November 25, 2023

Journey To Nawlins, Chapter XVI : The Piano “Professors” (Jelly Roll Morton, “Tuts” Washington, Champion Jack Dupree, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, Eddie Bo, Ellis Marsalis, Huey "Piano" Smith, Allen Toussaint, James Booker, Dr John, Henry Butler, David Torkanowsky, Tom McDermott, Jon Cleary, Davell Crawford)


A century in ivory
Among the sacred instruments of New Orleans music, piano comes next to the iconic brass instruments. The Crescent City counts numerous influential pianists who brought an essential contribution to the unique New Orleans sound for a century.

Louisiana Creole Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe or Lemott aka Jelly Roll Morton (1890-1941) claimed he was born in 1884 and invented “jazz” around 1902. Both are false (1), but contributed to make a legend of this eccentric character as admired for his musical culture as he was disliked by his contemporary fellow musicians for his conceit and boastfulness.
Morton was actually born in 1890 and was 12 en 1902, a bit too young to be the father of jazz… though by age ten ( !), after studying with Mamie Desdunes, a pianist also known as a voodoo priest, he was already mastering all kind of piano styles and worked in several Storyville's brothels. One understands now his double interest in appearing older than he really was.
Nevertheless, beyond his sulfurous reputation, the man remains as a key transition figure between ragtime and early jazz, and one of the early patriarchs of a long and rich string of New Orleans piano “professors”...

(1) The real “inventor” of jazz (or “jass” as it was first called) is considered by most music historians to be cornet player Buddy Bolden (1877-1931).

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
Morton and his band,
The Red Hot Peppers
► The Sound of New Orleans :
► Original Recordings 1926-1930 : https://youtu.be/L9kfPeTgOX4
► The Definitive Jelly Roll Morton - Ragtime & Early Sounds from New Orleans : https://youtu.be/Rnu8RFyx70k


If Morton is so famous it is because he was intensively recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress, but other early 20th Century pianists from the Crescent city also played a significant role in establishing the New Orleans piano style : the renowned barrel-house and boogie-woogie pianist Joseph Louis “Red” Cayou (1904-1947), Louis Gallaud (1897-1985), Alton Purnell (1911-1987), Burnell Santiago, dubbed “King of Boogie” and mentor of R'n'B pianist Leon T. Gross aka Archibald (1912-1973) who stopped recording in 1952 but whose style influenced younger musicians as Fats Domino, Huey "Piano" Smith or Dr. John. And blues singer & pianist Edmond Joseph aka Kid Stormy Weather, who is known for two titles only, “Short Hair Blues” and “Bread and Water Blues”, but had a major influence on Professor Longhair and Allen Toussaint…

"Red" Cayou
Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Kid Stormy Weather, “Short Hair Blues” and “Bread and Water Blues” : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m17Intwteq-QwzrDJRrwwNwG4QUb76H2I
► Archibald , Archibald's Crescent City Bounce : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mJ9Uvd2W0nmLAQ3jelWkSDaiGxpGBq94E


"Tuts" Washington
The only one whose work is more easily available today was Isidore “Tuts” Washington (1907-1984). Self-taught at age 10 but later studying with and influenced by “Red” Cayou, he blended elements of blues, boogie-woogie, ragtime and jazz. A leading player for dance and Dixieland bands in New Orleans in the 1920's and 1930's, he had a notable influence on Fats Domino.

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, New Orleans, 1984 : https://youtu.be/Mtes8daaJYo

Watch Him Live
► “Just A Closer Walk With Thee", BBC, mid 1980's : https://youtu.be/P4TYMMH2qf8


Champion Jack Dupree (1909 or 1910-1992), born in New Orleans, did all his career far from the Big Easy where he had studied piano with “Tuts” Washington and Willie Hall. He left in 1930 for the North : Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis where he became a local boxing champion, hence his nickname “Champion Jack”. His appealing straight barrel-house and boogie-woogie style was first recorded in Chicago in 1940.
After WWII (captured by the Japanese, he spent two years as a prisoner of war), he moved to New York City where he put out an impressive number of singles and LPs.
From 1959 he relocated in Europe, living successively in Switzerland, Denmark, England, Sweden and, finally, Germany where he died in 1992.
In 1990, he returned to New Orleans to perform at the Jazz & Heritage Festival, and recorded an album (see below). It was his first visit to his native town in 36 years.

