Rabbit Robertson, Kid Ory, Lewis “Chif” Matthews, Johnny Brown?, Joseph “Stonewall” Matthews, Foster Lewis.Photo courtesy Hogan Jazz Archive, Tulane University.
Author John McCusker offers an authoritative look at a jazz great that includes previously unpublished photos and materials from Kid Ory’s own unpublished autobiography.“Kid Ory is neither celebrity nor myth. He was a flesh-and-blood
jazzman who arrived on the scene in New Orleans at the same time as the music itself. The man and the music came up together, reached maturity together and, ultimately, faded from the scene together.” Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early Years of Jazz joins
an impressive roster of titles in the American Made Music Series by University Press of Mississippi.
John McCusker, a longtime photojournalist, also owns and operates the New Orleans Jazz History Tour.He is an avid amateur historian who can speak with authority about the history of jazz, New Orleans and Louisiana to general and specialized audiences.
“At last! John McCusker’s Creole Trombone provides a compelling account of the early life and career of Ed Ory, one of the most fascinating protagonists in the development of New Orleans jazz.""John McCusker evokes the magical
time when a young man could rise out of sugar cane fields and change the world with his music."