Pete Fountain
Encyclopedia
Pete Fountain is an American
clarinet
ist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.
radio
program ("La troisieme oreille", produced by Marc Danval), his name was originally Pierre de la Fontaine.
Fountain was born in New Orleans and started playing clarinet, heavily influenced by Benny Goodman
and by Irving Fazola
. Early on he played with the bands of Monk Hazel
and Al Hirt
. With his longtime friend, trumpeter George Girard
, Fountain founded The Basin Street Six in 1950.
orchestra
and became well known for his many solos on Welk's ABC
television show, The Lawrence Welk Show
. Fountain was rumored to have quit when Welk refused to let him "jazz up" a Christmas carol. In an interview, Fountain said he left Welk because "Champagne and bourbon don't mix."
in the 1960s and 1970s. He later acquired "Pete Fountain's Jazz Club" at the Riverside Hilton in downtown New Orleans.
The New Orleans Jazz Club presented "Pete Fountain Day" on October 19, 1959, with celebrations honoring the pride of their city, concluding with a packed concert that evening. His Quintett was made up of his studio recording musicians, Stan Kenton
's bassist Don Bagley, vibeist Godfrey Hirch, pianist Merle Koch and the double bass drummer Jack Sperling
. Fountain brought these same players together in 1963 when they played the Hollywood Bowl
. Pete would make the trek to Hollywood many times, appearing on The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson
56 times.
In 2003 Fountain closed his club at the Hilton with a performance before a packed house filled with musical friends and fans. He began performing two nights a week at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
where he had a home (later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
).
After heart surgery in 2006, he performed at JazzFest, and helped reopen the Bay of St. Louis Casino. It has been renamed the Hollywood Casino. He performed his last show at the Hollywood Casino on December 8, 2010.
s that parade in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day
. The original name was "The Half-Assed Walking Club," and it was an excuse to take a "lubricated" musical stroll down the parade route. Pete changed the name under pressure exerted by the parade organizers. On Mardi Gras Day 2007, Pete again joined his Half Fast Walking Club, having missed the event in 2006 due to illness.
.
Fountain leads the Pete Fountain Quintett, a New Orleans French Quarter jazz band of Fountain and his Creole-style music. It has had many musicians over the years but has primarily recorded with Jack Sperling
on drums, bassist Don Bagley
/ Morty Corb
, vibeist Godfrey Hirch and pianist Merle Kock/ Stan Wrighisman.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
ist based in New Orleans. He has played jazz, Dixieland and Creole music.
Early life and education
According to a BelgianBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space 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...
program ("La troisieme oreille", produced by Marc Danval), his name was originally Pierre de la Fontaine.
Fountain was born in New Orleans and started playing clarinet, heavily influenced by Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and by Irving Fazola
Irving Fazola
Irving Fazola was an American jazz clarinetist.-Biography:Fazola or Faz was born in New Orleans, Louisiana as Irving Henry Prestopnik. He got the nickname Fazola from his childhood skill at Solfege . He decided to use the nickname as his family name, and many fellow musicians were unaware that...
. Early on he played with the bands of Monk Hazel
Monk Hazel
Monk Hazel was a jazz drummer.In addition to being a well regarded drummer, Hazel occasionally took solos on brass instruments, notably cornet and melophone. Monk Hazel was a fixture on the New Orleans music scene for decades. Hazel's father was a drummer as well...
and Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
. With his longtime friend, trumpeter George Girard
George Girard
George Girard was a New Orleans jazz trumpeter. He was known for his great technical ability, playing in a style that combined traditional New Orleans Dixieland jazz with the big-band-style trumpet, and a member of the Basin Street Six.Girard was born in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana...
, Fountain founded The Basin Street Six in 1950.
Lawrence Welk orchestra
After this band broke up, four years later Fountain was hired to join the Lawrence WelkLawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1982...
orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
and became well known for his many solos on Welk's ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television show, The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show
The Lawrence Welk Show is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years , then nationally for another 27 years via the ABC network and first-run syndication .In the years since first-run syndication...
. Fountain was rumored to have quit when Welk refused to let him "jazz up" a Christmas carol. In an interview, Fountain said he left Welk because "Champagne and bourbon don't mix."
Return to New Orleans
Fountain returned to New Orleans, played with The Dukes of Dixieland, then began leading bands under his own name. He owned his own club in the French QuarterFrench Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans 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 was known then...
in the 1960s and 1970s. He later acquired "Pete Fountain's Jazz Club" at the Riverside Hilton in downtown New Orleans.
The New Orleans Jazz Club presented "Pete Fountain Day" on October 19, 1959, with celebrations honoring the pride of their city, concluding with a packed concert that evening. His Quintett was made up of his studio recording musicians, Stan Kenton
Stan Kenton
Stanley Newcomb "Stan" Kenton was a pianist, composer, and arranger who led a highly innovative, influential, and often controversial American jazz orchestra. In later years he was widely active as an educator....
