Louis Ford was born into New Orleans music royalty. His father, Clarence Ford, was a phenomenal and famously versatile saxophonist — New Orleans writer Geraldine Wyckoff said he could play “five different jobs in 24 hours” — whose career spanned three decades with Fats Domino and sessions with Little Richard, Professor Longhair, Snooks Eaglin, and scores more. Louis’s musical lineage traces all the way back to the Storyville days, and he is the fifth generation of his family to make music in this city. Like his father, he became an accomplished clarinetist and saxophonist, dedicated to the preservation of jazz.
He trained the New Orleans way: at NOCCA under Ellis Marsalis, in the St. Augustine High School Marching 100, and with further study under Kidd Jordan, before earning a degree in music education from Loyola University. That teaching runs through the whole band — every member of the New Orleans Flairs is a music teacher. Louis’ most rewarding work, he says, is sharing New Orleans culture and traditional jazz with young musicians, including workshops on a cultural exchange trip to Cuba in 2018.
