Tipitina: The Complete 1949-1957 New Orleans Recordings

Performer: Professor Longhair
Distributor: City Hall

Notes: Throwing on this collection of Professor Longhair's late-1940s/mid-'50s recordings is like turning to page one of the New Orleans R&B Old Testament. The piano-pounding professor was at his peak during this period, and the unusual syncopations he brought to the basic blues-piano template forged a definitive New Orleans style of blues that would be followed for generations to come by musicians from the Crescent City and far beyond. Recorded for a variety of labels, including Atlantic (who reissued some of these sides many years later as the seminal NEW ORLEANS PIANO), 'Fess put down soon-to-be classics such as "Tipitina," "Bald Head," and "Hadacol Bounce" with a verve that would still reverberate decades down the road.

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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