Piano players rarely play together, or so the saying (and the movie title) goes. But don’t tell that to Josh Paxton and David Ellington. They’ve forged a musical friendship that has brought them together on countless gigs around New Orleans–with Michael Ray’s Cosmic Krewe, Leigh “Li’l Queenie” Harris and their own unique jazz trio–as well as the recording sessions for each other’s new CD.

On Q’s Blues, Paxton’s debut as a leader, Ellington plays organ on the title track and “The Formula” (both written by Ellington), showcasing the unheard of organ-piano-drums trio format which they stumbled onto several years ago by accident.

“I got a last minute call for a trio gig and couldn’t find a bass player,” Paxton recalls, “and I knew Dave had been playing left hand bass on organ trio gigs for a long time.”

But those gigs were with a guitarist, Ellington is quick to point out, “So the idea of doing it with a piano and organ was like, ‘Will it work?'”

“We both thought it was a one-time thing, and it was probably going to suck,” says Paxton. “But it ended up being a blast. It sounded great and felt great, and we’ve been doing it ever since.”

The two originally met at the University of New Orleans music program in the early ’90s. Paxton, a Cincinnati native, had only recently arrived in the Crescent City to pursue his masters, while Ellington had been in New Orleans since 1983, and was returning to college after a ten year sabbatical.

Ellington, originally from Connecticut, wasn’t long out of high school when he entered Berklee Music School to study jazz, but dropped out because he was more excited about Little Feat than Coltrane. “You’ve got to listen to the stuff if you’re going to play it,” he says. “There’s no way of getting around that, so it didn’t really work.”

He came down to New Orleans “just to party,” he says, and stopped playing piano for several years. Still, the New Orleans music scene made a strong impression. “I was checking it out every week. That was when you could go to Tipitina’s at two in the morning and there wouldn’t be a cover charge and the Neville Brothers would play until four. They were jamming back then; whereas these days I think they’re doing the same set they were doing ten years ago.”

After fooling around with bluegrass guitar a little, Ellington started playing keys again in Walter “Wolfman” Washington’s band for three years and eventually decided it was time to go back to school and study jazz. Meanwhile, he started doing organ trio gigs with guitarist Todd Duke and drummer Geoff Clapp, and began affiliations with Michael Ray, Leigh Harris, Sista Teedy and Whyte Chocolate, the Wild Magnolias, and more recently, the Milonga Tango Band.

Paxton’s recent history is similar, since he also plays with Ray, Harris and the Wild Magnolias, but his resume features a stint touring with alternative rock group Afghan Whigs–a uniquely eye-opening experience, especially when they opened for Aerosmith and he was forced to witness Stephen Tyler in a G-string.

“It was the most disgusting thing,” Paxton shudders. “I’m still in therapy from that.”

Despite this rather scarring memory, Paxton says it was worth it “for the experience. To have been in a major label rock band on the big arena tour and the whole thing. But I realized after doing it for a while that musically it had nothing to do with what I wanted to do with my life. And nothing against them, but that’s not my world.”

Paxton returned to New Orleans, where he is recognized as an expert on the great New Orleans pianist James Booker. In fact, Paxton did most of transcriptions for the first-ever Booker sheet music collection published by Hal Leonard, as well as one on Professor Longhair and another called New Orleans Piano Legends, with transcriptions of Fess, Booker, Dr. John, Tuts Washington and Fats Domino.

On Q’s Blues, Paxton’s Booker influence is most apparent on “Minuet In F(unk),” a Harold Battiste composition. “That’s a tune that Harold wrote for James Booker back in the ’70s,” Paxton says. “And he was never able to get the tune to Booker before he died. I met Harold when I was studying at UNO, and when he found out that I was studying Booker’s music he more or less gave the tune to me, which was a great honor. He was like, ‘I think you would play this right, I want you to have it.'”

The record also contains solid performances by bassist/sousaphonist Matt Perrine, drummer Doug Belote, saxophonist Brent Rose and guest vocals by Leigh Harris on “Somewhere Else In Time.” It’s exploratory modern jazz, but with a distinct New Orleans feel, especially on the Booker-esque solo piano track “Sweet Georgia Brown” and the street-beat laden Paxton composition “Shuckin’ & Jivin’,” but also on the sublimely strutting “Jocosity” (dedicated to Paxton’s wife) and an unusual rendition of Chick Corea’s “Spain.”

“It’s a samba as Corea originally does it, but I turned it into a waltz,” Paxton says. “I think the idea for that came from playing ‘My Favorite Things,’ which is a waltz, and I tried to quote the melody from ‘Spain’ on top of that, and it just sort of stuck in my mind. I wasn’t even going to put it on the record until I half-jokingly played it at a rehearsal with Doug Belote, and when I heard the groove he was putting behind it I was like, ‘Okay, that’s going on the record!'”

Paxton celebrates the release of Q’s Blues at Snug Harbor on August 1, ironically, on the heels of his departure from the city. He’s moved his home base to San Francisco, where he sees strong demand for New Orleans musicians, but plans to frequently visit the Crescent City. “I’ve got a lot going on in this city, both career wise and just my personal connection to it,” he says.

Ellington’s debut recording, Baila Mi Ritmo, is a showcase for his exceptionally underrated Afro-Cuban/Latin jazz group, Chévere, with Brent Rose on sax, as well as trombonist Harry Rios, trumpeter Jeff Sutton, percussionist Michael Skinkus, bassist Brian Quezergue and drummer Mark DiFlorio. In addition, the record features many guest artists, such as saxman Eric Traub, flutist Hart McNee, vocalist Fredy Omar (who supplies appropriately romantic song-styling to the title track) and, of course, Paxton, who plays clavinet and helped write horn arrangements on “The Big Bad Wolf.”

The group’s name, Chévere, which translates roughly from Spanish to mean “cool” or “groovy,” applies well to the eclectic mix of all-original compositions on Baila Mi Ritmo. Superbly produced by Brian Seeger, the record progresses from traditional Afro-Cuban material into jazz-funk territory, onward into a more exploratory Latin jazz feel and, surprisingly, resolves in a New Orleans R&B mode with “Soul Survivor,” which sounds like Allen Toussaint drove into the barrio and took the music Uptown.

Highlights include “The Big Bad Wolf,” with an irresistibly funky groove and a monster sax solo by Rose, and a hidden last track, which is an outtake from the fifth tune, “La Luna Tejana.” Says Ellington, “There was a real burnout solo that was like the most creative time in the studio, and I just had to put it on there. All of the sudden it’s the Michael Ray, raise-your-hair sort of vibe.”

In it’s entirety, Baila Mi Ritmo proves that Chévere is a rare find–a New Orleans-based Latin jazz outfit that is true to its sources, but not restricted by them. An extremely versatile group that can sound both organic and experimental, romantic, yet also burning and soulful, on a stimulating array of original compositions. Chévere performs at the Funky Butt on August 13.

Of all their shared musical experiences, Paxton and Ellington agree that Michael Ray’s Cosmic Krewe has been the most powerful and influential. “Michael Ray has given me the chance to work professionally and get paid for playing completely out at times,” says Ellington. “There is no other venue where I’ve ever had that opportunity, and it’s had an immense effect on the way I look at music. Because you can always just leave, go to outer space… All you’ve got to do is come back eventually.”

“Yeah, yeah,” says Paxton, “we all know it was the sparkly space suit. That was what drew you to the gig.”