Tuts Washington

about

A longtime staple of the New Orleans blues and boogie-woogie community, pianist Isidore "Tuts" Washington was a primary influence on later Crescent City players spanning from Professor Longhair to Allen Toussaint to Fats Domino. Born January 24, 1907, he began teaching himself piano at the age of ten; inspired by the itinerant New Orleans musician Joseph Louis "Red" Cayou, Washington amassed a vast repertoire of songs by memorizing performances by area brass bands, then quickly returning home to develop his own renditions. Recognized as something of a prodigy, Washington — also known as "Papa Yellow" — was already the superior of most local barrelhouse pianists by his teen years, and he regularly sat in with prominent Dixieland and society bands; his style brought together an eclectic mix of ragtime, jazz and blues textures, and despite a general reliance on instrumentals, he was also known to pull the occasionally bawdy vocal number out of his bag of tricks. Washington achieved his greatest success in the company of singer/guitarist Smiley Lewis, with whom he joined forces during the late 1940s; prior to the 1952 breakup, they cut for Imperial some of the landmark New Orleans R&B sides of the period, among them "Tee-Nah-Nah," "The Bells Are Ringing" and "Dirty People." However, for the most part, Washington considered recording of little consequence, content instead in his standing as the consensus choice as the French Quarter's champion pianist; as a result, he regularly

top songs

albums

New Orleans Piano Professor

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Live At Tipitina's

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City of Dreams: A Collection of New Orleans Music

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Louisiana Scrapbook

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Roots Music - an American Journey 2

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The Larry Borenstein Collection, Vol. 3

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An Intro To Night Train Keyboard Kings Vol. 1

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Mardi Gras Party

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Roots Music: An American Journey

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City Of Dreams: Ivory Emperors [Disc 4]

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Roots Music: An American Journey (Disc 2)

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Jockomo Jockomo - The Sound Of New Orleans R&B

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