Cover photo © 2024 Laura Carbone
There is something special about blues being played by a New Orleans pianist. Beginning with the jazz influences of Jelly Roll Morton, through the merging of blues with Latin rhythms by Professor Longhair, the unique stylings of Dr. John, and the genius of Allen Toussant, pianists from that area have continued to hold positions of great honor. Although he was not born in New Orleans, current NOLA resident Joe Krown deserves a position in that well-respected roster. His various bands have won New Orleans Big Easy Awards in 2004 and 2009, and in 2014 he received a Piano Legacy Award from the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for being a ‘master of piano’. Additionally, he has played both the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival every year for over twenty years and has been featured in episodes of the HBO drama Treme, the TNT series Memphis Beat and the DeNiro/Stallone movie, Grudge Match. Blues Blast Magazine had the opportunity to catch up with Krown on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, where he was not only playing with the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, but had volunteered to fill in with the Gabe Stillman Band, since their keyboard player could not make it due to illness.
Krown was born in Baltimore, but his family moved to Long Island, NY when he was still an infant. He took piano lessons starting at age six, and after graduating high school, he attended SUNY-Buffalo for five semesters, ending with a focus on music. There were numerous important influences on the sound he developed.
“I play both piano and organ and even though they are both keyboards, there are totally different things about them. My influences on organ came from Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Smith, Bill Doggett, and Art Neville. For piano it was Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Allen Toussant, James Booker, and Pete Johnson. That’s one thing about playing the New Orleans style, boogie-woogie was a big element of it. If you can’t play boogie-woogie, you can’t play New Orleans music. When I was growing up, the moment I first heard Dr. John and Professor Longhair was the moment I knew I would one day live in New Orleans.”
After leaving college, Krown played with several bands in Boston including Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters alumni, Luther ‘Guitar Jr.’ Johnson for over a decade before moving to New Orleans 32 years ago to play with the Gatemouth Brown Band.
“Gatemouth was an iconic guitar player. People who are non-musicians probably didn’t know him, but every guitar player knew of him. He was the second guitarist, after T-Bone Walker, to stand in front of the band and play electric guitar. The story I heard is that T-Bone got sick one night and Gatemouth jumped up and grabbed the guitar and fronted the band. Don Robey, from Peacock Records, saw him and signed him immediately. People from all over, and musicians from all genres, would come out to see Gatemouth. REM, Metallica, Ike Turner, Albert Collins, BB King—they all knew Gate and would come out and see us. Eric Clapton was a big fan of Gatemouth. In 1995 we played 62 shows as the opening act for Eirc Clapton. We played in legendary venues like 16 nights at Royal Albert Hall in London, Madison Square Garden and many of the Olympic Stadiums in Europe. But the whole jump blues thing ended in the middle fifties, and everyone’s attention turned toward the soul crooners, like Bobby Bland.”
Krown’s years with Gatemouth Brown ended right after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.
“I was doing what I could to survive. People were putting things together and I put a trio together with Walter Wolfman Washington and Russell Batiste. It was an organ trio, guitar, drums and organ, no bass player. I learned a lot from playing with Russell and Wolf. Russell was one of the greatest drummers to come out of New Orleans. Russell played the drums like it was melodies and sometimes he would leave the ‘1’ out. He had so much that he would just imply. Wolfman was killer and he was a great guy. I made a record that came out last year. I recorded it in 2022 just before Walter died. He had throat cancer and couldn’t really sing anymore, but sometimes people with cancer seem to rebound and he was in a rebound moment, so I said, ‘do you want to do a tune for my new record?’ It was a chore getting the vocals to work and we had to do multiple takes because of his cancer, but that was the last session that he ever did.”
Krown has maintained a trio and an organ combo and became the producer of the WWOZ piano night on the Monday between the weekends of the Jazz Festival in 2017. That was the year he also became a member of the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band.
“Yes, 2017 was a pivotal year for me. The station was in flux that year and they had a change in the upper staff of the station, and the board took control. To this day I don’t know the story, but the program director left, and he was the guy who had produced the Piano Night. They were not going to do it, so I called up Marcia (Ball) and asked, ‘If I can convince them to let me be the producer, can I count on you to play?’ She said, ‘Of course!’ So, I presented a business plan to the board, and they said OK, but that left only seven weeks to pull it together. I made some changes. They had used multiple stages and had a house band. We wiped that out and used one stage, one piano and no bands. We also made it a local show to feature the local pianists. We wanted to focus on the landscape of the piano players in the city. I know that leaves some people out who want to play, but there are so many great piano players in New Orleans, and we wanted to give them all a chance to perform. Piano Night is one of the only shows that is still just local talent. It’s also a fundraiser for the station.”
