Celebrating the Birthday of Pete Fountain

Jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain (Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr.) was born in New Orleans on July 3, 1930. He played traditional Dixieland jazz and was noted for his sweet fluid tone. Fountain started playing clarinet as a child after a doctor recommended he play a wind instrument to treat a chronic lung condition. At first, Pete was unable to produce a sound, but with practice he eventually made music and improved the health of his lungs. While he did take lessons, he also learned by playing along with jazz records of Benny Goodman and Irving Fazola. As a teenager, he played with bands in Bourbon Street bars, and later with the Basin Street Six, as well as the Dukes of Dixieland in Chicago. Fountain was later featured on the Lawrence Welk Show and made numerous guest appearances on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. He recorded over 100 LPs and CDs, and performed regularly in New Orleans, being featured in nearly every New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since its inception in 1970. He was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1997, and the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Fountain passed away on August 6, 2016, survived by his wife of 65 years, Beverly, and their three children. Today we remember Pete Fountain and celebrate his legacy as a true ambassador of New Orleans music around the world.

Photo: I, Sumori

Celebrating the Birthday of Clifton Chenier

Accordionist Clifton Chenier was born on June 25, 1925, in Leonville, Louisiana, and was known as the King of Zydeco, and also as the King of the South. A French-speaking native, he was an eminent performer and recording artist of zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influences. Chenier began his recording career in 1954, and garnered his first national hit in 1955 with "Ay-Tete Fi" (Hey, Little Girl) (a cover of Professor Longhair's song). The national success of the release led to numerous tours with popular rhythm and blues performers such as Ray Charles, Etta James, and Lowell Fulson. Chenier is credited with redesigning the wood and crimped tin washboard into the vest frottoir, an instrument that would easily hang from the shoulders.

In 1976, Chenier reached a national audience when he appeared on the premiere season of the PBS music program Austin City Limits. Three years later in 1979 he returned to the show with his Red Hot Louisiana Band. Chenier's popularity peaked in the 1980s, and he and his band traveled throughout the world. Chenier was recognized with a Grammy Award in 1983 for his album I'm Here. He was only the second Louisiana Creole to win a Grammy, following Queen Ida. He was a recipient of a 1984 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.

Sadly, Chenier died of diabetes-related kidney disease in December 12, 1987 in Lafayette, Louisiana. Since then, his son C. J. Chenier has carried on the zydeco tradition by touring with Chenier's band and recording albums. Today we celebrate the birthday and amazing legacy of a true Louisiana original!

Happy Birthday, Luther Kent!

Blues vocalist Luther Kent was born Kent Rowell in New Orleans on June 23, 1948, and is known for his powerful, soulful voice, as well as his band Luther Kent & Trick Bag, which mixes swinging blues with New Orleans R&B. He began his professional singing career when he was 14, and was influenced by Ray Charles, Etta James and Bobby Bland. In 1970, he became the lead singer for a group named Cold Grits, and in 1974 he joined Blood, Sweat & Tears. He toured with them until the end of that same year, but he never recorded with that group. In 1977 he released his first solo album, and by 1978 he had formed Luther Kent & Trick Bag with Charlie Brent, former musical director for Wayne Cochran. The band was very active during the 1980s and 1990s, and released 3 CDs under the name. Kent released a gospel album in 1996 which featured Allen Toussaint and Pete Fountain. In 2006, Kent toured Italy with Italian blues guitarist Robi Zonca and his band, and a recording of the show was released as album Magic Box that year. Apart from his solo work, Kent also sings as a guest with the traditional jazz group, The Dukes of Dixieland, and appears on some of their recordings. Kent continues to perform and is a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Let’s wish Luther a very happy birthday!

Photo by Masahiro Sumori

Happy Birthday, Deacon John!

R&B, rock ‘n roll and blues guitarist, singer, bandleader and actor Deacon John Moore was born in New Orleans on June 23, 1941. Happy birthday to a true Big Easy legend!

Photo by Mobilus In Mobili - https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobili/21498536583/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44363359

Happy Birthday, Donald Harrison, Jr!

Saxophonist and composer Donald Harrison, Jr, was born in New Orleans on June 23, 1960. He started in New Orleans secondline culture and studied New Orleans secret tribal culture under his father, Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr.. Harrison Jr. is currently the Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans Culture. He studied at the Berklee College of Music. As a professional musician he worked with Roy Haynes and Jack McDuff before joining Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers with Terence Blanchard and recorded albums in a quintet until 1989. Two years later Harrison released a tribute album to Blakey. This was followed by an album that reached into Harrison's New Orleans heritage with guest appearances by Dr. John and Cyrus Chestnut and chants by the Guardians of the Flame Mardi Gras Indians. He devoted half the album Nouveau Swing (1997) to mixing the swing beat of modern acoustic jazz with modern dance music and half to mixing the swing beat with Caribbean-influenced music. On the next album his experiments continued by mixing modern jazz's swing beat with hip hop, Latin music, R&B, and smooth jazz.

His albums, 3D Vols. I, II, and III, present him in three different musical genres. On Vol. I he writes, plays, and produces smooth jazz and R&B style. On Vol. II he writes, produces and plays in the classic jazz style. On Vol. III he writes plays and produces hip hop. His group, Donald Harrison Electric Band, has recorded popular radio hits and has charted in the top ten of Billboard magazine. He performs as a producer, singer, and rapper in traditional New Orleans jazz and hip hop genres with his group, The New Sounds of Mardi Gras. The group, which has recorded two albums, was started in 2001 and has made appearances worldwide. Harrison is the Big Chief of the Congo Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group, which keeps alive the secret traditions of Congo Square.

In 2016 Harrison recorded his first orchestral work with The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. He followed up the piece for the MSO by writing classical orchestral works for the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, The New York Chamber Orchestra, and The Jalapa Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Harrison has nurtured a number of young musicians including trumpeter Christian Scott (Harrison's nephew), Mark Whitfield, Christian McBride, and The Notorious B.I.G. Harrison was in Spike Lee's HBO documentary When the Levees Broke and has appeared as himself in eleven episodes of the television series Treme. Harrison was chosen Person of the Year by Jazziz magazine in January 2007.

Happy Birthday to a New Orleans original!

Source: Wikipedia

Photo by Derek Bridges

Happy Birthday, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson!

Singer songwriter and pianist Al “Carnival Time” Johnson was born in New Orleans on June 20, 1939. Al is best known for his classic song “Carnival Time”, which is one of the most requested and played songs of Carnival Season and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Happy Birthday, Al … celebrate like it’s Carnival Time!