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Credit:Red Lightnin' RL0033, Photographer: Axel Küstner (shamelessly lifted from the Wirz link below)
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Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery was born down the road in the sawmill town of Kentwood, LA, at the state line, on April 18, 1906. He took to the piano at age 4 and was largely self-taught. Born into a family that worked the various lumber mills in the region, he spent part of his life in Norfield, the boom town just south of Brookhaven.
He could play blues, jazz and boogie-woogie and just about anything else. It is said that once he heard a tune through, he had it memorized, so the need to read music was immaterial during recording sessions with other musicians.
He could play blues, jazz and boogie-woogie and just about anything else. It is said that once he heard a tune through, he had it memorized, so the need to read music was immaterial during recording sessions with other musicians.
A Blues Trail Marker commemorating his contribution to music was erected in the town of Brookhaven at the Godbold Transportation Center in October 2011. To read more about Little Brother and his importance in the blues/jazz music scene along the north/south stretch of highway linking New Orleans and Chicago, please see this link.
To listen to him tickle the keyboard, this link offers a nice sampling of his work. To see more photographs and purchase his tunes, here is a good source.
Little Brother (so named because as a youngster he strongly resembled his father) Montgomery died in Champaign, IL, on September 6, 1985.
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