Celebrating the Birthday of Marva Wright

Vocalist Marva Wright was born in New Orleans on March 20, 1948, and started singing in church at age 9, with her gospel singer, piano player mother accompanying her. The world-renowned “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson was an early friend of the family. Wright turned professional in 1987, at nearly 40 years old, after she was discovered while working as a secretary. She began singing as a second job to support her family. While Wright sang traditional jazz and gospel, she was better known for sultry, sometimes bawdy blues songs.

During a live set at Tipitina's in 1989, Wright made her first recording, Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean., and in 1991, she made her national television debut and met the late CBS news anchorman Ed Bradley, who encouraged her career and introduced her at every JazzFest. Wright's first full-length release, Heartbreakin' Woman, appeared later that year, and was named blues album of the year by the Louisiana Music Critics Association. Her album Born With The Blues was released in France in 1993, and worldwide in 1996. Her 2007 effort, After The Levees Broke, addressed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed her house and all her belongings. In August 2008, she performed with the Louisiana Wetlands All Stars at both the Democratic National Convention in Colorado and the Republican National Convention in Minnesota.

Wright also sang backup for such artists as Allen Toussaint, Glen Campbell, Joe Cocker, Cyril Neville, Harry Connick, Jr., Bobby McFerrin, Aaron Neville, Fats Domino, Lou Rawls, and Marcia Ball. Sadly, she passed away on March 23, 2010. On this day, we celebrate the life of the Blues Queen of New Orleans, Marva Wright.

Happy Birthday, Clarence "Frogman" Henry!

R&B singer and pianist Clarence “Frogman” Henry was born in New Orleans on March 19, 1937, and is best known for his hits "Ain't Got No Home" (1956) and "(I Don't Know Why) But I Do" (1961). Influenced by Fats Domino and Professor Longhair, Henry started learning piano as a child, and started playing professionally in 1952. One night that year, he improvised the song "Ain't Got No Home", using his trademark croak. He recorded it in Cosimo Matassa's studio in 1956, and it eventually rose to number 3 on the national R&B chart and number 20 on the US pop chart. This earned Henry his nickname of 'Frogman' and jump-started his career. Henry opened eighteen concerts for the Beatles across the US and Canada in 1964, but his main source of income came from performing on Bourbon Street, where he played for nineteen years. In 2007, Henry was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. He continues to draws adoring fans at the various events and festivals where he performs, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Today we join Clarence in celebrating his birthday! Many happy returns, Frogman! 

Happy Birthday, Terence Blanchard!

Trumpeter, composer and music educator Terence Blanchard was born in New Orleans on March 13, 1962, and began playing piano at age five, and trumpet at eight. His childhood friends in eluded Wynton and Branford Marsalis, and he studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His composition teacher there was none other than Ellis Marsalis. Blanchard started his career in 1980 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed on more than fifty. He received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Score on Spike Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman. From 2000 to 2011, Blanchard served as artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. In 2011 he was named artistic director of the Henry Mancini Institute at the University of Miami. In the fall of 2015 he was named a visiting scholar in jazz composition at Berklee College of Music. In 2019, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), named Blanchard their Endowed Chair in Jazz Studies, where he will remain until 2024. The Metropolitan Opera announced it will stage Blanchard's opera Fire Shut up In My Bones in their 2021-2022 Season, which will be the first production by a black composer staged by the Metropolitan Opera in the organization's 136-year history. Let’s wish the amazing Terence Blanchard a very happy birthday!

Photo by: jhderojas

Happy Birthday, Jason Marsalis!

