Pete Fountain to Open French Quarter Festival - News

Pete Fountain to open French Quarter Festival

Reprint courtesy of Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune April 11, 2008

Jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain is slated to open the French Quarter Festival on April 11 with only his third hometown performance since Hurricane Katrina. He'll join cornetist Connie Jones & the French Quarter Festival Allstars at the Nola.Com Stage in Jackson Square at 11 a.m. Friday, April 11.

"I'm really looking forward to it," Fountain said. "Connie is the greatest cornet player in the country, and I've played with a lot of them. I enjoy working with him whether I'm in his band or he's in my band."

They share a long history. Jones' cornet -- a more mellow variation of the trumpet -- was featured in Fountain's bands in the 1960s and '70s. Jones is once again playing with Fountain for his twice-weekly gigs at a Mississippi casino.

Fountain appeared at the first French Quarter Festival 25 years ago, but only intermittently since then. He closed his namesake club in the New Orleans Hilton in 2003. His only formal local performances since Hurricane Katrina have been at the 2006 and 2007 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivals.

Pete Fountain, photographed in Pirate's Alley on April 4, 2008.

But more than ever, Fountain, 77, is a walkin', talkin' and tootin' metaphor for New Orleans. Buffeted and knocked down by forces beyond his control, he's battling back. And his joie de vivre endures.

The storm washed away his 10-acre waterfront estate in Bay St. Louis, Miss., along with several decades' worth of memories and memorabilia. Since the storm, he's undergone quadruple bypass surgery and suffered two minor strokes. The lingering effects sometimes slow down the lifelong entertainer's self-deprecating one-liners -- but not his clarinet.

"I can play, but I can't talk," he said. "I never could talk before, so it's work for me. I'm tellin' ya, this stroke is a pain in the butt. That's what happens when you get old."

A device to manage pain was inserted in his lower back. That was later disabled after the implantation of what his wife Beverly describes as the "Cadillac of pacemakers." "He's becoming the bionic man," Beverly said.

Fountain spends the early part of each week in Bay St. Louis, where he bought and renovated a property several blocks from the bay ("Even with the name Fountain, I don't get out to the water no more," he said). He performs at the Hollywood Casino on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, then returns to his unflooded Lake Vista house on weekends.

"I'm tootin' as much as I can, and enjoying it," he said. "I'm tryin' like hell."

At 9:30 a.m. Friday, he plans to attend the unveiling of pianist Ronnie Kole's statue in the New Orleans Musical Legends Park at 311 Bourbon St. Fountain's own statue premiered in 2003. Might he sneak in a bit of maintenance on his statue during Friday's visit?

"I think I'll Simonize it," he joked. "Just see if the birds got on it."

Fountain's sense of humor remains intact. To mark his 70th birthday, he got a tattoo of an owl pulling a snake from his belly-button. Since then, he's lost significant weight.

"I went from 240 to 160," he said. "The owl is a lot smaller now."

Story and photos courtesy of Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune

Pete Fountain Revisits His Natural Element, the French Quarter - News

Pete Fountain revisits his natural element, the French Quarter

Reprint courtesy of Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune April 11, 2008

The old man in a checked shirt shuffles past the St. Louis Cathedral and ducks into Pirate Alley unnoticed. He opens a black case and carefully assembles a LeBlanc clarinet with gold-plated hardware. He touches the horn to his lips.

With that, he is anonymous no more. He is Pete Fountain, Mr. New Orleans, briefly restored to his natural habitat.

A rough couple of years have left him a little less steady on his feet. Hurricane Katrina obliterated his beloved 10-acre waterfront estate in Bay St. Louis, Miss. Reduced the three-story, 10,000-square-foot main house, guest cottages and bus barn to 120 truckloads of debris. Decades of memorabilia, the record of a life lived large in the name of New Orleans -- all of it gone.

Aftershocks included quadruple bypass surgery and two minor strokes. His heart now beats to the rhythm of a pacemaker. Words sometimes get lost en route from his brain; self-deprecating one-liners don't tumble out so effortlessly. Growing old, he'll tell you, ain't easy.

But at 77, his eyes are still mischievous and his clarinet still sings.

Last weekend, Fountain visited the French Quarter for a photo shoot. Today he returns to open the 25th French Quarter Festival with cornetist Connie Jones' band on the Nola.com Stage in Jackson Square at 11 a.m.

Fountain appeared at the first French Quarter Festival 25 years ago, and returned intermittently. Since Katrina, he's tooted in his truck during his annual Mardi Gras morning ride, but only performed two formal concerts in New Orleans, at the '06 and '07 Jazzfests.

Once upon a time, he and fellow bon vivant Al Hirt's Bourbon Street joints defined New Orleans nightlife. Fountain doesn't make it to the Quarter much any more. He spends the first part of each week at a new house in Bay St. Louis; he works Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Hollywood Casino. On weekends he returns to his longtime Lake Vista home near Lake Pontchartrain.

