Humphrey Family

The Humphrey family became one of New Orleans's earliest and most enduring jazz dynasties. Professor James Humphrey came to New Orleans from Sellers, Louisiana, and spent decades as a music teacher training brass band musicians at plantations. His son Willie Eli Humphrey was a clarinetist who worked in the Eclipse, traveled with circuses and minstrel shows, and played with bands around town. Willie E. had three musical sons. Willie J. Humphrey, a clarinetist taught by his grandfather, performed with his father from age fourteen, went to Chicago in 1919 to work with King Oliver and Freddie Keppard, and then returned to New Orleans to stay. Trombonist Earl Humphrey also studied with James and performed with his father in circus bands, spent much of the 1920's on the road, retired in 1940, and resumed playing in New Orleans in 1963. Trumpeter Percy Humphrey remained in New Orleans, built a strong reputation with brass bands, and became leader of the Eureka in 1946. On Sundays, the entire family performed at household concerts, creating an ideal setting for raising musicians. In the late 1940's Willie J. Humphrey and Percy Humphrey became mainstays of the Eureka Brass Band, and after 1961 their connection to Preservation Hall grew from that partnership into leadership of the flagship Preservation Hall Jazz Band during the 1970's, bringing international tours and numerous recordings.

New Orleans, Louisiana · United States