{"id":50174,"date":"2019-08-16T16:28:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-16T22:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=50174"},"modified":"2019-08-20T07:26:48","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T13:26:48","slug":"samuels-celebrates-basin-street-records-21st-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/samuels-celebrates-basin-street-records-21st-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"Samuels celebrates Basin Street Records&#8217; 21st anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By BILL MOTCHAN,<em> Special to the CCJN<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Mark Samuels was nearing his 13th birthday, he was playing music while preparing for his bar mitzvah at what was then called the Conservative Congregation of New Orleans. Today it is known as Shir Chadash or &#8220;New Song&#8221; and that may be appropriate given his affinity for music. That initial attraction to music became even more focused when he played music alongside Wynton and Delfeayo Marsalis in high school and met their younger brother, percussionist Jason Marsalis, who was then a wunderkind three-year-old.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50436\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50436\" class=\"wp-image-50436 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-300x219.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"219\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-768x560.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-1024x747.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/219;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50436\" class=\"wp-image-50436 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-300x219.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-768x560.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Wynton-1024x747.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50436\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Samuels with high school friend Wynton Marsalis, circa 1985. (Photo courtesy Mark Samuels)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Initially, Samuels played a hand-me-down, metal clarinet. He later switched to saxophone when a band teacher couldn\u2019t abide the screechy sound springing from Samuels\u2019 clarinet. His love for music notwithstanding, Samuels acknowledged his strong card as he pursued an education in business and finance at the University of Texas. This led his to eventually earning an MBA degree.<\/p>\n<p>He seemed destined for a future as a business consultant with additional emphasis on computers. He moved to New York and worked for three years at Arthur Andersen Consulting before moving&nbsp; back to New Orleans and working for an energy company for nine years. The company was eventually sold and Samuels wanted to try something completely different\u2014doing work he enjoyed. It was then that he turned to work with the recording industry. It helped that he had maintained relationships with contacts in the music world, including those in the Marsalis family.<\/p>\n<p>As the founder and president of Basin Street Records, Mark Samuels is a <em>mensch<\/em>. He lives by a code of integrity and honor. Last year, he celebrated the 20<sup>th<\/sup> anniversary of his label, which continues to thrive in a very competitive industry. Recently, he spoke in a telephone interview with the CCJN about the memorable events that have led him to become a respected and successful music executive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had a lot of connections in music, and I was asked to produce a jazz showcase two years in a row for the Cutting Edge Music business conference,\u201d Samuels recalled. \u201cFor one showcase, I booked Kermit Ruffins. His manager and I started a conversation that lasted for a year and a half, and he ultimately asked if he could borrow $5,000 to make a Kermit Ruffins album. <em>Instead<\/em>, we decided to start a record label together.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50437\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50437\" class=\"wp-image-50437 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark.jpeg 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50437\" class=\"wp-image-50437 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Kermit_Mark.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50437\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kermit Ruffins and Mark Samuels celebrating more than 20 years of partnership. (Photo by Artworx5150)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>At the time, Ruffins was already a popular, well-known musician. The charismatic trumpet player had recently departed from the Rebirth Brass Band. It wasn\u2019t his first record, but this presented an opportunity for a breakout album.<\/p>\n<p>Samuels took on the task with gusto. For six weeks, he put thousands and thousands of flyers on cars and telephone poles promoting a live album. When it came time to record, Tipitina\u2019s was packed, no easy task for a 1,000-seat club.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe sold out Tipitina\u2019s that night,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cWe recorded one set, then we repeated the set, so we recorded all the songs twice. Then, in February 1998, we had the album release party and we sold out Tipitina\u2019s again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The resulting album, \u201cThe Barbecue Swingers Live,\u201d was a commercial and critical success. It was released in early 1998, sold hundreds of copies at French Quarter Fest and over 1,000 copies at Jazz Fest. A review in The Times-Picayune at the time called it \u201cpositively refined\u201d and credited meticulous sound-checks and rehearsals. Live recordings are unpredictable and a band can feed\u2014positively or negatively\u2014off of the energy of the audience, Samuels agreed. The full house generated by his guerilla marketing tactics and his industry were definitely a plus.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50438\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50438\" class=\"wp-image-50438 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-300x215.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-300x215.