Parkour

Passement
Nickname(s)	PK
Characteristics
Contact	Non-competitive
Categorization	Outdoor
Equipment	Shoes, gloves (both optional)
Olympic	No

Parkour (French pronunciation: [paʁˈkuʁ]) (abbreviated PK) is a physical discipline and non-competitive sport which focuses on efficient movement around obstacles. Developed in France by David Belle, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing, and jumping. Parkour practitioners are known as "traceurs".

Parkour's modern history began in the 1920s, though similar movements can be found in the Eastern martial arts ninjutsu and qing gong. Georges Hébert began teaching the fundamental movements related to parkour during this time period, and eventually the training became the standard for the French military. David and Raymond Belle would expand on Hébert's work, and David would eventually found the Yamakasi group, the first group dedicated to parkour.

Etymology[link]

"Le parcours" was the original word passed down to David Belle from his father Raymond Belle. This was the term Raymond used when speaking to David about the training he had done. The term derives from "parcours du combattant", the classic obstacle course method of military training proposed by Georges Hébert,^[1][2][3] but the term "le parcours" was used by Raymond to encompass all of his training including climbing, jumping, running, balancing, and the other methods he undertook in his personal athletic advancement. One day when David Belle was on a film set he showed his 'Speed Air Man' video to Hubert Koundé, who suggested to change the "c" of "parcours" to a "k" because it was more dynamic and stronger, and to remove the "s" for the same reason. Belle liked the idea and officially changed the name of his discipline to "parkour".

A practitioner of parkour is called a "traceur" [tʁasœʁ], with the feminine form being "traceuse" [tʁasøz]. The original term was simply "tracer" without the 'u' but the word has evolved and now is accepted as having a 'u.' They are nouns derived from the French verb "tracer", which normally means "trace",^[4] or "trail", as in "he escaped without a trace".^[5] When asked recently, David Belle said he prefers not using the 'u' because it is more efficient. This term was the name of a parkour group headed by David Belle which all included Stephane Vigroux.

History[link]

This section requires expansion.

Though Sébastien Foucan states in Jump London that "le parkour has always existed, free running has always been there, the thing is that no one gave it a name, we didn't put it in the box," there are certain precedents in modern history. Hollywood stars and stuntmen such as Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., John Ciampa and Buster Keaton captured parkour-like moves on film as early as the 1920–40s (much later followed by Jackie Chan). In Eastern martial arts such as ninjutsu and qing gong, movements similar to those of parkour have been taught for centuries and with a similar aim.

In Western Europe, a forerunner of parkour was French naval officer Georges Hébert, who before World War I promoted athletic skill based on the models of indigenous tribes he had met in Africa.^[6] He noted, "their bodies were splendid, flexible, nimble, skillful, enduring, and resistant but yet they had no other tutor in gymnastics but their lives in nature." ^[6] His rescue efforts during the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on Saint-Pierre, Martinique, reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism.^[6] Hébert became a physical education tutor at the college of Reims in France. Hébert set up a "méthode naturelle" session consisting of ten fundamental groups: walking, running, jumping, quadrupedal movement, climbing, balancing, throwing, lifting, self-defense, swimming, which are part of three main forces:^[7] During World War I and World War II, Hébert's teaching continued to expand, becoming the standard system of French military education and training. Thus, Hébert was one of the proponents of "parcours", an obstacle course,^[8] which is standard in the military training and led to the development of civilian fitness trails and confidence courses.^[6]

Further impetus came from the David and Raymond Belle, both of whom were active as fitness promoters—Raymond for the French fire service and David for more individual purposes; he went on to found the group the Yamakasi.^[9][10]

Military training[link]

After the attention that parkour received following the 2006 film Casino Royale, military forces around the world began looking for ways to incorporate parkour into training. The British Royal Marines hired parkour athletes to train their members.^[11] Colorado Parkour began a project to introduce parkour into the U.S. military^[12] and parkour is slowly being introduced into the United States Marine Corps.^[13]

Philosophy and theories[link]

According to Williams Belle, the philosophies and theories behind parkour are an integral aspect of the art, one that many non-practitioners have never been exposed to. Belle trains people because he wants "it to be alive" and for "people to use it".^[14] Châu Belle explains it is a "type of freedom" or "kind of expression"; that parkour is "only a state of mind" rather than a set of actions, and that it is about overcoming and adapting to mental and emotional obstacles as well as physical barriers.^[14]

