Littlejohn takes listeners on a soulful journey

By Mark Pavilons

A King resident helps you escape the cold and journey to the Big Easy from the comfort of your own home.
Snowball resident Ronnie Littlejohn is host of The Gumbo Kitchen on Jazz FM 91. He offers a musical journey down to his favorite city, New Orleans, Louisiana. It's a place he's visited at least once a year for the past 15 years.
The show explores the local jazz, swampy funk, second line brass bands. Add a dash of soul and gospel, with a pinch of New Orleans rhythm and blues and you've got a delicious savory gumbo! Tune in Saturday nights from 7-8 p.m. for your fix of some cajun cooking.
The singer-songwriter has a long history in the Canadian music scene.
He fronts one of Canada's premier jazz/funk/soul bands Planet Earth, touted as one of the vanguards of funk revival since 1999. He also leads his Montreal group The Funk Embassy. He has shared the stage with some of the finest including Maceo Parker, Betty Lavette, War, Russ Little, Kevin Breit, Donna Grantis, Guido Basso, Ben Riley, members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, along with special appearances with Alex Lifeson, Lee Oskar, Holly Cole, Jackie Richardson, Doug Riley, Kevin Turcotte and others.
His musical influences go back to the classic sounds of New Orleans. Littlejohn is a self-trained vocalist who began singing at the age of five to old 45s. His eclectic taste in music has added considerably to that collection over the years.