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, Irma Thomas!

Singer songwriter Irma Thomas, known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans", was born on February 18, 1941, in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. She got her start as a teen singing in a Baptist church choir, and later sang at New Orleans’ Pimlico Club where she worked as a waitress … until she was let go for spending more time singing than waiting tables! Pimlico Club bandleader Tommy Ridley helped her land a record deal, and in 1960 her record “You Can Have My Husband (But Don’t Mess with My Man)” reached number 22 on the Billboard R&B chart. Thomas went on to collaborate with legendary New Orleans songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint, and later recorded “Break-a-Way” which was a huge radio hit in New Orleans. She also recorded “Time Is on My Side”, a cover of which became a massive hit for the Rolling Stones. Hurricane Camille hit, and Thomas relocated to California in 1969, ultimately returning to New Orleans in 1976. She and her husband opened the Lion’s Den club in New Orleans, where she headlined regularly while also accelerating her live schedule, including touring Europe. In 2007, Thomas won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album for After the Rain. In 2008, she released Simply Grand, featuring preeminent piano players Dr. John and Ellis Marsalis. While she may not have achieved the commercial success of some of her contemporaries like Aretha Franklin, her talent is undeniable, and she has ascended to the pantheon of great American soul artists. Irma Thomas is one of New Orleans’ greatest musical ambassadors and has certainly earned the title of Soul Queen of New Orleans. Happy Birthday, Irma!

Photo by: ETownHall

Happy Birthday, Aaron Neville!

R&B and soul vocalist Aaron Neville was born in New Orleans on January 24, 1941, into one of the most prolific music families of the City. Neville has recorded as a solo artist, with his brothers Art, Charles and Cyril as The Neville Brothers, and he is the father of singer and keyboard player Ivan Neville, and vocalist and rap artist Jason Neville. In addition, his uncle, George "Big Chief Jolly" Landry, was lead singer of the Mardi Gras Indian group The Wilde Tchoupitoulas. 

Neville’s debut single, “Tell It Like It Is”, was #1 on the Soul chart for five weeks in 1967. During the course of his career, he has had four platinum albums and four Top 10 hits, including three that went to #1 on the Billboardcharts. In 1989, Neville recorded the album Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Windwith Linda Ronstadt, which included the #1 Grammy-winning hits “Don’t Know Much” and “All My Life”. In 1991, his cover of “Everybody Plays the Fool” reached #1, and some of his other hits include “Don’t Take Away My Heaven”, “Can’t Stop My Heart From Loving You (The Rain Song)”, and “Hercules”. In 1993 and 1994, Neville ventured into country music, and recorded Patsy Cline’s 1961 hit “I Fall to Pieces” with Trisha Yearwood, resulting in a Grammy Award for the duo in in 1995. As a result, Neville became one of the only African American recording artists to win a Grammy in the Country category.

Neville’s home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, moving to Nashville after the storm. He ultimately returned to New Orleans, but while he was away, he recorded the albumBring It On Home … The Soul Classics, released in 2006, featuring songs by Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and others, and featuring collaborations with his brother Art, Chaka Khan, Mavis Staples, and David Sanborn. In 2013, he released My True Story, a collection of doo-wop songs from his youth, including backup by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Neville continues to perform and tour to the delight of his league of fans worldwide! Let’s wish this incredibly talented man a very happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, Kermit Ruffins!

Jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer Kermit Ruffins was born in New Orleans on December 19, 1964. Strongly influenced by Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, Ruffins personifies the laid-back New Orleans vibe, performing New Orleans jazz standards and his own music. He co-founded the Rebirth Brass Band while he was still in high school, and they went on to revolutionize New Orleans brass bands and achieve great success and acclaim. After touring the world for about 10 years, Ruffins began to miss his hometown and decided to go solo. Over his career, he has put out over 15 albums, performed on the soundtrack to Disney’s Jungle Book, and played himself in the HBO series “Treme”. When he’s not at Kermit’s Treme Mother-in-Law Lounge, barbecuing outside or entertaining inside, or dazzling fans and friends at Kermit’s 9th Ward Juke Joint, he works to preserve and pass on the tradition of jazz. Wherever you may find him, he is always a passionate and tireless ambassador for the Crescent City. Happy Birthday, Kermit! All aboard!

Photo by: Derek Bridges New Orleans, LA - Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3920193

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, Tab Benoit!

Singer songwriter, guitarist, and drummer Tab Benoit was born November 17, 1967, in Houma Louisiana. A guitar player since his teenage years, he plays primarily Delta blues on his 1972 Fender Telecaster, but he’s skilled in a number of blues styles. Benoit learned from blues legends, and formed a trio in 1987, playing clubs in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Two years later he began touring other parts of the South, and started touring more of the United States in 1991. He landed a  recording contract in 1992, and has been prolific since then, releasing 19 recordings between 1993 and 2012. In that time, he has collaborated and performed with countless legendary musicians including his regular crew, bassist Carl Dufrene and drummer Darryl White, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Cyril Neville, Brian Stoltz, George Porter, Jr.., Kenny Neal,  Debbie Davies, Jimmy Thackery, Charlie Musselwhite, Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton, Anders Osborne, Michael Doucet, Ivan Neville, and more.

In 2007, Benoit won his first B.B. King Entertainer of the Year award presented by the Blues Music Awards, the most prestigious recognitions afforded to Blues musicians. Benoit was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010, and two years later, he won three separate Blues Music Awards: Contemporary Blues Male Artist; Contemporary Blues Album (for 2011's Medicine); and for the second time, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year. In 2013, the second year in a row, Benoit won the Blues Music Awards Contemporary Blues Male Artist.

In 2003, Benoit founded 'Voice of the Wetlands,' an organization promoting awareness of the receding coastal wetlands of Louisiana.He promotes the issues that plague Louisiana's imperiled coast to his national audience, and supports outreach and education about Louisiana's Wetlands loss and how Louisiana's rich culture is endangered as its wetlands disappear.In 2010, Benoit received the Governor's Award - Conservationist of the Year for 2009 by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation.

Photo: Bengt Nyman