Al Hirt - New Orleans, LA
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 29° 57.342 W 090° 04.108
15R E 782927 N 3317492
This sculpture is located inside New Orleans' Musical Legends Park.
Waymark Code: WMQ46Z
Location: Louisiana, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2015
Views: 4
New Orleans' Musical Legends Park has several sculptures of prominent local musicians.
This one depicts jazz musician Al Hirt.
The life-sized bronze statue depicts the trumpet-player standing, wearing a suit and playing his horn.
This website (
visit link) indicates that the artist is Stephen Gibson and:
"New Orleans Musical Legends Park on Bourbon Street honors musical greats with statues created by artist Stephen Gibson. Legendary figures Fats Domino, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Chris Owens,, Louis Prima, Irma Thomas,, Ronnie Kole and newly inducted Allen Toussaint are featured. The park is New Orleans way of honoring its most important local musicians and intertainers. The Legends inductees have made invaluable contributions to the music and identity of New Orleans.
About Al
Al was the 1st Statue and inductee into N.O.Legends Park.
He is credited with bringing New Orleans Music to mainstream America. He was a fixture on Bourbon St. He was a phenomenal talent and was responsible for launching careers of many New Orleans Musicians. He was well respected in the Jazz and Music community and beloved in New Orleans.
Al was a famous and highly regarded trumpet player. Hirt was one of the most successful recording artists and popular performers of the 1960s. His Bourbon Street Club was internationally famous and brought New Orleans music to a wide audience. Hirt made his fame coming out of New Orleans leading a Dixieland band but grew into his own sound. He played what he liked and defied stereo- types. Hirt was candid about his style of music, never calling what he played “jazz”. “I am a pop commercial muscian,” he once said and “I've got a successful format. I'm not a jazz trumpet and never was a jazz trumpet”"