Kevin O’Day R.I.P.

The first time I saw Kevin O’Day play drums was in September 1995 with a ground breaking new band called All That. I was thinking seriously of attending a new iteration of the group, the first in a real long time, Thursday night partially because KOD was going to be on the gig.

The version of All That I saw back then at the sorely missed Mermaid Lounge was an amazing amalgamation comprised of musicians who are now all household names in New Orleans music. The leader, vocalist and keyboardist Davis Rogan miraculously managed to hire sousaphonist Kirk Joseph of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, trumpeter Brice Miller of the Mahogany Brass Band (not in photo), the late trombonist Keith “Wolf” Anderson, then of the Rebirth Brass Band, and guitarist Alex McMurray, to play his original songs and bring his concept to life.

That concept was to merge hip-hop, funk and New Orleans brass band music into a new musical genre, which today is simply called New Orleans funk. But it was new then and Kevin O’Day was central to the sound.

Two months later, at a big jam at the Mermaid for Rogan’s birthday, Jerry Anderson of Kermit Ruffin’s band was on drums and Mark Braud (pictured) was on trumpet. Stanton Moore sat in and KOD joined in as a rapper; showing another part of his musical personality. It wouldn’t be the last time he hit the mike.

On March 20, 1996 I saw Royal Fingerbowl for the first time. The band, which was led by McMurray playing his original songs and various covers, was a trio with Andy Wolf on upright bass and KOD laying down jazzy grooves when I thought at the time he was just a funk drummer. Little did I know that he could play it all.

Royal Fingerbowl took the city by storm and within two years of that gig they were signed to a major label deal. I went to dozens of their gigs and earned my first national byline in Tower Records Pulse! magazine with a short piece about the band.

It’s not available on line, but a framed copy has been on my office wall ever since. It reads in part, “Royal Fingerbowl, with its searing rock leads and jazz chops, defies genre-fication. Alongside jazz standards, it covers Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” and Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” during its torrid live shows. In the studio it created an aural landscape that covers the same terrain—an after-midnight microcosm of world-weary denizens with problems just like your own.” The headline inserted by some editor at Tower Records reads, “Jinx-removing mo-fo’s.”

In May of 1996, I saw Iris May Tango for the first time. KOD anchored this band, which was fronted by a pair of singing/rapping wild men, with a whole different feel. Here was the drummer playing in yet another band with yet another completely different sound just a few years out of college.

That would be the hallmark of his career. KOD was a monster drummer who could play with anyone. But he was also a humble man and a friend to all.

Kevin O’Day is cited 111 times in my journal. Who knows how many times I heard him play and didn’t mention him. I saw him with bands no one remembers like SAPP and Bad Mayo. I saw him with bands everyone should know about like Naked on the Floor, Have Soul Will Travel, saxophonist Rebecca Barry’s Bust and Magnetic Ear.

O’Day played with Anders Osborne in one of the greatest iterations of the singer/songwriter’s numerous ensembles with Kirk Joseph and the dear departed saxophonist Tim Green. He gave me a killer recording of a show from somewhere up north that hardly anyone has ever heard. If you’ve read this far and you have the means, let’s get it out there. He also appears on the album.

KOD’s tenure with Osborne overlapped with the formation of Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove. Now that was a band everyone needs to hear more from. He played modern jazz with saxophonist Robert Wagner and Brice Miller, trad with James and Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews, soul with Walter “Wolfman” Washington and klezmer with the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars.

O’Day also led numerous bands including his All Star Band, which featured “Wolfman,” James Andrews and keyboard player Brian Coogan among others. They had a few gigs at Ray’s Over the River—the short-lived plushy club on the 33rd floor of the World Trade Center.

He teamed up with the late great saxophonist Eric Traub in a mostly improvising band called Live Animals with many of the young jazz stars on the scene and came full circle back to the brass band style with the Midnight Disturbers. Though they typically only played at Jazz Fest, the band, which also had Stanton Moore on drums, featured a who’s who of brass musicians.

Kevin O’Day marched in jazz funerals and Mardi Gras Indian processions with his snare drum. He provided the deep funky bottom end with the Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra locked in tight with bassist Reggie Scanlan. He could and did play it all, always with a great big smile on his face.

Though I ran into him several times around town in the past two years, the last time I saw him play was on January 16, 2020 two months before the pandemic lockdown. He was leading the Kevin O’Day Band on a Thursday night at D.B.A. The group featured Ross Hoppe on keys/vocal, Chris Senac on bass, Brad Walker on sax and Whitney Alouisious on vocals.

I wrote in my journal, “They sound good with a small, all tourist crowd for the first set and a mostly empty room for the second. It’s mostly covers, but mostly good ones including a version of Prince’s “Kiss” without a guitar (Imagine that if you can). Kevin and Chris are locked in. Kevin even sings a few songs. Brad is on fire as usual. It’s my first time seeing Whitney and she is a revelation. She is just so good even though the room is empty. During the second set, she tries to get some crowd reaction and Brad looks out at the small crowd and quietly says to her, “they’re all our friends.”

Special thanks to all the photographers—known and unknown.