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Artist
Pete Fountain
12+ albums
jazzdixielandNew Orleansclarinetnew orleans jazz
about
Pete Fountain (born Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr.; July 3, 1930 – August 6, 2016) was an American jazz clarinetist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played in various traditional and contemporary genres of jazz, such as Dixieland, pop jazz, honky-tonk jazz, as well as pop, and Creole music. Pierre Dewey Fountain, Jr., was born on White Street, in New Orleans, between Dumaine and St. Ann, in a small Creole cottage-style frame house. Pete was the great grandson of Francois Fontaine who was born in Toulon, France circa 1796, and died on the Mississippi Gulf Coast circa 1885. He started playing clarinet as a child at the McDonogh 28 school located on Esplanade Avenue. As a child, young Pete was very sickly, frequently battling respiratory infections due to weakened lungs. He was given expensive medication but it proved to be not very effective. During a pharmacy visit, Pete's father began a discussion with a neighborhood doctor who was also there shopping and talked with him about his son's condition. The doctor agreed to see the boy the following day. After a short exam, the doctor confirmed the weak lung condition and advised the father to try an unorthodox treatment: purchase the child a musical instrument, anything he has to blow into. The same day, they went to a local music store and, given his choice of instruments, Pete chose the clarinet (after first wanting the drums, which his father declined per the doctor's orders). At first, Pete was unable to produce a sound fro
top songs
1
You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You
3,7842A Closer Walk
3,6623Just A Closer Walk With Thee
3,4404Basin Street Blues
3,3595When The Saints Go Marching In
3,2856Lazy River
3,0867Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
2,8438St. James Infirmary Blues
2,8059High Society
2,46710South Rampart Street Parade
2,451
