Some of the local contemporary R&B, hip-hop and rap music you’ll find at Jazz Fest ’95 includes:

Batiste Brothers (April 28); DJ Jimi and Ricky B (April 29); Sterlyn Silver and Partners-N-Crime (April 30); Don Rousell (May 4); Front Page (May 6); and Eric Gable, Davell Crawford and Bamboula 2000 (May 7),

At 19, Davell Crawford is already a veteran of the Jazz Fest. Crawford made his first appearance when he was 15, and for the past four years he has been a featured artist at the “Piano Night” concerts. The singer/musician started performing professionally when he was seven; since then, he has toured abroad several times, directed the choirs at St. Augustine Church and the Tabernacle of Hope, and formed the Davell Crawford Family and Friends Mass Choir.

He has made the transition from jazz and R&B to a funkier style with an emphasis on New Orleans R&B. Last year, he took a break from the tour and club circuit to record, form his own’ publishing company and teach music to local students. But now he’s back and ready to pick up where he left off. In May, he kicks off a tour of South America and Europe. His first national release, Let Them Talk (a tribute to New Orleans ’50s and ’60s R&B) on Rounder Records, is due out in June.

Local rapper Ricky Bee was surprised when he was invited to perform at this year’s Jazz Fest. “I couldn’t really believe It. I never really saw myself performing at the Jazz Fest,” says Ricky. “Good things come to those who wait.”

Good things have been happening to Ricky ever since the release of his Ricky B For Bouncin’ EP last year. The single “Shake Fo Ya Hood” became a local favorite. The song’s popularity is forcing Ricky to postpone plans to promote his latest maxi-cassette, City Streets. He’s doing a handful of concerts a month in Louisiana and Texas and working on his album Ricky Bee Goin’ Down to Uptown, due out at the end of May. The album has eight bounce tracks and six “positive” gangsta tracks. He promises “a typical star-studded stage show” for Jazz Fest.

Back in ’91, if you saw a Warren Mays show, you probably didn’t forget it. I remember a show at the old City Park driving range with a stage full of “get it girls” dressed in bikinis, poppin’ that thang while Warren performed the song that made him a local rap celebrity–“Get It Girl.”

Well, move over “get it girls”–in ’95 Mays hits the stage with a new sound and a new group of dancin’ babes, “The New Booty Shakers.” Warren Mays Is Back is the name of his latest album release on Hot Crescent Records. The album features a new rap group, The Conivin’ Boys, and the Rebirth Brass Band. The first single, “Booty Shake,” was released in March.

Mays is also producing other groups on his label Hard Power Records. Look for new music from Big Boogie and Face Forever. Mays’ newest nightclub, Club Marengos (3200 Tulane Ave.), will feature live entertainment.

Black Brotherhood Mafia (BBM) will release its debut EP on Big Ed Productions this month. The EP is R&B and gangsta on a positive trip. “We’re on that gangsta mentality and everything that we put out has something to do with the streets,” says BBM member 211. “It’s letting people know that what you do in the dark will come to light.” Group member Baby Gangsta Dru will release a solo project this month called Trying to Survive. The cassette includes cuts “That’s How It Is in the Hood” and “Blame It on Society.” “Blame It on Society” features BBM member Quarter Bird and was produced by J. Diamond Washington, local producer and host of the video show “Rap Alley.”