John Brunious, trumpet, Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Sometimes the biographies in our concert programs are just plain boring. I can admit it. They're useful, but they're often boring. That's okay, we really aren't there to read, anyway. The bios we have received for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's New Orleans Revue tour are different. Every band member's story is told in some depth, with quotes from the musicians detailing their connection to New Orleans and its music and how the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina affected them. I'm starting with bandleader and trumpeter John Brunious.

John Brunious, trumpet, Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Born: October 12, 1940 Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Played with: Clyde McPhatter, Tony Mitchell, Paul Barbarin

Bandleader John Brunious is a gifted ambassador for the music and spirit of New Orleans -- an elegant and witty raconteur as well as a player of exceptional expressiveness. From his earliest days in the city's Seventh Ward John breathed in the spirit and sound of jazz: His father, John Sr., a respected trumpeter, composer, and arranger, took him to hear the great parade bands and later invited Johnny St. Cyr, Paul Barbarin, and other friends over to trade stories about Louis Armstrong and other acquaintances from the halcyon days. John began taking lessons from his father at age ten but mostly taught himself to play by listening to records and emulating what he heard; inspired by Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson, he developed a flair for flashy, high-note solos that earned him work at gigs and on record sessions in a variety of styles. Traditional jazz, the foundation for all the later styles, never lost its appeal. Eventually, while playing at a club called Crazy Shirley's in the French Quarter, he walked a half block down St. Peter Street to hear the band at Preservation Hall, which included trumpeter Ernie Cagnolatti and tenor saxman Andrew Morgan. They invited Brunious to sit in -- that was over 20 years ago, and he's been at the Hall ever since.

"Ever since my father took me to hear those parade bands and funeral bands, I'd wanted to play this kind of music. It's a music that can express just about everything you experience in life. Now, whether we're going to different parts of the world or playing at Preservation Hall, people from just about every country in the world can share that experience. Let me put it this way: I consider New Orleans jazz to be a treasure, and it's wonderful to be able to share that treasure."

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating experience for the band’s beloved trumpeter. He not only lost his home and all of his possessions, he also had to literally fight for his life after being caught in the raging waters – three times – that ravaged his neighborhood. In the wake of the disaster Brunious received several new trumpets from friends and well-wishers, but his main horn remains the same one he played before Katrina. Once the floodwaters had receded, Preservation Hall Director Ben Jaffe retrieved the battered instrument from the wreckage, and trombonist Frank Demond sent it to a friend in California who was able to return it in perfect repair.

“We’ve gotten extra-special vibes from our audiences since Katrina. People all around the world have been so nice to us. And we run into people like that every night, man. It’s made me feel closer than I ever have to them, just as the friendship we feel within the band has only gotten deeper. I love New Orleans, and I hope one day that my wife and I can go back home at last.”

Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The New Orleans Revue, October 15, 5pm, Symphony Hall