“It’s very, very important to dress nice for a gig. Think of a lawyer’s office: If he’s got on a T-shirt and jeans, don’t go in there. This is a business to me. That’s why I practice so hard and study, so I can play the best that I can possibly play. I have 55 years of practice—I hope it paid off.

For my band at French Quarter Fest, it’s a total New Orleans grown-folks band, the way I think of a New Orleans band. I grew up when there were great jazz bands on Bourbon Street, players like Sh...