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Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses

Biography

Aurora Nealand, born on May 28 in Pacifica, California, grew up in a musical family listening to Preservation Hall Jazz Band alongside Stravinsky, Joan Baez, and the Pixies. She experimented on her mother's piano, played flute and oboe in school band, and developed a tomboyish spirit with her brother Tosh, but lacked formal training until college, where her mother encouraged self-learning. After her brother's death in high school, she attended Oberlin Conservatory, earning a music composition degree, picked up saxophone, and studied at the Jacques Lecoq School of Physical Theatre in Paris. A cross-country bicycle trip collecting audio stories led her to New Orleans in 2004-2005, where she biked nightly to Frenchmen Street, gigged with bands like Some Like It Hot, and immersed in traditional jazz, jazz manouche, Balkan/Klezmer, and improvisation despite Hurricane Katrina's impact.[1][5][2]

Settling in New Orleans, Nealand played as a sideman in Panorama Jazz Band, VaVaVoom, and The New Orleans Moonshiners before forming The Royal Roses in 2010, a non-traditional traditional jazz band drawing from Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, and New Orleans heritage with innovative collective improvisation linking early jazz to AACM and sound art. Their debut album, 'A Tribute to Sydney Bechet: Live at Preservation Hall,' earned national acclaim, and she was voted a Downbeat Magazine top ten rising star on soprano saxophone. She leads other projects like Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers (rockabilly), The Monocle (solo), redrawblak Trio, and co-founded SONO for new music workshops, while appearing in HBO's 'Treme' and touring festivals worldwide.[1][2][3][8]

Nealand's style spans traditional New Orleans jazz revival, avant-garde rock, free improvisation, and interdisciplinary work like her 2019/2020 theatrical show 'KindHumanKind' and City Songs Project. Voted Best Saxophonist, Best Female Performer, and Best Traditional Jazz Band in Big Easy/OffBeat Awards (2015-2016), she has residencies at MacDowell Colony, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, and facilitates with Found Sound Nation on projects like Dosti and LADAMA.[2][3][6]

Fun Facts

  • Arrived in New Orleans via a cross-country bicycle trip collecting rural American audio stories for compositions on 'American Dreams,' making the city her home base since 2005.
  • Paid $30 for her first New Orleans gig at a crawfish boil with women's band Some Like It Hot.
  • Appeared as herself in HBO's 'Treme' (2010-2011) and NCIS: New Orleans.
  • Particularly enjoys the sound of eggs frying in oil for its layered textures.

Members

  • Matt Bell
  • Jon Ramm
  • Joshua Gouzy
  • Nathan Lambertson
  • Aurora Nealand - eponymous, original
  • Paul Thibodeaux

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

  • Sidney Bechet - Stylistic influence and repertoire source for traditional jazz revival (A Tribute to Sydney Bechet: Live at Preservation Hall album) [2010 onward]
  • Ben Schenck - Invited her to join Panorama Jazz Band post-Katrina (Panorama Jazz Band performances) [2006]
  • Jazz Vipers - Early inspiration; talked with players after shows at Spotted Cat (Frenchmen Street gigs) [2004]

Key Collaborators

  • The Royal Roses - Bandleader and founder of traditional jazz band (A Tribute to Sydney Bechet: Live at Preservation Hall; multiple albums and tours) [2010-present]
  • Panorama Jazz Band - Band member (Mardi Gras season performances post-Katrina) [2006 onward]
  • Rory Danger and the Danger Dangers - Leader/frontman of rockabilly band (Live performances) [Ongoing]
  • redrawblak Trio - Band member (Performances and recordings) [Ongoing]

Artists Influenced

  • Younger New Orleans traditional jazz musicians - At forefront of revival through Royal Roses (Performances at Preservation Hall, Jazz Fest) [2010s]
  • Walden School students - Teacher/performer for 20 years (Workshops and classes) [2000s-2020s]

Connection Network

Current Artist
Collaborators
Influenced
Mentors
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References

  1. churchofneworleans.com
  2. auroranealand.com
  3. waldenschool.org
  4. musicinsideout.wwno.org
  5. antigravitymagazine.com
  6. macdowell.org
  7. jonathanfreilich.com
  8. neworleans.com
  9. myneworleans.com

Heard on WWOZ

Aurora Nealand & The Royal Roses has been played 4 times on WWOZ 90.7 FM, New Orleans' jazz and heritage station.

DateTimeTitleShowSpotify
Jan 8, 202623:29shall not wantfrom the monocle kindhumankindKitchen Sinkw/ Jennifer Brady
Jan 5, 202600:53Fort Worth Stompfrom The Lookback TransmissionThe Dean's Listw/ Dean Ellis
Nov 24, 202501:49Helen's Story (I'll Be Seeing You)from The Lookback TransmissionThe Dean's Listw/ Dean Ellis
Sep 12, 202511:18Joshua Fit the Battle of Jerichofrom Comeback ChildrenNew Orleans Music Showw/ Black Mold or Bill DeTurk