‘Big Al’ Carson, New Orleans Blues Singer and Bourbon Street Fixture, Dead at 66
New Orleans blues singer "Big Al" Carson, a fixture on Bourbon Street for years, passed away on Sunday. He was 66.
Carson suffered a heart attack about two weeks ago, according to his wife.
The singer was a widely popular performer in the Crescent City for a long time, having played with a variety of bands over the years.
He was a fixture at festivals but most knew him from his standing gig with his band, the Blues Masters, at the Funky Pirate Bar on Bourbon Street. He played there for 25 years and even met his wife there.
"He was still playing there until the virus shut everything down," his sister Cynthia Zeno told NOLA.com. "I’ve never heard anybody say a cross word about him, anything negative."
Carson played in brass groups including Ernest "Doc" Paulin's band, the Tuxedo Jazz Band, the Olympia Brass Band, the Eureka Brass Band, and Spirit of New Orleans, among others.
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