Professor Longhair would have turned 93 this coming Monday. To celebrate his life, Tipitina’s is hosting the second annual Fess Fest on Sunday night. The Vinyl District has two pairs of tickets to give away. Just post a comment for a chance to win. The deadline to enter is 5 PM tomorrow.
The music at Fess Fest is going to be off the hook. The saxophonist and educator Donald Harrison, Jr. (he works closely with the Tips interns) leads the Tipitina’s All-Star Band. Numerous special guests are on the bill including Brother Tyrone and the Mind Benders, Glen David Andrews, Khris Royal, Al “Carnival Time” Johnson, DJ Davis Rogan and Jo “Cool” Davis.
Of course, no celebration of Fess’s life would be complete without piano players and Tips has the cream of the local crop booked to play Sunday night. Expect to see Tom McDermott, Joe Krown, Tom Worrell, John Gros, CR Gruver, David Torkanowsky, Joshua Paxton and Rich Vogel.
Alfred “Uganda” Roberts (shown in fine form in the video) played percussion with Fess for years and is also on the bill. For more on Alfred, check this out by Geraldine Wyckoff.
