Happy Birthday, DJ Khaled!

Producer, rapper, songwriter, and record label executive Khaled Mohamed Khaled, better known as DJ Khaled, was born in New Orleans on November 26, 1975. A popular radio host at a hip hop station in the 1990s, he DJ’d at Terror Squad’s live shows and eventually gained production credits on their recordings. His 2006 debut album “ Listennn... the Album” achieved gold, and Khaled founded his own label, We the Best Music Group. He has continued to achieve great success with his subsequent releases, even garnering a Grammy nomination in 2016 for Best Rap Album for his ninth studio album, “Major Key”. Subsequent releases have also achieved great commercial and critical success, with his 2019 album, “Father of Asahd” achieving number 2 on the Billboard 200. Khaled is also a prominent media personality, an actor, and he is a New York Times bestselling writer with his book The Keys.

Photo by: Meghan Roberts - DJ Khaled, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46144938

Celebrating the birthday of Ellis Marsalis!

Pianist, composer and music educator Ellis Marsalis was born in New Orleans on November 14, 1934. Marsalis was the patriarch of a musical family, with internationally famous sons, saxophonist Branford and trumpeter Wynton, as well as accomplished jazz musicians, trombonist Delfeayo and drummer Jason. Marsalis played with Al Hirt and other musicians in the 1950s and ‘60s, and in the ‘70s he taught at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts and became a leading educator there, as well as at the University of New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana. His students have included New Orleans musicians Terence Blanchard, Harry Connick Jr., Donald Harrison,  Marlon Jordan, and Nicholas Payton. Marsalis recorded numerous albums and was featured on the recordings of many musicians, but he focused his efforts on teaching, encouraging students to listen and experiment. As a result, he influenced the careers of many musicians, and in 2007 he received an honorary doctorate from Tulane University for his contributions to jazz and musical education. And, in 2008, Ellis Marsalis was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. A further honor was bestowed on him when the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music at Musicians' Village in New Orleans was named in his honor, and in 2011 he and his sons were group recipients of the 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Award. Sadly, Marsalis passed away on April 1, 2020, at 85. Ellis Marsalis was beloved by all, not just for his musical talent, but his gift to his students, his City, and the world. He was a truly great musician and educator, and he is sorely missed. Today we celebrate his life, and we are thankful to have had him as part of our lives.

Photo by: Leepaxton at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4375231

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. So much has been achieved by this incredible artist, but we know the best is yet to come! Happy Birthday, Jon!

Celebrating the Birthday of Al Hirt!

Trumpeter and bandleader Alois Maxwell “Al” Hirt, nicknamed "Jumbo" and "The Round Mound of Sound", was born in New Orleans on November 7, 1922. A Police Officer’s son, he played in the Junior Police Band with a trumpet purchased for him from a pawn shop when he was 6 years old. By the age of 16, he was playing professionally with his friend, jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain. In the 1940s he performed with the preeminent swing bands of Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. In the 1950s he returned to New Orleans, working with various Dixieland groups and leading his own bands. Hirt's virtuosic playing attracted the attention of RCA Victor, and he posted twenty-two albums on the Billboard charts in the 1950s and 1960s. He had two Top 10 best selling albums in 1964, and scored a hit single with his cover of New Orleans legend Allen Touissaint’s “Java”, later winning a Grammy for the same recording.

In 1962 Hirt opened his own club on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, which he ran until 1983. He also became a minority owner in the NFL expansion New Orleans Saints in 1967. In 1965, he hosted a television variety series, and he starred along with a marching band at the first Super Bowl halftime show in 1967. Hirt was famously injured while riding on a Mardi Gras float in 1970; it is believed he was struck in the mouth by a piece of concrete brick. Fortunately, he underwent surgery, and later returned to the club scene. And, in 1987, Hirt played a solo rendition of "Ave Maria" for Pope John Paul II's visit to New Orleans. Hirt died on April 27, 1999, of liver failure at the age of 76. in 2009, Hirt was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame. Today we celebrate the birthday of this New Orleans legend!

Photo by: Ron Kroon / Anefo

Happy Birthday, John Boutté!

Singer John Boutté was born in New Orleans on November 3, 1958. Boutté was influenced by the local culture of the 7th Ward, including jazz funerals and Mardi Gras parades, as well as by the R&B music he grew up listening to. He is the younger brother of the jazz and gospel singer Lillian Boutté, and he started his professional career by joining her on tour soon after Stevie Wonder recommended that he pursue a career in music. He is known for diverse music style that goes beyond jazz to R&B, gospel, Latin, and blues. Boutté achieved great notoriety for his "Tremé Song", which was the theme song of HBO's series, Tremé. Happy Birthday, John!

Photo by: Robbie Mendelson - originally posted to Flickr as John Boutte

Happy Birthday, Frank Ocean!

Singer songwriter, rapper, record producer and photographer Frank Ocean (Christopher Breaux) was born in New Orleans on October 28, 1987. He is known for his idiosyncratic musical style, introspective and elliptical songwriting, unconventional production techniques, and wide vocal range. Music critics have credited him with revitalizing R&B, with his distinctive sound and style influencing numerous artists of various music genres.

Ocean began his musical career as a ghostwriter, and joined hip hop collective Odd Future in 2010. He released his debut mixtape Nostalgia, Ultra, achieving critical success, with the single "Novacane" peaking on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 82, and later achieving platinum certification. In 2012, Def Jam Recordings signed Ocean to a recording contract., and in July of that year, he released his debut studio album Channel Orange. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and was soon certified platinum. The album received universal acclaim from critics and won Ocean his first Grammy Award, for Best Urban Contemporary Album. 

Ocean’s second album, Blonde, was released in 2016 as was his visual project Endless. Blonde debuted at number one in several countries and was also highly acclaimed by critics. In 2017, he was featured on the Calvin Harris single "Slide", opposite Migos, which became Ocean's highest charting song in the US, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Happy Birthday to a true NOLA original talent!

Photo by: Rory - https://www.flickr.com/photos/73714450@N08/9280513387