A newer convention of parkour philosophy has been the idea of "human reclamation".^[15] Andy (Animus of Parkour North America) clarifies it as "a means of reclaiming what it means to be a human being. It teaches us to move using the natural methods that we should have learned from infancy. It teaches us to touch the world and interact with it, instead of being sheltered by it."^[15]"It is as much as a part of truly learning the physical art as well as being able to master the movements, it gives you the ability to overcome your fears and pains and reapply this to life as you must be able to control your mind in order to master the art of parkour."^[16]

A point has been made about the similarities between the martial arts philosophy of Bruce Lee and parkour.^[17] In an interview with The New Yorker, David Belle acknowledges the influence of Lee's thinking: "There's a quote by Bruce Lee that's my motto: 'There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. A man must constantly exceed his level.' If you're not better than you were the day before, then what are you doing—what's the point?".^[8]

Traceur Dylan Baker says "parkour also influences one's thought processes by enhancing self-confidence and critical thinking skills that allow one to overcome everyday physical and mental obstacles".^[14][18][19] A study by Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance et de l'Adolescence (Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence) in France reflects that traceurs seek more excitement and leadership situations than do gymnastic practitioners.^[20]

A campaign was started on 1 May 2007 by Parkour.NET portal^[21] to preserve parkour's philosophy against sport competition and rivalry.^[22] In the words of Erwan LeCorre: "Competition pushes people to fight against others for the satisfaction of a crowd and/or the benefits of a few business people by changing its mindset. Parkour is unique and cannot be a competitive sport unless it ignores its altruistic core of self development. If parkour becomes a sport, it will be hard to seriously teach and spread parkour as a non-competitive activity. And a new sport will be spread that may be called parkour, but that won't hold its philosophical essence anymore."^[21] According to LeCorre, those who truly practice parkour have the same mind aspect of each other, therefore it brings people to work together rather than compete, it allows them to be united internationally and forget the social and economical problems which separated them globally, ultimately leading one giant community working and growing together.

Risk of harm[link]

Parkour is not widely practiced in dedicated public facilities such as skate parks. Although efforts are being made to create places for it, most traceurs do not like the idea as it is contradictory to the philosophy of freedom.^[23] Traceurs practice parkour in urban areas such as gyms, parks, playgrounds, offices, and abandoned structures. Concerns have been raised regarding trespassing, damage of property,^[24] and the practice in inappropriate places.^[25] However, most traceurs will take care of their training spots and will remove themselves quickly and quietly from a public place if asked.^[26][27] The Magpie Youth Centre free running club in Glen Parva, Leicester, England has raised 40,000 Euros to build a free running park/training utility on the park opposite the youth center.

Concerns have been raised by law enforcement and fire and rescue teams of the risk in jumping off high buildings.^[28] They argue that practitioners are needlessly risking damage to both themselves and rooftops by practicing at height, with police forces calling for practitioners to stay off the rooftops.^[29][30][31] Some figures within the parkour community agree that this sort of behaviour is not to be encouraged.^{[30][32][33][34]}

American traceur Mark Toorock says that injuries are rare "because participants rely not on what they can't control – wheels or the icy surfaces of snowboarding and skiing – but their own hands and feet," but Lanier Johnson, executive director of the American Sports Medicine Institute, notes that many of the injuries are not reported.^[35] When injuries do occur, many members in the parkour community encourage pursuing the most scientifically sound method to recovery and future prevention.^[36]

Equipment[link]

A traceuse vaults an obstacle.

There is no equipment required, although practitioners normally train wearing light casual clothing:^[37][38]

• Light upper body garment such as T-shirt, sleeveless shirt or crop top if anything is worn on the upper body
• Light lower body garment such as sweatpants, some wear tracksuit bottoms or shorts

Comfortable running shoes, that are generally light, with good grip, and flexibility are encouraged. Various sport shoes manufacturers such as Nike, with their "Free run" shoes, have developed shoes specifically for parkour and free running; and many other companies around the world have started offering parkour-specific products. Some use thin athletic gloves to protect the hands;^[39] those who do not, prefer to "feel their environment" directly, develop thick callouses.^[40][41] Since parkour is closely related to méthode naturelle, practitioners sometimes train barefooted to be able to move efficiently without depending on their gear. Some traceurs also use the lightweight feiyue martial arts shoes. David Belle notes: "bare feet are the best shoes!"^[42]

Free running[link]

Dash vault and wallspin

Free running is a variation of parkour. The term was coined during the filming of Jump London, where it is claimed that it incorporates parkour as a baseline but focuses more on self expression, innovation and creativity, as opposed to the speed and efficiency stressed in parkour.

