Love From The Desert: The Redhouse family

The Redhouse Family Jazz Band

Arizona’s First Native American Family of Jazz

Members of the Dine’ (Navajo) Nation, the band is comprised of Mary, Charlotte, Vince, Lenny, Tony, and Larry Redhouse. All established musicians, these family members have been performing together and as individuals for over 30 years, and have numerous CD releases and accolades to their credit.

Larry, a trumpet player and pianist/organist, has the Larry Redhouse Trio in Tucson, their jazz has been called innovative with an edge of raw creative energy. Vince plays saxophone, native flute, guitar and has appeared around the world with his native flute interpretations, and has 2 Grammy Awards to his credit. Lennie is a percussionist and is one of the most engaging jazz fusion drummers performing today. Tony, a percussionist and native flute player performs in a variety of styles including funk, hip-hop, jazz. Latin, rock and native American. Mary, a renowned jazz and Native American vocalist, also plays bass and native flute. She has performed with R. Carlos Nakai and the Oliver Lake Jazz Trio among others. Charlotte plays guitar and percussion and sings Rhythm and Blues renditions of her original compositions. Their mother Maria, who is 85 years young, as of this writing performs with the Redhouse Dancers and signs The Lord's Prayer (The Our Father) in Indian sign.
Ms Hilda and I never miss any performance of the family or of the individuals if we can catch them. Tony is living in Phoenix and Vince is now teaching on the reservation, so we didn't get a chance to see them this past Sunday, but it was a pleasure talking to Mary and Lennie. It is always an inspirational time when you get to see the family. Their deep rooted faith shines through in everything they do or say. Besides their god-given talents in musical genres and their ability to make so many appreciate Native American heritage and tradition through their regalia and their dancing and chanting, they (are simply put) great people. I count myself lucky in having ben able to see and appreciate their efforts. I have been trying to find a way to import some of Vince's music onto my Blog.

Some pictures that I took on Sunday 10/10/10 in Tucson, at Tucson Meet Yourself.