The latest installment in our Music of the States article series looks at the state where jazz was born—and where many other styles of music thrive too.
In our Hear the Music and Extended Play sections, you can listen to plenty of songs by Louisiana natives, but here are a few more. First, the legendary Louis Armstrong, playing three songs—”Lazy River,” “Old Rockin’ Chair” (on which he’s joined at the mic by trombonist Jack Teagarden), and “When the Saints Go Marching In”—with his All-Stars at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. The intro’s amusing, but you may want to skip it to get straight to the music, which starts just before the 3:00 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UGFXB7ytY4
The modern New Orleans jazz musician who’s come closest to inheriting Armstrong’s mantle is fellow trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. Here he is with a blazing live quartet version of “Cherokee,” filmed by the BBC in 1996.
As we mentioned in our article, Queen Ida is one of the most celebrated zydeco musicians in Louisiana, and she shows us why with this performance of “Rosa Majeur.” Be sure to pay attention to the frottoir (washboard) player too.
On to fiddler extraordinaire Doug Kershaw, a.k.a. “The Ragin’ Cajun.” He absolutely tears up this 1990 live version of “Diggy Liggy Lo,” and he does it while making everything he plays look easy.
Born and bred in New Orleans, where he still lives today, Fats Domino was one of the early pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll, and this song—1955’s “Ain’t That a Shame”—was one of his biggest hits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbfMlk1PwGU
If you want more Fats, check out this recent PBS documentary about him for the American Masters series (it’s about an hour long).
Finally, a clip from the Neville Brothers, who are probably the closest thing Louisiana has to music royalty. Now well past retirement age, the brothers are planning to play their final concert together in New Orleans this May. A little more than two decades ago, in 1994, they performed this version of “Yellow Moon” during their set at the Farm Aid festival.