Pete Fountain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pete Fountain | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. | |
| Born | July 3, 1930 New Orleans, Louisiana |
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| Genre(s) | Dixieland Jazz | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician | |
| Instrument(s) | Clarinet | |
Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Jr. (born July 3, 1930) is a New Orleans clarinetist. According to a Belgian radio program ("La troisieme oreille", produced by Marc Danval) his name was originally Pierre de la Fontaine.
[edit] About Fountain
Pete Fountain was born in New Orleans and started playing clarinet heavily influenced by Irving Fazola. Early on he played with the bands of Monk Hazel and Al Hirt. With his long time friend, trumpeter George Girard, Fountain founded The Basin Street Six in 1950. After this band broke up 4 years later Fountain was hired to join the Lawrence Welk band, and became well known for the many solos he took on Welk's national television show, The Lawrence Welk Show. Fountain returned to New Orleans, played with The Dukes of Dixieland, then began leading bands under his own name, owning his own club in the French Quarter in the 1960s and 1970s. He later acquired "Pete Fountain's Jazz Club" at the Riverside Hilton in downtown New Orleans.
In 2003 Fountain closed his club at the Hilton with a performance before a packed house filled with musical friends and fans.
He then began performing two nights a week at Casino Magic in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi where he had a home (later destroyed by Hurricane Katrina).
After heart surgery in 2006 he performed at JazzFest, and helped reopen the Bay St. Louis Casino which has the new name of the Hollywood Casino. He performs Friday and Saturday nights.
Fountain was a founder and is the most prominent member of The Half Fast Walking Club, one of the best known marching Krewes that parades in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day. The original name was "The Half-Assed Walking Club" and was an excuse to take a "lubricated" musical stroll down the parade route. Pete changed the name under pressure exerted by the parade organizers. On Mardi Gras Day 2007 Pete once again joined his Half Fast Walking Club, having missed the event in 2006 due to illness.
Fountain's clarinet work is noted for his sweet fluid tone. He has recorded over 100 LPs and CDs under his own name, some in the Dixieland style, many others with only peripheral relevance to any type of jazz.
Loyola University New Orleans awarded Fountain an honorary degree in 2006.
[edit] External links
- Pete Fountain discography
- Interview with Pete Fountain
- Information on Pete Fountain from IMDB
- Pete Fountain on the Welk Show - Pete Fountain plays "Round and Round" on the Lawrence Welk Show in this 1957 video.
