Over the course of a five-decade career, Mac Rebennack—better known as Dr. John—parlayed his bluesy growl and encyclopedic knowledge of New Orleans music into rock stardom and near-universal respect as a jazz performer. He began as a club and session player in the '60s before transforming into the psychedelic folk-rocker Dr. John The Night Tripper, whose eerie grooves drew on New Orleans' voodoo legacy. Dr. John moved into R&B in the '80s before hitting his stride as a jazzman in the '90s and beyond with tributes to Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong, among others.