“...No Revenge Necessary is substantial. The result is music that is conversational, eclectic, sometimes whimsical—and always intriguing.”
-OffBeat, April 2018 review of new release No Revenge Necessary
"Pianist Brian Haas, Nolatet’s Fearless Fourth Wheel"
-OffBeat, April 2018
Nolatet Announces New LP, Drops “Black Sheep” (Video)
-OffBeat, February 2018
Premiere: Hear a New Cut From Nolatet, ‘Black Sheep'
-DownBeat, February 2018
Interview with Mike Dillon - "The Nolatet is a Dream Come True"
-Live For Live Music, February 2016
"It’s one thing when a new band seems destined to kick ass, and it’s another thing when they actually do."
-OffBeat, February 2016
"Fearless and exploratory, the four abundantly talented and outside-the-box musicians who make up New Orleans' newest band (Mike Dillon, James Singleton, Johnny Vidacovich and Brian Haas) have played together countless times in various outfits and Nolatet is a brand new sonic machine."
-NolaVie, February 2016
"The wit in the name of Nolatet finds a direct reflection in the music they make. Yet together as a four piece unit, they create a seamless sound that transcends comparisons to their previous work."
-All About Jazz, February 2016 -review of "Dogs"
"It's a carnivalesque fun-ride of exciting proportions: a mirror where shapes are distorted, and you never know where you're going but you're going fast, in and out of tunnels, over hills and down steep slopes. It seems like you're going to careen right into solid rock but you never do. And when it's over, you want to do it again. That's what listening to Dogs is like."
-Classicalite, March 2016 - review of "Dogs"
Featuring:
Brian Haas, Mike Dillon, James Singleton & Johnny Vidacovich
2016 OffBeat "Best of the Beat" Award Nominations:
- Best Contemporary Jazz Artist
- Best Contemporary Jazz Album with "Dogs"
- Album of the Year with "Dogs"
- Best Other Instrument (Mike Dillon, Vibes)
- Best Drummer (Johnny Vidacovich)
- Best Bass Player (James Singleton)
OffBeat's 2016 Lifetime Achievement in Music winner:
Johnny Vidacovich
Acclaimed New Orleans–based ensemble Nolatet returns with their third album, Somethin’ To Relax With, arriving in April 2026 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 2016’s No Revenge Necessary, the quartet recorded Somethin’ To Relax With live at The Lowdown in Tulsa over two sold-out shows in 2025. 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,” “Surely Hazard” and “Black Pencil,” that balance an earthy jazz finesse with swaggering syncopation.
“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.”