--- description: A look back at the titans of New Orleans jazz in the 1940s, from Louis Armstrong to Fats Pichon to Bunk Johnson. title: Celebrate New Orleans Jazz Fest With These Photos of the 1940s Jazz Scene image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2353a8dbb9b9c57/6987ea4ee53aba14194db3b1/150409-new-orleans-jazz-06.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Celebrate New Orleans Jazz Fest With These Photos of the 1940s Jazz Scene  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 24, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  Benny Goodman wagon in New Orleans, 1944. Benny Goodman wagon in New Orleans, 1944.Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Apr 24, 2015 12:00 PM CUT As the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival kicks off on Friday, thousands flock to the city to pay tribute to the birthplace of jazz and conjure visions of a colorful musical history. Long before Bourbon Street became a hub for tourists weighed down with plastic beads, musicians advertised performances by playing in the backs of wagons, the details of upcoming shows hand-lettered on wooden signs. It didn’t matter whether the venue was a basement club or a neighbor’s living room. The music that emerged from New Orleans had an unmistakeable sound, a confluence of styles that could only have come from the place where the Mississippi River empties out into the Gulf of Mexico. LIFE’s photographers were there to capture the feeling that accompanied that sound and the people who were creating it. The magazine’s archives offer a veritable who’s who of New Orleans jazz, from Louis Armstrong to Fats Pichon to Bunk Johnson, to the men and women whose contributions are palpable though their names are lost to history. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at_ [_@LizabethRonk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Louis Armstrong, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  W. C. Handy and an unidentified trumpeter performing in New Orleans, 1944. Marie Hansen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson performing in New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Meade Lux Lewis on the piano with Jimmy Yancey in the background performing in New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Fats Pichon on the piano, performing in New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Benny Goodman wagon in New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Joseph Jones, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  New Orleans street scene, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Alphonse Picou, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  John Lewis, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  New Orleans street scene, 1944. Marie Hansen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  James P. "Jimmy" Johnson at the piano, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jazz poster, New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Tony Sbarbaro on the drums, New Orleans 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jazz trumpeter Bunk Johnson, New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  New Orleans street scene (Absinthe House), 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  New Orleans Jazz musicians, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Jazz poster, New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Coleman Hawkins (right) and his band performing in New Orleans, 1944. Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  New Orleans street scene, 1944. Marie Hansen—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3815352/new-orleans-jazz/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3815352/new-orleans-jazz/"},"headline":"Celebrate New Orleans Jazz Fest With These Photos of the 1940s Jazz Scene","datePublished":"2015-04-24T12:00:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:37.674Z","description":"A look back at the musicians who shaped New Orleans and the venues where they developed their singular sound","url":"https://time.com/3815352/new-orleans-jazz/","keywords":["Music","new orleans","photography","LIFE Magazine","1944","Jazz"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2353a8dbb9b9c57/6987ea4ee53aba14194db3b1/150409-new-orleans-jazz-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb2353a8dbb9b9c57/6987ea4ee53aba14194db3b1/150409-new-orleans-jazz-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New Orleans Jazz 1944","caption":"Benny Goodman wagon in New Orleans, 1944.","creditText":"Hansel Mieth—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3815352/new-orleans-jazz/","name":"Celebrate New Orleans Jazz Fest With These Photos of the 1940s Jazz Scene"}}]}] ```