Nolatet Somethin' To Relax With

Acclaimed New Orleans–based ensemble Nolatet returns with their third album, 'Somethin’ To Relax With,' via RPF Records/Royal Potato Family. The group reunites the legendary Crescent City rhythm section of bassist James Singleton and drummer Johnny Vidacovich alongside two of the city’s most highly regarded and fearless improvisers: vibraphonist/percussionist Mike Dillon and pianist Brian Haas. Nolatet’s first new music since 2018’s 'No Revenge Necessary,' the quartet recorded 'Somethin’ To Relax With' live at LowDown in Tulsa over two sold-out shows in 2025.
“In the past, we’ve always worked out new material live, onstage, in front of the audience. Even after we've played a new composition a few times, we always treat this music as rough sketches, no matter how through-composed it might be,” explains Singleton. “Our specialty is collective improvisation and as a band we gravitate more towards creative, improvised music than sticking to charts. So when it came time to record these songs, we made the decision to do it live in front of an audience.”
“Every member of Nolatet is a composer, so the inspiration to record a new album was definitely all the new pieces we had been writing. The first two albums were recorded in Esplanade Studios in New Orleans and have a very specific ‘live In a big room at a studio' kind of sound. This third album was recorded live at a small club in Tulsa and I think the kinetic energy of a live audience makes for a more energetic, riskier album,” continues Haas. “The reason for recording at LowDown in Tulsa was definitely Johnny Vidacovich.  Tulsa loves weird music and unique musicians with a voice of their own. JFJO was born in Tulsa and deep individuals like Leon Russell, JJ Cale and The GAP Band originated there as well. The first thing Johnny V. noticed when he started playing T-Town was that everybody knew who he was and everybody kept giving him free weed. When I called him at the end of 2024 to ask him where he wanted to record the new album, he said, ‘let's go record it live at that cool little club in Tulsa where everyone is so nice.’ He's the maestro, the elder and the teacher, so if he wants to do something, you just do it."
Previously praised by JazzTimes for their “mix of quirky melodies, classically informed harmonies, gentle grooves, and punk-rock moxie” and hailed by DownBeat as “innovative in its improvisations and graceful in its execution,” Nolatet once again rises to such accolades across six new compositions, including highlights “Switchback,” “Doc Richter To You” and “Black Pencil,” that balance an earthy jazz finesse with swaggering syncopation and harmonic imagination.


“There are six songs on the album and I think they all hit hard, but my favorite one to play is by James Singleton and it's called ‘Doc Richter To You.’ James is one of the greatest living composers and that piece is so deep. It’s completely different every time we play it,” says Haas. “The version that ended up on the album is bizarre; ‘Doc Richter’ has never sounded like that before that specific night.”
The four men who comprise Nolatet were in each other's lives, either in close proximity or as distant heroes, for many years. Johnny Vidacovich and James Singleton have been New Orleans' best rhythm section since 1977 having been the backbone of their own ensemble Astral Project, as well as supporting artists ranging from James Booker to Professor Longhair to Dizzy Gillespie and Jon Cleary. Mike Dillon and Brian Haas — who initially looked to Singleton and Vidacovich as heroes before sharing stages with them — have been playing co-bills and sitting in with each other's bands on the same touring circuit for over 20 years, ranging from Punkadelick to Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and numerous points in between. All four musicians are fiercely independent iconoclasts and bandleaders who compose, play and navigate their musical lives in their own unique way.
As like vibration always attracts like vibration, it is no surprise that after years of loose collaboration with each other the four would form a band in 2016. Their debut album Dogs and its predecessor No Revenge Necessary, as well as the their most recent recording Somethin’ To Relax With features all original material influenced by the diverse lives and perceptions of these four jazz avatars. While traditional jazz is the backbone and starting point for Nolatet's language, each member's piercing individuality allows innovation to be a constant. Sketches for compositions are the starting point, but ultimately this is improvised music made in the moment alternating between meditative focus and wild abandon.
“Musically speaking, the Nolatet is limitless. The music ebbs and flows effortlessly, like rebirthing an amoeba,” says Dillon. “We have one of the all-time great New Orleans rhythm sections in Johnny V. and James. Like any great rhythm section, they make you find parts of yourself that you never knew existed. With that as our foundation, there’s no telling how far the music can expand with each performance.”