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Benefit Concert with New Orleans Icons Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand
A concert to benefit Petaluma Historic Advocates and the Polly Klaas Foundation!
Tom McDermott was born in St Louis in 1957. After a master’s degree in music he moved to New Orleans in 1984. With his background in ragtime and traditional jazz he was soon one of the busiest players in town. He’s appeared with the Dukes of Dixieland at Carnegie Hall and played with Pete Fountain, Irma Thomas and Gatemouth Brown. His 17 CDs have been reviewed in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He looks forward to playing in California for the first time in a while!
Aurora Nealand embarked on a cross country bicycle trip, during which she interviewed rural Americans and compiled their stories into a musical piece titled “American Dreams”. The trip concluded in New Orleans, where she began playing traditional jazz, much of which she had grown up listening to in California. Nealand formed The Royal Roses in 2011 for a tribute concert to Sidney Bechet at Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Along with the Royal Roses, Nealand also performs as a member of the rockabilly band Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers and solo under the name Monocle. In 2019, Nealand, under the name “Monocle”, brought her project “KindHumanKind” to the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center receiving a positive review from OffBeat magazine. She frequently performs in a duo with New Orleans pianist and singer Tom McDermott. As of 2023, her latest project is Aurora Nealand and the Reed Minders. Nealand was voted “Best Female Performer” by the 2016 Gambit. awards, and her band was named “Best Traditional Jazz Band” in the 2015 and 2017 Big Easy Awards. She was named one of Downbeat Magazine's “Rising Stars” on both soprano saxophone and clarinet in 2017, 2018, 2020.
Tom and Aurora can be found performing with many unique New Orleans collaborations in hallowed historic venues such as The Spotted Cat, Three Muses, Snug Harbor, and Buffa’s Back Room – now to include the historic Polly Klaas Community Theater making Petaluma the New Orleans of the West!
Sunday Dec 21st in Petaluma at the historic Polly Klaas Community Theater, supporting the Polly Klaas Foundation and the Petaluma Historic Advocates. A true collaboration of music, humanity, and history!