Musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, and 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint ( January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) plays during the 2000 Baton Rouge Blues Festival. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, and 1998 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint (January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) plays during the 2000 Baton Rouge Blues Festival. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon

If you’d have told me, a white kid from small-town Ohio, who grew up listening to Boston, Genesis, the Michael Stanley Band (a Cleveland act), etc., that someday I’d be hanging out at blues jams and juke joints in the Deep South, I’d say no way. Yet, when I started my job as a photojournalist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, one of the first things I did during my off hours was attend the week-long Baton Rouge Blues Festival.

A colleague, John Williams, my newspaper’s only Black staff photographer at the time, was in attendance. John was a great guy. He knew everyone in town. Or he knew stories about everyone in town. John was a Korean War vet who came back home to experience the racism he was all too well acquainted with before he left. For me, those stories sunk in. He kindly tucked me under his wing when I needed to learn the ropes of all things Black Baton Rouge. But on this night, I vividly recall him giving me hell for not photographing the guy playing the piano. “Don’t you know who that is?” John said. “Get on up there and shoot him.” Turns out, that piano player was none other than Allen Toussaint. When Toussaint began playing Southern Nights, the song Glenn Campbell remade, then I knew who he was. Shame on me. Every time I look at this photo I think of my friend John.

New Orleans has jazz and Dixieland. Baton Rouge, an hour north along the interstate, has the blues. Swamp blues to be precise. Played by the likes of Slim Harpo, Rudy Richard and Silas Hogan. Below are images from some of my time spent listening to some fabulous musicians, many of whom graciously allowed me to hang out and share in their company.

Blues legend Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown (April 18, 1924 – September 10, 2005) starts Blues Week by entertaining a full-house crowd on September 10, 2000 at the Casino Rouge. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
Legendary Baton Rouge musician Rudy Richard, left, plays during the 2000 Baton Rouge Blues Festival. Richard died in 2014 at the age of 77.
Blues musician Raful Neal Jr. plays his harmonica while waiting to perform during the 2000 Baton Rouge Blues Festival.
Rockin’ Tabby Thomas (January 5, 1929 – January 1, 2014) at Tabby’s Blues Box in Baton Rouge on the last night of the Box, November 23, 2004.
Chris Thomas King, left, and his father, Rockin’ Tabby Thomas at Tabby’s Blues Box in Baton Rouge on the last night of the Box, November 23, 2004.
Baton Rouge blues keyboardist Henry Gray performs on April 23, 2010, at Live After Five in downtown Baton Rouge, La.
Loyd ‘Teddy’ Johnson DJs between sets at Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, La. on Friday, June 20, 2014. Johnson was born in the house in 1946 which would eventually become his business. Richard Alan Hannon for The New York Times
At Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, La. on Friday, June 20, 2014.
At Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, La. on Friday, June 20, 2014.
LSU students at Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, La. on Friday, June 20, 2014.
Outside Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, La. on Friday, June 20, 2014.
Musicians play at Phil Brady’s Bar & Grill during the long-running Thursday Night Blues Jam in Baton Rouge, La. on Thursday, June 19, 2014.
Lawrence Taylor, 75, who moved to Baton Rouge from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, tunes his guitar before going onstage at The Blues Room on Sunday, June 22, 2014, in Baton Rouge, LA. Richard Alan Hannon
‘Smokehouse’ Porter of Baton Rouge plays at The Blues Room on Sunday, June 22, 2014 in Baton Rouge, LA.
Jackie Sylvester of Baton Rouge waves goodbye to eighty-nine-year-old Blues musician Henry Gray as he performs at the piano at Piccadilly Cafeteria on Monday, June 23, 2014.

Further Reading

  • Listen to this 13-minute-long rendition of Southern Nights performed by Allen Toussaint. It’s well worth your time.
  • Take a look at the lineup for Bluesfest in 2024 here.

One More Photo

The Advocate staff photojournalist John Williams shows off a mock front page featuring his work and accomplishments over the years during his retirement party from the paper on March 24, 2004. Photo by Travis Spradling.