News & Updates — Allen Toussaint

Cosimo Matassa's J&M Recording studio in New Orleans was the home of some of the biggest hits of the early rock & roll era and he helped shape the NOLA sound. A Sicilian-American who was born and raised in NOLA, he was a funky grocer, record & appliance shop owner and a jukebox servicer before he opened the studio in '45, a time when there were few studios in that musical city. Teenaged Allen Toussaint used to hang out there and practice piano, later on often working directly with Matassa. In the '60s he started his label Dover Records to...

Ernest Kador, better known as Ernie K-Doe, is a New Orleans legend. Famous for his hits "Mother-In-Law", "Later For Tomorrow" and "Here Come The Girls", he was a singer, wacky performance character, club owner, radio personality and Drum Buddy ally. "Here Come The Girls" became a hit after his death but remains a popular DJ cut and dance groover. A NOLA native and son of a Baptist minister, he started singing in church at seven and sang in gospel groups as a teen. In the early '50s he moved to Chicago and broke into the scene there, singing with the...