's bassist Don Bagley, vibeist Godfrey Hirch, pianist Merle Koch and the double bass drummer Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling was an American Big Band, television and studio drummer. He was a recording artist, versatile jazz combo and dynamic Dixieland musician.-Career:In 1941 he played with trumpeter Bunny Berigan...
. Fountain brought these same players together in 1963 when they played the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
. Pete would make the trek to Hollywood many times, appearing on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
with Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
56 times.
In 2003 Fountain closed his club at the Hilton with a performance before a packed house filled with musical friends and fans. He began performing two nights a week at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Bay Saint Louis is a city located in Hancock County, Mississippi. It is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 8,209. It is the county seat of Hancock County...
where he had a home (later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
).
After heart surgery in 2006, he performed at JazzFest, and helped reopen the Bay of St. Louis Casino. It has been renamed the Hollywood Casino. He performed his last show at the Hollywood Casino on December 8, 2010.
Half Fast Walking Club
Fountain is a founder and the most prominent member of The Half Fast Walking Club, one of the best known marching KreweKrewe
A krewe is an organization that puts on a parade and or a ball for the Carnival season. The term is best known for its association with New Orleans Mardi Gras, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations around the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, and...
s that parade in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day
New Orleans Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
. The original name was "The Half-Assed Walking Club," and it was an excuse to take a "lubricated" musical stroll down the parade route. Pete changed the name under pressure exerted by the parade organizers. On Mardi Gras Day 2007, Pete again joined his Half Fast Walking Club, having missed the event in 2006 due to illness.
Musical Style
Fountain's clarinet work is noted for his sweet fluid tone. He has recorded over 100 LPs and CDs under his own name, some in the Dixieland style, many others with only peripheral relevance to any type of jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
.
Fountain leads the Pete Fountain Quintett, a New Orleans French Quarter jazz band of Fountain and his Creole-style music. It has had many musicians over the years but has primarily recorded with Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling
Jack Sperling was an American Big Band, television and studio drummer. He was a recording artist, versatile jazz combo and dynamic Dixieland musician.-Career:In 1941 he played with trumpeter Bunny Berigan...
on drums, bassist Don Bagley
Don Bagley
Donald Neff "Don" Bagley is an American jazz bassist.Bagley received formal training on the double bass. He studied in Los Angeles and played in 1945 with Shorty Sherock and Wingy Manone, and in 1948 with Dick Pierce. From 1950 to 1953 and sporadically thereafter, Bagley played with Stan Kenton;...
/ Morty Corb
Morty Corb
Mortimer G. "Morty" Corb was an American jazz double-bassist.Corb had a long career as a jazz musician, playing with Gus Bivona, Pete Fountain, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Claude Thornhill, Jess Stacy, Kid Ory, Jack Teagarden, and Benny Goodman, as well as...
, vibeist Godfrey Hirch and pianist Merle Kock/ Stan Wrighisman.
Awards and honors
- 2006, Loyola University New OrleansLoyola University New OrleansLoyola University New Orleans is a private, co-educational and Jesuit university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Originally established as Loyola College in 1904, the institution was chartered as a university in 1912. It bears the name of the Jesuit patron, Saint Ignatius of Loyola...
awarded Fountain an honorary degree. - On March 18, 2007, Pete Fountain was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of FameLouisiana Music Hall of FameThe Louisiana Music Hall of Fame is an IRS certified 501 non-profit organization based in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, La., that seeks to preserve Louisiana's rich music culture and heritage and to further educate its citizens and people worldwide about the state’s unique role contributing...
. - On April 5, 2008, Fountain was inducted at the seventh annual Delta Music MuseumDelta Music MuseumThe Delta Music Museum is a museum located in Ferriday, Louisiana. It offers exhibits on sixteen rock and roll and blues musicians from the Mississippi River delta country. The museum opened with a grant from the State of Louisiana and is operated by local volunteers. There is no admission charge;...
Festival in FerridayFerriday, LouisianaFerriday is a town in Concordia Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population, which is three-fourths African American, was 3,723 at the 2000 census....
in Concordia Parish. An exhibit was dedicated to Fountain, and he received a star on the museum "Walk of Fame" sidewalk, according to the office of Louisiana Secretary of State Jay DardenneJay DardenneJohn Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr. , has been Louisiana's Republican lieutenant governor since November 22, 2010. He won a special election to the position held in conjunction with the regular November 2 general election. At the time, Dardenne was Louisiana secretary of state...
.
External links
- Complete Pete Fountain recording history and discography
- Pete Fountain discography
- Interview with Pete Fountain
- With his men Pete Fountain Day 1959
- Live in Santa Monica
- Pete returns for Mardi Gras after Katrina
- Information on Pete Fountain from IMDB
- Pete Fountain on the Welk Show - Pete Fountain plays "Round and RoundRound and RoundRound and Round is a faux finish technique of applying paint in a circular motion, usually with a sponge....
" on the Lawrence Welk Show in this 1957 video. - Sample recordings Best of Pete Fountain