The founder and creator of free running, Sébastien Foucan, defines it as a discipline to self-development, to "follow your own way", which he developed because he felt that parkour lacked creativity and self-expression as a definition for each free runner to follow your own way.^{[citation needed]}

Popular culture[link]

A number of films incorporate parkour; a few documentaries have also been written and filmed about parkour. After including parkour moves in a chase sequence in the film Taxi 2, French director/producer Luc Besson produced a feature film, Yamakasi, featuring members of the original Yamakasi group. In 2004, Besson wrote Banlieue 13, another feature film involving parkour, starring David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli; English-dubbed and -subtitled versions were released in 2006 as District B-13 in North America and the UK.^[43][44] The film Casino Royale features Sébastien Foucan in a chase taking place early in the movie that implements free running. Casino Royale's release sparked a renewed media interest in parkour and related disciplines and a large amount of recent mainstream parkour coverage dates to around Casino Royale's release.^[8] Along with The Bourne Ultimatum, Casino Royale is credited with starting a new wave of parkour-inspired stunts in Western film and television.^[45] Parkour is featured prominently in the film Breaking and Entering, in which two of the characters employ parkour techniques to burgle an office in Kings Cross, London.^[43][44] Parkour is featured in the film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. David Belle was hired as parkour choreographer for the film and appears in the DVD and Blu-ray featurettes. Most of Akshay Kumar's ads for 'Thums Up' brand feature him doing Parkour.Aamir Khan learned parkour techniques for his role in the 2011 movie Dhoom 3.^[46]

Jump London is a documentary which explains some of the background to parkour and culminated with Sébastien Foucan, Johann Vigroux, and Jérôme Ben Aoues demonstrating their parkour skills. Jump London was followed by Jump Britain, which featured Foucan and Ben Aoeus. My Playground, a documentary film by Kaspar Astrup Schröder, explores the way parkour and free running are changing the perception of urban space and how the spaces and buildings they are moving on are changing them.^[47] The Australian TV program 60 Minutes broadcast a segment about parkour on September 16, 2007, which featured Foucan and Stephane Vigroux.^[48]

The webcomic Schlock Mercenary makes frequent reference to "Parkata Urbatsu"^[49][50] which is said to have grown "out of the ancient disciplines of parkour, urbobatics, and youtubing. It is a martial art that focuses on both pursuit and escape in developed environments, with an eye towards the aesthetic."^[51]

A number of video games include parkour as major gameplay elements. In the Assassin's Creed series of games, Altaïr and Ezio make heavy use of parkour, though it is named free running in the game.^[52][53][54] Crackdown and Crackdown 2 include an emphasis on gripping and vaulting from ledges and protruding objects, which are designed to make players feel fully in control of their own movement, and by extension fully in control of their environment.^[55] Tony Hawk's American Wasteland allows the character to use several parkour techniques while not on the skateboard. In this game as well, parkour is referred to as free running.^[56] Mirror's Edge's core gameplay consists of parkour techniques, and made movement itself the goal.^[57] Tron Evolution's basic movements and combat were based on parkour and capoeira.^[58] Prince of Persia incorporated elements of parkour, which were important when creating the film.^[59] In the popular game duo of [Infamous] And [Infamous 2], the main protagonist Cole Mcgrath is known to use parkour in order to climb through the urban region of Empire City and New Marias.

See also[link]

• Buildering
• Dérive

References[link]

External links[link]

• Media related to Parkour at Wikimedia Commons
• Parkour at Wikibooks

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2010)

David Belle
Born	(1973-04-29) 29 April 1973 (age 39) Fécamp, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Actor Choreographer Traceur
Known for	Parkour, District B13
Height	1.79m
Parents	Raymond Belle (father) Monique Belle (mother)
Relatives	Jeff Belle (brother) Jacob Donhue (half-brother)
Website
DavidBelle.com

David Belle (born 29 April 1973) is well known as the founder of Parkour. Belle founded Parkour based on his training and the teachings from his father Raymond Belle. The discipline has since spread around the world and now has adherents in virtually every country. Belle is also an actor and choreographer, and he is well known for his work incorporating Parkour into films such as in District 13, Babylon A.D., and Prince of Persia.

