Although its head office was located 185 miles away in Jackson, Mississippi, Ace Records was in effect New Orleans’ first independent record label. It was owned by the gregarious Johnny Vincent, who once worked in Specialty Records’ A&R department, where he signed Guitar Slim and Earl King. He saw the success that Specialty and other out-of-town labels including Imperial, Chess and Aladdin had with New Orleans talent and decided to start Ace. During its heyday—1955 to 1963—Ace’s roster in...