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Champion Jack Dupree And His Blues Band Featuring Mickey Baker (1967) : https://youtu.be/N5oIxO28DYc
► Scoobydoobydoo (1969) : https://youtu.be/_YQEGt770xc
► With King Curtis, Blues At Montreux (1971) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaBIVksB98AhNPVeFPvhT_gncTU9LMoeF
► Back Home In New Orleans (1990) : https://youtu.be/ueP6Mqbbt78
► More albums playlists here : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjRMvVN_0wK2KFmIK9XCcVA/featured

Watch Him Live
► “Calcutta Blues”, 1969 : https://youtu.be/uVL6CwJCiyk
► In concert, 1969 : https://youtu.be/2Zq7LhKLodg
► With King Curtis, Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 1971 :
→ "Poor Boy Blues" : https://youtu.be/fd-37QTDxZA
→ "Junker's Blues" : https://youtu.be/XUVLcFhQm90
→ “Everything's Gonna Be Alright” : https://youtu.be/76TrTpY6kYE
► The Fabrik, Hamburg, Germany, 1988 (feat. German boogie-woogie pianist Axel Zwingenberger and his brother, drummer Torsten) : https://youtu.be/NoG0o6KePGk

Pianist, vocalist and songwriter extraordinaire Henry Roeland Byrd (1918-1980) aka Professor Longhair or “Fess” can be considered as the main creator of the New Orleans rhythm'n'blues. He wrote songs that became icons of the musical culture of New Orleans : ““Going to the Mardi Gras”, “Bald Head”, Big Chief”, “Tipitina” (1)... His influence on his followers like Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, James Booker or Dr. John, is undisputed.
The legend says his distinctive style came from learning on an old piano with missing keys. Most of all, his unique hybrid “mambo-rhumba boogie” with a heavy, percussive left hand, resulted from his introduction of Caribbean rhythms (calypso, rhumba) in a mix of blues, barrel-house boogie-woogie, jazz and second-line rhythms. He forever changed the sound of New Orleans rhythm'n' blues.
Add to that his inimitable hilarious vocal fantasies close to yodeling (for example on “It's My Fault, Darling” or “Whole Lotta Lovin'”) and an unforgettable but charismatic face… Few artists have equaled the span of his influence on modern music.
Though playing with different bands in the 1930's, he soon found out there were better ways to make money than music. He worked as a cook, then as a boxer, and eventually became a professional card player. It wasn't until the late 1940s that he returned to music.
He started to record in 1949 and in the following decade, jumping from one label to the next, putting on disc some of his most famous songs : “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” with his backing band The Shuffling Hungarians, “Bald Head”, his first and only national R'n'B hit in 1950, under the name Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers. the immortal “Tipitina” in 1953, “In the Night”, “Ball the Wall”...
But he never received much exposure outside of Louisiana and the 1960's were a dark decade for Longhair. After the release of “Big Chief” in 1964, he stopped playing and took a janitor's work and returned to professional card playing to support himself.
Fess' career was resurrected in the early 1970's by his new manager Allison Miner who was also working at founding of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with Quint Davis. His memorable performance at the 1971 Jazz Fest suddenly attracted the music industry : Atlantic (“House Party New Orleans Style: The Lost Sessions” in 1971-72), Rhino Records (“Mardi Gras in Baton Rouge” also in 1971-72), Blue Star (“Rock 'n Roll Gumbo” in 1974), Harvest (“Live on the Queen Mary” recorded in 1975 but released in 1978), Alligator (“Crawfish Fiesta” in 1980).
Meanwhile Miner sent him touring abroad, especially through Europe where he headlined in particular the renowned Montreux Jazz Festival in 1973. In 1974, he triumphantly appeared on PBS-TV with Dr. John, Earl King and the Meters.
On January 30th, 1980, on the eve of the release of “Crawfish Fiesta”, Professor Longhair died in his sleep at the age of 62.
Ironically, the decades following his death saw an incredible burgeoning of “new” releases, unissued recordings and compilations, as illustrated in the list featured below.

(1) Tipitina's, the famous music venue in New Orleans, was baptized after the song. A bust of Professor Longhair, sculpted by bluesman Coco Robicheaux, is displayed in the entrance hall.

