Louis Nelson

After his wife's death, Mr. Nelson joined the Sidney Desvigne Orchestra. This group played for white audiences in such spots as the New Orleans Country Club and the Southern Yacht Club. Monday and Tuesday nights were reserved for black audiences at such venues as the Pythian Temple and the Bulls Aids and Pleasure Club. During his 15 years with Desvigne's 10 piece Orchestra, Mr. Nelson played for summer Mississippi River cruises on the steamer S.S. Capitol, traveling as far north as Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN.

To get work during the Depression, Louis Nelson joined the Works Progress Administration and became first chair in the WPA band. Between engagements, the musicians dug stumps at City Park in New Orleans. When WWII came along, Mr. Nelson volunteered for the U. S. Navy and became Musician 1st Class at the U.S. Navy base in Memphis, Tennessee. After serving in the Navy, Mr. Nelson returned to New Orleans and resumed playing with Sidney Desvigne's Orchestra until Desvigne moved to California. Read Less

This recording, by jazz historian Bill Russell of AM Records, marked the beginning of Mr. Nelson’s extensive recording career.

In the 1950s, New Orleans French Quarter art gallery owner Larry Borenstein liked to go to the West Bank to hear the Kid Thomas Valentine band play in the evenings, but because he had to keep his art gallery at 726 St. Peter Street open at night, his ability to hear jazz music was limited. As a result, Borenstein asked Kid Thomas Valentine to play jazz sessions, which he called "rehearsals", in order to avoid union trouble. In 1961, Barbara Reed went to Baton Rouge to get a charter named The Society for the Preservation of Traditional New Orleans Jazz. This charter gave them a non-profit corporate license status as they could not afford the entertainment tax when Ms. Reed and Grayson Mills, among others, officially opened Preservation Hall in 1961. Later that year, Allan Jaffe took over Preservation Hall. Read Less