Featuring a dream team of players: percussionist Pablo Batista (Alicia Keys, H.E.R.), trumpeter Matt Cappy (Jill Scott, John Legend & The Roots), saxophonist/keyboard player Jay Davidson (Whitney Houston, Taj Mahal, Steve Winwood), and drummer Chuck Staab (Melody Gardot), Blue Bayou is the debut album from RICCIARDI/RONSTADT. Vocalist Neysa Ricciardi and cellist Michael Ronstadt weave together influences from jazz to Americana to singer/songwriter, and have created little universes of stacked cellos, percussion, guitars, trumpet, Rhodes, and vibes within each of the 12 tracks.

According to Ricciardi, “Michael and I met on the 4th of July, 2013, at a concert that was part of a tour for him and his family. Afterwards, Michael and I started jamming on tunes like ‘Moondance’ and ‘At Last’, and it was instant magic. We immediately started writing together and had so much fun playing songs we both knew, including ‘Blue Bayou’, that it naturally evolved into us recording some of the songs we loved and some we had written. Both of us have extensive experience in writing, recording, and performing, so when Michael suggested we do an album together, I jumped at the chance.”

In February of 2022, Neysa and Michael invited Pablo Batista to Morningstar Studios in the suburbs of Philly to begin tracking. In one weekend, they tracked all the percussion and cello bass for 9 of the songs. The rest followed over the next several months. Glenn Barratt and Dave Schonauer engineered, mixed and mastered.

Ricciardi/Ronstadt are planning a bi-coastal release, one in San Francisco, so Michael’s Aunt Linda Ronstadt can be included, and one in the Philly area.