Jazz and funk drummer and vibraphonist Jason Marsalis was born in New Orleans on March 4, 1977, into the Marsalis family of musical royalty. He is the youngest son of the late pianist and music professor Ellis Marsalis, Jr., and brother to jazz musicians Branford, Wynton and Delfeayo, as well as Ellis Marsalis III and Mboya Kinyatta. Marsalis started playing drums at age three when his parents purchased a toy set of drums. By age six, he had a real drum kit, at seven he sat in with his father’s group, and by nine he was a consistent performer at his father’s engagements. Jason had also taken up violin at age five, but drums and percussion were his primary focus. In 1991, he was accepted to the acclaimed New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts High School (NOCCA), and he continued playing gigs with his father and brothers. In 1995, Marsalis joined the Marcus Roberts Trio, while still attending Loyola University in New Orleans. He made appearances with international jazz luminaries and remained on the New Orleans music scene, working with a diverse cross section of bands. In 1998, he co-founded the Latin-jazz group Los Hombres Calientes, recording two albums with the group, and also producing two albums under his own name. He also produced reissues and current recordings of his father on their self-owned label, ELM Records. Marsalis and his brothers and their father were named NEA Jazz Masters, and he is one of the artists featured in Tradition Is a Temple, a 2013 documentary film about New Orleans. Marsalis continues to grow and develop as both a composer and performer, and all who are fortunate to hear his music and see him perform become loyal fans. Happy Birthday to an amazing musician!

Photo: Infrogmation

Celebrating the Birthday of Fats Domino

Pianist and singer-songwriter Antoine "Fats" Domino Jr., also known as “The Fat Man”, was born in New Orleans on February 26, 1928. A rock’n’roll music pioneer, Domino sold more than 65 million records, including the first million-selling rock’n’roll song, “The Fat Man” in 1949. Between 1955 and 1960, he had eleven Top 10 hits including "Blueberry Hill" and “Ain’t That A Shame”. He was one of rock’s biggest stars in the 1950s, but he described his music as the same rhythm and blues he had played in New Orleans. His style of music made him one of the firs R&B artists to become popular with white audiences. Domino also had a significant influence on the music of the 1960s and 1970s, as acknowledged by some of those he influenced, including Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Domino was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1998. Four songs of Domino's have been named to the Grammy Hall of Fame for their significance in music history: “Blueberry Hill” in 1987, “Ain’t It A Shame” in 2002, “Walking to New Orleans" in 2011 and “The Fat Man” in 2016.

Domino's home was badly flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and since he had remained in his house with his wife, they were feared lost in the flood. However, on September 1, he and his family were rescued. Domino lost most of his possessions in the devastation, but the irrepressible artist still managed to release the album Alive and Kickin’ in 2006, with a portion of sales going to a local charity for musicians. This kindness was returned in 2007 when friends and rock stars (including Elton John, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Norah Jones, Lenny Kravitz, and Lucinda Williams) recorded Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino, to raise money for repairs to his home. Domino died on October 24, 2017, at his home in Harvey, Louisiana, at the age of 89, from natural causes. On this day we celebrate the birthday of the man, the legend, Fats Domino!

Photo: Ronzoni

Celebrating the Birthday of Ernie K-Doe!

Rhythm and blues singer drummer, broadcaster, and club-owner Ernest Kador, Jr., known by the stage name Ernie K-Doe, was born in New Orleans on February 22, 1933. He was best known for his 1961 hit single “Mother-in-Law”, which was written by Allen Toussaint, and went to number 1 on the Billboard pop chart..His song "Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta" reached number 21 the same year, and "Later for Tomorrow" reached number 37 in 1967, but he never had another top 40 pop hit.

In the 1980s K-Doe did radio shows on New Orleans community stations, occasionally causing problems for the noncommercial stations with his frequent self-promotion.  In the 1990s K-Doe began to call himself "The Emperor of the Universe" and wore a cape and crown, becoming a famous local eccentric in New Orleans. Always an elaborate showman, one of K-Doe's most notable later performances ended with him performing seven continuous renditions of "Mother In Law" while dancing in front of the Aquarium of the Americas’ shark tank dressed in a green plumed cape. "Here Come the Girls", written by Allen Toussaint and recorded by K-Doe, was released in 1970, but was not a hit until it was used in an advertising campaign in 2007 and re-released. In 2008, a cover by the Sugarbabes reached number 3 on the UK charts, and in 2017 it was covered by Trombone Shorty. In 1994 The Mother-in-Law Lounge was opened by Ernie K-Doe, and it became an icon in the local community. K-Doe continued performing and occasionally recording until shortly before his death on July 5, 2001.

Today we celebrate the Emperor of the Universe’s birthday, and remember this talented artist … Ernie K. Doe.