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Davell Crawford,
New Orleans' Crown Prince of Music
by Brian Sands
On a recent Sunday evening at the House of Blues, Davell Crawford was opening for blues legend Etta James. He knowingly acknowledged to the crowd, "Y'all didn't come to see me. Y'all came to see Miss Etta. Now she's a diva, a true diva."Yet by his fifth song, Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World", a man in the audience, seemingly unfamiliar with Davell until then, could be heard telling his date, "What a wonderful voice. He's like silk. He's just beautiful." No wonder he already has fans on four continents.
A seasoned pro at the age of 22, this crown prince of New Orleans' music seems poised to take the throne away from all those Marsalises and Nevilles someday. With a charming and articulate offstage persona that gives hardly any hint of the volcanic force that he unleashes on stage, Davell takes audiences on a soaring ride that embraces soul, funk, R&B, jazz and gospel all filtered through a unique sensibility.
Davell's royal peerage comes by way of his grandfather, James "Sugarboy" Crawford, composer of "iko iko" and a pioneer of the New Orleans R&B scene in the 1950s. This hereditary talent appeared at an early age. By the time he was three, Davell could play "Mary Had a Little Lamb", "Here Comes The Bride" and the "Sesame Street Theme" on the piano.
"Growing up was fun but strange because the two sides of my family had two different backgrounds," recalls Davell. "One minute I'd be going to the Baptist Church way out in Kentwood with a few singers and an organist. The next minute I'd be with my mother's side in Lafayette, listening to zydeco and attending a Catholic church where I'd hear the same hymns but played in a jamming kind of way. It was a bit confusing."
He was brought up by his grandmother Catherine Celestine and when asked what it was like raising Davell, she mischievously replies, "You don't want to print what I'd say." She backtracks a bit. "He was fine, but there was never a dull moment."
"He interacted with a lot of my customers," Celestine, owner of a beauty shop, adds. "When he was very little, he'd pull out a baby piano when he knew they'd want to hear him." Even as a child, there's no doubt that Davell had a flamboyant presence.
When he was about five years old, during visits to the French Quarter, they'd see the man outside Cafe du Monde who offers people looks through his telescope. At the time, he also had a piano but always turned down Davell's requests to play it. One weekend when the telescope line was real long, Davell asked again and the man still said no, but Davell jumped up and started playing anyway.
"Everyone clapped and Davell took a bow," recalls his grandmother. Davell's recollection is that "when the tips started coming in, I thought 'I like that."' The newfound partnership continued for a few months.
"His whole life is music," says Celestine who always encouraged her grandson. The facts bear her out: first piano at age 7, lessons at 8, started playing in church at 10, directed the youth choir at St. Joseph's Baptist Church in Holly Grove at 12, the adult choir there at 15 and the renowned St. Francis De Sales choir at 17.
"I grew up in the Missionary Baptist Church and they rocked, they really rocked," says Davell. That influence infuses not only his gospel performances, for which he won a 1998 Big Easy Music Award for Best Gospel Artist, but his entire repertoire. When he sings "Help Me Make It Through The Night" it is as much an anguished plea to God as a soulful cry to a lover.
The expansion of his talents into the local club scene began in his early teens. In 1988, he did a show at the Hilton with Charmaine Neville, the Dixie Cups and other New Orleans artists. When famed vibraphonist Lionel Hampton was in town for a concert at the Orpheum, he wanted to jam with Davell and arranged for a session at Charly B's. Not bad for a 12-year-old.
(Davell wanted to go to Hampton's concert in first class fashion and, already a diva himself, insisted on a limousine. His grandmother called Hampton, a friend of the family, and they went in style.)
As Davell grew up and attended John F. Kennedy H.S. and NOCCA "my grandmother basically let me experience things on my own from a young age." She let him go out to clubs, music and otherwise. "It let me get the wildness out of my system at an early age."
The freedom that Davell was given here translated into discipline when he started touring Europe around this time. Traveling through France, Switzerland and Italy, most 16/17-year-old musicians would come back with wild tales. Yet the wildest Davell got was one day when he was supposed to be in Rovigo and took off with two of his singers for a quick visit to Venice.
