From the Promoter

Davis Rogan draws his musical inspiration from Professor Longhair and Fats Domino, as does every New Orleans rhythm and blues piano player. What separates Davis is his lyrics. The wit, irony and self-deprecation echo Randy Newman, but the wry observations about life, humanity and New Orleans are uniquely his. This combination of roots music and sharp lyrics, heard in the 2005 release, The Once and Future DJ, drew auteur David Simon to Davis as David prepared his HBO series about New Orleans, TREME. Davis began working as a consultant and, over six years and four seasons of the show, served as an actor, a scriptwriter, a piano coach, a songwriter and the muse for the character Davis McAlary. By the series’ end, Davis had written or placed more music in the show than any other musician. Davis is a fifth-generation New Orleanian who was raised in the Carollton neighborhood. He currently resides in Treme. He began his broadcast career on WTUL at the age of 10, did his college radio stint at KRRC and was a DJ at WWOZ for 13 years. After graduating from Reed College with a BA in English, Davis began the dual path of teaching elementary school music for the Orleans Parish Public Schools and performing music professionally. Davis’ first gig was with Kermit Ruffins, but he came to prominence in the New Orleans music scene with his eight-piece funk, brass and hip hop group ALL THAT, for which he was lead singer, band leader, principal songwriter, arranger and producer. There are three albums to their credit, including one on Rounder Records. In the early aughts, Davis formed a small rhythm and blues band featuring his original material. 2005’s The Once and Future DJ led to the work on the show TREME. 2011’s The Real was a rumination on the meta existence of writing songs for a character who bears one’s name. In 2014, with the show wrapped, Davis wrote Ex Machina. While rooted in New Orleans R&B, this album harkens back to the funk and rap sounds of his earlier work. Critics have called it his best yet. Davis has played solo and with his band throughout the United States and Europe. He is available for solo, group, workshop and instructional performances.

Chris Butcheris a musician firmly established as a representative of the global music village, transcending genre and cultural predisposition, and pleasing audiences across the world. As a leader of The Heavyweights Brass Band Chris has been behind one of the brightest lights to emerge on the Canadian music scene. Combine that with his extensive experience as a sideman, work as a radio host/producer, role as an educator/community builder, Chris Butcher illustrates a promising portrait of an influential career in music. Chris moved to Toronto in his early twenties and quickly built a solid reputation as one of Canada’s top trombone players in the most diverse musical scene on the planet playing in the groups of many of the country’s most prestigious artists including Jane Bunnett, Jay Douglas, Hilario Duran, Archie Alleyne and Kevin Breit among countless others. Chris is now resident of New Orleans after coming down frequently over the years to study with Delfeayo Marsalis and soak up the roots of the music.
On special occasions Chris has played and recorded with some of the finest international artists like Quincy Jones, The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, The Treme Brass Band, Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Ernest Ranglin, Giovanni Hidalgo, Broken Social Scene, Dubmatix, David Clayton-Thomas and many more. In 2015 Chris was awarded Emerging Artist of the Year at the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. He also formed Street Brass, a community based ensemble that teaches and performs brass band music of the Americas. 2018 promises to be a year of continued growth as Chris splits time between studying/playing in the great city of New Orleans, touring with the California based Mad Caddies, and his many ongoing projects in Toronto.