Mitchell Player, a gifted bassist and a regular at the iconic Preservation Hall, conceived the band after years of wanting to play behind music of the caliber Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong recorded. The band spotlights Player on bass alongside a cast of all-star New Orleans jazz musicians that has included trumpeters Leon 'Kid Chocolate' Brown and Wendell Brunious, vocalist Eileina Dennis, pianist Leslie Martin, guitarist Todd Duke, and drummer Gerald French.
The band has performed in Brazil and Switzerland, at the MPB Jazz Festival in Natal, the Ascona New Orleans Jazz & Classics Festival, and at home at the French Quarter Festival, Satchmo Fest, and the Nickel-A-Dance Sunday afternoon series on Frenchmen Street. Their 2016 album Timeless, released on the 504 Experience label, made the first round of Grammy consideration in two categories: Best Vocal Jazz Album and Producer of the Year (Non-Classical).
Still a working trad-jazz outfit, the band appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Museum in February 2023 as part of the Jazz Foundation of America series. Player's vision — a fictional musical play inspired by the Fitzgerald-Armstrong recordings, Our Love is Here to Stay — continues to develop alongside the band's live performances.
