Everybody knows Fats Domino, Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, Wynton and Branford Marsalis  enjoy major-label recording contracts and tour the world as musical ambassadors of the sound of New Orleans, Johnny Adams, Irma Thomas, the Dirty Dozen, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, the Re-Birth Brass Band, Earl King, Snooks Eaglin and Tommy Ridgley - to make just a short list - record regularly and are widely recognized as modern-day giants of Crescent City music.

But three of the brightes...