Docs & Interviews
► Interview, Finland, 1975 : https://youtu.be/TyghvsYI5-4
► Allen Toussaint explains the influence of Professor Longhair on his music, 2015 : https://youtu.be/afPrC0H0vNI

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► House Party New Orleans Style - The Lost Sessions 1971-1972 : https://youtu.be/R5Le2kHlMos
► Rock'n'Roll Gumbo (1974) : https://youtu.be/1kqQo5Z74v8
► Philadelphia Folk Festival 1975 : https://youtu.be/QEV2iYRCtcY
► Live On The Queen Mary (rec. 1975, rel, 1978) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mvqtKJiVa-CgnmkvNlkIZIMx_wr0TQNKc
► Crawfish Fiesta (1980) (Remastered with Bonus Track,) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kXOxVe3ni9skcoCqridnvRsbqNUInvzBk
► Rum and Coke (rec. at Tipitina's 1971, rel. 1993) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mVYWKP4aVb5MNOrm7oVnAouTExZJwhe78
► Fess' Gumbo (Solo Piano & Interview) (rec. 1969, rel. 1996) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nE8XstMuQaFy6_YYkMmOmHveeRSwONz68
► Byrd Lives (rec. live at Tipitina's 1978, rel. 1998) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kiVvnwDDVVBhq-7F1Lm5qW5_FqWMTw9p8
► Ball the Wall!: Live at Tipitina's 1978 (1999) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3ZWloPu_MkqKmOJkQFl4TlyC6AH0VhzQ
Watch Him Live
► “Big Chief”, Montreux Jazz Festival, 1973 : https://youtu.be/kX8rgN_jndE (or) https://youtu.be/bhYyFnFPhBg
► With Dr. John, The Meters & Earl King, New Orleans, 1974 : https://youtu.be/_Ni86fbehf8
► Finland, 1975 :
→ “Bald Head” : https://youtu.be/jOci1aMlIpE
→ “Meet Me Tomorrow Night” : https://youtu.be/9pqgCFPspsU
→ “Jambalaya” : https://youtu.be/jR6SteqnKxk
→ “Going Home Tomorrow” : https://youtu.be/ACvNBonDEX4
► “Bald Head”, Superdome, New Orleans, Mardi Gras 1977 :  https://youtu.be/ChxJVSTnFN4
► “Bald Head”, other version : https://youtu.be/HZNxSOQtQp8
► Jazz Festival, Belgium, 1978 :
► "Tipitina", 1979 : https://youtu.be/5qcxSxKNOEk
► “Big Chief” (illustrated version) : https://youtu.be/RcIThsI-RnA
► Two hands and a keyboard : https://youtu.be/Tvfh_1fGvEM
► Two days before his sudden death (from the 1982 documentary, "Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together” by Stevenson J. Palfi), 1980 : https://youtu.be/zQv8WH_giN8

Fats Domino (1928-2017) : is it really necessary to introduce the father of rock'n'roll, Antoine Dominique Domino Jr., who recorded what is considered as the first rock'n'roll song in 1949 : “The Fat Man” written with Dave Bartholomew ?
Fats & Bartholomew
Despite selling some 65 millions records during his life, this shy man led a quiet and discreet private life. Married to the same woman for 61 years and the father of eight children whose names all began with the letter “A”, he never left the old neighborhood of his childhood, the Lower Ninth Ward, until in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina ruined his house, obliging him to relocate to a suburb of New Orleans.
Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino & James Brown
When Katrina hit, Domino refused to evacuate because of his wife's health problems. Rumors of his death spread around, but both had actually been rescued from the roof of their home by a coastguards helicopter.
With his accomplice Dave Bartholomew, another iconic figure of the New Orleans music scene, Domino wrote an impressive number of hits, making him the second biggest hit-maker, just behind Elvis Presley.

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► This Is Fats (1956) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU3gVY50mDYlghJvtoRqbmHeg8APgUP6e

Watch Him Live
► Antibes Jazz Festival, France, 1962 :
► Paris, France, 1973 : https://youtu.be/6gJOerRIE-0
► North Sea Jazz Festival, 1980 : https://youtu.be/j2faOA8xbLg
► Austin,1986 : https://youtu.be/XZD3Mpwj1mY
► Vancouver, Canada, 1986 : https://youtu.be/85g-yaaA8Bg
► New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, 2001 : https://youtu.be/GROWTQD1YTw

Eddie Bo in the late 1940's
Eddie Bo (1930-2009) was born Edwin Joseph Bocage in a very musical environment : his mother played piano, three of his uncles and cousins played jazz with Sidney Bechet before WWII, and Professor Longhair was a friend of the family. Himself began by playing jazz before switching to R'n'B, essentially for commercial reasons.
Unfortunately, a strange curse bewitched him away from the success he deserved so that he remained greatly under-estimated for most of his career. Was he ahead of his time or late ? When recognition rightfully came, Bo was already 70 years old. Yet, his mix of jazz and funk was totally innovative and he now appears a pioneer of the New Orleans R'n'B funk, well ahead of his time.
Bo, who was a carpenter, began to record in 1955 on the Ace label, and he is known for recording the biggest number of singles next to Fats Domino, working for about 40 different labels ! He also became a busy producer working with artists like Irma Thomas, Chris Kenner, Johnny Adams, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, Art Neville, Chuck Carbo, Mary Jane Hooper, Robert Parker...
Though several artists became rich and famous covering his songs, it looks like his royalties were falling in somebody else's pocket. Disillusioned, he got away from the music business for several years and went back to his carpentry trade. In 1977 he re-surfaced with a self-produced album on his own label Bo-Sound, “The Other Side Of Eddie Bo”, followed with “Watch for the Coming” in 1980.
His next opuses came out in the 1990's on different labels including his Bo-Sound : the excellent “Shoot From The Root” or “Back Up This Train” both in 1996, "Hole In It" and "Nine Yards Of Funk" in 1998, “We Come To Party” in 2001.
In the late 1980's and 1990's, he recorded and toured with Willy Deville, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and in the Louisiana Legends with Raful Neal and Tabby Thomas.
From the 2000's, Bo started to be “rediscovered” and acknowledged as a major actor of the New Orleans funk and R'n'B sound. After his death in 2009, compilations of his early singles and other unissued recordings started to flourish like flowers in Spring...

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► The Other Side Of Eddie Bo (1977) : https://youtu.be/rRaodDL96Xc
► Watch For The Coming (1980) : https://youtu.be/9989hkYT9zc
► New Orleans Solo Piano (compilation, 1995) : https://youtu.be/V8HYMBEP9Hg
► Grind Hard Shine Later, a compilation of explicit songs from Bo released in 2020 : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_ksIc70PilsUU-a4SNOXy9wkUlXLkTxUgc
Watch Him Live
► “Hook & Sling”, Jazz à Vienne, France, 2006 (lift up the volume) : https://youtu.be/LTicbiyT7kk
► Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans, 2007 : https://youtu.be/K_3JBiHToJk
► Ivry, France, 2007 : https://youtu.be/jowmVc-dzoM
► Le Divan du Monde, Paris, France, 2007 : https://youtu.be/tkPHSehoQ6E
► With Lillian Boutté, Ascona Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 2008 :
Ellis Marsalis and his son Wynton
Ellis Louis Marsalis Jr. (1934-2020) was a straight jazz pianist (he played in his own bands as well as with David "Fathead" Newman, Eddie Harris, Marcus Roberts, Courtney Pine…), and a leading educator (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, University of New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana) whose students included Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Donald Harrison Jr....
He is also famous for being the patriarch of the Marsalis musical family, father of now famous musicians Wynton (trumpet), Branford (saxophone), Delfeayo (trombone) and Jason (drums, vibraphone).

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Ellis Marsalis Trio (1990) : https://youtu.be/pmZ1ka7DcmI
► A Night At Snug Harbor, New Orleans (1990) : https://youtu.be/rw_iWluFJCw
Watch Him Live
► The Marsalis Family - A Jazz Celebration, 2001 : https://youtu.be/SwIdDHQShJI
► The "Cooper House", Huntsville, Alabama, 2012 : https://youtu.be/SVhnj1RQ7B0
► Ellis Marsalis Quintet, Dizzy's, NYC, 2016 : https://youtu.be/brkd44ERuxQ
► The Jazz & Heritage Center, New Orleans, 2018 : https://youtu.be/4_mBlsr-1w0?t=514

