Kermit Ruffins Going Big Band

Produced by GRAMMY Award Winner Tracey Freeman (Harry Connick, Jr., Jeremy Davenport), Happy Talk is Kermit's first collection of big band music.

For Kermit, Happy Talk has been a long time coming. Throughout his career, he has made no secret of his love of big band music and his admiration for legendary bandleaders like Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton and Count Basie.

As the bandleader, lead vocalist and trumpeter on the new album, Kermit has taken the big band sound and given it his own "Kermit swing." There's his rousing take of Sam Cooke's classic "Ain't That (Good News)" and "If I Only Had A Brain," which Kermit infuses with a healthy dose of Latin spice.

The album also pays tribute to Kermit's musical inspiration, Louis Armstrong, with versions of songs that Armstrong made famous including "Hey Look Me Over," "La Vie En Rose," and "Shine." Kermit also leads his band through his own swingin' originals like "I Got A Trem� Woman" and "New Orleans (My Home Town)."