Herb Hardesty RIP

Sad to hear of the death of saxophone and trumpet player Herb Hardesty, aged 91, who was such a vital part of the Fats Domino and Dave Batholomew bands over many years. As well as his many shows with Fats, which dated back to 1949, he also played at the Ponderosa Stomp on more than one occasion and I well remember him enthusiastically going round the audience selling CDs.
In 2008 he backed Dr John, along with Tony Owens, Jean Knight and Tami Lynn, playing with the Wardell Querzerque band and he is pictured here with Michael Hurtt. In the1970s he moved to Las Vegas and played with Duke Ellington and as part of the Tom Waits band, before rejoining the Domino band in 1980. He also played on the 1992 Dr John album Going Back To New Orleans.