Photo: Paul Batiste | By Rob Masson, Ken Daley, WVUE New Orleans | Longtime New Orleans-area musician, band leader, educator and military veteran Paul Batiste has died at age 74, his family told Fox 8. Relatives said Batiste passed away Friday night (April 25) after a fight with cancer.
Paul Batiste was a founding member of the Batiste Brothers Band, a funk and blues act that formed in Metairie in 1974. It’s original members included brothers Paul (songwriter, guitar and flute), Michael (lead vocals, bass), Peter (keyboard and vocals), David (keyboard) and Russell (drums, percussion).
Along with the Neville and Marsalis families, the Batistes rose to prominence as one of Louisiana’s most influential musical families. Paul Batiste’s nephew Jon Batiste (Michael’s son) has carried on the tradition, earning international fame as a Grammy Award-winning performer and Oscar-winning composer.
The Batiste Brothers Band recorded several singles in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including “Starlite,” “Hooked On You” and “Dancin’ Shoes.” The group recorded with the late superstars Allen Toussaint and Isaac Hayes, and toured at times as the opening act for Wilson Pickett, Al Green, The Temptations, The O’Jays and others.
But Paul, who was born at New Orleans’ Charity Hospital, also had a passion for music education. He became a state-certified teacher who taught at more than 15 schools in New Orleans since 1978, according to the biography for his book “(Gon’ be dat) New Orleans Music: Memoirs of Paul A. Batiste,” published in 2011.
“Over a period of decades, I’ve experienced some things that may help someone,” he wrote in his introduction. “I am a teacher and band director. I have developed skills which combine methods and techniques to conform to today’s advanced students. As a band director, I have started music programs from elementary school to high school. In addition, I have routinely started band programs from scratch.
“… I have spent most of my performing career in Louisiana. Another vanishing great set of values are described and examined is the American Musical Family. In this book, we will explore value systems and the pros and cons of having a musical family.”
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Family members said Paul Batiste is survived by a son and two daughters, and that Damon Batiste (David’s son) and NOSACONN All Stars will pay tribute to him next Thursday (May 1) at Jazz Fest during their 2:20 p.m. show on the Congo Square stage.
Funeral arrangements were announced for Paul A. Batiste, a pillar of New Orleans’ music scene and longtime educator. The memorial will be held on Tuesday, May 6.
Read more of Mr. Batiste’s bio here:
Includes video:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertainment/news/new-orleans-band-leader-educator-and-military-veteran-paul-batiste-dies-at-74-family-says/
Photo: Paul Batiste
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OTHER NOTABLE MUSICIANS’ DEATHS
From Jock Bartley (4/27/25): Springtime in Lyons, Colorado: Yesterday (4/26/25) I attended a Memorial Service / ‘Remembering the Life’ of NICHOLAS ANGELO, NICK THE GREEK, who was for many years, Mayor of Lyons. In the old days in Boulder, in about 1970, I worked at Nick the Greek’s Music Store. Nick hired me to, every morning, tune 30-40 guitars in the store.. so that anybody could come in, pick up a guitar, and jam with other folks and play music spontaneously. That was around the time when Joe Walsh, Kenny Passarelli, and Barnstorm recorded ‘Rocky Mtn. Way’ up at Caribou Ranch Studio; and they’d come into the Greek’s Music Store all the time! I had the great honor to say a few words in Nicholas‘s behalf — one of the nicest and most generous people you’d ever want to meet. R.I.P., NICOLAS ANGELO.
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Warning Signs of Suicide – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or if you want to discuss, call the old numbers at 800-273-TALK or 800-273-8255 for English and 888-628-9454 for Spanish. Learn the signs of someone who may be contemplating suicide.
If you want to know more about any of the musicians we lost, please check them out at http://www.wikipedia.com
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30: Kari Løvaas, 85, Norwegian opera singer.
28: Mike Peters, 66, Welsh rock singer (The Alarm, Big Country) and songwriter (“Sixty Eight Guns”), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
27: Wizz Jones, 86, English acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter.
26: Charles Beare, 87, British violin expert and craftsman; Andy Bey, 85, American jazz singer and pianist.
25: Paul A. Batiste, 75, American jazz musician (Batiste family) and educator; Roberto de Regina [pt], 98, Brazilian physician and musician; Richard Wernick, 91, American composer, Pulitzer Prize for Music (1977).
24: Peter McIan, American record producer (Business as Usual, Cargo), musician (The City), and songwriter; Jamie McMann, 48, American record producer; Roy Phillips, 83, British musician (The Peddlers); Edy Star, 87, Brazilian singer-songwriter, actor, and visual artist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2025