Roger Lewis was born and raised in New Orleans. He picked up his first saxophone at seven, got his first real horn at ten, and was playing his first professional engagement by twelve. He came up through Chitlin Circuit bands before Fats Domino hired him — “that’s when I went international,” he likes to say — and later worked with Irma Thomas, who lured him home from Las Vegas and back into the New Orleans scene.
In the mid-1970s Lewis was studying saxophone under Kidd Jordan at Southern University when the music that became the Dirty Dozen Brass Band started taking shape. Rehearsing with fellow brass players and steeping themselves in both traditional repertoire and modern jazz, the group caught the ear of impresario George Wein, who recorded them for his Festival Collection and took them to festivals worldwide — opening for Miles Davis along the way. Guests on Dirty Dozen records have included Dizzy Gillespie, Dr. John, and Branford Marsalis, and the band has shared stages with everyone from Elvis Costello to Norah Jones, all while keeping the second-line stomp at the music’s core.
Beyond the Dozen, Lewis is a fixture of the wider scene: he has marched with the Tremé Brass Band, held a chair in Delfeayo Marsalis’s Uptown Jazz Orchestra, and cut his solo debut Finally Alright! around his eightieth birthday — proof that a lifetime of music for the mind, body, and soul hasn’t slowed him down. Catch him with the Dirty Dozen at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, or on one of the band’s regular dates around town.
