Tommy Sancton's New Orleans Legacy Band (the NOLB) is a New Orleans-based group specializing in traditional jazz, led by clarinetist Tommy Sancton. Sancton learned at the feet of the great George Lewis and other jazz pioneers active around Preservation Hall in the 1960s — a 1965 photo in the band's liner notes shows him at Preservation Hall alongside Lewis, De De Pierce, and Lars Edegran.
The band has strong roots in the past and a reach toward the younger generation of New Orleans jazz musicians, mixing veteran trad players with musicians who came to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, including drummer Jason Marsalis, trombonist Ronell Johnson, and bassist Kerry Lewis. It has been featured at festivals in Europe and the U.S. and has made numerous appearances at the French Quarter Festival, Jazz Fest, and other New Orleans jazz venues.
Their album 'City of a Million Dreams' is available from G.H.B. Records and on Spotify. OffBeat's review called it 'a rousing affirmation of the music's vitality in modern-day New Orleans,' noting the title track — a playful tune by New Orleans clarinetist Raymond Burke — and the tango 'Un Hombre Fiel,' co-written by Sancton's son Julian.
