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Bill Russell

Til the Butcher Cut Him Down

This 1971 film by Philip Spalding was narrated by my great uncle Bill Russell. The film includes him talking about the musicians and himself, shows Preservation Hall, New Orleans, second lines, Ben Jaffee, and even Bill Russell's apartment with his massive collection. A superb study of the history and men who played New Orleans Jazz through the eyes of one of its greatest trumpet players: Punch Miller (died 1971). Kid Punch was renowned in New…
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music

Generations [song]

By ©Diana Thornton I was a regular at O'Flaherty's, Danny O'Flaherty's pub in the French Quarter of New Orleans. O'Flaherty's was as close as one can come to a real Irish pub here in the states. Danny and his brother Patrick both spoke Gaelic and may of the people who worked and frequented were Irish, Scottish, Welsh, etc. My great grandmother was a Graham. The DNA says I'm 24% Irish or Scottish. In 1993, Danny…
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