Jazz funeral for Batiste
May 14, 2007
A white and black-clad band led a hearse carrying the body of clarinetist Alvin Batiste and hundreds of mourners attached themselves to the jazz funeral in New Orleans on Saturday for one of the city’s most revered musicians.
A white and black-clad band led a hearse carrying the body of clarinetist Alvin Batiste and hundreds of mourners attached themselves to the jazz funeral in New Orleans on Saturday for one of the city’s most revered musicians.
Batiste, who toured with Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley, recorded with Branford Marsalis and taught pianist Henry Butler, died last week of a heart attack. Batiste was considered one of the founders of the modern jazz scene in the city.
A longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he created the Batiste Jazz Institute — one of the first programmes of its kind in the nation — and taught jazz at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts.
Batiste, who toured with Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderley, recorded with Branford Marsalis and taught pianist Henry Butler, died last week of a heart attack. Batiste was considered one of the founders of the modern jazz scene in the city.
A longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he created the Batiste Jazz Institute — one of the first programmes of its kind in the nation — and taught jazz at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts.