Professor Longhair

Arguably one of the most important musicians to emerge from New Orleans, Professor Longhair helped transform the city’s rich tradition of blues and R&B for the rock ’n’ roll era with his raucous piano playing. His instantly recognizable style, spiked with rumba rhythms, was influenced by the beat-up piano with missing keys that he allegedly found in an alley and learned upon. Henry “Roy” Byrd was born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, in 1918, and began working as a musician in 1948, recording his classic “Mardi Gras in New Orleans” for the local Star Talent label before going on to make recordings for Mercury and Atlantic, capturing his vivid assimilation of local R&B with jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Mexican elements. His avuncular vocals seemed custom-made for his rollicking piano. His early innovations were recognized in the work of successors like Fats Domino and Huey “Piano” Smith, who saw chart success with an approach derived from Professor Longhair’s musical identity and scored hits that eluded him. His career was revitalized with the advent of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival beginning in 1971, which generated new interest in his music and led to a series of successful recordings and tours of the U.S. and the U.K. throughout the 1970s. He died from a heart attack aged 61 in 1980.