Lionel Batiste was a dapper guy, who was synonymous with the bass drum. Even in death, he was dressed to the nines.
“Batiste was an icon for many local musicians,” the Hollywood Reporter states, “and with his signature sunglasses, wristwatch worn on his hand as opposed to his wrist, and an omnipresent kazoo, he moved to the beat of his own bass drum.”
Known as “Uncle Lionel,” Batiste was born in 1931. He grew up in Tremé and started playing drums as a child. He didn’t just keep the beat for the Treme Brass Band, he also sang and danced.
“Batiste was a popular ambassador for the band, and for New Orleans music at large,” a National Public Radio blog states. “Ever well-dressed — usually with a hat, sunglasses and watch — he was often spotted gliding about on the dance floor or street or leading a parade.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Batiste, who tap danced in the French Quarter as a boy, “developed his signature slide and hop dance from studying an older drummer, Papa Knox.”
Batiste joined the 6th Ward Dirty Dozen Kazoo Band as a teenager. He played banjo, kazoo and the washtub. He also played bass drum with the Square Deal Social & Pleasure Club.
“Batiste’s reputation as a musician earned him a coveted spot as an invited performer at the annual Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland for more than two decades,” WWOZ’s “Guardians of the Groove” states.
Batiste died in 2012. His wake was something to behold. Instead of lying in a casket, his spectacularly dressed body was standing upright against a light pole.
Lionel Batiste Jr., now deceased, kept his promise to give his dad a good sendoff. “That’s the kind of guy he was,” Batiste Jr. told the Times-Picayune. “He had to be an original.”
For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.
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