Raised on LaSalle Street surrounded by the rhythms of the legendary Dew Drop Inn nearby, Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. (1931 – 2015) was a revered American musician, composer, arranger, performer, teacher, mentor and community leader from New Orleans. He is perhaps best known for his work as arranger for records by Sam Cooke, Joe Jones, Lee Dorsey, Dr. John, Ike & Tina Turner, and Sonny & Cher.

Battiste’s professional achievements as a producer and arranger for studio, film and television include Sam Cooke’s “You Send Me” and “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sonny & Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” Lee Dorsey’s “Ya Ya,” and introducing audiences to Mac “Dr. John” Rebbenack, earning 6 Gold Records throughout his career. Among other firsts as a recording industry pioneer, Battiste notably launched the first African-American musician-owned record label, All For One (AFO Records), in 1961, which released music by his contemporary luminaries such as Ellis Marsalis Jr, Melvin Lastie, James Black, Alvin Batiste, Ed Blackwell, Alvin “Red” Tyler, Barbara George, and more.

As a graduate of of Dillard University’s music education program, Harold linked up with then-young Ellis Marsalis Jr. to form the American Jazz Quintet with Alvin Batiste, Ed Blackwell and Richard Payne. Then after many years spent working in the studio industry in Los Angeles and teaching at the Colburn School of Music, he returned to New Orleans to in 1989 to join the faculty of the newly formed Jazz Studies department at the University of New Orleans, created and helmed by Ellis Marsalis Jr.

During the last 25 years of his life, Harold Battiste Jr served on many arts and education organizational boards, won numerous awards, and mentored countless New Orleans musicians, many of whom you likely know today.

One of Battiste’s distinct mentees is violinist, pianist and educator Jesse McBride, a senior professor at Tulane University’s Jazz Studies department and current bandleader for The Next Generation, a band started by Harold Battiste as an ongoing practice of bringing rising young musicians into the fold and often compared to Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. A graduate of the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston (alongside classmate Robert Glasper) and the University of New Orleans (under the direction of Ellis Marsalis Jr), McBride continues to bridge style gaps among generations from straight-ahead and contemporary jazz to funk and R&B.

Join McBride & Next Generation (featuring Arnold Little III on guitar, Jason Stewart on bass, Jarrell Allen on drums, Rex Gregory on sax, Andrew Baham on trumpet, and special guests) this Friday, October 28 with shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. at Snug Harbor in a special Harold Battiste Jr Tribute. (Doors open at 7 and 9:30 p.m., respectively.) The restaurant is open 6-10 p.m. for dinner before or after showtime.