Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, and Gospel
by Gene Tomko
LSU Press
LOUISIANA’S unique multicultural history has led to the development of more styles of American music than anywhere else in the country. Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians compiles over 1,600 native creators, performers, and recorders of the state’s indigenous musical genres. The culmination of years of exhaustive research, Gene Tomko’s comprehensive volume not only reviews major and influential artists but also documents for the first time hundreds of lesser-known notable musicians.
Arranged in accessible A–Z format―from Fernest “Man” Abshire to Zydeco Ray―Tomko’s concise entries detail each musician’s life and career, reflecting exciting new discoveries about many enigmatic and early artists: Country Jim Bledsoe, Henry Zeno, Douglas Bellard, Good Rockin’ Bob, Blind Uncle Gaspard, Emma L. Jackson, and Rocket Morgan, to name just a few. A separate section features musicians from elsewhere who made an impact in Louisiana, such as Mississippi-born blues singer-songwriter-guitarist Eddie “Guitar Slim” Jones and celebrated jazz pianist Billie Pierce, a native of Florida. The final section highlights key regional record producers and studio and label owners, like J. D. Miller, Stan Lewis, and Cosimo Matassa, who have enabled future generations to enjoy music of the Bayou State.
Written with both the casual fan and the scholar in mind, Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians is the definitive reference on Louisiana’s rich musical legacy and the numerous important musicians it has produced.
Published by LSU Press. Available at fine retail outlets as well as directly from the author HERE
Editorial Reviews
John Broven
author of South to Louisiana: The Music of the Cajun Bayous, Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans, and Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock ‘n’ Roll Pioneers
“Lafayette-resident Gene Tomko, an award-winning journalist, photographer and assiduous researcher with a long track record at Living Blues Magazine and others, has produced an essential addition to the impressively expanding music library of New Orleans and Louisiana. Familiar and unfamiliar artists are comprehensively documented for the benefit of what is now a worldwide audience for a still-vibrant regional music. The book is encyclopedic in nature, impressively encyclopedic in actuality.”
John Wirt
author of Huey “Piano” Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues
“Gene Tomko’s comprehensive Encyclopedia of Louisiana Music proves how essential Louisiana’s music has been to the evolution of America’s music. A veteran chronicler of roots music, Tomko has assembled the most comprehensive book of Louisiana music ever created. It’s a must for fans, musicians, writers and scholars.”
Scott Barretta
former editor Living Blues magazine
“Through meticulous research and fact-checking Gene Tomko has gathered here an unprecedented body of knowledge about Louisiana’s rich musical traditions. Fans and researchers will turn to this volume in the knowledge that they’ll find definitive answers to their questions, and will relish simply reading through the carefully assembled entries.”
Roger Wood
author of Down in Houston and Texas Zydeco
“The major tributaries of Louisiana’s roots music history run deep and wide. As this book shows, they have been explored and defined by individuals of every region―each distinct yet part of the whole. Tomko’s meticulously researched biographical profiles ultimately tell the story, one character at a time, of that greater heritage.”
Ben Sandmel
author of Ernie K. Doe: The R&B Emperor of New Orleans
“Louisiana has long merited an encyclopedia devoted to its great musicians. Gene Tomko has assiduously filled this need with his monumental, painstaking documentation of jazz, blues, Cajun/Creole music, zydeco, swamp pop, gospel, R&B, soul/funk, early rock and rockabilly. This goldmine for researchers is an invaluable addition to Louisiana’s musical library.”