Photo from Jazz Fest 2016 by Noé Cugny.

New Orleans Nightcrawlers teams up with artists Pell, HaSizzle, Alfred Banks on ‘Smooth Like A Pelican’

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A new song, “Smooth Like A Pelican” written and produced by an all-star group of New Orleans musicians and producers has just been released about the New Orleans Pelicans basketball team ahead of the second half of the season.

The song is the first single distributed by glbl wrmng Records and features the brass band talents of the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans Nightcrawlers along with the stylings of New Orleans Native Hip Hop artists Pell, HaSizzle, and Alfred Banks.

Nightcrawlers drummer Tanio Hingle, who is a Pelicans super fan, wrote the song’s initial version.

“I was listening to our power forward, Zion Williams, talk about wanting to be in New Orleans even when there was buzz that he might leave the team,” said Hingle. “The way he approached it was so smooth that I started singing, ‘smooth like a Pelican, we got a new look, put your wings up’. Hingle sang the hook to his bandmates in rehearsal; they loved it and then they created and recorded the original song.

“I was chatting with the band about collaborations and have always loved the combination of brass and hip-hop,” said entertainment industry executive Jonathan McHugh, who recently returned to New Orleans as Chair of Loyola’s Music Industry Studies department. “They sent me a rough version of the song and it seemed like a perfect opportunity to take the sound of their 2021 Grammy Award-winning album, ATMOSPHERE, to the next level.

McHugh then met Grammy Award-winning producer “Bassy” Bob Brockman who moved back to New Orleans during the pandemic. Brockman agreed to help produce the record and brought in Evan Thibodeaux as programmer/co-producer. “We approached glbl wrmg to work with artists Pell and Alfred Banks and then added HaSizzle to give the song that anthemic bounce. We’re thrilled with the final mix and very excited to work with glbl wrmg on releasing it,” said Brockman.

Both the original and remixed versions will appear on the New Orleans Nightcrawlers’ next album set for release in April 2023. The song is currently available on all streaming platforms.