Waiting for The Tremé Brass Band to play at Satchmo Summerfest, August 2011
February 1, 1931-July 8, 2012
New Orleans' shoulders are stooping in grief today. "Uncle" Lionel Batiste died yesterday after a brief illness. I'd read on the WWOZ web site a week ago that Uncle Lionel was pretty sick - I've been holding my breath ever since. I first met him in August 2010 before the Tremé Brass Band took to the stage at the Candlelight Lounge over on North Robertson in the Tremé.
I bent over close to him as he reminsced about growing up around the dirt roads of Tremé in an accent thicker than the humid air that blankets New Orleans in August. A few minutes later, he stepped up to the stage (a corner of the room just inside the lounge) with the other founder of the Treme Brass Band, snare drummer par excellence Benny Jones, Sr., and the band rocked the joint.
The later it got, the more people jammed into the lounge. This gig stays fresh no matter how many times you've seen it. You never know which well known or not so well known musician is going to show up and sit in.
As soon as i read a friend's email that Lionel had passed, i tuned into WWOZ online - what were they playing? Two versions of "Someone To Watch Over Me", both soulful, perfect for the moment.*
It is safe to say that thousands of people from every corner of the music universe are grieving while reminiscing about this man who was the official "Uncle" of record to the ordinary and not so ordinary people of New Orleans.
*Mila Drumke, Someone To Watch Over Me, Hip to Hip
Rufus Reid and Michael Moore,Someone to Watch Over Me, The Intimacy of the Bass
And the last song played on WWOZ morning set today? "Uncle" Lionel's own vocal version of "I'll Fly Away", very moving, to say the least.
+++++++Photos by Paul A. Tamburello, Jr.
Scenes below from August 4, 2010 at The Candlelight Lounge, North Robertson, New Orleans
Full story here
When Uncle Lionel wades into the crowd with the Tip Jar, the energy level, already in high gear, amps up several notches.
The heck with the Tip Jar - this is the REAL reason Uncle Lionel waded into the crowd!
"Uncle" Lionel was one of a kind.
Poet Chuck Perkins, co-founders of The Treme Brass Band "Uncle" Lionel Batiste and Benny Jones, Sr., and pt at large.
And here's Trombone Shorty covering "Sunny Side of the Street" by Louie Armstrong - until Uncle Lionel Batiste comes in and steals the show!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aVoHbLMX20
Always so sad when these great entertainers pass...
Posted by: Susaan | July 09, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Beautiful tribute to a wonderful man and musician. He will be missed.
Posted by: May Louise White | July 09, 2012 at 10:56 PM
What a lovely tribute piece, Paul.
Posted by: Amy Gabriel | July 12, 2012 at 10:00 AM
LINKS
http://noladefender.com/content/34li-0
Funeral arrangements
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http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2012/07/uncle_lionel_batistes_funeral.html
Funeral arrangements
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http://noladefender.com/content/uncl34e-lionel-pas6ses
Wonderful obituary with Treme Brass Band video
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http://preservationhall.com/
Treme Brass Band bass drum player "Uncle" Lionel Batiste passed away on Sunday at the age of 80 after a short illness. In a city filled with characters, Uncle Lionel may be the most recognizable. He began to play the bass drum at the age of ten and was a French Quarter tap dancer as a child. He played with numerous brass bands before settling in as a member of the Treme Brass Band with whom he played hundreds of Second Lines and jazz funerals. When he was not playing music, he could often be found on Frenchman Street in his dapper clothing dancing in the clubs with groups of young female admirers. Uncle Lionel always had kind words for those he came into contact and he was an inspiration for numerous New Orleans musicians including trumpet player Kermit Ruffins. He is survived by twelve children and numerous grandchildren. Tributes and second lines are being prepared to remember Uncle Lionel as the New Orleans music community mourns, remembers and celebrates the life of Uncle Lionel Batiste.
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http://www.pbs.org/riverofsong/artists/e4-treme.html
New Orleans brass band music was around before jazz, and it is still the hottest sound on the city's streets. For a while, it seemed to be dying out with the old-timers who had put it on the national map in the 1920s and 1930s, but it came back strong thanks to the work of Danny Barker, a banjo player who set out to train young musicians in the classic repertoire. His students went on to form the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which took the basic marching band instrumentation and rhythms and applied them to everything from old standards to bebop tunes, r&b hits and television theme songs.
Dozens of bands followed in the original Dozens' wake. Among the strongest is the Tremé Brass Band, named for the neighborhood that has nurtured many of New Orleans's greatest musicians. Led by the percussion team of Uncle Benny Jones and Uncle Lionel Batiste, the Trémé band specializes in the jazzed-up hymn tunes that have been the stock in trade of marching bands playing for the city's famous jazz funeral parades, as well as a wide grab-bag of old-time jazz numbers and some hot originals. With James Andrews on trumpet, the band has one of the best young soloists on the current scene, and is an inter-generational standard-bearer for the marching band tradition.
Posted by: Paul A. Tamburello, Jr. aka pt at large | December 04, 2012 at 10:17 PM