Oscar "Papa" Celestin (January 1, 1884 in
Napoleonville, LouisianaNapoleonville is a village in and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
– December 15, 1954) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, trumpeter, cornetist and vocalist.
Celestin was born in
Napoleonville, LouisianaNapoleonville is a village in and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, to a Creole family, son of a sugar-cane cutter. In his youth worked on rural Louisiana plantations. Eager for a better life, he worked as a cook for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, saved up money and brought used musical instruments.
Oscar "Papa" Celestin (January 1, 1884 in
Napoleonville, LouisianaNapoleonville is a village in and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
– December 15, 1954) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
bandleaderA bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, trumpeter, cornetist and vocalist.
Life and career
Celestin was born in
Napoleonville, LouisianaNapoleonville is a village in and the parish seat of Assumption Parish, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 686 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Pierre Part Micropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
, to a Creole family, son of a sugar-cane cutter. In his youth worked on rural Louisiana plantations. Eager for a better life, he worked as a cook for the Texas & Pacific Railroad, saved up money and brought used musical instruments. He played
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
and
tromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
before deciding on
cornetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the medieval cornett or cornetto....
as his main instrument. He took music lessons from
Claiborne WilliamsClaiborne Williams was an American musician, bandleader, and music teacher.-Life and career:...
, who traveled down the
Bayou LafourcheBayou Lafourche is a bayou in southeastern Louisiana, United States, that flows into the Gulf of Mexico. The first settlements of Acadians in southern Louisiana were near Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Écores which led to a close association of the bayou with Cajun culture. Today, approximately...
from
DonaldsonvilleDonaldsonville is a city in and the parish seat of Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population was 7,605 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:Acadians began to settle in the area in...
. He played with the Algiers Brass Band by the early 1900s, and with various small town bands before moving to New Orleans in 1904, at age 20.
In New Orleans he played with the Imperial, Indiana, Henry Allen senior's Olympia Brass Bands, and
Jack CareyJack Carey was a United States trombonist, the leader of the Crescent City Orchestra. The authorship of the famous Tiger Rag tune is attributed to him by some....
's dance band; early in his career he was sometimes known as "Sonny" Celestin. About 1910 he landed a job as leader of the house band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall on North Franklin St. at the edge of
StoryvilleStoryville was the prostitution district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 through 1917.Locals usually simply referred to the area as The District. The nickname Storyville was in reference to city alderman Sidney Story, who wrote the legislation setting up the district. It was bounded by...
. He kept the name "Tuxedo" for the name of the band after the Dance Hall closed. Dressing the band in
tuxedosBlack tie is a dress code for semi-formal evening events, and is worn to many types of social functions. For a man, the major component is a jacket, known as a dinner jacket or tuxedo , which is usually black but is also seen in midnight blue...
, the Tuxedo became one of the most popular bands hired for society functions, both black and white. For years Celestin co-led the Tuxedo Band with trombonist William Ridgely. They made their first recordings with the band during the
Okeh RecordsOkeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918; from the late 1920s on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
field trip to New Orleans in 1925. Shortly after Ridgely and Celestin had a falling out and for about 5 years led competing "Tuxedo" bands. Celestin's Original Tuxedo Orchestra made an additional series of recordings for
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers,...
through the rest of the 1920s. In addition to the Tuxedo Orchestra, Celestin led the
Tuxedo Brass BandThe Tuxedo Brass Band, sometimes called the Original Tuxedo Brass Band, was one of the most highly regarded brass bands of New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1910s and 1920s....
, one of the top
brass bandA brass band is a musical group generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles which include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
s in the city. Such notables through the years were trombonist Bill Mathews, pianist Octave Crosby, drummer Christopher Goldston, cornetist Joe Oliver, trumpeter
Mutt CareyThomas "Mutt" Carey , also known as Papa Mutt, was a New Orleans jazz trumpeter.Carey was born in Hahnville, Louisiana, and moved to New Orleans with his family in his youth. His older brother Jack Carey was a trombone player and bandleader; Mutt was playing cornet in his brother's band by about...
, clarinetist
Alphonse PicouAlphonse Floristan Picou was an important very early jazz clarinetist who also wrote and arranged music....
, bassist Ricard Alexis and trumpeter
Louis ArmstrongLouis Daniel Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
played in the Original Tuxedo Orchestra with Celestin.
In 1932 Celestin was forced out of the business by depression economics, working in a shipyard until he got another band together after the
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The new Tuxedo Brass Band proved tremendously popular and was hailed as a key New Orleans tourist attraction. In 1953, Papa Celestin appeared leading his band in the big-budget travelogue Cinerama Holiday. His band became a regular feature at the Paddock Lounge on Bourbon Street in the
French QuarterThe French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. When La Nouvelle Orléans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it...
, and made regular
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasts, television appearance, and more recordings. In 1953 Celestin gave a command performance for
President EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. During the Second World War, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the...
at the
White HouseThe White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
. His last recording singing, "
Marie LaVeauMarie Laveau was a Louisiana Creole practitioner of Voudou renowned in New Orleans. She was born free in New Orleans....
" (1954).
In view of the tremendous contribution Celestin made in jazz throughout his lifetime, the Jazz Foundation of New Orleans had a bust made and donated to the Delgado Museum in New Orleans. Near the end of his life, he was honored as one of the greats of New Orleans music, 4000 people marched in his funeral parade when he died in 1954. After his death Tuxedo Brass Band leadership was briefly taken over by trombonest Eddie Pierson until his death in 1958. The leadership of the band fell to banjo player
Albert "Papa" FrenchAlbert "Papa" French was a New Orleans Jazz musician, banjo player, and band leader. He died in 1977.He was a banjo player in the Original Tuxedo Brass Band of New Orleans. This band was founded in 1910 and led for 44 years by Papa Celestin. After the death of Papa Celestin in 1954, leadership...
.
Selective discography
Celestin recorded for Okeh in 1925, then for Columbia for the rest of the decade. He resumed recording in his final decade. A number of air-checks from Celestin's radio broadcasts have also been issued commercially.
| Year |
Title |
Genre |
Label |
| 1994 reissue |
Marie Laveau |
Jazz |
GHB |
|
| 1950 |
The Battle of the Bands |
Jazz |
Fairmont |
|
External links