Known as the grandfather of jazz drumming, Louis Albert “Old Man” Cottrell introduced the press roll technique, which involves one drumstick playing eighth notes while the other drumstick bounces on the snare drum.

“In the judgment of his peers, Louis Cottrell was the best street drummer ever to play in New Orleans,” the Cottrell Legacy website states. “Louis Armstrong described Cottrell as a fantastic drummer who would come on the streets in each parade with a brand new snare drum, which would break it up.”

Another peer, jazz string bass player Papa John Joseph, said Cottrell was the “best drummer we had yet. That man could roll a drum.” 

Born on Dec. 25, 1878 in New Orleans, Cottrell played with the Olympia Orchestra from 1900 to 1915. He played with John Robichaux’s Orchestra in 1909, and with Manuel Perez in Chicago from 1916 to 1918.

In addition, Cottrell played at several establishments in Storyville, New Orleans’ red-light district. While performing at the Tuxedo Dance Hall in March 1913, he narrowly missed being killed during a gunfight that left the hall owners dead.

Louis A. Cottrell, Sr.
Louis A. Cottrell, Sr. (Credit: NolaGumbo) Credit: NolaGumbo

“Cottrell and others were able to escape out the back door without harm,” Cottrell Legacy states.

When he wasn’t playing, Cottrell inspected and approved new drums for a retail store. He also taught and influenced such great drummers as Warren “Baby” Dodds, Zutty Singleton and Cie Frazier.

Until his 1927 death, Cottrell played with A.J. Piron’s Orchestra. “The nationally renowned Piron Orchestra traveled to New York in 1923 for an engagement at the Cotton Club,” Cottrell Legacy states. “While in New York, the group made recordings for three different companies … between 1923-25.”

According to All Music, Cottrell’s son, Louis Cottrell Jr., was a clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who established a legacy in traditional jazz.

For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.

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Tammy C. Barney is an award-winning columnist who spent most of her career at two major newspapers, The Times-Picayune and The Orlando Sentinel. She served as a bureau chief, assistant city editor, TV...