The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2009 - News

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2009
Pete Fountain Performs on Sat April 25, 2009

Visit the official The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 2009 website.

Pete onstage doing what he does best!

Pete’s professional dancer and granddaughter, Danielle Harrell Scheib

Pete behind the Economy Hall Tent after his set, saying "Hello".

Report from our very own blog member, thanks John!

The first weekend of JazzFest in New Orleans just concluded. New Orleans is now settling into a week of abundant night time club activity all over the city with jam sessions into the wee small hours. But last Saturday afternoon on the Fairgrounds in the Peoples Health Economy Hall Tent, Pete played an hour long set from 4:25 to 5:25.

He opened with “Clarinet Marmalade” and was greeted with a standing ovation before he played his first note. Other tunes included “Lazy River”, “Muskrat Ramble”, “Tin Roof Blues” with Allyn Young delivering an humorous blues vocal poking fun at trombonist Mike Genevay, and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee” after which the audience rose out of their seats to give a deserved standing ovation.

However, Pete had not played his full hand yet. Pete’s manager, Benny Harrell, announced that Pete’s professional dancer and granddaughter, Danielle Harrell Scheib, would accompany Pete and Band on “St. Louis Blues” supplying rhythmical patterns with her energetic tap shoes. A crowd favorite, Ms. Scheib stayed through the final number “When the Saints Come Marching In”. The weather cooperated with a sunny, pleasantly breezy day accompanied by blue skies and low humidity. JazzFest has one more weekend of music beginning this Thursday and ending next Sunday.

Pete Fountain Golf Tournament and Christian Brothers School Benefit 2009 - News

Pete Fountain Golf Tournament

and Christian Brothers School Benefit 2009
reported by our very own blog member, thanks!

April 16, 2009 - New Orleans, LA

Tonight, Pete accompanied by his regular band that performs at the Hollywood Casino performed their annual benefit concert that coincides with the annual Pete Fountain Golf Tournament. A large tent was erected in the backyard where the 7:00 to 8:00 concert was held. The band opened with "Clarinet Marmalade" followed by such tunes as "Lazy River", "St Louis Blues", "Tin Roof Blues", and "When the Saints Go Marching In". Pete was in good spirits and constructed imaginative solos throughout. The weather was cool and the humidity was low, always a plus for New Orleans especially this time of year when summertime heat and humidity are beginning to settle in permanently.

Pete Fountain, Christian Brothers School

Pete Fountain and Tim Laughlin

Pete Fountain and the Hollywood Casino Band

Pete Fountain Golf Tournament Cake

Pete Fountain

Pete and Tim

French Quarter Festival 2009 - News

French Quarter Festival 2009

reported by our very own blog member, thanks!

The Connie Jones Band opened the French Quarter Festival today, April 17, 2009 outdoors in Jackson Square at 11:00. As the "surprise" guest Pete greeted the crowd as he joined Connie and gang for a few opening numbers which included "Clarinet Marmalade", "Lazy River", "St. Louis Blues", and "Just a Closer Walk With Thee". Pete definitely enjoyed himself smiling and waving to people as the crowd enthusiastically cheered each number, crying for more after "A Closer Walk". Pete embraced Tim Laughlin and Connie Jones with heart-felt hugs at the conclusion of the set. Last year, Pete opened the French Quarter Festival with Connie’s band as the "surprise" guest. With any luck this will become an annual event.

Pete warming up before the show.

Pete Fountain and the Connie Jones Band

Otis Bazzon, Tim Laughlin, Pete Fountain and Connie Jones


Otis Bazzon, Tim Laughlin and Pete Fountain


Pete and Benny Harrell after the concert.

Pete Fountain and the Good Book - Coral Records

Pete Fountain and the Good Book

Coral Records - Catalog Number 94 603 - 7" EP

Country: France

Side A:
1. Yes indeed
2. Nobody knows the Trouble I've Seen

Side B:
1. Let Me Walk Closer to Thee
2. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

Liner Notes:

French import, late 1960's. Four tracks. Rare, hard to find, unique cover.

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame - Pete Fountain's Induction 2008

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame

Pete Fountain's Induction 2008

Pete Fountain and Mike Shepherd at Hollywood Casino Induction

PETE FOUNTAN (b. July 3, 1930 – ): Born in the cradle of American jazz, Pete Fountain was a skinny boy who spent too much of his time hanging around the front door of the Top Hat Dance Hall, a stronghold of Dixieland Jazz in New Orleans.

In 1955, he was a member of the Dukes of Dixieland but until 1956, be-bop and rock and roll were the hottest sounds going and it was difficult making a living playing jazz, even in New Orleans, the home of jazz, so with a wife and three small children to support, he gave up music if only temporarily.

But the very next year, Lawrence Welk, host of the nation’s top-rated television show, hired Fountain and for the next two years, he was the most famous jazz musician on television, his name became a household word, and New Orleans Jazz made a comeback. After two years in Los Angeles, Fountain likewise made a comeback – to New Orleans to open his own jazz club in the heart of the French Quarter. Since its opening in 1959, it has expanded into the largest jazz club in the city.

He has performed on The Ed Sullivan Show, as well as on Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Andy Williams specials and performed fifty-nine times on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He also performed at four U.S. State Dinners, for four U.S. Presidents, for Pope John Paul II at the New Orleans Papal Mass with an audience of over 400,000.

He has recorded over ninety albums, three of which went gold. He also received a gold record for his single Just A Closer Walk With Thee. He was voted the number 1 Jazz Clarinetist for thirteen consecutive years in the Playboy Readers Poll.

He was King of Bacchus, and received an Emmy for the 1990 Super Bowl Pre-Game Music. He received the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award in Music. Among those with whom he has performed are Louis Armstrong, Harry James, and Harry Connick, Jr.

On March 18, 2007 at Hollywood Casino in Bay St.Louis, MS, Pete Fountain was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.

Courtesy of the Lousiana Music Hall of Fame.