New Orleans Notables:Music

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New Orleans Notables:Music

Musicians, Singers and Composers
New Orleans’ contributions to the music world boast an astonishing roster of native sons and daughters who have had significant influence on the past, present and future of music. Credit it to the gumbo – the city’s cultural gumbo, that is – a mystical, magical blend of things that have inspired so many local folk to soar to creative heights. Following are just a few of the many born-in-New Orleans notable musicians, singers and composers:

Louis Armstrong: world-famous cornet player and showman

Danny Barker: legendary banjo and guitar-playing jazzman, teacher, and author

Sweet Emma Barrett: great jazz pianist and singer

Sidney Bechet: early jazz master of the soprano saxophone

Al Bernard: author, actor, recording artist, composer of “Shake, Rattle and Roll”

Terrence Blanchard: highly acclaimed contemporary jazz trumpet player and Grammy nominee

Buddy Bolden: cornet player of the 1890s, acknowledged by most music historians as the very first jazzman

The Boswell Sisters: great singing trio of the 1930s; inspired the Andrews Sisters of the 1940s

George Brunies: celebrated jazz trombonist of the 1920s; appeared with Ted Lewis and his band.

Kitty Carlisle: singer, actress and game show personality, married to playwright Moss Hart

Harry Connick, Jr.: Grammy-winning musician, singer and actor

Edmond Dede: famous 19th century violinist, conductor and composer of operettas, ballet and chamber music

Antoine “Fats” Domino: one of the founding fathers of rhythm and blues, renowned for “Blueberry Hill” and “Walking to New Orleans”

Dr. John (Mac Rebennack): “The Night Tripper,” famous New Orleans R&B pianist

Pete Fountain: celebrated New Orleans clarinetist, entertainer and recording artist

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: internationally acclaimed 19th century composer and pianist-virtuoso

Ernest Guiraud: composer and professor of music at the Paris Conservatory

Ernie Hare: radio and recording star of the 1920s and ‘30s, famous as one of the Happiness Boys

Al Hirt: renowned trumpet player, performer and recording artist

Mahalia Jackson: one of the world’s greatest gospel singers

Willie “Bunk” Johnson: legendary jazz trumpet player and recording artist

Nick LaRocca: founder of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, which made the first jazz recording

George Lewis: early 20th century jazz clarinetist

Joseph “Wingy” Manone: famous trumpeter who appeared in films with Bing Crosby

Branford Marsalis: jazz saxophonist, and erstwhile leader of the Tonight Show band

Ellis Marsalis: jazz pianist, educator, and father of the Marsalis brothers

Delfeayo Marsalis: jazz and classical trombonist, music producer and arranger

Jason Marsalis: jazz percussionist, youngest of the Marsalis musicians

Wynton Marsalis: jazz and classical trumpet player, who won his first Grammy Award at age 21

Paddy McGuire: musical comedy and burlesque star, appeared in Charlie Chaplin silent films of the early 1900s

Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton: famous turn-of-the-20th-century jazz piano player

The Neville Brothers: Grammy-winning musical family: Aaron, Art, Charles and Cyril

Jimmy Noone: great clarinetist of New Orleans jazz

Joseph “King” Oliver: cornetist, bandleader and principle mentor of Louis Armstrong

Marguerite Piazza: operatic soprano, featured in Your Show of Shows

Genevieve Pitot: dance composer of the early Broadway musical theater

Louis Prima: jazz great, known for “Just a Gigolo” and “Buona Sera”

Leon Roppolo: great 1920s “Dixieland” clarinetist and saxophone player

Allen Toussaint: famed composer, recording artist and producer of popular music; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

Norman Treigle: opera star of the New York City Opera during the 1950s and ‘60s

Bert Williams: African American composer of the ‘20s and ‘30s.

Spencer Williams: early 20th century songwriter

Naturalized Citizens of New Orleans
New Orleans gets in the blood. We count among our most honored citizens those who came, who saw, who were conquered by New Orleans. Among these contemporary New Orleans notables who might as well have been born here are: occasional Blues Brother John Goodman, rock musician Lenny Kravitz, and singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.