Paul Cacia was Al Hirt's lead trumpet player and contracted the brass section for what Al Hirt called his dream band, formed in the fall of 1979. At the time of receiving the phone call to join Al ...

Despite his international fame as a symbol of New Orleans music and bonhomie–or perhaps because of it–Al Hirt rarely received serious recognition as a trumpeter. But the classically trained virtuoso, ...

Blowing one of the most potent horns since the Biblical Joshua led a septet outside Jericho, the late Al Hirt (1922-1999) has left us with a trumpet legacy characterized by a singular blend of power ...

Those who have played the Super Bowl halftime show in recent years have made up a glorious list that includes Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and U2. Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will ...

Al Hirt’s trumpet and Pete Fountain’s clarinet created the soundtrack of 1960s Bourbon Street. Both Hirt and Fountain were New Orleans’ natives who were huge national successes on radio and television ...

This week we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Grammy-winning musician Al Hirt, the New Orleans-born trumpeter and bandleader nicknamed “Jumbo” who was known both for his size and his ...

“Nobody,” says a fellow Bourbon Street trumpeter, “ever outblew Al.” Even allowing for civic partisanship, the boast is not unreasonable. New Orleans Trumpeter Al (“The Monster”) Hirt, 38, is a ...