Wardell Quezergue

Wardell Quezergue (left) with Clarence Gatemouth Brown at Tower Records, New Orleans

Wardell Joseph Quezergue Sr. (born March 12, 1930 in New Orleans ; † September 6, 2011 ibid) was an American trumpeter ( soul , rhythm and blues and jazz ), composer , arranger and music producer , as well as band leader and music teacher.

Life

Quezergue's father played the guitar, his mother the clarinet; an older brother was a trumpeter. He himself also learned the trumpet and made his first appearances at the age of twelve. During his high school years he wrote his first composition, Harry Jones' Back Beat Boogie , for the Xavier Prep Band . He did his military service since 1951, first in Tokyo, where he played in and led army bands, then in Korea. In the mid-1950s he returned to New Orleans and formed the band Royal Dukes of Rhythm with war veterans friends who performed successfully at dance events. Eventually he shifted his activities to music arrangement and production; he also taught and directed the school band of St. Mary's Academy . In the early 1960s, his formation Wardell & the Sultans recorded for Imperial Records under the production of Dave Bartholomew . During this time he also worked as a trumpeter on recordings by Earl King and Shirley & Lee .

In the mid-1960s he was one of the founders of the Nola Records label , on which Singles a. a. by Eddie Bo , June Gardner , Robert Parker and keyboardist Wilson "Willie Tee" Turbinton. In 1964 he wrote It Ain't My Fault with drummer Smokey Johnson ; In 2010 the song was performed at a benefit event for victims of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by Lenny Kravitz , Mos Def , Trombone Shorty , Tim Robbins and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band . In 1971 he wrote Don't Try to Take the Fifth for the Pointer Sisters . His arrangement for Professor Longhair's Big Chief resulted in his getting a share of the song's royalties.

Most successful as arranger and producer was his work for the Jackson (Mississippi) based label Malaco Records . The track Groove Me was a number 1 hit on the American R&B charts. In his later years he continued to work as a producer and arranger for various labels; he arranged for the Neville Brothers and Johnny Adams , among others . In 1999 he arranged the horn section for the album American Music, Texas Style of Clarence Gatemouth Brown . He also led his own big bands. In 2000 he presented the album A Creole Mass under his own name ; the mass for choirs, soloists, jazz bands and symphony orchestras, which has been performed several times since 1999 , reflected his experiences during the Korean War . His most recent work, the line belongs to a big band for recordings with the singer Luther Kent ( The Bobby Bland Songbook , 2009) and the horn arrangements for the album Here Come the Saints of Big Chief Howard Miller with the band Creole Wild West . Most recently, blindness due to diabetes ended his career. Quezergue has also worked on recordings of Jean Knight , The Dixie Cups, Robbie Robertson ( Storyville ), King Floyd, Dorothy Moore and Dr. John ( Goin 'Back to New Orleans , 1992) with. He has also worked with artists such as Stevie Wonder , Paul Simon , BB King and Willie Nelson .

Discographic notes

• Maestropiece (2000)
• Sixty Smokin Soul Senders (2005)
• Don't Be No Square, Get Hip to Quezerque (1959–91, ed. 2005)
• Music for Children ages 3 to 103: The Saint Agnes Sessions (Jazz Foundation of America, 2008) with Dr. John
• Strung Out (The Malaco Sessions) (Grapevine, 2008)

Web links

• Obituary in The New York Times

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Obituary at Nola.com (English)
2. ↑ See discography James Booker
3. ↑ ^{a b} Wardell Quezergue at Discogs (English)
4. ^ Creole Mass
5. ↑ Wardell Quezergue on Allmusic (English)
6. ↑ Wardell Quezergue - Maestro Piece by John Sinclair (2000)