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Howard began on drums at about age fourteen, but
switched to cornet and then
trumpet after playing with
Chris Kelly. In New
Orleans he played in the 1920s with the Eureka Brass Band,
Allen's Brass Band,
and the
Tuxedo Brass Band.
He led his own bands late in the 1920s and early in the 1930s; it was his
band who played at the jazz funeral for
Buddy
Petit.
He and Sam Morgan
played
in the Palace Theatre pit
orchestra from 1938 to 1943. In 1943 he recorded with
George Lewis, considered to be among his best recordings.
In 1946 he led the
Original Zenith Brass Band, but played only locally for the next
few years.
In 1952 he returned to playing with Lewis, where he would remain until
1961. His later recordings with Lewis are uneven because he was battling
with
alcoholism, which
interfered with his abilities as a soloist.
He fell ill in 1961 and left Lewis's band, and upon his recovery he led
his own band from 1961 to 1965 and recorded several times; these
recordings were also highly praised.
He continued to play in New Orleans at Preservation Hall
and other venues up until his death of a brain hemorrhage in
1966.i1
On 2. April Dejan's Young Olumpia and the Onward Brass Band played
at the funeral. The service was at the Zion Hill Baptist Church.
(Notes from a diary by
Jim Finch (See New
Orleans Music Vol 15 no 6)
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