Booker was piano giant of the fest
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - James Carroll Booker III was a force. By all accounts he ranks on everyone's lists as one of the top and most ingenious piano players our city ever produced. Though he was a...
View ArticleRaymond Myles a gospel giant and much more
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - Giant is a word that often comes to light when talking about that great Raymond Myles. He was a giant of a man with a big physique, with a giant personality and a giant voice,...
View ArticleAllison Miner helped found the Fest and always put musicians first
In the annals of Jazz Fest history, few have made such a lasting impact, and unless you were a part of the New Orleans music scene in the 1970's and 80's, you may never have heard the name Allison...
View ArticleGiant Danny Barker saved a brass tradition
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - Among the most influential New Orleans musicians of the 20th century was Mr. Danny Barker. Barker was banjo, ukelele and guitar player, singer and composer and master of New...
View ArticleGiant Washington helped build the Gospel Tent
Brother Sherman Washington Jr. was the guiding light in the world of New Orleans gospel music. New Orleans' longest running gospel group is the Zion Harmonizers, and he led the group from the 1940s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These giants helped build Jazz Fest
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Here are five great musicians and organizers who made the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival what it is today. News With A Twist host LBJ reports below. Booker was piano giant...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wein a champion of jazz and giant of our festival
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - As festival founder, his resume includes the Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island, the Playboy Jazz Fest in L.A., and our beloved New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. But...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dixon Sr. was a second line ambassador and Giant of the Fest
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)- Social and Pleasure Clubs and the parades they create have been a part of our city for over a century. The benevolent societies cover every neighborhood and every walk of life....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Through his lens Fest Giant Smith told our story
NEW ORLEANS(WGNO) - When we consider the iconic images of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, no one stands taller than photographer Michael P. Smith. "Michael P. Smith the eye of the Jazz...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Giant Allan Jaffe made sure the sound would live on
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - Many years ago in tiny Pottsville, Pensylvania the son of a wallpaper and paint shop owner was a young sousaphone player, influenced by the sounds originating down south in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fess created his own style on piano and became a Giant
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) - Our history of great piano players is about as old as the music in our city. The names Booker, Toussaint, Fats and Doc come to mind, but few loom over the sound of New Orleans...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Toussaint a giant of the fest and American music
NEW ORLEANS -- As our Rock and Roll Hall of Fame bandleader, pianist, singer, and prolific songwriter, Allen Toussaint was tops. But to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, he was so much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Longtime builder Tague Richardson a giant of the fest
NEW ORLEANS- Putting on the granddaddy of all of our festivals takes a team of hardworking builders, craftsmen, and specialists, but the festival doesn't build itself. The man in charge is longtime...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dollis was a giant among Indian chiefs
NEW ORLEANS -- By definition, Mardi Gras Indian chiefs are leaders. All are important to the folks in their communities, but few made the world their community like Theodore "Bo" Dollis, Sr. Big...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vaucresson’s Sausage an original taste at Jazz Fest
NEW ORLEANS- As important as the music at our Jazz and Heritage Festival is, food shares top billing at the Fairgrounds. Vaucresson's Sausage is among the last of the original vendors at the fest....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Snooks Eaglin a giant of the Fest
NEW ORLEANS- Fird Eaglin Jr., or Snooks Eaglin as he was known was a one of a kind New Orleans guitarist with a storied career. The Flamingos, 1954 with Snooks Eaglin on guitar, Allen Toussaint on...
View ArticleGiants of the Fest: Irma Thomas occupies rare air in the music world
NEW ORLEANS -- Irma Thomas is the Grammy-winning Soul Queen of New Orleans -- and she's been rocking at Jazz Fest since 1974. Thomas, who pursued a career on the West Coast before moving home in the...
View ArticleMichael Murphy a giant at capturing historic Jazz Fest moments
NEW ORLEANS -- Historic moments happen every year at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and while capturing these moments today is part of the production of the fest, we've got one man to...
View ArticleGiants of the Fest: The King of Zydeco leaves his mark 30 years after his death
NEW ORLEANS -- When you see Buckwheat Zydeco, Sunpie Barnes and other stars like Terrance Simien grace the stages of Jazz Fest, they're all there thanks to a man known as the King of Zydeco. Barnes...
View Article‘Moose’ Jamison helped make sure ‘Jazz’ stayed in the Fest
NEW ORLEANS-- Few people lived their passion like Don "Moose" Jamison, Moose was a lover of music, but more so, a lover of people. He was a former musician, and after he stopped playing his horn,...
View Article