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.
About Fountain
Pete Fountain was born in New Orleans and started
playing clarinet, heavily influenced first by
Benny Goodman and then 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 four years later Fountain was hired to
join the
Lawrence Welk orchestra and became well known for his many solos
on Welk's
ABC television show,
The Lawrence Welk Show. Welk
caused a brief controversy by firing Fountain for "jazzing up" a
Christmas number on the 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.
Pete Fountain Day in New Orleans
The New Orleans Jazz Club presented the Pete Fountain Day on
October 19, 1959, with celebrations honoring the pride of their
city concluding with a packed concert that evening. His
Quintett was made up of his studio
recording musicians,
Stan Kenton's
bassist Don Bagley, vibeist Godfrey Hirch, pianist Merle Koch and
the outstanding double bass drummer
Jack
Sperling.
Fountain brought these same players together
in 1963 when they played the Hollywood Bowl
. Pete would make the trek to Hollywood many
times appearing on
The Tonight
Show with
Johnny Carson 56
times.
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. As of March, 2007 he has returned to performing
Tuesday and Wednesday nights there.
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.
On March 18, 2007, Pete Fountain was inducted into the
Louisiana Music Hall of
Fame.
On April
5, 2008, Fountain was inducted at the seventh annual Delta Music
Museum
Festival in Ferriday
in Concordia
Parish. An exhibit was dedicated to Fountain, and he
received a star on the museum "Walk of Fame" sidewalk, according to
the office of Louisiana Secretary of State
Jay Dardenne.
References
-
http://thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/NEWS01/304050052
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