Coming from this background, Powell intrinsically draws no distinct lines between musical styles as is clearly demonstrated on Powells Place. Hes at once a traditional jazz and modern jazz musician, who early on worked with banjoist/guitarist Danny Barker as well as pianist Ellis Marsalis. Powell undoubtedly received his widest recognition during his six years in Harry Connick Jr.s band that resulted in two platinum records hanging on his wall. The rhythm and blues scene also utilized Powells huge abilities and he boasts recordings with vocalists Johnny Adams and Tommy Ridgley. He holds down two nights a week at Preservation Hall and on Sundays he swings out, leading his own group at Donnas. At the Satchmo SummerFest hell be hitting with pianist Henry Butlers traditional jazz ensemble the Steamin Syncopators.

When Shannon Powell is behind the drums, his fellow musicians and audiences are assured of the most solid, swingin and stylistically simpatico rhythms to be found anywhere on the planet. Stepping out for the first time as a vocalist on Powells Place adds yet another resource to his big bag of musical talents.

So youre singing on this album. Why now after all these years?
I had to get the courage to come out singing. Ive always been a musician whos played behind people. Ive always been a sideman. Youve got to develop being in the front. Its not easy. You have to have personality; you have to have charisma; you have to have stage presence. You cant be shy.

But youve always sort of been in the front even though you were in the back. I dont think anybody would consider you, well, shy.
Thats because I open my big mouth all the time and holler out. I learned to sing in church in the youth choir at the St. James Methodist Church. I grew up Catholic, of course, but I switched over when I was 15 or 16 years old. I never kinda left the Catholic Church but I used to go to the Baptist church a lot because I dug what was happening when I went there the first time. I didnt know you could have that kind of music in church. Of course, I grew up next door to a sanctified churchSt. Philips Church of God in Christ. I knew what that was like. Thats how I learned to play tambourine at the sanctified church. Every Tuesday they would have a prayer meeting and mostly all the women were musicians and they were good. They played the hell out of the tambourine. But when I got to the Baptist church as I got older and I started seeing the drums and guitars and the electric bass and the big Hammond organ, the piano, the electric piano and it was like Wow, theres a band here.
When I was in Clark Senior High School I got back in the choir by popular demand because they knew I could sing. I was in the chorus class but I wasnt participating in the choir. But when they discovered I could sing everybody was like, We need you; we need you. I never was a soloist. This was always backup. I never had the opportunity to sing solo but when someone was on a gig Id always be backing them up singing and they always told me, You ought to start singingpeople like Juanita Brooks, Wanda Rouzan, George French, David Lastie. Snooks Eaglin, I played with him the other night and he said, Man, I like your record. I didnt think you had it in you son.

So when did you first sing out front? Did you turn to anyone for help?
At the Preservation Hall. I play every Tuesday and Friday and so what I did, I said to myself, Im just going to sing some songs at the Hall and break myself instart getting myself some confidence and running my keys. So if you come over there now, youll hear me sing a lot, especially if there arent any trumpet players there. And lately, Ive been singing at Donnas on Sunday. I dont need no help because Im influenced by so many people. I have so many idolsJohnny Adams, Topsy Chapman, Juanita Brooks, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra. These are the people I listen to to learn and motivate me on how to really do the thing right.

How about singing drummers?
Yes, one in particular who I admire a lot and who encouraged me to sing too, a good friend, Grady Tate out of New York. What a great singer he is. Ive noticed that a lot of drummers have been singing around here lately. Bob French has been singing at Donnas and Herlin [Riley] did a couple of tunes at Palm Court. He used to sing with Leroy Jones when he had the first New Orleans Finest band and Herlin was the drummer back in the 1980s. His number one tune is St. Louis Blues. Herman Ernest sings and Zigaboo sings. Yep, singing drummers, yes indeed.

I assume that Harry Connick influenced you as a vocalist.
Of course, especially on the tune Taking a Chance on Love. I kind of thought about Harry when I did that, especially the ending because he and I used to listen to Frank Sinatra a lot. When I first started out with him he wanted me to check out how Frank Sinatras drummer played [Harold Jones] and the way Frank sang on the album he did with the Count Basie Orchestra. Arrangements play a big part in the way that song is presented. I kind of got a great idea of what I wanted to doit came right to mefrom being around Harry and watching how he does his arrangements and listening to Frank Sinatra which came from being around Harry.

I never exactly understood the reason you left Harrys band.
It was all business. It was nothing personal because me and Harry love each other. I love Harry and Harry loves me and he brought me out to the world and gave me an opportunity. He introduced me to the world and if it wasnt for him a lot of the world wouldnt know me today. I can truly say my name rings a bell all over the world in the business and thats because of Harry. He gave me the opportunity to sing too. He and I did duos together. He and I used to do a lot of New Orleans things together like Basin Street Blues. He was a guy who likes to entertain his audience and he used what he had on the bandstand. Thats what I learned also from being around Harry is that if you have two-and-a-half hours on the bandstand you cant do it alone.

