Past Performers

Don Vappie

Don Vappie, musician / composer / educator, is the 2021 Steve Martin Banjo Prize Winner and will be inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame in September 2022. In addition, he has received awards for his contributions to the preservation of New Orleans Creole Culture through music and film. He has produced 7 of his own albums, co-produced and starred in a PBS documentary, performed as a featured artist with orchestras on movie and television soundtracks, and at concerts and festivals around the world. Vappie’s highly regarded unique and original tenor banjo style is equal only to his love of his Creole heritage and tradition.

Choosing to remain in his hometown, New Orleans, was the choice Don Vappie made in 1974. Immediately after filling in on a gig with the great Peggy Lee, she offered him the guitar chair. He politely declined. So, she wrote and gave him an open invitation signed on the hotel stationary, “if you ever want to play …”

“Looking back, I think that was a defining moment in my life,” says Vappie. Though at the time, as he played in cover bands performing the popular music of that period, he evolved an interest in the rich history of music and tradition in Southeast Louisiana, particularly New Orleans.

Chris Thomas King

Multi-talented Grammy Award-winning blues artist, composer and actor Chris Thomas King grew up among the finest blues musicians in the genre and began touring with artists like Buddy Guy and B. B. King while in his teens. He writes, arranges, sings and plays almost all of the instruments on many of his recordings. He’s also a gifted actor and has had prominent roles in films including “Ray” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou”, which also sold over 10 million albums worldwide.

Leroy Jones

A native of New Orleans, trumpeter Leroy Jones has been described as a blend of Louis Armstrong and bebop virtuoso Clifford Brown, and noted as a critical figure in the history of New Orleans music. A member of the New Orleans Jazz Hall of Fame, he was leader at the tender age of 12, of the seminal Fairview Band, a brass band whose alumni have included some of the best known musicians in New Orleans. Mentored by Danny Barker, it was the Fairview Brass Band which is widely credited with restoring interest in the brass band tradition of New Orleans that exists today. A regular at Preservation Hall in New Orleans and a featured performer in the Harry Connick Orchestra, where his playing and singing have made him a crowd favorite, Leroy has performed on every continent and in every major U.S. city at prestigious theaters, festivals, jazz clubs, plus many TV appearances and recordings that have been featured in several Hollywood films.

Big Daddy O

Owen Tufts, aka Big Daddy O is a revered and much loved blues-based guitarist, singer & songwriter who has had a long career in and around the Gulf South region and well beyond. Standing at an impressive 6’6’’, his large frame supports an even larger voice that has been mesmerizing audiences for over three decades. In a trio setting, Big Daddy O’s engaging style will enchant audiences with a good amount of soul, heart and a whole lot of blues.

Shake em up Jazz Band

Formed in the summer of 2016, Shake ‘Em Up Jazz Band is a six-piece, all female New Orleans-based band whose style largely encompasses genres from traditional jazz to swing. Originally a pickup band comprised of talented jazz musicians brought together for a Girls Rock New Orleans performance, the dynamic group immediately garnered positive attention (and international gigs), influencing its members to keep the personal and musical chemistry rolling. Since then they’ve blown away audiences who have be enthralled by their stellar performances and stylistic charm.

Dr. Michael White

With a career now spanning over three decades and 50+ recordings, Dr. Michael White’s musical legacy is one of utmost importance in New Orleans and in the traditional jazz realm. An accomplished clarinetist, bandleader, composer, musicologist, historian, and educator, he is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities and culture-bearers of early jazz. Dr. Michael White along with his famed Original Liberty Jazz Band is steeped in tradition and continues to keep the music & culture relevant for future generations to come.

Little Freddie King

You’ve never met anyone quite like the charismatic Delta blues guitarist and vocalist Little Freddie King. Going Upstairs captures the authentic, incredibly raw style that King embodies, but it also expands on his forms of expression with solo, acoustic, and even gospel influence.

Born in Mississippi, King rode the rails to New Orleans at the age of fourteen, began to study guitar, and soon found himself performing in juke joints across the city. King mastered his craft and recorded the first New Orleans electric blues album (Harmonica Williams and Little Freddie King) before setting off to tour with John Lee Hooker and Bo Diddley.

Anaïs St. John

As a native New Orleanian with a lifelong passion for music, vocalist & music educator Anaïs St. John began her musical journey singing gospel in her church during her early childhood years. She’s extensively trained in opera, art songs, cabaret and musical theater. Following in the footsteps of her father, alto saxophonist Marion Brown, Anaïs has headlined elegant music venues in New Orleans & jazz festivals around the world with her sultry jazz vocals and original cabaret productions.

Dave Jordan

From the Northern Lights in Alaska to the southernmost point in Key West, for nearly 3 decades Dave has traveled the highways of America, sharing his music and the culture of New Orleans and south Louisiana. Along the way he has visited all 50 states and played every kind of gig imaginable- from world renowned festivals like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Telluride Blues & Brews Festival; to smoky dive bars and American music institutions the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and the Fox Theater in Boulder,  and back to his legendary hometown venues Tipitina’s and the Maple Leaf in New Orleans. It’s not just a music career, but a lifelong passion of seeking out America and things that connect us.

Gregg Stafford

Gregg Stafford’s talented trumpet playing is steeped richly in tradition. Stafford had grown up watching brass bands and began playing in the E. Gibson Brass Band with childhood friends Tuba Fats Lacen and Michael Myers and subsequently in Danny Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church Band. Stafford also played in the Young Tuxedo Brass Band, which he went on to lead, and the Olympia Brass Band. Over the past few decades Gregg has worked tirelessly to preserve the musical heritage of New Orleans as a music educator and by fostering numerous brass bands in the community.

Luther Kent

Baton Rouge based blues & soul musician, Luther Kent, was a well-known voice of a generation that evolved during a crucial & influential period of time. He began singing professionally at age 14 and over his 60 year career he formed and played with bands from a variety of genres. In the late 60’s he could be seen on stage performing R&B at Black nightclubs and colleges during the civil rights era. As his sound & style evolved he was known to sit in with famous performers such as Boz Scaggs, B.B. King, Etta James, Joe Cocker, Stevie Winwood, Bo Diddley, Dr. John, Tina Turner, Wilson Pickett, ZZ Top, Mick Fleetwood and many others. Luther Kent passed away in August 2024 but his influence and legacy will live on for generations to come.