Always dressed with class but always with a little fancy exotic touch, able to play neo-classic pieces and the next minute a Mardi Gras Indians' song, Allen Toussaint (1938-2015) was one of the most influential musicians in New Orleans. Pianist, songwriter, arranger, producer and label manager, he turned everything he touched to gold.
Take a look at the credits of any famous song released in New Orleans between the mid-1950's and the late 1970's, there's great chances you'll see his name (or his pseudonym Naomi Neville, his mother's maiden name) in any, if not all, these categories.
Lee Dorsey & Allen Toussaint
Deeply influenced by Professor Longhair, working with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew in the late 1950's, he became the home producer for Minit Records and wrote, arranged and produced a long series of hits by Jessie Hill ("Ooh Poo Pah Doo"), Ernie K-Doe ("Mother-in-Law", "A Certain Girl"), Chris Kenner ("I Like It Like That" ), Benny Spellman ("Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette)", "Fortune Teller"), Irma Thomas ("Ruler of My Heart", "It's Raining"), Lee Dorsey ("Ya Ya")… Most of these songs were later covered by artists like Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Who, Grateful Dead, Linda Ronstadt...
The Meters at their beginnings
In 1965, he and his partner Marshall Sehorn founded Sansu Enterprises whose Sansu label released new hits from Lee Dorsey ("Ride Your Pony", "Working in the Coal Mine", "Holy Cow"), Earl King, Betty Harris, Chris Kenner... The regular studio band at Sansu later became The Meters. Guess who produced their first album ? Toussaint of course ! With him they developed the New Orleans funk sound.
Marshall Sehorn
In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn built the Sea-Saint recording studio in New Orleans' Gentilly neighborhood. By then Toussaint's reputation had spread far beyond New Orleans : he worked with artists and bands like Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Solomon Burke, The Band, Paul Simon, Little Feat, Paul McCartney and Wings…
Meanwhile he continued producing New Orleans musicians as The Meters, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, Dr. John ("Right Place, Wrong Time") or LaBelle ("Lady Marmalade”), also recording his own material of which many songs were successfully covered by artists like Glen Campbell, Boz Scaggs, Lowell George, The Pointer Sisters or Bonnie Raitt...
After Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home and the Sea-Saint studio, Toussaint concentrated more on performing his repertoire. In November 2015, in his hotel in Madrid, after a concert at the Teatro Lara, he was struck by a fatal heart attack at age 77. He was one of the last giants of New Orleans music.

Docs & Interviews
► On the “Rockburn Presents…” TV program, Canada, 2012 : https://youtu.be/oTGWoEdKgtg
► Interview with Larry Appelbaum of The Library of Congress, 2012 : https://youtu.be/mQyf6gpdpbY
► Bio-documentary, 2015 : https://youtu.be/nnAG6duzsd0
► Allen Toussaint explains the influence of Professor Longhair on his music, 2015 : https://youtu.be/afPrC0H0vNI

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► The Wild Sound of New Orleans by Tousan (rec. 1958, rel. 1988) : https://youtu.be/yaqHWz04Qmw
► Allen Toussaint's Jazzity Project : Going Places (2004) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kccBPQfEWemGoAXnWdxhNvlzJnHD3gqkg
► Happy Times In New Orleans - The Early Sessions 1958-1960 (2011) : https://youtu.be/QFgGyk6OTDw
► Live in Philadelphia 1975 (2016) : https://youtu.be/3G0Zmg9Ydlg

Watch Him Live
► With Etta James & Dr. John, Chicago, 1982 : https://youtu.be/POLN_cspkzI
► With Chick Carbo, Earl King, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe & Jesse Hill, The Dew Drop Inn, New Orleans, 1992 : https://youtu.be/t8ruQJ2kskI
► With Bonnie Raitt, New Orleans Jazzfest, 2000 : https://youtu.be/AB7FtZ8D2jk
► “Who’s Gonna Help Brother”, “Nearer To You”, “River In Reverse” with Elvis Costello, 2007 : https://youtu.be/XKKI53_IaRo
► Montreal Jazz Festival, Canada, 2008 : https://youtu.be/g8YOhz8ZywY
► Joe's Pub, NYC, 2009 : https://youtu.be/64Qy1uEIfNg
► Austin City Limits, 2010 : https://youtu.be/fEe9dy8miqE
► With The Meters & Dr John, Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN, 2011 : https://youtu.be/oROqGDDG-Tg?t=561
► Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY, 2012 : https://youtu.be/l3khLdZ2tas
► “Boogie-Woogie”, “Brickyard Blues”, “Southern Nights”, Oakville Jazz Festival, 2012 : https://youtu.be/yjeksSC-VAQ
► With the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, New Orleans, 2014 : https://youtu.be/MpwgphVr00I
► Tokyo, Japan, 2015 : https://youtu.be/NADhXyrEnek
► With The Funky Meters & Irma Thomas, Blues & BBQ Festival, New Orleans, 2015 : https://youtu.be/W4UCstWGdU0
► His last concert in New Orleans, with Irma Thomas, 2015 : https://youtu.be/lFKKfLjZmZE
► His last live performance, Teatro Lara, Madrid, Spain, 09/11/2015 :
→ “St. James Infirmary” : https://youtu.be/vKCMr8c70xE
→ “Big Chief” / “Tipitina” : https://youtu.be/rrUDOHjOiJ0