So Harry and I didnt have no beef. It was a management thing. Basically the way I look at it, I saw it coming so I thought it looked like it was time to get off the bus. I got some really great endorsements Im still with Zildjian [the cymbal manufacturer].

Lets talk some more about the album. Theres quite a variety of styles here theres swing, a spiritual, jazz ballads, R&B, traditional jazz, pop, modern jazz. What ties them together?
What I try to capture is a mood for everybodys likingsa child, adults, elderly people, Christian people, people that like blues, jazz. I think more CDs should be like that. There are so many CDs out here that people are just making to present themselveslike, Hey, check me out. I can do this. I mean you find musicians buying CDs to check out cats, but most people are buying it to soothe their souls and do something for their weekend moraleyou know, get themselves prepared.

Do you think that part of New Orleans persona is that music is also viewed as entertainment?
Yeah, and Im glad. I try to select things that I feel. If it makes me feel good I know its going to make someone else feel good to. Like the way we did Taking a Chance on Love, the way we presented that. Its been done millions of times but its not like youve heard it. Its quite different.

You did a very unique version of Lord, Lord, Lord. The spiritual was offered almost in a folk style or like a field chantvery simple and empty.
Okay, that was for two different audiencesfor the church people and for the local Trem people. They can recognize that feeling and the way that I did that more than anyone else in the world because its rooted in that neighborhood.

Its the humming. I thought about a motion picture coming on TV like The Color Purple or Roots or something like that. Old people used to hum when I was in church years ago. I used to hear them old ladies hum like that at all the wake services when I was a little boy and would sit on my mamas lap. Thats where I get that from. I did everything on therethe lead vocals, background vocals, drums, the tambourine, cowbell. I also experimented for the first time with the drum machine. Ben Jaffe did the bass line on electric keyboard. I was also influenced by Cyril Neville on that. I thought a lot about him when I did that. [Shannon starts singing, Hey, my Lord, Oh Lord] Thats Cyril Neville there.

You wanted to tell me about the percussion instrument you played on I Wanna Know What Love Is.
Its a groove box. You sit on it. Its got a string inside of it that makes one sound like a snare drum and the other sound like a bass drum. Michael Skinkus plays it all the time. I grew up listening to all kinds of music myself and that particular song was one that I really liked. Ben Jaffe, who produced the album, grew up listening to it too. A couple of weeks later [after laying down the track], I got a call from Ben and he said, Listen to this and he had Gena [Brown] singing it in Spanish. Shes singing it through a megaphone to give it an old-time sound.

Hindustan was one I wanted to do because I wanted to make sure I did a song that sort of represents what I do at Preservation Hall and what I grew up playing all my life. It was so funny because that day the piano player had left and the bass player had left so I didnt have nobody else to do that with me except Ben Jaffe so hes playing bass and piano. He sounds like Sweet Emma on piano because he grew up in the Hall so he knows all this shit. We brought in [trombonist] Corey Henry and [trumpeter] Kid Merv [Campbell].

You mentioned learning tambourine at church. I always thought you came to it through the Mardi Gras Indians.
That came afterwards. The church was first. The Indians that I saw on the streets that was a whole other different kind of rhythm but the same sort of techniquethe way you hold it and allbut different tempos. [By clapping his hands, Shannon demonstrates the styles, first singing Two-way Pockaway and then going into This Little Light of Mine.] The same styleits all connected. The first time I grabbed the thing I was about 6 or 7 and I was scared to death of it because it was big and heavy. And I wondered how those women could play the thing. Just being there and seeing and watching I learned. Most of my career playing music is from watching and learning. I never really had formal training like theory and all that. Everything I learned was being around the great musicians of New Orleans. You know my mentors were David Lastie and Mr. Danny Barker. Danny Barker was first and then I fell into the hands of David Lastie who is Herlin Rileys uncle. They kind of raised me as a young musician and I started calling them my family. Herlin is like a brother to me and his mother is like a mother to me and all of his family is like my real family. Herlin really opened my life up because as a kid I played a lot of hard core traditional music being around Preservation Hall. I learned from being in the streets at a young agehanging in the Quarter. I used to go to the concerts at the Municipal Auditorium and sometimes I would get in from meeting people that were part of the show and sometimes I would sneak in. I was so small, I could sneak in easy. Thats how I ran into Kidd Jordan and Clyde Kerr and all the people that were playing in the orchestra.

You play tambourine on Lord, Lord, Lord and also on the CD, Shake That Thing, with the Preservation Hall Band.
I play tambourine on a lot of recordings, especially with Irvin Mayfield. Im getting gigs at playing tambourine like drums. I dont mind. They call me The Tambourine Man. I wasnt playing tambourine on gigs but when I saw Herlin play gigs on a tambourine one day that told me this can be done.

