Oscar "Papa" Celestin

Oscar "Papa" Celestin was a cornetist and the leader of the Original Tuxedo Orchestra, one of the most popular of the early jazz bands based in New Orleans. From 1910 Celestin led the house band at the Tuxedo Dance Hall on North Franklin St. in the French Quarter, and later founded the Tuxedo Brass Band, the namesake of the currently active Young Tuxedo Brass Band. A shooting at the Tuxedo in 1913 closed the dancehall for good, but Celestin kept both bands going, and in 1916 entered into a partnership with trombonist Tommy Ridgely that established a network of Papa Celestin ba...