Mardi Gras in New Orleans [Collectables]

Performer: Professor Longhair
Distributor: Gotham Distributing Corp.

Notes: It's a mark of the man's musical influence that the title track to this concise collection of vintage Professor Longhair compositions became the theme song to New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration. The rest of the cuts here, a rough and ready assembly of raucous R&B and irresistibly danceable rhythms, represent a fraction of the famed New Orleans musician's contribution to American music, a notable inclusion being his recording of "Tipitina." "Willie Mae" is a fine example of New Orleans stride piano playing, while "Longhair's Blues Rhumba" blends boogie-woogie and Latin rhythms with a strutting second-line beat.

Q (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he music is great: crazy, joyful, early-'50s Crescent City rhythm and blues..."

New Orleans pianist Henry Byrd, known to the world at large as Professor Longhair, or just "'Fess," was a vital bridge between jazz, rock & roll, and rhythm & blues in the middle of the 20th century. An interpreter, stylist, and innovator, he's a prime figure in New Orleans's rich musical history. His whooping vocal style and percussive, highly rhythmic piano playing are hallmarks of the New Orleans R&B style, and many of his songs ("Big Chief," "Tipitina") have become standards of the genre.

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