PJ Morton: The Preacher's Kid Who Joined Maroon 5
The Preacher's Kid Who Joined Maroon 5PJ Morton's father is Bishop Paul S. Morton, founder of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship — one of the most prominent religious leaders in New Orleans....
David Hennessy: The Assassination That Led to America's Largest Mass Lynching
The Assassination That Led to the Largest Mass Lynching in American HistoryOn the night of October 15, 1890, New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessy was walking home from work when gunmen stepped o...
Adah Isaacs Menken: The Most Scandalous Woman in the World Was From New Orleans
The Most Scandalous Woman in the World Was From New OrleansIn the 1860s, Adah Isaacs Menken was the most famous actress on the planet, the highest-paid performer of her era, and a scandal in every ...
Rudolph Matas: The Father of Vascular Surgery Lived to 97
The Father of Vascular Surgery Lived to 97Rudolph Matas lived so long and accomplished so much that his biography reads like three separate lives stitched together. Born in 1860 in St. Charles Pari...
Austin Leslie: The Godfather of Fried Chicken Who Died in the Storm
The Godfather of Fried Chicken Who Died in the StormAustin Leslie made fried chicken that could make you rethink your entire understanding of what fried chicken could be. His version—crispy, season...
Earl Palmer: The Drummer on Everything You've Ever Heard
The Drummer on Everything You've Ever HeardIf you've listened to music made in America between 1949 and 2000, there's a very good chance Earl Palmer played drums on it. The Tremé-born session drumm...
King Oliver: The Man Who Made Louis Armstrong Possible
The Man Who Made Louis Armstrong PossibleBefore there was Louis Armstrong, there was Joe "King" Oliver. And if you want to understand how jazz went from a local New Orleans phenomenon to the sound ...
Glen David Andrews: The Trombone Player Who Carried Tremé on His Back
The Trombone Player Who Carried Tremé on His BackGlen David Andrews didn't just come from Tremé—he was Tremé, in all its beauty and chaos and stubborn refusal to be anything other than exactly what...
Irvin Mayfield: The Trumpeter Who Rose and Fell in the Same City
The Trumpeter Who Rose and Fell in the Same CityThe story of Irvin Mayfield is one of the most complicated in modern New Orleans music. It's a story about extraordinary talent, civic ambition, the ...
Anders Osborne: The Swede Who Became More New Orleans Than Most Natives
The Swede Who Became More New Orleans Than Most NativesThere's a particular kind of audacity involved in moving to New Orleans from Sweden and becoming one of the city's most authentic musical voic...
Stanton Moore: The Drummer Who Made Funk Scientific
The Drummer Who Made Funk ScientificIf you've ever been in a New Orleans club when the groove got so deep you forgot what day it was, there's a decent chance Stanton Moore was behind the kit. The M...
Dirty Dozen Brass Band: The Band That Saved Brass Bands
The Band That Saved Brass BandsIn the late 1970s, New Orleans brass band music was a tradition in danger. The old marching bands were aging out, the young musicians were playing other things, and t...
Soul Rebels Brass Band: The Missing Link
The Missing Link Between Public Enemy and Louis ArmstrongWhen Cyril Neville — a member of the first family of New Orleans funk — gave the Soul Rebels their name, he wasn't just being poetic. He was...
Solange: She Chose New Orleans
Solange Chose New OrleansSolange Knowles wasn't born in New Orleans. She was born in Houston, and yes, she's Beyoncé's sister, and no, that's not what this story is about. This story is about why o...
Galactic: The Band That Bought Tipitina's
The Band That Bought Tipitina'sIn 1994, two kids from Maryland named Jeff Raines and Robert Mercurio moved to New Orleans to go to college. They fell in love with the city's funk scene, started a b...
Tank and the Bangas: The Tiny Desk That Changed Everything
The Tiny Desk That Changed EverythingIn 2017, a band from New Orleans submitted a video to NPR's Tiny Desk Contest — a competition that receives thousands of entries from across the country. Tank a...
Lucky Daye: New Orleans' Grammy-Winning Soul Man
New Orleans' Grammy-Winning Soul ManDavid Debrandon Brown was born in New Orleans in 1985 and grew up in a strict religious household where secular music was forbidden. He learned to sing through c...
Marques Colston: The Greatest Saint Nobody Noticed
The Greatest Saint Nobody NoticedThe New Orleans Saints drafted Marques Colston in the seventh round of the 2006 draft — pick 252, the kind of selection that most fans skip right over. He played co...
Reggie Bush: The Heisman They Took Away and Gave Back
The Heisman They Took Away (and Gave Back)When the New Orleans Saints drafted Reggie Bush second overall in 2006, the city was still digging out from Hurricane Katrina. The Superdome, which had bee...
Imagination Movers: Four Dads Who Built a Children's Empire After the Storm
Four Dads Who Built a Children's Empire After the StormThe Imagination Movers are not the band you'd expect to come out of New Orleans. No brass instruments. No funk. No second line rhythms. Instea...
