Meet the Collective: Craig Klein

When Preservation Hall trombonist Craig Klein was a teenager growing up in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans, he and his buddies would get together and head to the French Quarter on the weekends. They’d grab a drink from Pat O’Brien’s, and peek into the windows of the building next door: Preservation Hall.

Sometimes they’d pay the $3 at the gate, and watch in wonder as living legends like Louis Nelson, Kid Sheik, Chester Zardis and “Ms. Sadie” Goodson took the stage. These musicians were masters of their craft, performing well into their 80’s. Craig’s journey as a professional musician had only just begun.

When he was in third grade, Craig’s uncle, Gerry Dallmann, a professional trombone player, gave him his first horn. “Through my uncle I met a lot of old New Orleans musicians. They brought me to see things like the second lines in the Treme neighborhood. There’s nothing else like it.”

After graduating from Southeastern Louisiana University in ‘84, Craig sold real estate and played music on the side until a good friend and fellow future Preservation Hall trombonist, Lucien Barbarin, gave him his big break. 

It was 1990, and Craig was watching his friend Lucien perform with Danny Barker at French Quarter Festival. After the performance, Lucien pulled Craig aside to tell him some good news. He had recommended him to Harry Connick, Jr., who had just announced a world tour called When Harry Met Sally. 

“‘They’re gonna call you tonight!’” Craig recalls Lucien telling him. “I went straight home. Sure enough, I got home and not long after, Harry called.”

The audition process was quick: they asked to either send in a tape, or play a tune over the phone. “I remember thinking, ‘it’s now or never!’ and grabbed my horn. When I picked up the phone, they said ‘OK, you got it.'” 

That tour lasted 16 years, and brought him around the world performing with Connick, Jr., who Craig describes as “geniuslike.” 

Despite his status as a world traveler, Craig has always called New Orleans home. After his home in St. Bernard Parish, and many homes of his fellow musicians, were destroyed in Hurricane Katrina, Craig and a few friends formed the Arabi Wrecking Krewe. Its mission: help musicians and culture bearers get their houses gutted and on their way to repair. The group gutted well over 100 houses that year.  

“We wanted to look for ways to help the musicians come back to New Orleans,” he explained. “We knew that if the musicians came back to New Orleans, the people would, too.”

And he was right. In the months following, gigs slowly began to re-emerge. Craig remembers K-Paul’s Cajun Kitchen as one of the first gigs he took after the storm. While playing his horn outside on Chartres Street in the French Quarter, Preservation Hall’s Ben Jaffe happened to walk by with a few stickers: they read “ReNew Orleans.” Craig put it on the bell of his horn, where it still lives today, as a reminder of all the city has overcome. 

Craig has been on multiple tours since his first with Harry Connick, Jr., and stays busy at home in the New Orleans area as a member of multiple bands, including: 

Bonerama, a 5-trombone-plus-rhythm example of funk-rock fusion; the Euphonious Brass Band, a traveling educational performance group telling the stories of New Orleans music and its roots; the New Orleans Nightcrawlers, in which Craig is flanked by fellow Preservation Haller Kerry “Fatman” Hunter; and the Storyville Stompers, a traditional ensemble deeply influenced by the original Olympia Brass Band. The Olympia’s prolific trumpeter, the great Milton Batiste, produced and recorded the Stompers’ first album, Stompin’.

“They took us under their wings,” Craig remembers of the Olympia, a band which the young Storyville Stompers modeled themselves after. It boasted the presence of legendary trombonist “Frog” Joseph, Batiste, and Harold “Duke” Dejan. At the time, the band played at Preservation Hall every Sunday. 

“We followed them around, and showed we were really interested. One day, they called us to play on a Sunday,” Craig remembers. “It was a dream come true.”

Craig is now a regular performer at the Hall himself, and a member of the Preservation Hall Musical Collective. He serves as a music educator, mentor and clinician in educational roles throughout the city, and remains involved with multiple bands and ensembles on both trombone and tuba. He has recorded with the likes of Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, Bruce Hornsby, Tori Amos, Leroy Jones and more.

Today, Craig continues his work with music in the spirit of the the Arabi Wrecking Krewe he helped start nearly 15 years ago. When Hurricane Laura devastated the Lake Charles area during the summer of 2020, Craig sought out a connection through his daughter to a local music school teacher, who had lost all of his instruments and equipment in the storm. The Village Music School's 50 students were already reeling from COVID-19 lockdowns when Laura cancelled any music classes they might have for the foreseeable future. In response, Craig started a GoFundMe page to help the school get back on its feet. You can donate to the project here.