Wardell Quezergue

Wardell Joseph Quezergue ( March 12, 1930 – September 6, 2011) was an American composer, arranger, record producer and bandleader, known among New Orleans musicians as the "Creole Beethoven".

Steeped in jazz, he was an influential musician whose work shaped the sound of New Orleans rhythm and blues, funk and pop music.

His role as an arranger and producer kept him out of the spotlight and enabled him to enhance the careers of many.

He was a staple of the New Orleans music scene and the recipient of an honorary doctorate in music.

Quezergue was born in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans into a musical family of creole descent.

His father Sidney Quezergue Sr. played guitar and his mother Violetta Guimont played clarinet.

His older brothers, Sidney Jr. and Leo, were jazz musicians.

Sidney played the trumpet and Leo played the drums.

The family played together on Sundays.

Quezergue had no formal music training.

He was influenced by Louis Armstrong, Harry James and Dizzy Gillespie.

As a teenager he played the trumpet professionally and started to compose.

In late 1940s Quezergue played in Dave Bartholomew's band.

He emerged as a bandleader in his own right in the mid-1950s with his band the Royal Dukes of Rhythm, and later with Wardell and the Sultans in the late 1950s.

He taught music and arranged for well-known acts.

His bands backed a variety of artists including Otis Redding.

He was the recording secretary and lifelong member of the New Orleans Negro Musicians Union.

Quezergue did not have a signature musical style.

He approached each composition and each project individually.

He avoided listening to hit songs on the radio because he thought it would bias his creativity.

In the absence of a piano he would use a tuning fork to establish the pitch.

In arranging, his first consideration was the bassline.

He associated the melody of the bassline with groove and energy.

He particularly specialized in arranging horn charts.

In describing his role as an arranger, he said he applied New Orleans jazz to other styles of music.

In 1951 he was drafted into the army and served as an army musician stationed in Japan during the Korean War.

He credits the army and the army musicians with his professional education.

He met and married his wife Yoshi Tamaki in Japan.

After returning to New Orleans he studied at the Gateway School of Music.

He started to get work by rearranging popular hits for the local music market.

In the early 1960s Quezergue arranged for bandleader Dave Bartholomew at Imperial Records.

He worked on releases by Fats Domino, Earl King and others, including King's signature song "Trick Bag" and Professor Longhair's carnival standard "Big Chief".

He did several stage arrangements for Motown acts including Stevie Wonder.

In 1962 Quezergue formed Nola Records.

In 1964 he co-wrote drummer Smokey Johnson's "It Ain't My Fault", an instrumental track which became a New Orleans funk standard.

Robert Parker's "Barefootin'" from the label reached number two on the R&B chart.

Other artists on the label included Eddie Bo and Willie Tee.

Later he signed a production deal with Malaco Records of Jackson, Mississippi, and recorded King Floyd's "Groove Me" and Jean Knight's "Mr. Big Stuff" in a single week.

Both songs reached number one on the R&B chart.

Initially major labels, including Stax and Atlantic, had rejected the songs as uncommercial, so Malaco released "Groove Me" on its own label, Chimneyville Records.