Celebrating the Birthday of Boozoo Chavis

Zydeco pioneer Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was born on October 23, 1930, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, in a Cajun Creole settlement called Pied des Chiens (Dog Hill). Chavis was an accordion player, singer, songwriter and bandleader who began playing accordion in his youth, having been was exposed to his father, uncles and cousins who all played. He was nicknamed "Boozoo" in his childhood, although the name’s origin is unknown. As a teenager, Chavis bought a button accordion and began performing regularly at a dance club that his mother opened, often sitting in on performances with Clifton Chenier, as well as playing at house dances on weekends and evenings.As well as developing the playing style that came to be known as zydeco, Chavis worked as a farmer, jockey, and horse trainer. Chavis earned the nickname "The Creole Cowboy" because of his background raising horses, as well as the white Stetson hat he wore during performances. 

In 1954, Chavis’ first recording, "Paper in My Shoe," sung in both French and English, was the first commercially released zydeco song and the first zydeco hit, and subsequently became a zydeco standard. Chavis was convinced that the recording was more successful than the record companies claimed, so he lost trust in the music business, and over the next thirty years only released three more singles. He performed rarely during the 1960s and 1970s, devoting most of his time to raising racehorses and farming on his property in Dog Hill. 

In the early 1980s, zydeco was gaining recognition outside of Louisiana in the United States, as well developing as a strong following in Europe, thanks largely to the popularity of artists such as Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Rockin' Dopsie. Chavis returned to performing music regularly in 1984 after discovering that another musician was impersonating him. He signed a five-year contract with the Maison de Soul label, and released a locally successful single, "Dog Hill" and four albums: Louisiana Zydeco Music (1986), Boozoo Zydeco! (1987), Zydeco Homebrew (1989), and Zydeco Trail Ride (1990).In 1989, Chavis founded the "Labor Day Dog Hill Festival" as a fan appreciation party, and to showcase zydeco musicians and also keep the zydeco tradition alive. During the 1990’s, many of his songs also appeared on compilation albums featuring many of the most well-known zydeco performers.

During the 1990s, Chavis performed widely with his band, the Magic Sounds, and was crowned "The King of Zydeco" in New Orleans in 1993, after Clifton Chenier's death. He was a prolific writer of zydeco songs, some including references to his friends and acquaintances and others too raunchy to be sold openly. The release of X-rated versions of his songs "Uncle Bud" and "Deacon Jones" on his 1999 album Who Stole My Monkey? resulted in a parental advisory sticker, the first for a zydeco recording. In 1998, Chavis was inducted into the Zydeco Hall of Fame, and in 2001, he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States.

 Sadly, Chavis died on May 5, 2001, from complications resulting from a heart attack, just one week after a performance in Texas. His legacy lives on in his zydeco music festival, and the numerous musicians whom he influenced. 

Photo: David Simpson

Happy Birthday, Doreen Ketchens!

Jazz clarinetist, singer, bandleader and music educator Doreen Ketchens was born in New Orleans on October 3, 1966, and performs Dixieland and Trad Jazz. Ketchens has performed at concert halls and music festivals, at U.S. Embassies, for four U.S. Presidents, and on Royal Street in the French Quarter with her band, Doreen's Jazz New Orleans. Ketchens is widely considered one of the cultural ambassadors of New Orleans and of the traditional music.

Ketchens grew up in the Tremé, studied clarinet in elementary school, played in high school in, and was accepted to NOCCA, Louisiana's Arts Conservatory in New Orleans. She attended Delgado Community College, Loyola University of New Orleans, Southern University In New Orleans, and the University of Hartford's The Hartt Schoolin. Ketchens worked her way through conservatories and college as a chef, and met her husband, arranger and sousaphonist for Doreen's Jazz New Orleans, Lawrence Ketchens at Loyola. 

Ketchens performed her first jazz gig with Lawrence in 1987, and ran a plate lunch eatery called "Doreen's Sweets" for a time. She and Lawrence saw musicians working the streets of New Orleans, and determined that they could make money doing that as well. The couple began performing on the streets of New Orleans in 1987 with her first band, the Jackson Square All-Stars. Their band evolved into "Doreen's Jazz New Orleans," and, after struggling with the chauvinism of traditional Jazz and club owners, they found their stride playing and entertaining crowds at street shows, Jazz festivals, and ultimately through direct sales of their music and videos on the Internet. Ketchens has been sharing traditional American Jazz in Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, South America, Russia and the United States. They have performed with programs sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center and The US Department of State. Ketchens' group appears at Jazz Festivals in New Orleans and at music festivals, fairs, and showcases throughout the world.

Ketchens has performed with Ellis Marsalis, Trombone Shorty, Al Hirt, and Dr. John, and has been seen around the world by millions of people via media and fan videos of her performances. She has been featured in numerous documentaries about New Orleans, its music, and its heritage, and she has been seen on television in shows like HBO's Tremé. Ketchens embodies so much of what we love about New Orleans and its culture!

Photo by: Aris Vrakas

Celebrating the Birthday of Louis Prima

Trumpeter, singer, songwriter, actor, bandleader and composer Louis Prima was born in New Orleans on December 7, 1910. In the late 1920s Prima formed a New Orleans-style jazz band, then he led a swing band in the 1930s, and a big band group in the 1940s. By the 1950s, he had helped popularize jump blues and was a featured act in Las Vegas. From the 1940s through the 1960s he played early R&B, rock’n’roll, boogie woogie and Italian folk music. Despite that musicians of his era were discouraged from displaying their ethnic roots, Prima embraced his Italian heritage and helped pave the way for other musicians to display their ethnic roots in their music. Some of his most popular songs include, “Just A Gigolo”, “I Wanna Be Like You”, “Jump, Jive an’ Wail”, “Pennies from Heaven”, and “When You’re Smiling”. Sadly, Prima passed away on August 24, 1978, after a lengthy illness. Today we celebrate this unique performer who always left us smiling’!

