Trumpeter John Brunious Dead at 67

By I Feb. 14, 2008

John Brunious, trumpeter and member of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, died Tuesday of an apparent heart attack in Orlando, Fla. He was 67.

An accomplished musician on trumpet and piano, Brunious served as the bandleader for more than 20 years with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He began taking lessons from his father, John “Picky” Brunious, at age 10 but taught himself to play by emulating what he heard on records.

“John Brunious was living history,” said Ben Jaffe, creative director of Preservation Hall. “One of the last things John told me was, ‘There’s another Louis Armstrong somewhere out there in New Orleans. I’m going to find them and teach them all I got.’ It’s now in our hands to carry on his message and legacy the way he carried the torch for so many years.”