Clarinetist Alvin Batiste (1932-2007)

NYT
May 7, 2007
Alvin Batiste, Clarinetist of New Orleans, Dies at 74
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW ORLEANS, May 6 (AP) — Alvin Batiste, a clarinetist who toured with Ray Charles, recorded with Branford Marsalis and taught the pianist Henry Butler, died here on Sunday only hours before he was to perform with Harry Connick Jr. and Mr. Marsalis at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He was 74.

The cause was apparently a heart attack, festival officials said.

Mr. Marsalis’s record label, Marsalis Music, released the CD “Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste” just a few weeks ago; Mr. Marsalis played on the album.

Mr. Batiste was born in New Orleans in 1932. He was considered one of the founders of the city’s modern jazz scene and wrote for and toured with Billy Cobham and Cannonball Adderley.

He was a longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he created his own jazz institute, one of the first of its kind in the country; he also taught jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. His students included Mr. Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Michael Ward, Herlin Riley, Charlie Singleton and Woodie Douglas.

“He was not only a teacher, he was my father away from home,” Mr. Butler said. “He taught us about music, the history of music and the business of music.”

Mr. Batiste toured with Charles in 1958, but remained largely unknown to the public until he recorded with the group Clarinet Summit in the 1980s; it included John Carter, David Murray and Jimmy Hamilton.

Mr. Batiste’s albums included “Bayou Magic” (1988), “Late” (1993) and “Songs, Words and Messages, Connections” (1999).

Sunday’s event, in the jazz tent of festival, was called “Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste & Bob French.”

“The show will go on,” Matthew Goldman, a festival spokesman, announced. “Branford will play the entire show.”