Photo by: William P. Gottlieb

Happy Birthday, Dr. Michael White!

Jazz clarinetist, bandleader, composer, Jazz historian and musical educator Dr. Michael White was born in New Orleans on November 29, 1954, and he began his jazz musical career as a teenager playing for Doc Paulin's Brass Band. White is a classically trained musician who was discovered by Kid Sheik Colar while performing in Jackson Square in the French Quarter. He was a member of the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, played in the Young Tuxedo Brass Band since 1979, and led a band called The New Orleans Hot Seven during the 1980s.

In 1981, White founded The Original Liberty Jazz Band to preserve the musical heritage of New Orleans. The group has performed an end-of-year concert at the Village Vanguard every year since the early 1990s. He is a recipient of a 2008 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States' highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. White is also a college professor who teaches African-American Music at Xavier University of Louisiana, and, he holds the Rosa and Charles Keller Endowed Chair in the Humanities of New Orleans Music and Culture. He has also served as guest director at several Jazz at Lincoln Center concerts relating to traditional New Orleans jazz, often working with Wynton Marsalis. White has also served as a commissioner for the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park.

White is a celebrated and accomplished musician, historian and educator who shares his many gifts with students and audiences alike. Let’s all join together today to wish him a very happy birthday wishes!

Photo: Derek Bridges

Happy Birthday, Jon Batiste!

Pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and television personality Jonathan Michael Batiste was born on November 11, 1986, in Metairie, Louisiana, into a legendary musical family that included Lionel Batiste and Harold Battiste. He started playing percussion and drums at the age of 8 in his family’s Batiste Brothers Band, and by 11 he switched to piano at his mother's suggestion. Jon developed his piano skills by taking classical music lessons and transcribing songs from video games. At 17, Batiste released Times in New Orleans. He attended St. Augustine High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts with Trombone Shorty, and went on to receive a bachelor's and master's degree from the Julliard School. While at Juilliard, he released his second album, Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art. By the end of 2006, Batiste had been a featured performer in the U.S. and internationally. He has recorded and performed with accomplished artists in various genres of music, released his own recordings, and performed in over 40 countries. Batiste regularly tours with his band Stay Human, and appears with them every night as bandleader and musical director on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Batiste also serves as the Music Director of The Atlantic and the Creative Director of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He has been awarded the American Jazz Museum Lifetime Achievement Award, the Harry Chapin ASCAP Humanitarian Award and the Moved Future Legend Award. In 2020, Batiste co-composed the score for the Pixar animated film Soul with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, for which they received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA Film Award. In 2022, he was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, winning five, including an Album of the Year win for his album We Are. So much has been achieved by this incredible artist, and we cannot wait for what is yet to come! Happy Birthday, Jon!

Celebrating the Birthday of Boozoo Chavis

Zydeco pioneer Wilson Anthony "Boozoo" Chavis was born on October 23, 1930, near Lake Charles, Louisiana, in a Cajun Creole settlement called Pied des Chiens (Dog Hill). Chavis was an accordion player, singer, songwriter and bandleader who began playing accordion in his youth, having been was exposed to his father, uncles and cousins who all played. He was nicknamed "Boozoo" in his childhood, although the name’s origin is unknown. As a teenager, Chavis bought a button accordion and began performing regularly at a dance club that his mother opened, often sitting in on performances with Clifton Chenier, as well as playing at house dances on weekends and evenings.As well as developing the playing style that came to be known as zydeco, Chavis worked as a farmer, jockey, and horse trainer. Chavis earned the nickname "The Creole Cowboy" because of his background raising horses, as well as the white Stetson hat he wore during performances. 

In 1954, Chavis’ first recording, "Paper in My Shoe," sung in both French and English, was the first commercially released zydeco song and the first zydeco hit, and subsequently became a zydeco standard. Chavis was convinced that the recording was more successful than the record companies claimed, so he lost trust in the music business, and over the next thirty years only released three more singles. He performed rarely during the 1960s and 1970s, devoting most of his time to raising racehorses and farming on his property in Dog Hill. 

In the early 1980s, zydeco was gaining recognition outside of Louisiana in the United States, as well developing as a strong following in Europe, thanks largely to the popularity of artists such as Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Rockin' Dopsie. Chavis returned to performing music regularly in 1984 after discovering that another musician was impersonating him. He signed a five-year contract with the Maison de Soul label, and released a locally successful single, "Dog Hill" and four albums: Louisiana Zydeco Music (1986), Boozoo Zydeco! (1987), Zydeco Homebrew (1989), and Zydeco Trail Ride (1990).In 1989, Chavis founded the "Labor Day Dog Hill Festival" as a fan appreciation party, and to showcase zydeco musicians and also keep the zydeco tradition alive. During the 1990’s, many of his songs also appeared on compilation albums featuring many of the most well-known zydeco performers.

During the 1990s, Chavis performed widely with his band, the Magic Sounds, and was crowned "The King of Zydeco" in New Orleans in 1993, after Clifton Chenier's death. He was a prolific writer of zydeco songs, some including references to his friends and acquaintances and others too raunchy to be sold openly. The release of X-rated versions of his songs "Uncle Bud" and "Deacon Jones" on his 1999 album Who Stole My Monkey? resulted in a parental advisory sticker, the first for a zydeco recording. In 1998, Chavis was inducted into the Zydeco Hall of Fame, and in 2001, he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States.

 Sadly, Chavis died on May 5, 2001, from complications resulting from a heart attack, just one week after a performance in Texas. His legacy lives on in his zydeco music festival, and the numerous musicians whom he influenced. 

Photo: David Simpson