Charlie Gabriel is a member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He doubles as a saxophonist and clarinetist, and he serves as the Preservation Hall Foundation’s musical director. Throughout his career Gabriel has performed with Aretha Franklin, Lionel Hampton, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters, Jon Oates and he’s performed at virtually every major performing arts center and festival in the world. This is all to say that Charlie Gabriel is a man worth celebrating in a big way.

On Tuesday, July 9, at 10 p.m., Preservation Hall will host Charlie Gras in honor of Gabriel’s 87th birthday. It’s fitting that Gabriel’s birthday be celebrated at Preservation Hall–located at 726 Saint Peter St.–because he’s been playing that venue since 1984, when Gabriel returned to New Orleans after decades spent in Detroit.

A fourth generation New Orleans musician, Gabriel was born in 1932, learning to play at an early age with some of the New Orleans’ earliest jazz musicians, such as Kid Howard and George Lewis. At the age of 14, Gabriel moved to Detroit, where–two years later–he impressed Lionel Hampton with his skill and received an invitation to join the Lionel Hampton band. In 2009, he began touring with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Still, despite Gabriel’s career spanning over 70 years, he is a humble man. In an OffBeat interview with Ben Jaffe–the creative director for Preservation Hall who plays tuba and bass in the band–Gabriel said, “music is so stimulating when you start to think about it, when you start to learn the chord changes, when you learn the theory of music. The more you learn, the more you find out you don’t know.”

General admission tickets are available for $20 on a first come, first serve basis. Reserved seating is $50 for front row seats, and $40 for second and third row. Doors are scheduled to open at 10 p.m., with the show starting at 10:15 p.m.

If success is measured by the joy one brings to others, then Gabriel–“Charlie G” to his friends and family–might be the most successful man in the music industry. “Between playing at Preservation Hall, traveling with the band, and working with the Preservation Hall Foundation, every day is full,” said Gabriel. “That keeps things fun, like the music we play at Preservation Hall that brings people so much joy.”

Tickets are available here or by calling the Preservation Hall box office at 504-522-2841.