 He played clarinet in high school and later picked up alto and tenor sax.He began working with brass bands on the New Orleans jazz scene around 1940, playing in the Eureka Brass Band, the Onward Brass Band, and the Young Tuxedo Brass Band.He took over the leadership of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band in 1971 until his death in 1984, and during his tenure the group toured the United States repeatedly and appeared in Berlin in 1980.