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-768x551.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-1024x735.jpeg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/215;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50438\" class=\"wp-image-50438 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-300x215.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-300x215.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-768x551.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/John_Cleary-1024x735.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50438\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former Basin Street Records recording artist Jon Cleary. (Photo by Mark Samuels)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>On the strength of Samuels&#8217; first effort, Basin Street Records was off and running. He struck lightening again a month later on March 7, 1998 when he had a chance encounter with Matt Dillon, Wynton Marsalis\u2019 road manager. It was at a Kinko\u2019s and Samuels was making copies of flyers for a Kermit Ruffins show. Dillon invited Samuels to a show for Dillon\u2019s group that night. At that show Samuels visited with the young trumpeter in Dillon\u2019s band, Irvin Mayfield, who also led a fledgling band called Los Hombres Calientes. That Latin-inspired band included acclaimed Mayfield and world famous percussionist Bill Summers, and his longtime friend, Jason Marsalis.<\/p>\n<p>Samuels was impressed by what he read about the band&#8217;s first two shows, and Summers mentioned they wanted to record an album before Jazz Fest\u2014the following month. That\u2019s not a lot of lead time, but Samuels told them it could be done if both parties agreed to terms quickly. Four days later, on March 11, Los Hombres Calientes signed a three-record contract with Basin Street Records. The recording was completed on time and the resulting album was another big success for the fledgling label; it was named Billboard Magazine\u2019s Latin Jazz Album of the Year. To promote Los Hombres Calientes, Samuels went back to the streets, passing out flyers and even walking through French Quarter Fest wearing a sandwich board.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50439\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50439\" class=\"wp-image-50439 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son.jpg 480w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 225px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 225\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50439\" class=\"wp-image-50439 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Kara_son.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50439\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark and Kara Samuels and son at the beach. (Photo courtesy Mark Samuels)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The music industry was clearly a good fit for Samuels, so he left his job at the energy company for good. In an industry notorious for duplicity and slimy agents, Mark Samuels was an outlier. He showed good faith and worked hard to help his clients. It didn\u2019t hurt that his first album featured Kermit Ruffins and that their partnership has lasted through the 20-plus years since \u201cBarbecue Swingers Live\u201d was released.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo have somebody like Kermit Ruffins be our debut artist was pretty outstanding, but there\u2019s honesty and integrity, which are two of the most important ingredients I try to embody,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cAnd Kermit and I to this day have a relationship based on trust, honesty and integrity. He honors his words and I honor mine and it\u2019s been a great relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuels credits his parents for being good role models and the tenets of Judaism for treating others with respect. Lighting the Shabbat candles followed by a family dinner was a weekly Samuels tradition. His mother was the first woman president of Shir Chadash, and his father was a leading contributor of Israel Bonds.<\/p>\n<p>As a young man, Samuels was youth co-leader of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans&#8217; annual campaign. As an adult, he and his first wife Patti visited Israel as part of the formerly titled Lemann-Stern Jewish Federation leadership development program.<\/p>\n<p>Basin Street Records quickly made a big impact on the recording industry, and Samuels continued to recruit an impressive talent roster of world-class artists. One of those was British-born piano legend Jon Cleary. On April 27, 2008, Cleary played the Acura Stage at Jazz Fest, and Samuels was backstage. That\u2019s when he had a chance encounter with another nice Jewish boy, Billy Joel.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50442\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50442\" class=\"wp-image-50442 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth.jpeg 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50442\" class=\"wp-image-50442 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Rebirth.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50442\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mark Samuels with Phil Frazier of the Rebirth Brass Band. (Photo courtesy Mark Samuels)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cI said \u2018Hello Mr. Joel\u2014when I was in high school with Wynton Marsalis, we recorded a piece on vinyl and we did a medley of your songs. It was really fun.\u2019 He looked at me and said, \u2018Why do you think I want to know that you and Wynton Marsalis recorded my greatest hits when you were in high school? I don\u2019t want to be reminded that I\u2019m that old!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He has many fond memories like that after two decades in the music business. While Basin Street Records has flourished, Samuels has experienced more than his share of heartbreak and sorrow. Perhaps most significant was the loss of his first wife Patti, who died tragically in an auto accident just before Thanksgiving in 2000. The New Orleans Community School (formerly New Orleans Jewish Day School) bears the inscription, \u201cInspired by Patti Arnold Samuels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After her death, Mark Samuels was suddenly thrust into the role of single parent of three young children. His business was thriving, but in 2005 Mother Nature intervened.