In the 1930s, people danced in New Orleans night clubs to the sweet and melodic jazz of Creole singer and trumpeter Lionel Ferbos. Now they sit at tables and sip cocktails, watching the 97-year-old perform as one of the city's oldest working jazz musicians. Born July 17, 1911, Ferbos started playing professionally during the Great Depression. He still performs regularly at French Quarter clubs and has appeared at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival annually since its beginning in 1970. Recently, he sat with friends at a Canal Street restaurant to reflect on his life and his music. Over plates of fried seafood, Ferbos chatted about rebuilding his downtown home, which was flooded during Hurricane Katrina, and his career as a tinsmith, working with metal. But his music was the keynote. "He plays the most beautiful melody,...
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