Klarinet Archive - Posting 000050.txt from 2007/05

From: "Steve Hartman" <sdh902@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] sad news
Date: Mon, 07 May 2007 10:35:19 -0400

Clarinetist Alvin Batiste, who toured with Ray Charles, recorded with
Branford Marsalis and taught pianist Henry Butler, died Sunday of an
apparent heart attack. He was in his 70s.

Batiste died only hours before he was to perform with Harry Connick Jr. and
Marsalis at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, festival officials
said.

Marsalis' record label released Batiste's latest CD, "Marsalis Music Honors
Alvin Batiste," just a few weeks ago. Marsalis also played on the album.

Batiste, a jazz clarinetist, was considered one of the founders of the
modern jazz scene in New Orleans. While his exact age was not immediately
known, festival officials said he was born in New Orleans in 1932.

Batiste also wrote for and toured with Billy Cobham and Cannonball Adderley.

A longtime teacher at Southern University in Baton Rouge, he created the
Batiste Jazz Institute -- one of the first programs of its kind in the
nation -- and taught jazz at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts.

His students included Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Kent Jordan, Michael Ward,
Herlin Riley, Charlie Singleton, Woodie Douglas and others.

"He was not only a teacher, he was my father away from home," Butler said.
"He taught us about music, the history of music and the business of music.
The ones who had the benefit of learning from him are better musicians and
better people today."

Batiste toured with Charles in 1958, but remained largely unknown to the
general population until he recorded with Clarinet Summit in the 1980s. The
quartet also included John Carter, David Murray, and Jimmy Hamilton.

Batiste recorded an album, "Bayou Magic" in 1988, and made the 1993 album
"Late." "Songs, Words and Messages, Connections" appeared in 1999.

The show at the jazz tent of the festival -- "Marsalis Music honors Alvin
Batiste & Bob French" -- went on as planned. "The show will go on," festival
spokesman Matthew Goldman said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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