January 2026

Hello Dear Friends!

Thanks so much for checking in.

It’s a big transitional time for me, as I am in the process of shutting things down in New Orleans and getting the Arts Center running in Valencia, Spain. New Orleans has been such an important and amazing part of my life – I am full of gratitude pretty much always. I am particularly thankful for the people with a direct connection to the ancestors that have shared and showed me so much about the music and the culture. It has also been truly a gift to try to carry on Ellis’ and Mr. Batt’s legacy at Unioversity of New Orleans Jazz Studies, and feeling as though I have maybe had a small part in keeping the music alive, healthy and moving forward while staying connected to the past. Mr. Batt, thanks for loaning me your office these last 17 years – I hope I have made you proud.

I am in a place where I feel as though I have enough energy and will left for one last great chapter. The Centre ValArts is not going to be exclusively about music. I see visionary culiunary artists curating meals, non-fiction writers doing workshops, visual artists creating and sharing, etc, etc. I really want to help birth a space that can exist beyond the neesd for constant capitalisation and beyond me, frankly. Not that I plan on going anywhere soon, but to be blunt, my end is certainly closer than my beginning :) I want artists of all types to be able to connect with their fans and supporters as directly as possible. I also really look forward to connecting all of my incredibly creative friends from around the world with the beautiful, warm and kind artists I have met in Spain and Portugal. We have assembled a FAQ if you want to read more about the project. It is probably more than anyone actually wants to know :) You can check it out here.

In the first half of 2026 we are undertaking a fairly substantial capital campaign to complete Phase 1 of the project, which will be to finish out the performance and recording space and the complex’s office. We already own the space, and we have a promise of a matching grant to do Phase 2 when we get Phase 1 done. Hopefully the ValArtsUSA website (our US non-profit) will be live soon, and you can get even more news and pretty pictures.

The Organic Trio has a couple of tours coming up in Europe in the first half of the year. I love playing and hanging with those cats, so hopefully if you are somewhere in the area you can hear us play. I think this year will be our 17th anniversary. Cindy Scott and I are here, there and everywhere, so keep your eyes on the calendar. We are playing at one of my fasvorite places in the world, the Whirlybird in St. Landry Parish, in March if you feel like making a trip to Acadiana.

Once again it has been another great year of helping folks with their projects. Brad Walker relased an amazing quartet disc that is sonically stunning and tremendously moving, Anna Laura Quinn put out a super sweet duo record with Ed Barrett that I produced and engineered, and Zoë de Priester released a gorgeous chamber jazz record on the Dutch label ZenneZ records. Micheal Jenner is about to drop a great record featuring a bunch of original music and several New Orleans legends. So - that is my report! I am wishing for you all the best that I can.

Peace,
– B

Thanks to the people that keep me sounding good with their fine products: Mesa Boogie, D’Addario Strings, Bryan Galloup Guitars and Robert Keeley Effects.

ps: I started an email list thing a while ago, the big plan being to send out my news and my gig list about once a month. So far I’ve sent out exactly one mailing! I swear I will get it together eventually. So, if you want to take the chance that one day you might get something, click these words. If, at some point, you become terminally swamped by electronic correspondences (which at the rate I’m going could never happen!), you can un-sign up too, the convenient and automatic disconnect link comes with every email! Also, you have the option of letting me know where you are, so I won’t bother you with gig notices for stuff nowhere near you.