A Biographical Listing of Selected Major Jazz/Blues Artists in New Orleans, Past and Present

Jerde, Curtis; Earth Search, Inc.

New Orleans possesses possibly the longest-standing active tradition of jazz and blues in the United States. The city has been the birthplace or residence of an abundance of major performing artists in both idioms over the years. For many musicians who were born elsewhere, it has provided an alluring attraction, drawing them in from locations within the immediate hinterland or in some cases from even more distant points. Still others, both native and transplanted residents, have moved on from New Orleans to work at other locations, thereby functioning as emissaries in the dissemination of the music. The annotated biography which follows could potentially have included many more individuals. However, the names which do appear provide a good representation of important performing artists, both present and past, who have been active in the city or radiated from it to leave an imprint on the world music scene. The biographies are for the most part those of jazzmen and jazzwomen. Many date to the formative and classic periods of the music as it took shape within the Crescent City and radiated outward. Others date to the Jazz Revival period as it materialized locally, though even some who count within that group actually began their careers during the classic period. Numerous others are of more recent vintage, dating to the post-World War II years. Among that group, several fit within a very recent time frame, and in many cases achieved their ultimate stature within the contemporary period. Because the New Orleans musical tradition continues to the present day, designations in use here require a distinction between use of the term "contemporary" as it applies to idiomatic style, and as it applies to time frame. Among those jazz musicians active in the present day, many perform in the traditional idiom, irrespective of their age. Others perform within a more modernized variant of the idiom, and some are actually classifiable as avant garde. Within both categories, many cross over to play and record also within the rhythm & blues camp, while others specialize only in blues or jazz, the latter subdividing into traditional and modern jazz groupings.