Huey "Piano" Smith (1934-2023) : his "Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu", recorded in 1957, sold over one million copies. The next year he and his Clowns did it again with the hilarious "Don't You Just Know It". Second gold disc. Both became classics.
Smith started playing clubs and recording at age 15, in particular with his partner Eddie Jones aka Guitar Slim. When 18, he recorded with Earl King, Lloyd Price or Smiley Lewis. He joined Little Richard's band in 1955, and formed his own band, Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns, in 1957.
Success then faded away. It's only in the 2000's that his boogie-woogie, jazz and rhythm'n'blues mix was recognized as an important contribution to the shaping of rock'n'roll.

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Huey 'Piano' Smith & his Clowns, 45 RPM 1956-1963, Ace Records : https://youtu.be/foIEAta0HiM
► Serious Clownin' - The History Of Huey "Piano" Smith And The Clowns (1986) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOFsCPXqLYfrkA9APjGE2yCR0Yg_8OY0d

Watch Him Live
► Huey “Piano” Smith & His Clowns, “Don't You Just Know It”, 1958 : https://youtu.be/1gdDubu1L2Q


At age 18, James Booker (1939-1983) could play Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff or Erroll Garner with an amazing technique, but he was more interested by rhythm'n'blues and learned some keyboard tricks from “Tuts” Washington. He was strongly influenced by Professor Longhair, Ray Charles and above all Fats Domino.
His recording career, which started in 1954 under the musical direction of Dave Bartholomew but without much commercial success, was as chaotic as his personal life : addicted to heroin, alcoholic, he spent a year at the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary known as Angola, where he lost one eye in a fight.
He played piano or organ and toured with many fellow musicians like Huey “Piano” Smith, Joe Tex, Earl King, Smiley Lewis and even Fats Domino, and on albums by Ringo Starr, John Mayall, The Doobie Brothers, LaBelle or Geoff Muldaur…
It was in Europe where he toured intensively in the late 1970's that his talent was rightfully recognized. Several of his performances were recorded and released in this period.
In 1977 in New Orleans he became the house pianist at the famous Mapple Leaf lounge, where he was recorded live several times.
Heroin and alcohol finally killed him. He died in November 1983. He was just 43. With his usual flair for words Dr John said Booker was "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced".

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Spider On The Keys (Live at the Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, 1977-1982) (1993) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9D8A5558B4FD6519
► Resurrection Of The Bayou Maharajah (Live at the Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, 1977-1982) (1993) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6A2DF5D02CAD3CF8

Watch Him Live
► Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 1978 : https://youtu.be/234Mq_xBR8Q
► Jazz Festival, Nice, France, 1978 : https://youtu.be/4xfSftiJzvQ
► James Booker followed by Memphis Piano Red (at 39:14), Molde Jazz Festival, Norway, 1978 : https://youtu.be/B8CKH9Kukgg
► Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, 1983 : https://youtu.be/KonalXX05Ws?t=82
 
Chapter XII was already devoted to Mac Rebennack aka Dr John (1941-2019). Playlists of dozens of his albums and compilations are listed at https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialDrJohn/releases
 
Henry Butler (1948-2018), blind since childhood, belongs to the New Orleans jazz piano tradition of Jelly Roll Morton, Tuts Washington, Professor Longhair and James Booker… A legend in the Crescent City, famous for his technique and his ability to play in many styles of music, mixing jazz, blues, R'n'B and even rock'n'roll, and gifted with a powerful voice, he seldom left his native town, doing most of his career in the clubs and bars of New Orleans, and recording a dozen albums between 1986 and 2016. Though blind, Butler also became a photographer.
In 2005, Katrina wrecked his house in the Gentilly neighborhood. The flood waters rose to nearly eight feet (2,4 m), ruining not only his vintage 1925 Mason & Hamlin piano but also the master tapes of his recordings and thousands of pages of jazz theory, history and scores he had written in Braille. Butler left New Orleans definitely and settled in New York where he died of cancer in 2018 at age 69.
 
Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Blues After Sunset (1998) : https://youtu.be/uvDnw4wRrmQ
► Vü-Dü Menz, with Corey Harris (2000) : https://youtu.be/p4XyJmbQoZg

Watch Him Live
► “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, 2008 : https://youtu.be/kYxDuSJtUUI
► “Tipitina”, Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival, New Orleans, 2011 : https://youtu.be/xZSMvSAkXNk
► The Brick House Brewery, Long Island, NY, 2011 : https://youtu.be/SJs2qWYMS7g?t=66
► Interview + performance, Loyola University School of Music Industry, New Orleans, 2011 : https://youtu.be/KS7OkwB3kZI
► "Hey Now Baby"-"Will it Go Round in Circles"-"Hey Now Baby", NYC, 2012 : https://youtu.be/KNeMeRaertE
► Bourbon Street Music Festival, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2012 (feat. Vasti Jackson on guitar) : https://youtu.be/bp266K5jqg0
► With Steven Bernstein & The Hot 9, North Sea Jazz Festival, Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2014 : https://youtu.be/i_Exi_XRWKA
► “Get Out Of My Life Woman” (Allen Toussaint), WWOZ's Piano Night, House of Blues, New Orleans, 2016 : https://youtu.be/mkvCZmB8qYY
► Bird's Basement, Melbourne, Australia, 2018 (a few weeks before his death) : https://youtu.be/R9Q5WZqT8Qk

Very famous in New Orleans, but much less outside, David Torkanowsky (born 1956) is a jazz pianist, composer and arranger who has played and worked with an incredible number of artists of the New Orleans music scene and beyond, such as Ellis Marsalis, Dianne Reeves, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin, Irma Thomas, Maria Muldaur, Zachary Richard, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Philip Walker, Kermit Ruffins...
Get A Taste (Audio Only)
Watch Him Live
► WWOZ Piano Night, New Oreans, 2015 : https://youtu.be/fHYdTDyF0Jc
► Dr. John Tribute, WWOZ, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/jH_kz_AxzBU
► With Stanton Moore and James Singleton, Tipitina's, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/iU8FWtKsp0I

 

The next two pianists, Tom McDermott and Jon Cleary, are both “immigrants” who settled in New Orleans and became active members of the local music scene.

Fats Domino, Jon Cleary and Tom McDermott ►


Tom McDermott, born in 1957 in St. Louis, moved to New Orleans in 1984. His encyclopedic knowledge of New Orleans music since the pre-jazz era makes him a real “pianologist”.
More info on :
→ https://web.archive.org/web/20081007072243/http://offbeat.com/artman/publish/article_3007.shtml
→ https://web.archive.org/web/20120415063900/http://www.strdigital.com/mcDermott.htm
→ https://web.archive.org/web/20060724025444/http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/isam/sp99art7.html

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Tom McDermott And His Jazz Hellions, feat. Jack Maheu (clarinet) & Connie Jones (cornet) (1995) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_knDZsABtQ0-5YnmkGalrpJmgdOXX-hmz8

Watch Him Live
► The Plato Recordshop, Utrecht, Netherlands. 2013 : https://youtu.be/8J2CVnObXcU
► Dr. John Tribute, WWOZ, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/VKErsSmv4Nw
► Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans, 2019 : https://youtu.be/BV-hd1Lq2uo
► The SideBar, New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/D3BOPtF81bI
► Revisiting his classic CD "All the Keys and Then Some", 2020 : https://youtu.be/O1dqUVHES60
► Tom McDermott and Meschiya Lake, Chickie Wah Wah, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/SKl0kD5MI54?t=308


Jon Cleary was actually born in England in 1962 in a family of musicians. He discovered New Orleans music in his teens, especially through records of Allen Toussaint, James Booker and Professor Longhair, and became a passionate so that freshly out of art school, he flew to New Orleans in 1981, found a job as a painter at the famous Maple Leaf Bar and soon began playing piano there. His reputation began to spread around and before long he was hired by such New Orleans legends as Snooks Eaglin, Earl King, Johnny Adams, Jessie Hill... gaining the respect of great Nola pianists Dr. John and his idol Allen Toussaint.
The Absolute Monster Gentlemen
But a visa problem obliged him to return to England for a few months but it was not long though before he was back in New Orleans and during this second stay, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, impressed by his performances, took him in his band. Meanwhile, Cleary started to write his own material and founded his own group, The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, whose first opus, “Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen”, was released in 2002.
For the second time he had to return to UK due to a new problem with the US immigration. Until famous fellow Englishman music producer John Porter (1) called him back. This time was the right time and Cleary has been a Nola permanent resident ever since, an important musical figure of the Crescent City, famous for his large Southern gentleman planter Panama hats.
Cleary with jazz guitarist John Scofield
Altogether, Cleary has recorded and/or toured on piano or organ with an impressive number of artists, half of them produced by Porter, among whom Taj Mahal (several albums), B.B. King (“Deuces Wild”, 1997), Jimmy Smith (“Dot Com Blues”, 2000), jazz guitarist John Scofield (“Piety Street”, 2009), Louisiana Red (”Always Played The Blues”, 2012), Dr. John, Walter Trout, Keb' Mo', Maria Muldaur, Ryan Adams, Lucky Peterson, Johnny Sansone, John Mooney, Bobby Charles, Eric Burdon, and particularly Bonnie Raitt , as a featured musician on several of her albums and as a member of her touring band for nearly a decade.

