Preservation Hall Jazz Band trumpeter Wendell Brunious shares stories of family, music, travel and the importance of keeping audiences at the heart of jazz
There are few better places to talk about the history of New Orleans music than aboard a Viking Mississippi sailing between New Orleans and Memphis. As the ship follows the Mississippi River through the heart of the South, the journey is about much more than the scenery outside the windows. Viking builds its Mississippi itineraries around the history, food, music and culture of the destinations along the river, from New Orleans jazz and Cajun cuisine to the blues of the Mississippi Delta and the musical legacy of Memphis.
During our Viking Mississippi cruise, The Travel Addict had the opportunity to sit down with Wendell Brunious, a New Orleans trumpet player and vocalist whose musical family tree runs deep. A Preservation Hall Foundation Master Practitioner, Brunious comes from one of the city’s great musical families and has spent decades performing and helping carry the traditions of New Orleans jazz forward.
His connection to Preservation Hall is especially meaningful. Preservation Hall was established in New Orleans in 1961 after Allan and Sandra Jaffe discovered traditional jazz performances at Larry Borenstein’s gallery on St. Peter Street. The Hall became a home for the city’s traditional musicians and eventually helped bring New Orleans jazz to audiences around the world.
Brunious has been part of that history firsthand, performing alongside some of the legendary musicians who helped define the Preservation Hall sound. Our conversation touched on everything from his first Jazz Fest to touring with Lionel Hampton, traveling the world with musicians and his advice for the next generation of jazz artists.
Q&A with Wendell Brunious
How did you first get connected with Viking Cruises?
The guy who was the original musical director was Tom Hook. He and I worked together for many, many years. When this thing became available, he was like, “Man, there’s nobody better than you to tell those stories and entertain people and not make an ego trip.”
That’s easy to do in the entertainment business, but you just share the wealth and make everybody good around you. Tom hired me. We were on American Cruise Lines before, so that’s how he knew I was the guy to do this.
Why is it important to tell the story of Louis Armstrong and New Orleans?
To share the whole attention, because that’s what happened.
What would be your perfect New Orleans day?
Obviously just waking up and having shrimp and grits. I cook mostly at home because then I can control the cholesterol. I’ve lost 40 pounds now, so I’m not going back. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe.
My perfect day now is some jambalaya and red beans at night, and a nice gig that pays well, where you share the stage with all your buddies.
Me and Caroline (Brunious) and Freddie Lonzo and Richard Moten and Shannon Powell. These guys—you have fun with them. Of course, you’ve got to do the job, and we are serious about the music. We’re serious about the fun too. That’s what makes the whole thing worth it.
Putting the Audience First
What advice do you give young jazz musicians?
My daddy used to say this: “If there aren’t butts on seats out there, they don’t need your butt up here.” That’s always my play to the people: mind the melody. People don’t care how many times you can repeat a Phrygian scale. They don’t care. But they know “Hello, Dolly.” They know that.
That’s what they feel comfortable with, and that’s what they buy. I’m a business major from school, from college. You better keep butts in seats out there, or else you’ll be somewhere else—and you want fries with that?
A Life Inside Preservation Hall
Do you have favorite Preservation Hall moments?
The first time I got to play with Sweet Emma. I’d seen her when I was a kid. My cousin Howard Dean hired me to play trumpet, and Sweet Emma was playing the piano.
To work with Willie Humphrey, who was my daddy’s first music teacher in 1927, was another incredible experience. My uncle was Lester Santiago, the piano player, so I had family that played in Preservation Hall from the beginning.
I was playing at the Maison Bourbon on Bourbon Street, and I was parked across the street from Preservation Hall. I got off at 9 o’clock and thought, “I’m going to go see what those old guys are doing.” I went into Preservation Hall, and they didn’t have a trumpet player. I said, “You need a trumpet player. I’m coming to play.”
Kid Thomas was in the back having a sandwich. I didn’t know that. Pretty soon he opened those doors, and I thought, “Oh, wow.” He said, “Get him a check.” So I sat next to him and played second trumpet for the next four years or so, until he died. That was a wonderful, wonderful thing.
Taking New Orleans Jazz Around the World
Brunious has traveled extensively with his music, including a memorable trip to Rio de Janeiro, where he rode the cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain. “I wouldn’t do it again,” he laughed. “But I enjoyed that.”
His career has also brought unexpected encounters with some remarkable names. He recalled playing golf with Bob Hope in Palm Springs and shared a story about his son Brandon attending school with Jimmy Page’s son.
His own musical résumé includes performing with the Neville Brothers and Grammy-winning work with Dr. John and Eric Clapton.
Jazz Fest Memories
For Brunious, however, some of his most meaningful musical memories are much closer to home. “The first Jazz Fest was at the Municipal Auditorium, and I got to play with my dad. I was about 14.” He remembers performing alongside his father and even singing a song called “That Old Green River,” which he had recorded with his dad when he was nine years old. Those early family experiences remain some of his most special memories.
Brunious also recalled being called by legendary trumpet player Wallace Davenport in 1979 to play with the Lionel Hampton band. That opportunity eventually led to a tour and time living in New York. “It was unbelievable,” he said. “These are the kinds of things that we’ve lived through, and you don’t dwell on it.”
That philosophy may be the perfect description of Brunious himself. His career is filled with remarkable moments, legendary musicians and history-making performances, but he remains focused on the music, the audience and the joy of sharing the stage.
That makes having him aboard a Viking Mississippi cruise especially fitting. As Viking takes travelers through the musical and cultural history of the Lower Mississippi, Brunious isn’t simply telling the story of New Orleans jazz—he is part of that living history.