Krown had not been very familiar with Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s music when he was contacted about playing with him.
“I remember him when he was a kid. People were raving about this teenager that could play like Stevie (Ray Vaughan). They wanted to bring a keyboard player in from New Orleans and I got the call. When I first got the call, I was thinking I’d be playing in bars and driving around the country in a van. But I decided to do some research, and I found out that he’s a serious act. He doesn’t perform in bars. He only plays in theaters and large venues. He’s had three platinum records and one gold record. Then I checked out his music. He really is an amazing guitar player and a great songwriter. So, I decided to go for it. I got the call on a Monday night and the show was on Friday. There were no charts and no written music, so I only had a couple of days to learn the whole show and play in front of a five-thousand-person audience. As I walked into the dressing room after the show, he said, ‘OK—do you want to do this?’ And I joined the band. He told me later that they did their research on me, and they knew they wanted me, they just needed to see how I was because they wanted to make sure I was someone they wanted to spend time with, since on the road we have to live together.”
Krown has released numerous albums, including four solo works, two under the name of the Joe Krown Trio, and three in collaboration with Walter Wolfman Washington and Russell Batiste (including one recorded live at the famous NOLA bar, the Maple Leaf). In 2021, Krown teamed up with fellow New Orleans resident and harmonica legend, Jason Ricci, to release the album titled City Country City. Once again in an organ trio format without a bass player or any stringed instruments, this was a unique lineup of organ, harmonica and drums. With innovative interpretations of covers as well as excellent original tracks, that roots album gained wide acclaim.
Jason Ricci is a huge fan of Krown’s musical abilities and offered the following observations about him.
“Joe is one of the most important keyboard players in the city of New Orleans, and that’s a city known for great piano and keyboard players. He not only has a real working knowledge of Professor Longhair and Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) and all of the players that made the scene, but he has a solid knowledge of boogie-woogie and where those guys came from, dating all the way back to Meade Lux Lewis. He doesn’t just imitate what others have done. He studies it and really thinks about where they were coming from. And then there’s his left hand. He might not be the fanciest piano player in the city on the right hand. But the left hand will make any band solid and will make any band question the need for a bass player ever again. Believe me, I know. It is very rock-solid, and it moves the music. He also has a great wealth of fun songs that will get a club moving, get people feeling it and having a good time. That’s about his music, and then there is Joe, as a person. He is an investor in people. He spent over 15 years with Gatemouth and ended up as the musical director for the band. 
“He invested in Walter Washington and was there for him. It was a mutual thing, with Walter giving back. And Joe gave to me. When I was at my lowest, Joe was there with encouragement and a job. We made that record together and it is the first record that I have made in my life, that I felt was a ‘grownup’ record. I had made some good records before, but this was the first time I felt part of something mature. He never stops thinking about music. He truly loves music after all these years. I can’t say that about everyone. Some get jaded, but I truly believe Joe still loves the music. And it shows. He’s a good man. He’s a solid cat. Go for Joe Krown!”
In 2023, Krown released an album titled Tribute, which is listed under his name alone, but acknowledges the contributions from numerous special guests. On that album he included interpretations of songs by Allen Toussant, James Booker, Dr. John and Big Jay McNeely, as well as a few originals.
“Noah Hunt from the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band sang a ballad on it. Walter (Wolfman Washington) and Ivan Neville also sang songs on it. Jason Ricci and Leo Nocentelli (the original guitarist from the Meters) also contributed to the album. It’s mostly New Orleans music and the whole concept of that record is to pay tribute to some of the greats from New Orleans.”
Between his touring schedule with Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and the dates he plays with the Joe Krown Trio, there is little time to devote to future projects.
“But I’m trying to put together something with the ‘Joe Krown Trio Plus One’ and we’re probably going into the studio next year. I just applied for a grant to do that. I may do some shopping for some label interest—I don’t know. And I’ll continue my work with the trio when not on the road with Kenny Wayne Shepherd. I play with Johnny Sansone sometimes. He writes great songs and he’s a great harmonica player. He’s as good as anyone out there. He builds the wave and he’s killer.”
Want to hear what makes New Orleans’ pianists so special? Check out Joe Krown. You can find out where Krown is playing with his trio and combo at www.joekrown.com. Or you can follow where he is playing with the Kenny Wayne Shepherd band by checking out www.kennywayneshepherd.net.