 (1) John Porter long list of production work includes illustrious artists like Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, B.B. King, Ryan Adams, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Maria Muldaur, Keb' Mo', Lucky Peterson, Jimmy Smith, R.L. Burnside, Stephen Stills, Carlos Santana, Elvis Costello, Tommy Castro, Ana Popovic...

 
Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► Jon Cleary is featured on organ, piano and lead vocals on John Scofield's album "Piety Street" (2009) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_msC0uVplAjrcKbvYrjPLZpg8nDTqSD2oU
 
Watch Him Live
► LRBC #26, 2016 : https://youtu.be/dRmnZMlxIoo
► Calgary Bluesfest, Canada, 2016 : https://youtu.be/Oz_47RgfYYI
► Ardmore Music Hall, Ardmore, PA, 2016 : https://youtu.be/j2BgflfH9DU
► New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/Vlbt73WQQAQ
► Fess' (Professor Longhair) 103rd Birthday celebration, New Orleans, 2021 : https://youtu.be/BmQdUtPpJIs?t=382
► Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, 2022 : https://youtu.be/tixMGFZxeNo
► Solo on piano, The Dakota Club, Minneapolis, MN, 2022 : https://youtu.be/C3wPVo0fQlc
► Jon Cleary's Funky N.O. R&B Revue (feat. John Boutté, Al Johnson and James Rivers), The Broadside, New Orleans, 2023 :
► Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, The Maple Leaf Bar, New Orleans, 2023 : https://youtu.be/Yiw5l7VsE0Y


Davell Crawford, born in 1975 in New Orleans, is the grandson of famous 1950's R'n'B artist James "Sugar Boy" Crawford. Fascinated by his church pipe organ in his childhood, he kept strong gospel influences, later enriched with his special liking for Ray Charles. His style also includes the R'n'B dimension inherited from his grand-dad as well as the jazz tradition of New Orleans.
Dubbed the “Piano Prince of New Orleans”, he is the youngest link in the long lineage of New Orleans pianists who marked the unique New Orleans style since Jelly Roll Morton.

Get A Taste (Audio Only)
► The B-3 And Me (1998) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lyjvXXKR-7I076Tl1OG1PFKgVNlTRkOKQ
Watch Him Live
► With Glen David Andrews, Joe's Pub, NYC, 2010 : https://youtu.be/CNIgJTBtIXU
► "Tribute to Ray Charles", Saint-Etienne, France, 2012 : https://youtu.be/jdljw42AyRI
► Southport, NC, 2014 : https://youtu.be/W6JY5hgEytE
► With Irvin Mayfield, Ascona Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 2015 : https://youtu.be/AZ8m9fLAEmo
► New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2015 : https://youtu.be/lzmXul4sTfc
► Tribute to Allen Toussaint, "To Allen With Love", City Winery, NYC, 2016 (featuring Irma Thomas & Paul Shaffer) : https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlBO6Ux1Yu17zhFZ0V1LtzD4avwEgka5U
► Louisiana Music Factory. New Orleans, 2016 : https://youtu.be/JbpsQH0dFcc (or) https://youtu.be/jvkq2F36BgA
► New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2017 : https://youtu.be/yqwT9Ld3Tco
► With Vasti Jackson, Porretta Soul Festival, Italy, 2017 : https://youtu.be/0STRZsDIrOo
► New Orleans Jazz Fest, 2018 : https://youtu.be/pVuTpqyPSSg
► New Orleans, 2020 : https://youtu.be/RrD2_VZnO8g
► New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, 2023 : https://youtu.be/JoeGkgpWe0s?t=378

 
This chapter XVI concludes our long journey to Nawlins.
But a surprise is always possible...
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