Happy Birthday, Monk Boudreaux!

Monk Boudreaux, born Joseph Pierre Boudreaux in New Orleans on December 7, 1941, is the Big Chief of the Golden Eagles, a Mardi Gras Indian tribe. He is widely known for his long-time collaboration with Big Chief Bo Dollis in The Wild Magnolias, which he joined in the late 1960s. Dollis and Boudreaux were close friends since their childhood. In 1970, Boudreaux appeared with the Wild Magnolias at the very first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. In that same year, the group released the single "Handa Wanda", the first studio recorded music by the Mardi Gras Indians. In 1974, he appeared with the Wild Magnolias on their debut album, which featured supporting musicians Snooks Eaglin and Willie Tee. Boudreaux is exclusively featured on Golden Eagles' 1998 live album Lightning and Thunder. In 2001, after 30 years with the Wild Magnolias, Boudreaux left the group. Since then, he has performed and recorded with artists such as Anders Osborne, Galactic and Papa Mali in addition to the Golden Eagles.

Boudreaux participated in the recording and tour of the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars, a band that also featured Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, and Dr. John among others. He is also featured on one track in Sing Me Back Home, the New Orleans Social Club's album released in 2006. In addition, he performs in New Orleans with John Lisi & Delta Funk, with whom he has also recorded. In 2010, Boudreaux appeared in the feature-length documentary Bury the Hatchet, which provides an intimate look at the Mardi Gras Indian tradition, following Boudreaux and several other Mardi Gras Indian Chiefs in the year before Hurricane Katrina, through the storm and the years after. In 2016, Boudreaux received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. Today we celebrate the birthday of this unique New Orleanian! Happy Birthday Big Chief!

Photo: Masahiro Sumori

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, 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

Happy Birthday, Papa Jon Gros!

Singer-songwriter, pianist, guitarist and French horn player John “Papa” Gros was born in New Orleans on September 9, 1966, began playing gigs when he was just fifteen years old, and graduated from Loyola in 1989 with a degree in French Horn performance. For years he performed solo on Bourbon Street and developed a reputation as a talented sideman, backing up New Orleans legends. But it was as an organist and pianist for George Porter Jr.’s Runnin’ Pardners in the 1990s that he really kicked off his career. In 2000, after a series of impromptu jam sessions with friends, Gros formed Papa Grows Funk with guitarist June Yamagishi, sax player Jason Mingledorf, bassist Marc Pero and drummer Russell Batiste, Jr., who was later replaced by Jeffery "Jellybean" Alexander. For 13 years, the legendary band performed weekly at the famous Maple Leaf Bar, mixing the smooth sophistication of a jazz quintet with the wild, anything-goes spirit of Mardi Gras. Papa Grows Funk performances became a staple for locals and tourists alike, and eventually led to six albums and an international tour. In 2004, he kicked off his solo career with the album Day's End, while continuing to perform with PGF. The band called it quits in 2013, but subsequent years they frequently reunited for performances on the Monday following the second weekend of Jazz Fest.

After PGF’s run ended, Gros continued working as sideman for New Orleans artists, as well as and playing organ during a pair of all-star tributes to Dr. John and the Neville Brothers. The 2014 Dr. John tribute, The Music Mojo of Dr. John, was later released as a critically-acclaimed live album that featured Gros playing with Bruce Springsteen, Mavis Staples, Jason Isbell, and John Fogerty. The tribute concerts allowed him to play alongside his two biggest influences, Doctor John and Art Neville, both of whom passed in 2019. After the tribute concerts, Gros focused again on his solo career and released his second solo album River’s On Fire in 2016. And in 2020, he released his third solo album Central City, which is a collection of Gros’ feel good originals alongside his takes on beloved classic songs, and featuring numerous New Orleans luminaries including Ivan Neville, Don Vappie, Brian Stoltz, Mark Mullins, and George Porter Jr.

Gros has brought his city’s celebratory culture to listeners around the world, and today we all celebrate this amazing artist’s birthday with him!

Celebrating the Birthday of Uncle Lionel Batiste

Jazz and blues musician and singer "Uncle" Lionel Batiste was born in New Orleans on February 11, 1931, and began his music career at the age of 11 playing bass drum with the Square Deal Social & Pleasure Club. He was the bass drummer, vocalist and assistant leader of the Treme Brass Band; known for his kazoo playing and singing as well, and has recorded a CD as a vocalist. He was an inspiration an role model to many young musicians. Trumpeter Kermit Ruffins called Batiste his "total influence," saying that Batiste "taught [him] how to act, how to dress, how to feel about life." Uncle Lionel was a New Orleans Legend who led many second line parades throughout the city and around the world, including Europe and Africa. In 2003, he became the first African American King of Krewe Du Vieux, a parading krewe known for showcasing many of New Orleans' best brass bands, as well as for its wild satirical and adult themes. Sadly, he passed away on July 8, 2012, but his influence lives on.

Photo: Infrogmation

Happy Birthday, Ben Jaffe!

Preservation Hall creative Director, tubist and double bass player Benjamin Jaffe was born in New Orleans on January 26, 1971, and is the son of Preservation Hall's founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe. Jaffe grew up in New Orleans' French Quarter, two blocks from Preservation Hall. His father, Allan, in addition to managing the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Preservation Hall, played tuba with the band as well. From birth, Ben was brought on tour with the band during their international tours. Ben’s early musical memories are marching alongside his father in Mardi Gras Parades and jazz funeral processions. He began playing in grammar school at McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts in the French Quarter. During high school at NOCCA, he studied upright bass under Walter Payton. After high school, Ben attended Oberlin College where he received a degree in bass performance in 1982.

Following his graduation, Ben returned to New Orleans, resumed his father's position as manager of the Preservation Hall venue and joined the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on tour playing bass and tuba. Jaffe produced a number of albums for the Preservation Hall band, and co-produced the band's first album of original compositions "That's It," alongside My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James. Ben serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Preservation Hall Foundation, the charitable non-profit that serves the mission to "protect, preserve and perpetuate New Orleans jazz music and culture." On his birthday, let’s celebrate with someone who is helping to keep New Orleans music alive! Happy Birthday, Ben!