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Les Muscutt (bjo, gtr) – born in Barrow-in-Furness, England, June 30, 1941. A noted jazz player, he carved a place for himself among New Orleans’ top jazz players during the 1970s, particularly with The French Market Jazz band.

This article from the revised edition of Al Rose and Edmond Souchon’s “New Orleans Jazz – A Family Album” (published by Louisiana State University Press, long out of print and costing a fortune on eBay) hints at the prestige of this marvelous musician.

It’s not easy to be accepted as a “brother” in New Orleans, but Les Muscutt pulled it off with the twin qualities of his kindly cheery personality and his remarkable skill on the guitar and particularly the banjo. His retirement due to health issues came as a shock to everyone and I felt compelled to write this article to encourage you to listen to his enormous output and contribution to jazz and New Orleans Jazz in particular. He came from a musical family and the gift of a scruffy banjo and a decent “Harmony” guitar led to his interest in music, and with the BBC’s jazz and dance music programmes, his fate was sealed. When a friend of John Beecham’s rang the doorbell and asked if he’d like to come over and rehearse with a band and maybe play a few gigs, he was hooked!

Les moved to central London, in fact to Lisle Street in Soho, which was the center of the jazz, blues, skiffle and folk scene. He got a job at 77 Charing Cross Road, yes, the legendary Dobell record store! Many of his clients were musicians, and Les’s first professional job was with the Nat Gonella Band. He did brief stints with Acker Bilk, Cy Laurie, Terry Pitt and London’s version of the Clyde Valley Stompers and over a year with Clinton Ford and Charlie Gall’s Jazz Band. Works with “Mike Cotton Sound” and Bruce Turner appeared, and all this time the quality of Les’s playing increased.

Les was married to the amazing “Babs” at the time and when an offer came in to play in the new “Your Father’s Mustache” franchise in New York, he was too good to turn down. Many moves to play for this franchise in the US followed, and traveling with a wife and children was an expensive business. When the offer to open the franchise in New Orleans came along, it came with a degree of permanence, and as bandleader, Les stuck with it.

The opening of a “Red Garter Club” in New Orleans brought further opportunities. Being the leader of a gang in New Orleans is the key to the magical kingdom! The wonderful Freddie Lonzo got his first jobs with Les, then came Maynard Chatters and Paul Crawford. The trick with “Mustache” and “Red Garter” was knowing almost every song ever written and Les had learned this skill. The three chord trick was gone and Les, the master musician, was here in New Orleans.

In these jobs, quantity was of the essence: they lasted five or sometimes six hours a night, but Les had the added asset of quality to add to quantity! Les was the bandleader six nights a week and on his night off, Emmanuel Sayles ran the band. He tries out a CD titled “Banjos on Bourbon”-ADD.NOBILITY 701 with Manny Sayles, Narvin Kimball and Jerry Green to try out banjo music at the Red Garter.

During the intervals of his concerts on Bourbon Street, Les would go around the corner of St. Peter Street and Preservation Hall. He began playing with Kid Sheik’s band at the Hall and worked with many bands on Bourbon Street, including the Famous Door and Connie Jones’s Band.

In the Al Rose/Ed Souchon book there is a great picture of the “French Market Jazz Band”. I asked Les about this; He said: “It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend! The band mainly understood the bandleaders, the crowd loved jazz, threw money at the kitty and we had plenty of beer money and had a great time with a little money to take home to our wives to prove we had been working!”

When Nina Buck opened “The Palm Court Cafe”, Les was playing with the band led by Louis Nelson. When Nelson died in 1988 Pud Brown took over and when Pud died Brian O’Connell took the chair on clarinet, Lionel Ferbos played trumpet and Les became bandleader and held this position until his retirement early of this year.

For many years, Les did a UK summer tour with Chris Burke. This was made possible by a lucrative visit to Norway with Chris and then a trip to the UK to meet up with old friends and play a few gigs. In fact, Les was in the UK when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and she rushed home to find her Babs evacuated to the countryside to avoid the dire situation in New Orleans.

In 2001, Les had to undergo open heart surgery. He never fully recovered and prompted his eventual retirement. He lost feeling in two fingers on his left hand and even after extensive physical therapy, he had to admit defeat!

I have to tell you that even with this problem, I listened to him many nights and enjoyed his superb playing, but Les is a perfectionist and as he told me, “I just got tired of pretending and knowing that I wasn’t capable of doing it.” what he wanted to do.” Then the banjo sits on his case and stands up so Babs can clean underneath!

There are so many CDs featuring Les Muscutt I’m almost afraid to select them, but here goes: 504CDS 100 “The 504 Records Story 1978-2003” This offers a cross-section of the bands Les recorded with. 504CDS8 with Wendell Eugene’s Band; this is one of Les’ favorites: Albert Walters (tpt), Raymond Burke (clt) Janette Kimball (Pno), Chester Zardis (bass) and Chester Jones (drums)

He played them on a record by Doc Cheatham and Nicholas Payton on the Verve label, which was a Grammy Award winner.

Finally, one of Les’ favorites is a CD on the Jazzology label JCD-233 titled “Swinging Down to New Orleans” again featuring the legendary Doc Cheatham.

If you come to New Orleans, you won’t find Les Muscutt in a bandstand anywhere. You might see him on a special night at the Palm Court Cafe, or if you’re fishing on the lake, the guy next to you catching the giant catfish might just be Les Muscutt!