(On the Left) Barry Martyn painted by Peter Butler. (On the Right) John Royen courtesy of John Royen.

The New Orleans Jazz Museum and Jazz National Historical Park present a live hour of piano performance featuring the Barry Martyn program w/ John Royen "New Orleans before Preservation Hall" on Thursday, August 11th from 2:00 PM-3:00 PM CDT.

This program takes place inside our third-floor Performance Center, listening room. Admission is free and open to the public, seating is limited and offered first-come, first-serve. Learn more about our program admission policy. 

Enjoy jazz music from home with the New Orleans Jazz Museum! Join the Jazz Museum online for our daily Live-Stream Concert Series, in which dynamic jazz musicians perform live from the Jazz Museum! Tune in at 2 pm on facebook.com/nolajazzmuseum/live to watch for free.

Barry Martyn:

Barry Martyn has been a jazz drummer, bandleader, producer and historian for over 65 years. Born on February 23, 1941, in London, England, New Orleans Jazz was part of his life from an early age. Barry began playing drums in 1955 and was leading his first band, Kid Martyn’s Ragtime Band, the following year. His first recordings were made in 1959 with his band. Primarily interested in New Orleans revival jazz as played by the veterans, his first visit to New Orleans on January 4, 1961 was when he looked up Bill Russell. He began studying drums under Cie Frazier and founded Mono Records, quickly becoming part of the New Orleans traditional jazz community.

John Royen:

Originally from Washington, D.C., John Royen as an up and coming young jazz pianist, moved to New Orleans in 1976 to learn from and play with the best jazz musicians in the country.  He was fortunate enough to study with the great Don Ewell and to pick up some important pointers from the likes of Joe Turner and Washington D.C. pianist, John Eaton.  Since his arrival in New Orleans, he has been  a fixture on the jazz scene here, both as a popular on-call pianist and as a core member of most of the well-known jazz groups.

Today, John Royen is continuing the stride piano tradition.  He has performed, toured and recorded with many contemporary jazz greats including Bobby Gordon, Pete Fountain, The Dukes of Dixieland, The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble, Duke Heitger's Steamboat Stompers, Tim Laughlin and Independence Hall Jazz Band.  Additionally, John has performed and recorded with all of the major jazz groups in New Orleans, and internationally, with many renowned groups.  John has been playing for over 20 years with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and has performed at the Kennedy Center, the U.S. State Department, the National Press Club, the Smithsonian Institution, the New Orleans Historical Jazz Park, and numerous universities, theaters and performing arts centers around the country, in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Canada. 

Click the links to learn more info on Barry Martyn and John Royen!