Jon Cleary has led the ever-evolving musical landscape of New Orleans for thirty-five years. Now, the Grammy Award-winning pianist decided to bring that sound back home, both figuratively and literally. There, he assembled his Absolute Monster Gentlemen in his home studio in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. Then, he drew up a setlist of some of his most beloved songs– and some new favorites– and rolled tape.

“We set out to capture that sound in the old-fashioned way: everybody in the room, playing together,” Cleary explains.

Thus, the result is The Bywater Sessions, a musical tour-de-force that showcases the grit, funk and joy that’s packed concert halls from New Orleans to Tokyo and beyond. Here, it’s a stunning collection of performances that affirms Cleary’s place in the New Orleans musical vanguard.

“There’s a lot to be said for the ‘lean and mean’ sound of a piano trio, stripped down to basics, simple and direct,” Cleary says. “But recently, I’ve been experimenting with different combinations; adding horns, guitar, percussion and even another keyboard player. This expanded line-up has allowed the arrangements to blossom in new directions.”

“Sophisticated, nasty, good-time, low-down funk is the folk music of New Orleans,” Cleary says. “Everyone playing on this recording is a New Orleanian by birth or by choice. Having learned their craft at the feet of the masters who in turn were taught by the old lions in their day. It’s a tradition stretching back over two hundred years. The roots go deep, but each generation, growing up with street parades and second-lines, absorbs the old and introduces the new.”