Jonathan Freilich
These excerpts from Jonathan Freilich’s Freedom Double-0 Jazz Latin Boogaloo: The Radio Documentary explore exactly what his music, his process, and his philosophies are and how he works within and without them to accomplish his goals and ideas. Freilich is also known for his wit and sometimes surreal and always down-to-earth way of explaining his music and its connections to the city from which it has sprung and the world in which he plays it. It shows the journey that Freilich has taken in his life and the similar journeys that his playing and music have taken. He has been the essence of the working and creative musician in New Orleans.
1) Here Jonathan Freilich talks about his arrival in New Orleans. Then he and the other members of the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars explain the beginnings of Freilich’s best known band and what distinguishes their music.
2) Freilich and his collaborators trombonist Jeff Albert, saxophonist Tim Green, guitarist Alex McMurray, bassist James Singleton, and drummer Stanton Moore talk about how Freilich plays and what makes it unique.
3) Freilich and other members of his big band, the Naked Orchestra, speak of the origins of that band, how it is different from other big bands, and how its music is different.
Jonathan Freilich is one of the most respected, creative, and unsung musicians in the Crescent City. Born in Philadelphia, raised in London and Los Angeles, and having lived in New Orleans since 1989, Freilich has played many types of music that can be found in New Orleans. These include bands he has founded including The New Orleans Klezmer All Stars, the jazz bands Naked on the Floor and avant garde big band, the Naked Orchestra, the rock-steady ska band 007, and the rhythm and blues band Poor Man’s Speedball. He is also in the roster of bands such as the Cuban band Los Vecinos and The World Accordion of Glenn Hartmann. He worked with such virtuosos and local legends as legendary jazz innovator Sam Rivers, former Holy Modal Rounder Peter Stampfel, producer and guitarist Mark Bingham, Sun Ra trumpeter Michael Ray and the Cosmic Krewe, percussionist Michael Ward, Neville Brothers drummer Mean Willie Green, Royal Fingerbowl and Tin Men songwriter Alex McMurray, and many others.