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50441\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50441\" class=\"wp-image-50441 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166.jpeg 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50441\" class=\"wp-image-50441 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Mark_Samuels_son_Rebirth-e1565993900166.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50441\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Samuels with his son as a toddler and the label&#8217;s first Grammy Award at Jazz Fest. (Photo courtesy Mark Samuels)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhen the levees broke, my house and office were destroyed,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a full time staff of six people; I had a 3,000 square foot office space on Canal Street, I had just released six albums in one day the previous year and in 2005, I had just released three albums just before Jazz Fest. Then, in August, I had five feet of water in my house, and a foot and a half of water in my office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like many others, Samuels evacuated. He found a welcome refuge in Austin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI called my fraternity brothers there,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;I was a Sigma Alpha Mu at the University of Texas. One fraternity brother said: \u2018Don\u2019t worry, you show up on Monday, your kids will be enrolled in the Jewish day school; we\u2019ll get your oldest enrolled in the high school.\u2019 I spent one school year in Austin.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Samuels\u2019 parents also moved to Austin, so he and the kids stayed there. To keep the business running back in New Orleans, he drove back and forth 29 times (500 miles each way), operating out of a coffee shop with a laptop computer. It was just like the old days when he was a one-man shop. Samuels persevered and got his house rebuilt. In fact, he was one of the first in his Lakewood South neighborhood to rebuild and get his kids back home. Those road trips also allowed Samuels to keep in contact with his future wife, Kara Hadican, a New Orleans attorney.<\/p>\n<p>Returning home for good, Samuels was forced to downsize the business. The growth of streaming services as delivery platforms meant it was no longer necessary to maintain a large inventory of product. He\u2019s now down to a 700-square foot facility and two full-time staffers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve learned to live with the reality of the economics of this industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_50440\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50440\" class=\"wp-image-50440 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit.jpeg 640w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-50440\" class=\"wp-image-50440 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Irvin_Mark_Kermit.jpeg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-50440\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Irvin Mayfield, Mark Samuels and Kermit Ruffins at 20th anniversary kickoff. (Photo by Erika Goldring)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Basin Street Records continues to generate big name talent. Joining veterans Jeremy Davenport, The Rebirth Brass Band, and Davell Crawford are hot new artists like Sar\u00e0yah, Lena Prima, and Bonerama. In the shadow of Irvin Mayfield\u2019s complicated legal situation, Samuels continues to stand by his longtime client and confidant.<\/p>\n<p>Mayfield and his business partner Ronald Markham were indicted in December 2017 and charged with 19 felony counts for using their positions on the city\u2019s public library charity board to transfer $1.3 million in public library donations to the jazz orchestra that paid each of them six-figure salaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know the building they were going to get the money from the foundation to build, got built,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cIt seemed like a good win-win to me. In our world, people are innocent until proven guilty, and in my mind now, he\u2019s innocent. He lost the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, and he\u2019s lost his reputation. And he\u2019s an innocent man right now. I hope he\u2019s innocent. In my mind he still is. And I\u2019m going to give my friend the benefit of the doubt,\u201d Samuels added.<\/p>\n<p>That sense of loyalty\u2014another Samuels trait often in short supply in his industry\u2014defines the man who has persevered through personal tragedy and the temporary loss of a house. Samuels, now 56, remains positive about the future of his record label, and his family, which now includes a fourth child born after his marriage to Kara. Hurricane Katrina and the levees breeches were an experience many New Orleanians had to overcome. Not everyone made it through intact, he noted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat moment gave me an appreciation of life,\u201d Samuels said. \u201cHaving already lost my wife, after the levees broke, I knew I would be ok. I don\u2019t know what life would be like without those events. It\u2019s a weird thing but I feel very fortunate to be here today and be in a loving relationship in a rebuilt beautiful home and neighborhood. What I\u2019ve been through is not something that everyone is going to be able to experience in their life. It gives you an appreciation for everything around you. It gives you an appreciation for life, it gives you an appreciation for what you have.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Samuels%20celebrates%20Basin%20Street%20Records%27%2021st%20anniversary\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10148,8790,10152,10150,10151,10149,8788,10153],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50174"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50486,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50174\/revisions\/50486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}