Willie Tee

Commercial success proved frustratingly elusive, but Willie Tee remains an institution of the New Orleans music scene. A powerfully expressive vocalist and pianist rooted in the traditions of Crescent City R&B and jazz, his mid-'60s soul sides are acknowledged classics on the Carolinas' beach music circuit. Born Wilson Turbinton on February 6, 1944, in New Orleans, he began playing piano at age three, no doubt inspired by older brother Earl's studies of saxophone and flute. In 1952, the Turbintons relocated to the city's Calliope Street housing projects, where Willie and Earl ...