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NOLA trombonist Wendell Eugene, RIP


jeffcrom

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New Orleans trombonist Wendell Eugene died on Nov. 7 at the age of 94.

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/keith_spera/article_2faed812-c5a1-11e7-979c-cbc09312c93c.html

I have a special place in my heart for Wendell Eugene. I had never heard of him when I first visited New Orleans in 1990 and picked up an LP of previously-unreleased tracks on the 504 label. Three of the tracks were by Wendell Eugene's New Orleans band, and they were excellent, with muscular, intelligent New Orleans tailgate trombone. It took me a while to track down Eugene's own full-length LP on 504, West Indies Blues, but I finally snagged it. I somehow never heard him in person until very late in his performing life - at the Palm Court Cafe in 2014. He was obviously past his prime, but I remember a very moving blues from that evening.

His older brother Homer (1914-1998) was also a trombonist, as well as a guitarist. There's a Peter Bocage recording from the 1950s which is all over the place stylistically, in a kind of wonderful way - Bocage's smooth, Creole trumpet, Emile Barnes' raw clarinet, and Homer Eugene's bebop guitar licks.

RIP, Wendell Eugene.

Edited by jeffcrom
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