Dale Storr - The Sound of New Orleans

Dale Storr - The Sound of New Orleans

"A very, very fine piano player indeed" ~ Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2

"Dale is the best New Orleans player I've ever heard" ~ Richard Hawley

Described by Jazz Journal magazine as the "piano man's piano man…" and "a national treasure" , Dale Storr's musical journey has now brought him recognition as one of the UK's leading exponents of New Orleans piano.

Inspired by his parents record collection of early Rhythm n' Blues and Rock n' Roll, the evocative music of New Orleans quickly became a passion for the young pianist. He immersed himself into the styles of heroes like Dr.John, James Booker, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Fats Domino and Huey 'Piano' Smith to name but a few. His piano studies took him to Sheffield where he established himself as a highly sought after pianist backing many top blues stars from the U.K. and America.

However the music of his beloved New Orleans was always going to take precedence and from 2008 Dale went solo with his now acclaimed 'Sounds of New Orleans' show.

"Storr's music is authentic barrelhouse pianism and singing and should be on the play list of all broad minded jazz lovers" ~ Jazz Journal magazine

Since then he has wowed audiences across the U.K. and Europe with his intoxicating piano mastery, as well as sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of the crescent city. Dale draws in the audience with the rich history behind the music telling the often risque stories of his much loved piano heroes.

He has reached the finals of the British Blues Awards seven years in succession and also won the 2015 best musical performance award at the Buxton Fringe Festival.

Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster ride of the music and tales of the great New Orleans piano players.

"Incredible….never seen anybody play like that….only James Booker" ~ British blues legend, Victor Brox

"If there is a better New Orleans-style pianist in the UK than the outrageously talented Dale Storr, please point me in his or her direction because he or she must be very, very special" ~ Blues In Britain magazine

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RECENT REVIEW

After two two-hour sets at The Old Clubhouse, Dale Storr must surely have been running on nothing but adrenaline, grease, and pure New Orleans spirit. Exhausted? Almost certainly. But if ever a man had reason to stagger away from the piano grinning like he'd just second-lined down Bourbon Street, it was Storr — having delivered a masterclass in joy, groove and glorious excess.

The Old Clubhouse has become one of the Fringe's most vital jazz and blues sanctuaries, and its upstairs room feels tailor-made for this kind of musical communion. Close, warm, informal — the sort of space where the piano sweats and the audience leans in. Storr is no stranger here, and with every return visit his reputation grows. This was not merely a gig; it was a gathering of the converted, and a recruitment drive rolled into one.

Storr's musical DNA was forged early, courtesy of his parents' record collection. From the unfiltered rock and roll thunder of Little Richard and Fats Domino, he followed the trail upstream, straight to the source — Professor Longhair, Jelly Roll Morton, and the beating heart of New Orleans piano tradition. That lineage doesn't sit politely in the background; it roars through everything he plays.

What sets Storr apart is his ability to be both historian and hurricane. He doesn't lecture — he seduces. As he name-checks Huey Smith, Allen Toussaint and Dr John, his fingers do the real talking, rolling, stabbing and swaggering across the keys. Towering above them all is his guiding star, James Booker — the beautiful, broken genius who burned out far too soon. Dr John's immortal epitaph for Booker — "the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans ever produced" — hangs in the air like incense.

And yet, for all the ghosts and grit in this music, Storr's performance is overwhelmingly life-affirming. There is no wallowing here, no reverence that stiffens the groove. Instead, there is joy, raw and unfiltered. His piano playing crackles with electricity; his singing is earthy, warm and knowing. This is music that struts, shimmies and laughs in the face of despair.

The highlights came thick and fast: the sly funk of Dr John's Dorothy, the roof-lifting abandon of Such a Night, the unstoppable bounce of Toussaint's Mother-in-Law, and the sheer kinetic brilliance of Booker's Classified. Each tune landed like a body blow, then lifted the room clean off its feet.

This wasn't nostalgia. This was revival. This was New Orleans — not as museum piece, but as living, breathing, dancing force. The Fringe needs more of this: music that educates without preaching, grooves without compromise, and leaves you buzzing long after the last chord has slammed home.

Thank you, Dale, for bringing the heat, the history, and the holy spirit of New Orleans to the Fringe — and reminding us just how alive this music can be.