“A Fellow can’t learn you no jazz, you’ve got to learn that yourself,” says Ernest “Doc” Paulin who has played traditional jazz for some 68 of his 88 years.

A bit of leading in the right direction can't hurt, of course, and six of Paulin's 13 children have followed in their father’s musical path.

Born and raised in Wallace, Louisiana, Paulin always had a love of music. "I was a pretty good dancer, that got a lot to do with it," says Paulin of his start to his life-long career. His uncle...