Legendary Pioneer of Jazz, Alvin Batiste's Funeral Service

A music master, composer, arranger, educator and performer - Alvin Batiste defies description. Batiste, a native of New Orleans, was born on November 7, 1932 and transitioned on May 6, 2007 at 2:30 am. He is simply "Batiste" - one of the most distinctive and virtuosic of modern jazz clarinet players, and his name alone has become synonymous with taking the music to the next level and the next generation, a 'Music Pioneer' who has contributed to every genre. His Columbia album billed him as a "Legendary Pioneer of Jazz." Alvin Batiste is an avant-garde player who does not fit easily into any classification. Under-recorded throughout his career, Batiste was a childhood friend of Ed Blackwell and spent time in Los Angeles in 1956 playing with Ornette Coleman. Batiste was born in New Orleans in 1932, and is among the rare artists who have created a modern approach to improvising on the clarinet. "My dad played the clarinet," Alvin explains, "and was a boyhood friend of the great Edmond Hall as well as a fan of Benny Goodman. I wasn't that interested in learning the instrument when he bought one for me, until I heard Charlie Parker's recording of 'Now's the Time' at a friend's house. You could only find records like that in one or two stores in New Orleans at the time, and my reaction was, 'What was that?' I started practicing seriously at that point."