ALVIN BATISTE PASSES

From www.wdsu.com:

Alvin Batiste

NEW ORLEANS — Veteran clarinetist Alvin Batiste passed away in his sleep early Sunday morning.

Batiste was scheduled to perform at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Sunday.

Batiste taught music at Southern University in Baton Rouge, where he created the Batiste Jazz Institute and at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts where he served as lead teacher in jazz instrumental music.

Several well-known musicians studied under Batiste while at Southern University: Randy Jackson, Donald Harrison, Henry Butler, Kent Jordan, Michael Ward, Herlin Riley, Cameo and Branford Marsalis.

Batiste toured with Ray Charles in 1958, but was considered an obscure legend until he made three albums with Clarinet Summit in the 1980s — a quartet also including John Carter, David Murray, and Jimmy Hamilton.