Since reactivating in mid-2016 the Squirrel Nut Zippers have been performing to packed houses across the country and around the world. As band leader Jimbo Mathus has said since the band’s re-launch, ‘it’s not a reunion, it’s a revival!’
And the revival last year included the band’s first new studio album in eighteen years titled titled Beasts Of Burgundy. The album debuted at #4 on the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart upon its release and the critics raved:
“There is, of course, jazz of various stripes (mainly pre-WWII varieties) on this deliciously wide-ranging comeback, but there’s so much more: sounds, identifiable and not, emanating from mysterious times and places, not the least of which is New Orleans, their home base, a land that, forever and still, has a mind of its own.” - Relix
The touring now continues into 2019 with the band announcing their first set of new tour dates for the year starting April 11th in Maquoketa, Iowa. Tickets for the April shows go on sale this Friday.
Between 1995-2000 the Squirrel Nut Zippers sold over three million albums. Their watershed album, Hot (1996) was recorded in the heat of New Orleans, fueled by a smoldering mix of booze and a youthful hunger to unlock the secrets of old world jazz. This passion mixed with klezmer, blues and random bits of contemporary musical leanings became the bands signature style. At the time, there were few other bands inhabiting this space. The album would eventually break free of any “jazz” stereotypes and land on commercial radio, taking the band to remarkable heights for what was essentially an anti-establishment sound.
Years later and through chronicles of every kind, the band has emerged from a lengthy recording hiatus, reinvigorated, reinvested, and rejuvenated. With an all-star cast of New Orleans musicians, the band breathed new life in to the old material, and inspired Mathus to return to the studio to reignite the band’s unique, enigmatic sound.
Watch the band’s recent performance on NPR’s World Café here:
https://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2018/04/17/603228946/squirrel-nut-zippers-on-world-cafe
For the most up to date information on the bands visit:
https://www.facebook.com/SNZippers
https://www.instagram.com/snzippers/
April 11, 2019 Maquoketa, Iowa Codfish Hollow Barn
April 12, 2019 Minneapolis, Minnesota Dakota Jazz Club
April 13, 2019 Evanston, Illinois SPACE
April 14, 2019 Ferndale, Michigan The Magic Bag
April 16, 2019 Warrendale, Pennsylvania Jergel's Rhythm Grille
April 17, 2019 Ithaca, New York The Haunt
April 18, 2019 Rockport, Massachusetts Shalin Liu Performance Center
April 19, 2019 Portland, Maine AURA
April 20, 2019 New York, New York City Winery
April 21, 2019 South Burlington, Vermont Higher Ground Ballroom
April 23, 2019 Boston, Massachusetts City Winery Boston
April 24, 2019 Fairfield , Connecticut StageOne
April 25, 2019 Ardmore, Pennsylvania Ardmore Music Hall
April 26, 2019 Reading, Pennsylvania Miller Center for the Arts
April 27, 2019 Kent, Ohio Kent Stage
