A reception is to be held to honor the legendary New Orleans jazz musician Peter “Chuck” Badie. 

Badie is a jazz bassist who has been performing live in New Orleans for 72 years. The reception will feature a screening of a documentary about Badie, “Chuck, Shirt, Number 9,” made by filmmaker Dr. Maurice M. Martinez. Badie himself will be in attendance.

Born in New Orleans, Peter “Chuck” Badie was has jazz in his blood. His father was a respected jazz saxophone player who played with the Eureka and Original Olympia brass bands. Growing up, Badie would go to places to hear New Orleans jazz musicians like singer Billy Eckstine and the Erskine Hawkins band. Having served in the Navy, Badie used the G.I. Bill to enroll at the Grunewald School of Music and soon began playing at the Dew Drop Inn. In 1950, he started going on the road with musicians like Roy Brown, Paul Gayten, and Dave Bartholomew.

In 1961, New Orleans composer Harold Battiste formed All For One (AFO) Records and Badie was a member alongside many other legendary musicians like Alvin Batiste, Tami Lynn, and Ellis Marsalis. His accomplishments continued to grow. For ten months, Badie toured and recorded with the famous jazz singer Sam Cooke. Badie can be heard on Cooke’s recordings of “Meet me at Mary’s Place,” “Ain’t that Good News,” “Tennessee Waltz,” and “Change is Gonna Come.” Additionally, Badie has performed at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe on Saturday nights since 1994. In 2005, he was named OffBeat’s “Sideman of the Year.”

The reception and screening will be held at the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Ol’ U.S. Mint, found at 400 Esplanade Avenue. The event will begin at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 27.