Herb Hardesty

Best known for his decades-long collaboration with Fats Domino, tenor saxophonist Herbert Hardesty was a crucial component of the classic Dave Bartholomew-produced sessions that helped shape both New Orleans R&B and rock & roll as a whole, contributing lyrical, energetic solos to such landmark records as "I'm Walkin'," "My Blue Heaven," and "Ain't That a Shame." A New Orleans native born in 1925, Hardesty began studying the saxophone at age seven, making his professional debut at 15 and later majoring in music at Dillard University. He apprenticed in big bands led by Don Raymond, Pee Wee Crayton, and Oscar "Papa" Celestin before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After receiving his discharge in 1945, Hardesty returned to the Crescent City, plying his trade with small jazz combos before meeting Bartholomew at the Gladstone Club in 1949. Bartholomew invited Hardesty to join his band for a session at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio to record boogie-woogie pianist Domino's debut Imperial Records session. The resulting clutch of songs included "The Fat Man," considered by some the first true rock & roll recording ever created. Hardesty remained a staple of Domino's session band throughout his long and enormously popular Imperial tenure, by his own estimation playing 90 percent of the saxophone solos on the singer's complete recorded output. He was also a fixture of Domino's touring band, and reunited with Bartholomew for sessions headlined by Lloyd Price, Smiley Lewis, Shirley & Lee, and T-Bone Walker. In addition to recording and touring with Domino, in 1961 Hardesty signed to the Federal label as a solo act, cutting a handful of little-noticed but engaging instrumentals including "69 Mother's Place," "Perdida Street," "Just a Little Bit of Everything," and "The Chicken Twist." In the wake of the British Invasion, Domino's records went into commercial decline, but throughout the 1960s he remained a popular live attraction both at home and overseas. After a 1970 auto accident claimed the life of bassist James Davis and critically injured saxophonists Clarence Ford and Robert "Buddy" Hagans, Domino never found suitable replacements, and a disillusioned Hardesty finally left the group two years later, relocating to Las Vegas. He eventually returned to the fold a few years later and continued performing with Domino into the 21st century, additionally collaborating with a new generation of musicians including Dr. John and Tom Waits. He died in Las Vegas in December 2016 at the age of 91.
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