Although New Orleans has produced more excellent musicians than it’s size warrants. it simply hasn't been able to support more than a limited number of artists.

Even during the commercial heyday of the New Orleans sound, in the 1950s and 1960s, it was outside record companies that kept the wheels turning. Cosimo's studio stayed busy cutting sessions for out-of town independent labels, but its location off the beaten path of the recording industry meant that opportunities for musicians to a...