Dedroit Residence
John “Johnny” DeDroit (1892-1988) cornetist, and bandleader, lived here at 737 Henry Clay Avenue from 1929 until 1933. He was a cornet soloist at age 12 at the Winter Garden Theater on Baronne St., and subsequently played every New Orleans theater orchestra. During the 1920’s he led his own jazz band at Kolb’s Restaurant and the Grunewald Hotel Cave, and recorded for the Okeh Record Company label at sessions in New Orleans and New York. He was president of Musician’s Union Local No. 174 at three different times, and had a successful dance orchestra for thirty years.