Drummer Reed Vaughan, 75, died in New Orleans on December 29, 2011. Vaughan attended Holy Cross High School and played during his early teens in a Dixieland group with trumpeter Murphy Campo and clarinetist Pee Wee Spitilera. At age 16 he studied with drummer Lou Dillon, the versatile leader of the pit band at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street, and gained skills in reading and coordinated hand/foot independence. He rapidly became a premier modern jazz artist, jamming frequently with young modernists like bassist/guitarist Bill Huntington, pianist Buddy Prima, and trombonist Al Hermann. Huntington called him “a child prodigy."
Modern jazz lacked an audience in the New Orleans in the mid-fifties, so Vaughan became part of the brilliant underground of be-boppers at after-hours sessions in the French Quarter. His sense of time combined relaxation with intensity, producing an effortless swing that exploded into inventive solos. In an environment where Earl Palmer and Ed Blackwell were the pace- setters, Vaughan was an original voice.
Vaughan's first year of studies at LSU ended abruptly when he joined the Stan Kenton band. He worked in Chicago and Los Angeles with artists like Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Dave Pike, and Ira Sullivan. Wearied by the pace of life on the road, he returned to New Orleans and remained for the rest of his career. The groundbreaking years were behind him, but modern jazz engagements included work at pianist Joe Burton's club and a late 1960s engagement at the Bistro with pianist Ronnie Dupont's quartet and vocalist Betty Farmer. He played for fourteen years with Dick Stabile's big band at the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel. In his later years Vaughan was active with bands in a variety of jazz styles at local clubs.
Modern jazz lacked an audience in the New Orleans in the mid-fifties, so Vaughan became part of the brilliant underground of be-boppers at after-hours sessions in the French Quarter. His sense of time combined relaxation with intensity, producing an effortless swing that exploded into inventive solos. In an environment where Earl Palmer and Ed Blackwell were the pace- setters, Vaughan was an original voice.
Vaughan's first year of studies at LSU ended abruptly when he joined the Stan Kenton band. He worked in Chicago and Los Angeles with artists like Hampton Hawes, Art Pepper, Dave Pike, and Ira Sullivan. Wearied by the pace of life on the road, he returned to New Orleans and remained for the rest of his career. The groundbreaking years were behind him, but modern jazz engagements included work at pianist Joe Burton's club and a late 1960s engagement at the Bistro with pianist Ronnie Dupont's quartet and vocalist Betty Farmer. He played for fourteen years with Dick Stabile's big band at the Blue Room of the Roosevelt Hotel. In his later years Vaughan was active with bands in a variety of jazz styles at local clubs.
