Celebrating the Birthday of "Big Al" Carson

Blues and jazz singer Alton "Big Al" Carson was born in New Orleans on October 2, 1953, playing tuba as well as performing as a singer. Carson studied music in the New Orleans school system and at Xavier University, and began his career playing tuba with renowned brass bands. During his life, he performed and recorded with multiple jazz and brass bands in New Orleans, as well as with his own band, the Blues Masters. In 1994, he performed for the Dutch royal family whileon a New Orleans music tour that included Aaron Neville and Ernie K-Doe. Carson performed annually in the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival, as well as appearing as Santa Claus at the New Orleans Riverwalk Marketplace. Sadly, Carson died on April 26, 2020 at the age of 66 after a heart attack. Today we celebrate the joy he brought to his fans in his beloved New Orleans and around the world.

Photo: Infrogmation

Celebrating the Birthday of Henry Butler

Jazz and Blues pianist Henry Butler was born in New Orleans on September 21, 1948. Blinded by glaucoma at birth, at five years old he entered the Louisiana State School for the Blind. There was no piano in his home, so he memorized piano melodies until he found a piano to play. Butler was performing regularly by age 16, attending school during the day and playing, arranging and composing for the groups he played with at night. Butler not only played piano, he also learned drums and saxophone, and was successful both as a soloist and in groups in Los Angeles and New York City. A true Renaissance man, Butler earned a college degree and graduate degree and taught at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts. Sadly, Henry passed away on July 2, 2018, but his music lives on.

By Dezz - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45049229

Celebrating the Birthday of Tuba Fats

Jazz tubist and bandleader Anthony "Tuba Fats" Lacen was born in New Orleans on September 15, 1950, and was the Crescent City’s most famous tuba player and played traditional New Orleans jazz and blues for over 40 years. While he was born and spent most of his life in New Orleans, his music took him on a number of tours of Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America.

He was known for many years to lead a band playing for tips in Jackson Square in the French Quarter, where he gave much encouragement to younger musicians. He played professionally with brass bands such as the Young Tuxedo, E. Gibson, Doc Paulin, Onward, Algiers, Treme, and Olympia Brass Bands, and with his own band, Tuba Fats & the Chosen Few Brass Band. Tuba Fats made many important jazz recordings; notably those under his own name on the Jazz Crusade label. Tuba Fats was married to the late blues shouter Linda Young with whom he often toured in Europe.

Sadly, he passed away on January 11, 2004, and was buried in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 one week later, after a jazz funeral. Today we celebrate his life and his legacy!

Celebrating the Birthday of Buddy Bolden

Cornetist Charles Joseph “Buddy” Bolden was born in New Orleans on September 6, 1877, was one of the founding fathers of jazz. Many jazz musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and the great trumpeter Louis Armstrong, acclaimed him as one of the most powerful musicians ever to play jazz. Little is known about the details of Bolden’s career, but it is documented that by about 1895 he was leading a band. Acknowledged as the cornet king of New Orleans, Bolden often worked with six or seven different bands simultaneously. In 1906 his emotional stability began to crumble, and the following year he was committed to the East Louisiana State Hospital, where he died on November 4, 1931. Today we remember, celebrate and appreciate Buddy Bolden’s musical legacy!

Celebrating the Birthday of Louis Armstrong

Trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong, also known as Satchmo, Satch, and Pops, was born in New Orleans on August 4, 1901. He is the most famous and influential jazz musician of all time, and was a beloved American icon and cultural ambassador. He was born into poverty, learned to play the coronet at the Colored Waif’s Home for Boys in 1913, and emerged as a trumpet virtuoso whose highly inventive, improvised solos transformed jazz. His distinctive, gravelly voice and charismatic stage presence propelled him to great popularity, both at home and internationally, and not just with his musical recordings, but on radio, films and television. He has innumerable popular songs, but he is best known for the heartwarming “What A Wonderful World” and the cheerful “Hello Dolly”, for which he won a Grammy in 1964. Armstrong passed away in his sleep from a heart attack, a month before his 70th birthday, on July 6, 1971. A 12-foot statue of Armstrong, trumpet in hand, is located in Louis Armstrong Park, located in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans, just across from the French Quarter.

Satchmo Summerfest is the premier American festival dedicated to the life, legacy, and music of New Orleans' native son, Louis Armstrong, and it takes place at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the U.S. Mint the first weekend of August.

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