While the Danny Barker Banjo and Guitar Festival at the New Orleans Jazz Museum has been postponed until March 2022 due to the recent surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Annual Danny Barker Birthday Tribute Concert at Snug Harbor will take place as scheduled on Thursday, January 13. Two sets by the Danny Barker Tribute Band will be held at 8 and 10 p.m. with smaller-capacity seating. Patrons are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test dated within the previous 72 hours, with a matching photo ID for entry.

Each year on January 13, Snug Harbor and the New Orleans Jazz Museum pay tribute to one of New Orleans’ most influential musicians, Danny Barker, on his birthday. Barker is dear to the longtime Frenchmen Street nightclub, as his band, Danny’s Jazz Hounds, played at Snug Harbor for years prior to Barker’s death in 1994.

The tribute band features Detroit Brooks (banjo, bandleader), Don Vappie (banjo, guitar), Dr. Michael White (clarinet), Greg Stafford (trumpet), Freddie Lonzo (trombone), Steve Pistorius (piano), Mitchell Player (bass), Herman LeBeaux (drums) and special guest Topsy Chapman (vocals).

Daniel Moses Barker (1909–1994) was an American jazz musician, vocalist, and author from New Orleans. He was a rhythm guitarist for Cab Calloway, Lucky Millinder and Benny Carter during the 1930s. One of Barker’s earliest teachers in New Orleans was fellow banjoist Emanuel Sayles, with whom he recorded. Barker came of age in New Orleans at a time when jazz was still in its infancy. Over the course of a more than 70-year career, he played with Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Wynton Marsalis and Dr. John. In the 1970s, Barker started the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band in New Orleans that would reinvigorate the brass band tradition and bring it into the 21st century. Members included the Marsalis brothers, White, Gregory Davis, Leroy Jones, Shannon Powell and Nicholas Payton.

Doors open at 7 and 9:30 p.m. prior to each set. All performances are currently sold at half the normal audience capacity, creating an even more intimate listening experience. For a full schedule of concerts at Snug Harbor and to purchase advance tickets, visit here.