Tag Archives: jean knight

The Godfather of Rampart and Dumaine: Studio legend Cosimo Matassa to be honored on the Stomp’s first night

Get ready for the Ponderosa Stomp’s righteous tribute to one of the architects of the New Orleans sound, J&M recording studio owner Cosimo Matassa. Friday night’s tribute features tips of the hat from Matassa’s key colleagues, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members Dave Bartholomew and Allen Toussaint, along with Clarence “Frogman” Henry” and Robert Parker. The music then keeps rolling on the main stage with numerous other veterans of Cosimo’s studio, including Jean Knight, Little Leo Price, CP Love, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, Earl Stanley, GG Shinn, Frankie Ford, and more.

According to John Broven’s treasure-trove book “Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans”:

The whole New Orleans R&B record scene was centred around the recording studios of Cosimo Matassa. Apart from isolated sessions in radio stations or on “field” locations, almost every R&B record made in New Orleans from the 1940s until the late 1960s was cut in his studios. Cosimo is mystified when asked why others did not try to establish another studio. “Beats the hell out of me, I don’t know,” he said. “It could be that New Orleans is just like a big small town.”

On Dec. 10, 1999, on the 50th anniversary of the recording of Fats Domino’s “The Fat Man,” Matassa, Bartholomew, and Domino reunited for a ceremony at 838 N. Rampart St. to designate the site a historic landmark. The event also drew Toussaint, Ford, Ernie K-Doe, and other musicians who recorded there.

Below, watch Bartholomew (who was taught by Louis Armstrong’s trumpet teacher, Peter Davis) blow some notes along with Porgy Jones before giving a shout-out to Matassa and the many legends who made their musical bones at the hit incubator, during a ceremony in September 2010 sponsored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which designated the site a historic Rock and Roll Landmark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87MNYWkvkcs

RIP, “The Creole Beethoven”: Wardell Quezergue dead at 81

The legendary New Orleans arranger and bandleader Wardell Quezergue died at age 81 today at East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La. Below is his biography from the Ponderosa Stomp, which he graced so often with his genius presence: If the greatest measure of a man’s success is a view of what the world might … Continue reading RIP, “The Creole Beethoven”: Wardell Quezergue dead at 81

Clarence “Frogman” Henry leaps out of retirement (again) to headline a very special Ponderosa Stomp Revue on June 8

“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,” says mafia don Michael Corleone in “The Godfather III.” The same could be said of an equally respected godfather of New Orleans R&B, Clarence “Frogman” Henry, lured once again into the spotlight from his retirement lilypad in Algiers to headline the latest Ponderosa … Continue reading Clarence “Frogman” Henry leaps out of retirement (again) to headline a very special Ponderosa Stomp Revue on June 8

Ponderosa Stomp @ Lincoln Center: The Reviews Are In

  Before the event got underway, the New York Post weighed in with a lengthy preview. David Fricke, in Rolling Stone: “The third night of the inaugural Lincoln Center edition of the Ponderosa Stomp — the annual spring resurrection of forgotten roots-rock and R&B heroes and heroines, founded and held in New Orleans — was … Continue reading Ponderosa Stomp @ Lincoln Center: The Reviews Are In