October 10at theWendy Williamson AuditoriuminAnchorage, AKand running throughSaturday, October 25inElyria, OHat theStocker Arts Center, these intimate, yet rollicking and raucous shows, will explore the late 19th Century through the Roaring 20s NOLA Jazz scene as the Zippers provide a delightful view into this vibrant era with reverent, yet exciting, renditions of suchseminalclassics as Jelly Roll Morton’s “Animule Ball,” Louis Armstrong’s “Back O’ Town Blues,” and many others.
Tickets are available starting Friday June 6 at 10 AM local time athttps://www.snzippers.com/tourdates
During the“Jazz from the Back O’ Town” shows,the multi-platinumband will also perform favorites from their own catalog,adapted and arranged to more closely echo the sounds of 1920s New Orleans.Additionally, SNZ founder Jimbo Mathus will lend his humorous, insightful musings on both the musical history of one of America’s most fascinating citiesandthe stories and inspirations behind many of the Zippers’ most beloved songs.
Official dates for SNZ“Jazz from the Back O’ Town” shows are as follows:
October 10Wendy Williamson AuditoriumAnchorage, AK
October 21The BirchmereAlexandria, VA
October 22Miller TheatreReading, PA
October 23Jergel’sPittsburgh, PA
October 24Payne & Mencias Palladium*Carmel, IN
October 25Stocker Arts CenterElyria, OH
*On sale August 1.
“Jazz from the Back O’ Town”will provide a uniquely-historic look at the origins and evolutions of SNZ over the course of their career and the role the music of 1920s New Orleans has played in forming and shaping their sound. Not so much a period piece as a living “peek-behind-the-curtain” of inspiration and celebration.
For the most up-to-date information on the band visit:
About Squirrel Nut Zippers
The Platinum recording artists have sold over three million albums to-date with their watershed album,Hot(1996), making them a household name. Recorded in the heat of New Orleans, fueled by a smoldering mix of booze and a youthful hunger to unlock the secrets of old-world jazz, this pivotal release was just the beginning for the band.
Since then, SNZ has unveiled such hits asBeasts Of Burgundy(2018), which debuted at #4 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart, andChristmas Caravan(1998), which went on to sell a quarter of a million copies and reach #12 on the Billboard Holiday Albums chart.
Their most recent recordLost Songs of Doc Souchondebuted in late 2020. Itfeatured 10 tracks – a combination of newly-penned Zippers songs, along with a few tunes from past times – and has received acclaim from fans and critics alike.
Since reactivating in mid-2016, SNZ have been performing to packed houses across the country and around the world. As Mathus has said since the band’s re-launch, “it’s not a reunion, it’s a revival.”