Kermit Ruffins, in his own words, as told to Thomas Cole.
“I grew up in the lower 9th Ward where my daddy managed a funk R&B band with rehearsals at our house, the first music I remember hearing. But when I went to Clark High School in Tremé, it was a completely different world, yet only four miles away from home, with a rich musical tradition and many musicians living nearby. I had never really heard much jazz until I crossed the Industrial Canal ...