Thats my student on tambourine on You Are My Sunshine. Wait till I tell you who my student isJoe Glasper Jr., Little Joe. See Joe used to play drums in high school and Joe knows the same kind of thing I know abouthes got that natural feeling. Hes my student cause he hangs under me. Ive taken him on other sessions and hes gotten paid. I gave Bill Summers some tambourine lessons on traditional gospel.

So when did you start playing drums?
I really started playing drums in the church. I was influenced by this preacher at the St. Philip Street Church, Reverend Shelton. My first paid gig was with Danny Barker and the Jazzhounds at the Jazz Fest [at age 14]. Of course, I had played with his Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band.

Lets talk about the musicians on the album. Jason Marsalis is a very important element on the CD. How long have you been playing with him?
We just recently started playing together since he been playing vibes. I think Jason started his vibes career about six or seven years ago and since then hes really gotten great on vibes as far as Im concerned. He had a little gig every Monday night at the Funky Butt where he was playing with some young cats from UNO. I happened to stroll through there a couple of times checking Jason out and I saying to myself, Whoa, one day hes going to be a great vibist. Indeed, he became that. I heard him playing on a CD with Mr. Henri Smith. They did a tune entitled Old Black Magic and it sounded so good. I told Henri when I do my CD Ive got to get Jason to put some vibes on it. Me and Jason had gotten together on a couple of occasions at Donnas at my gig on Sundays. And we spoke about him playing on my CD.

Because Jason is a drummer too, how does that work with your drumming and his vibe playing?
It works so good because of the fact that Im from a different sort of school than he is. And the way I play, he much prefers that type of drumming behind him. He and I both had an opportunity to play on a gig with Lionel Hampton at Jazz Fest a couple of years ago. He played a couple of tunes with Hamp but Hamp begged for me. What happened that day Jason was playing a more modern feeling and I was playing more roots, old-fashioned. So I think thats the day that Jason found out some things about me. Now, when we play together he feels what happened that day. Weve even talked about it. We shared that on the airplane coming home from Switzerland the other day because he just came back from Ascona [Jazz Festival] with me. I took my band to Asconathe Shannon Powell QuartetJason, myself, Roland Guerin and Steve Masakowsi.

So did you play mostly traditional jazz?
Well, we played most of the stuff off of the CD which was good and the people liked it. But I learned that people over there really like traditional music. When I got there and saw what was happening I told the guys in the band, Look man, I need you guys to go your rooms and study every traditional tune you know. So the next night they all came with lists of the songs they knewand well, you know I know them all. So I was calling tunes that everybody knew and was singing tunes like Lily of the Valley and Muskrat Ramble.

Back to Jason for a minute I think people who havent been to your gig at Donnas would be surprised to find Jason and you playing together. As you said, you come from two different musical schools.
Jason is such a great talent and hes just so good to be around because hes serious about his music and hes a serious person, period. I like having conversations with him because we talk a little bit about everything. My favorite is when he talks about cartoons. The reason I know about them is because of my kids. Thats [conversation] why my CD came out so good and so fast because the four of usTodd Duke, Jason, Roland and Larry Sieberthwe just sat down and talked about what we were going to do and did it. Thats whats great about dealing with professional musicians. That day in the studio was like magic. We didnt have no music scored, we didnt have any written arrangements.

Todd Duke really sounds wonderful especially on The Nearness of You. Im not sure that people appreciate him enough. Also, what are you connections with the other musicians on the disc?
Todd Duke is another guy who I recently started playing with. I had played with him with John Boutt. Todd is a wonderful player and wonderful person. He has just gotten so good. Hes been around playing with a lot of New Orleans vocalistshe plays with a lot of people. Now Larrys my regular piano player every Sunday at Donnasthis my fourth year at Donnas coming up.

People think of Larry, Jason and Roland as quite modern and you as a little more old school. How did this become the band that plays this music?
I was trying to capture the sound of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Ive listened to a lot of their CDs and I like the combination of the piano and vibes, drums and bass. Its such a great sound. The day that we made the magic, it just blew me away because I accomplished the sound that I was hearing. I told everybody how much I appreciated themit was like a dream come true.

So what do you see in the future?
I want to branch out a little bit more. I want to start traveling again playing music with my own band. I dont want to leave New Orleans though. I just want to go back on the road as a leader and a singer and a drummer. Ive been on the road just going out every now and then like I did the gig with Diana Krall for a year and I do tours with the Hall every now and then. I always have some little things happening here and there but nothing really like when I was Harrybut I dont want nothing like that. I dont want to go on the road that serious. I just want to go out with my own band to get something established so I have the option.

Shannon Powell CD Release Parties:
Donnas August 7
Sweet Lorraines August 12
Snug Harbor August 13