Saxophonist John Ellis first came to New Orleans because he wanted to learn how to play jazz – and he spent three years doing just that. During his time in the Big Easy, Ellis played with many legendary musicians, including Ellis Marsalis, Walter Payton and Harold Battiste. Most recently, Ellis has taken up a January residency at Snug Harbor – culminating in tonight’s gig – in preparation for the release of his record Puppet Mischief, which drops February 23 on ObliqSound.

What was your first motivation for coming to New Orleans?

I wanted to learn how to play jazz. That was really my main interest at the time. I was living in North Carolina, and there wasn’t really that much of a jazz scene where I was at. I wanted to grow as a musician, and since I was from the South, coming to New Orleans made a lot more sense to me than going to New York, which I also considered at the time.

I love New Orleans. I love the way it feels to be here. I had a lot of friends that had come here from North Carolina. So mostly it was to grow as a musician. It was great coming here because it was a small enough town, and there were a lot of opportunities for me to play right from the beginning. The best decision I ever made, I think, was to come here at that time.

You’ve worked with many prominent musicians. Which New Orleans musicians have been most influential?

I actually came here to play with Ellis Marsalis, so he has to be really high on the list. Harold Battiste also turned out to be a really, really important mentor for me. His consistent love of music – I just thought that was always really inspiring. He has a very ‘music-and-life-as-a-gift’ kind of outlook, something that always seemed right to me. It resonated with me. It was important to be around someone that was older who was that way.

And you can’t underestimate how much of an influence Nicholas Payton had on all of us. Nicholas is maybe one year older than me and shaped for a lot of us, I think, what was possible. I mean, just watching what he was capable of doing at around like 20 years old. I had never seen anyone who was that good at that age. It helped me strive. You also can’t let yourself off the hook and say, “They can do that, but that’s just because they’re older.” They’ve been on the planet for exactly the same amount of time as me. How did they figure that out?

What is it like calling both New York and New Orleans home?

I feel like it’s important for me to be a cross-pollinator. I love New Orleans and I feel like there are a lot of people in New York – I wish they had that experience. I want them to have that experience. I think that it is an experience to have. The experience of eating the food, and smelling the air, and looking at the way people’s bodies move when they walk. Listening to the cadences of people’s conversations when they speak to you. And looking at the trees and, you know, all of that.

Something about the history of the country and the history of jazz – you need to experience this somehow if you want to play jazz. I find myself always trying to be sort of a conduit between New Orleans and New York because those are my two favorite cities. They’re so different, and yet for me they’re so complementary, and I love them both.

This is your second release with Double-Wide. What should listeners expect to be different on this album?

A lot more puppets. [laughs]

The main and most obvious thing is that I expanded the band with the addition of trombone and harmonica, so now there’s a broader orchestrational palette. The idea for Double-Wide was always sousaphone, organ, drum and saxophone – double bass function. The organ has a big bass sound and so does the tuba. With the addition of the harmonica and the trombone, it’s much bigger and much broader. It’s almost like triple-wide; it’s almost exponential.

Talk about the challenges and freedoms of producing Puppet Mischief.

Producing your own record is definitely something that I feel like I’ve gotten better and better at. You have to be really sensitive to the moods of the musicians. It’s a real interpersonal dynamic. Being in a studio and making decisions that make sense. What I really strive for is to tell the best possible story. I strive for a sense of balance, and that includes within each song and then how all the songs fit together – who is featured when. Each of these instruments has a color and each of these musicians has a personality, so when the color of those instruments and when that person’s personality feels like it’s right for that moment. Being sensitive to the narrative of storytelling. Using sounds like palettes with different colors.

How did you capture the mischief of puppets with music?

Did I capture the mischief of puppets with music? God, I hope I did. Words are evocative of meaning. When you say “puppet mischief,” it’s funny to see people’s eyes light up.
I try to be sensitive to those things that hit me, including people that I meet or words, things that really resonate for some reason. When [jazz guitarist/composer Mike Moreno] first said “puppet mischief,” I died laughing, and I feel like it sort of does that for everyone. The silliness, the sense of fun, the playfulness, the kind of kid music. I’ve been thinking a lot about kid’s music. It just seemed to fit with Double-Wide. I like the fact that this interview started with you saying “I want to talk about your record Puppet Mischief.” Already I’m laughing. It’s already funny to me. Just the fact that now everyone has to say that. Try to say it with a straight face, very seriously, “That’s a very serious record you have – Puppet Mischief.”

What do you hope to achieve with this album?

I’m kind of a prankster, but I’m also very serious. Why do we make music? I don’t know. I’m not going to lie, I make it partially just for my own enjoyment. And I have a hope that my enjoyment will be contagious and that other people will feel it. And I think at some point music has to be fun. I think serious music can also be fun, and there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be. I like playing in a band where I laugh. Where the sound can make me laugh, I enjoy that.

Talk about using your music to tell a story.

Telling a story is a good metaphor for what it is. Telling a story obviously is using words. I strive for that same sense of balance. I grew up in the church, so I think a good metaphor is an incredibly well-crafted sermon. If you’ve ever heard a sermon, just the way it begins and the way it ends, it feels like it was inevitable. And it’s a really satisfying thing. A good story would work to achieve that. There’s a balance within each individual song. There’s some kind of theme, or some kind of narrative, or some kind of feeling. But then also there’s a balance in terms of the record as a whole. I strive to have a sensitivity to both of those things.

Double-Wide is composed of John Ellis on the tenor saxophone and bass clarinet, Jason Marsalis on the drums, Matt Perrine on the sousaphone, and Brian Coogan on the organ. Puppet Mischief features special guests Gregoire Maret on the harmonica and Alan Ferber on the trombone and is Ellis’ second record with Double-Wide, expanding on 2008’s Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow. You can catch John Ellis and Double-Wide at Snug Harbor tonight at 8 and 10 p.m. Ellis also guarantees a record release party here in New Orleans with the whole band.

While you’re waiting for Puppet Mischief, here’s Ellis live with with Jason Marsalis and Roland Guerin from 2005 for download.