Paul Barbarin

Born May 5, 1899 in New Orleans, LA 

Died Feb 17, 1969 in New Orleans, LA 

Also known as  Adolphe Paul Barbarin 

Paul started playing professionally at the age 16 in 1915 as a member of Buddy Petit's Young Olympia Band. In 1918 he played in Chicago with King Oliver and Jimmie Noone, returning home in 1920 to play with Albert Nicholas. After working with King Oliver in Chicago, he moved to New York to join Luis Russell's band, with whom he recorded frequently between 1929 and 1935, when Louis Armstrong took over the band. Paul Barbarin's playing was simple and unspectacular, but it was swinging and had the driving rhythm of the parade hands. "Panama" gives one of the best examples of his New Orleans based drive. In the mid fifties Barbarin returned to New Orleans, where he formed his own Onward Brass Band. He died in 1969, leading his hand in a carnival parade.