Harold Dejan
Harold Dejan | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Harold Andrew Dejan |
Born | New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | February 4, 1909
Died | July 5, 2002 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. | (aged 93)
Associated acts | Olympia Brass Band |
Harold Andrew "Duke" Dejan (February 4, 1909 – July 5, 2002) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in New Orleans.[1] Dejan is best remembered as leader of the Olympia Brass Band,[1] including during the 1960s and 1970s when it was considered the top band in the city.
Born into a Creole family in New Orleans, he took clarinet lessons as a child before switching to saxophone, and became a professional musician in his teens, joining the Olympia Serenaders and then the Holy Ghost Brass Band. He played regularly in Storyville, at Mahogany Hall, and on Mississippi riverboats. He also worked in the mail office of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for 23 years, and, in World War II, played in Navy bands.[1]
He returned to his day job and his parallel musical career after the war, leading his own band, Dejan's Olympia Brass Band, from 1951. The band often appeared at Preservation Hall, recorded nine albums, and also toured internationally, making 30 concert tours of Europe and one of Africa. It featured in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die, and in many TV commercials.[1]
Dejan suffered a stroke in 1991, which left him unable to play the saxophone, but continued as a band leader and singer until shortly before his death.
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Martin, Douglas (August 12, 2002). "Duke Dejan, 93, a Jazz Player True to New Orleans, Dies". The New York Times.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harold Dejan. |
- 1909 births
- 2002 deaths
- Jazz musicians from New Orleans
- American jazz saxophonists
- American male saxophonists
- 20th-century American musicians
- 20th-century saxophonists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- Olympia Brass Band members
- Eureka Brass Band members