Louis Cottrell, Jr. | |
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Louis Cottrell
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Background information | |
Birth name | Louis Albert Cottrell, Jr. |
Also known as | "Prez" |
Born |
New Orleans |
March 7, 1911
Died | March 21, 1978 New Orleans |
Genres | Traditional Jazz, Dixieland, New Orleans Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, union leader |
Instruments | Clarinet, tenor saxophone |
Years active | c. 1925–1978 |
Labels | Riverside, GHB, Southland |
Associated acts | Paul Barbarin, Onward Brass Band, Heritage Hall Jazz Band, The Louis Cottrell Trio |
Website | louiscottrell |
Louis Albert Cottrell, Jr. (March 7, 1911, New Orleans - March 21, 1978, New Orleans) was a Louisiana Creole jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was the son of the influential drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and grandfather of New Orleans jazz drummer Louis Cottrell. As leader of the Heritage Hall Jazz Band, he performed at the famous Carnegie Hall in 1974.
Louis Cottrell was born into an upper-class Creole musical family. His father, Louis "Old Man" Cottrell, Sr., was a famed drummer, and cornetist Manny Perez was his godfather. The young Cottrell grew up around such great musicians as Barney Bigard, John Robichaux, and A.J. Piron. Cottrell studied clarinet under Lorenzo Tio, Jr. and Bigard. He began his career in the 1920s with the Golden Rule Orchestra, and then in 1925 played with Paul "Polo" Barnes. Later in the 1920s he worked with Chris Kelly and Kid Rena, then in 1929 found work on the riverboat SS Island Queen with Lawrence Marrero's Young Tuxedo Brass Band and Sidney Desvigne. These were the years when he became a prominent union organizer. He joined Don Albert's orchestra soon after, recording an album with the orchestra in 1935 under the Vocalion label. He tried his hand at composing, and with Lloyd Glenn and Albert wrote, "You Don't Love Me (True)."Rhythm and blues bandleader Paul Gayten would later approach Cottrell to record "You Don't Love Me" and it became one of the first hits of the R & B New Orleans era, having made it to the number 5 spot nationally on the R & B top ten charts. Cottrell toured widely throughout North America with Albert until 1939.