Kermit Ruffins: The Trumpet, the Barbecue, and the Bywater

The Trumpet, the Barbecue, and the Bywater

Kermit Ruffins was born on December 19, 1964, in New Orleans and picked up the trumpet in eighth grade at Lawless Junior High School in the Ninth Ward. By the time he was a student at Clark High School, he had co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band — a group that would become one of the most important brass bands in the city's modern history. Rebirth drew inspiration from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, blending funk and bebop with the traditional New Orleans brass band sound. They created the template that every brass band after them would build on.

But Kermit Ruffins was never the kind of musician who wanted to stay in one lane. In 1992, he left Rebirth and formed the Barbecue Swingers — a traditional jazz quintet that played every Thursday night at Vaughan's Bar in the Bywater for over a decade. And yes, Ruffins cooked barbecue at every show. Ribs, chicken, sausage — a full spread, set up next to the bandstand, free for anyone who walked in the door. It was the most New Orleans thing imaginable: world-class trumpet playing and free barbecue in a neighborhood bar.

The Sound of the City

The New York Times described Ruffins as "an unabashed entertainer who plays trumpet with a bright, silvery tone, sings with off-the-cuff charm." That's accurate, but it undersells the man. Ruffins isn't just an entertainer — he's a living embodiment of New Orleans culture. He plays because he loves to play. He cooks because he loves to cook. He performs not for fame or fortune but because music and food and community are the same thing in New Orleans, and Ruffins refuses to separate them.

From Vaughan's to HBO

Ruffins appeared as himself in HBO's Treme, the show that tried to capture post-Katrina New Orleans. He sang "The Bare Necessities" with Bill Murray for Disney's 2016 Jungle Book remake. He's released numerous albums on Basin Street Records and continues to perform regularly in the city that made him.

Kermit Ruffins never left New Orleans, never tried to become a national star, never chased anything beyond the next gig and the next rack of ribs. He's the musician that New Orleans made for itself — not for export, but for home.