The clarinet in his hands during the April 4 photo shoot survived Katrina because it happened to be near the door of his doomed Bay St. Louis house when he evacuated. As the photo shoot proceeds through Pirate Alley, Fountain trails surprised and delighted fans in his wake like a Big Easy Pied Piper. Two couples from northern Virginia stop and stare.

"What an honor to meet you after all these years, " says one man.

"You make beautiful music, " says another.

Mimi Richard, a local, approaches with a cellphone camera. "You're my dad's favorite!" she says. "He's just gonna die."

"Can you play for us?" asks another woman.

"Can you give me a dollar?" says Pete, grinning.

Bald and bearded Tony Seville, owner of the Pirate's Alley Cafe, tells Fountain, "You gave me my look." While trying to buy the cafe, Seville caught Fountain's act in Mississippi. He returned to New Orleans and the sale went through. "You brought me luck, " Seville says.

Terry Cowman of Los Angeles fawns over Fountain. "It's a pleasure, an absolute pleasure!" he gushes. "Oh my God, I can't believe it! Here we are in this little place . . . I think my heart is gonna crush."

Fountain finally emerges from Pirate Alley and settles on a bench facing Jackson Square. Nearby, trombonist Glen David Andrews fronts a brass band entertaining tourists outside the Cabildo. Not one to miss an opportunity, Andrews plays his way over to where Fountain sits.

Tony Seville, owner of the Pirate's Alley Cafe, tells Pete Fountain, 'You gave me my look.'

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Pete Fountain!" he announces.

Fountain rises and joins in "High Society." The tourists are enthralled. A man urges his four young daughters to pose for a photo near the legend.

"High Society" winds down and Fountain turns to leave. Andrews tries to prolong the moment by singing "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." Fountain can't resist, and hoists his clarinet once again.

"What you got to say about that, Uncle Pete?" Andrews asks.

Pete Fountain couldn't refuse trombonist Glen David Andrews' plea to join him in 'Just a Closer Walk With Thee.' Andrews and his brass band perform for tourists regularly in front of the Cabildo.

The tourists clap and cheer; Fountain waves and walks off.

Roger Bird and Chico Thomas can't believe their good fortune. They traveled to New Orleans from Oakland, Calif., with their wives for the Golden State Warriors/New Orleans Hornets game. Moments ago, they took pictures alongside the bronze Pete Fountain statue in New Orleans Musical Legends Park at 311 Bourbon St.

"And then, holy cow, it's the real thing, " Bird said. "This made our trip."

At the northeast corner of Jackson Square, the sight of Fountain renders veteran tarot card reader Norman Oaks thunderstruck. As a boy growing up in the French Quarter, he peeped into Fountain's old club and marveled as the legend roamed the streets.

And now, on a Friday afternoon in the spring of 2008, Fountain has materialized in Jackson Square once again. A positive omen, for sure.

"It brought back a lot of good memories, " Oaks said. "You go through life and start missing things, and then you go around a corner and there it is again, and life isn't as screwed up. That's what seeing him did for me.

"It's like everything from the past is not gone. That's really encouraging."

Story and photos courtesy of Chris Granger / The Times-Picayune

Pete Fountain Taking His Place in Hall of Fame - News

Pete Fountain taking his place in Hall of Fame
Induction today to mark long career

Saturday, April 05, 2008 By Ed Anderson

BATON ROUGE -- New Orleans clarinetist Pete Fountain, whose Mississippi Gulf Coast home and memorabilia were decimated by Hurricane Katrina, will be inducted into the Delta Music Museum's Hall of Fame in Ferriday today.

Fountain, 77, will be honored during ceremonies at the 7th annual Delta Music Festival, an event hosted by the secretary of state's office, which operates the museum.

Office spokesman Jacques Berry said although the hall of fame was originally designed to honor the blues greats of the Louisiana and Mississippi Delta, it has broadened its scope to honor figures like singer Irma Thomas and the late Clarence "Frogman" Henry, who are well-known for their careers in New Orleans rock 'n' roll .

Fountain will be honored "for the contributions he has made" to music in general, Berry said. Fountain started out in 1950 in the Basin Street Six, a group he helped form in New Orleans, and carved a national reputation on the Lawrence Welk television show as a featured performer. He later opened a jazz club at the Riverside Hilton in New Orleans. After the club closed, he performed two nights a week at a Gulf Coast casino.

He was a founder of the Half-Fast Marching Club that parades through the French Quarter at Mardi Gras each year.

Fountain will be honored with a star on the museum's "Walk of Fame" sidewalk. Berry said a permanent exhibit featuring memorabilia, records and album jackets from Fountain's career will be included in the exhibit.

The induction will highlight a daylong festival of music from around the state, arts and crafts, and games near the museum. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The museum also features interactive music kiosks and mannequins of music stars, Berry said.

Reprint courtesy of Ed Anderson, writer, The Times-Picayune April 5, 2008