"That was a beautiful day for me," he recalls, "being in the most romantic city that there is for lovers."
During another tour, Davell made a trip that was memorable in a different way.
"We were in France and I thought we were going to Monte Carlo where I have friends. I'd played there before and it was wonderful, everyone driving Rolls-Royces and Jaguars.
"We got on the plane and I was just dealing with keeping my bags and costumes together. We got off the plane and I saw women with veils on their faces and beat up cars and palm trees-we were in Morocco! I had previously declined gigs in Africa but had a ball."
Although he had a very successful tour throughout Brazil last October, Davell's current plans are to "chill out and stay sane and enjoy New Orleans even if I do have a love/hate relationship with this place." He wants to write songs rather than tour but when he does feel like playing he can be found uptown at the Maple Leaf. "They cover my expenses, and me and my friends can drink for free."
Seeing Davell at the Maple Leaf is an unforgettable experience. As the fans whir overhead, he leads his hand-picked band along the rehearsed musical route while allowing for brilliant detours. Call it improvisational conducting. His hands fly dazzlingly over the keyboards evoking memories of James Booker and Professor Longhair. And when he sings, his innate charisma so illuminates the place that light bulbs are no longer necessary.
A highlight of his set is always his version of Fats Waller's "Ain't Nobody's Business." When Davell sings "if I choose to walk a little funny/Tain't nobody's business if I do," acting it out with a comedian's flair, it becomes a snarl, a threat, a tease, a challenge and ultimately a proud anthem of who he is.
Though one might think that it would be difficult to reconcile his flamboyant side with his church work and very religious nature, Davell clearly states, "For me it hasn't been a problem, even when I was young and very flamboyant, because I'm very self-assured. I'm an artist also and most people in the religious community know this. I don't hide from whatever feelings I'm feeling at a given moment 'cause it wouldn't be true to myself."
Despite his heavy schedule of the past few years, Davell has found time to give back to his community. He is active in the development of housing in Treme and in mentoring young people to prevent crime. In 1993, he performed at the first NO/AIDS Task Force volunteer appreciation party.
"Davell was the first entertainer to come forward and say he'd do it, and he helped to get other talent, like Marva Wright, to perform as well," says David Kiviaho who organized the party. "Since he's one of the most well-known gospel singers, when he came into the crowd with his hand-held microphone everyone went crazy. It was like giving all the volunteers a million thanks. He was flawless."
He also appeared for two years at the Halloween brunch at the House of Blues. "He was excellent," comments Wayne Christenberry, co-chair of the 1994 brunch and an ongoing supporter of Project Lazarus. "He got the crowd excited because he was talking from the heart. You could see that everyone was moved."
"I enjoyed the hell out of my Halloween House of Blues appearances," says Davell. "I enjoy the people and I'm happy to help out Project Lazarus."
In recognition of these contributions as well as his band workshops and school visits to speak out against drugs, Davell received a Mayor's Certificate of Appreciation as a "great role model" after his most recent House of Blues performance.
At the moment, Davell is enjoying the success of his latest CD release, The B-3 and Me, which shows off his command of the Hammond B-3 organ and features one track with singer Germaine Bazzle. A new recording of piano light jazz will be out in September. Untitled as yet, "every day I wake up, I ponder over a goddamn name. I like this album. I think it's the best one I've done."
Although he's had relationships in the past, this musical force of nature is currently single and says, "that's a good thing 'cause when you're alone you tend to learn more about yourself. And I kinda like that now."
Back at the House of Blues, New Orleans' Crown Prince was bathed in red stage lights as he emitted his 10,000 watt smile and Etta James' subjects found themselves under the sway of a new ruler. Outfitted in a gold-embroidered white dashiki, he was by turns introspective and extroverted. Master of both scat and funk, his eyes occasionally look out over the audience and seem to see far beyond it as though looking into a world of which only he has knowledge.
New fans were made that night to add to the spectrum that includes little kids, ladies in France in their eighties and nineties, and the legendary Ruth Brown who calls Davell "my little genius."
"If you have the anointing over you in any form of art," says Davell Crawford, "it can cut all the boundaries that people put up." This young, fabulously talented artist has the anointing and is certain to be cutting away boundaries for many years to come.
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