Wardell Quezergue

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Wardell Quezergue (b 1930) is an American music arranger, producer and bandleader, known among New Orleans musicians as the “Creole Beethoven”.

After playing with Dave Bartholomew’s band from the late 1940s and serving as an army musician in Korea, he emerged as a bandleader in his own right in the mid-1950s with his Royal Dukes of Rhythm. He also worked as an arranger with the cream of New Orleans musicians, including Professor Longhair and Fats Domino.

In 1964 he formed Nola Records, and a series of hits followed, including the Dixie Cups' “Iko Iko”, Robert Parker’s “Barefootin’”, and Aaron Neville’s “Tell It Like It Is”. Later on he recorded King Floyd’s “Groove Me” and Jean Knight’s “Mr Big Stuff” and, when major labels including Stax and Atlantic initially rejected them as uncommercial, he took them to then-struggling Malaco Records, from where they became major national hits.

As a result of these successes, Quezergue’s skills as an arranger, and Malaco’s studios, became in demand in the 1970s, and were used by artistes as diverse as Paul Simon, Willie Nelson, and B. B. King.

He also produced and arranged the Grammy Award-winning Dr. John album “Goin' Back to New Orleans” in 1992. Already an award winning classical composer and conductor, in 2000 he created an extended composition entitled "A Creole Mass", drawing on his experiences in the Korean War.

In 2005, by now legally blind, he lost most of his belongings as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The following year, benefit concerts on his behalf were led by Dr John, with support including REM’s Mike Mills.