Life[link]

David Belle was born and raised in Fécamp, France. He descends from a modest family in the suburbs of Paris. His grandfather Gilbert Kitten, father Raymond Belle, and brother Jeff Belle have been highly skilled rescuers in the French military fire service.^[1][2]

In 1984, at the age of 11 Belle moved to Lisses, France. He made close friends with a group of teenagers with a similar physical passions who began training with him. Some of the friends that trained with David would later become known as the Yamakasi. Later in life David spent time in the military and fire brigade with aspirations of following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps. He left soon after for personal reasons in order to dedicate himself to Parkour.

He later joined the Troupes de marine in Vannes, where he received a promotion, a gymnastic agility certificate of honour, and champion records for Regimental rope-climbing (which his father had once held) and the Essonne obstacle course. He has however said that his taste and love for adventure and freedom did not go well with the regimented life of the military.^[3]

Upon completing his national service, he worked in various professions including a warehouse worker, security guard and furniture salesman. He also spent 3 months in India studying Kung Fu. After his return he continued his training in Parkour and filmed footage of his capabilities which he later turned into the famous Speed Air Man video. In 1997 the Stage 2 team (Francis Marroto, Pierre Sled and Pierre Salviac, Georges Kanellitsas) were shown a video of Belle and decided to film a news feature about Parkour.

In filming this news feature the term Yamakasi was used for the first time in connection with the team. David did not approve of the name and felt like it did not give credit to his father, so he split from the group after the feature. Later David would go on to train other students who gave themselves the name 'Tracer.' The spelling was later adapted to 'Traceur', and has since been used to define a practitioner of Parkour.

Belle was first introduced to his acting career in a meeting with Hubert Koundé (La Haine), in order to discuss the success of Parkour on the big screen. He then began developing his acting ability with the play Pygmalion, and has since been successful in obtaining a number of roles mostly in French films and promotions. Belle has been featured in promotional videos for Tina Turner, and Iam. He has starred in "Les gens du voyages" and "Un monde meilleur", followed by "L'Engrenages" and "Femme Fatale", as well as "Les rivières pourpres 2", starring Jean Reno. After filming several more advertisements and promotions for the BBC, Nissan, Canon, and Nike, Belle was contacted by Luc Besson (director of Nikita, and The Fifth Element) regarding co-starring as lead actor with Cyril Raffaelli in the action movie District 13, followed by the sequel District 13: Ultimatum.

Filmography[link]

Acting

• "Louis Page" as Laurent (1 episode, 2000)
• Engrenage, L' as Le créancier (2001)
• Femme Fatale as French cop (2002)
• Divine Intervention (Also known as Yadon ilaheyya) as Marksman1 (2002)
• District 13 (French: Banlieue 13) as Leïto (2004)
• Un monde meilleur as main soldier (2006)
• Babylon A.D. as the kid with tattoos (2008)
• District B-13: Ultimatum (French: Banlieue 13 Ultimatum) as Leïto (2009)
• Metal Hurlant Chronicles as Red Light (2012) (1 episode)
• Brick Mansions as Lino (a remake of B13 District 13) (2013)

Stunts

• BBC One's advertising campaign (2002)
• Canon commercial
• Nike commercial
• Nissan commercial
• Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (2003)
• Transporter 2 (2005)
• Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time (2010)
• Covert Affairs (2011)
• Colombiana (2011)

Media figure and business interests[link]

In spite of Belle's fame he has stayed largely out of the media light over the years. His last well known appearance was made in when he appeared as a guest at the New Yorker Festival in 2007. Belle also interviewed for the article "No Obstacles" written by Alec Wilkinson which was published in April 2007.^[4]

Belle currently endorses the clothing company Take Flight.^[5]

David Belle's Parkour Groups[link]

• [Les Traceurs]
  • Belle was the leader of a group called "Les Traceurs" which also included well known practitioners Sebastien Foucan and Stephane Vigroux. The name has since been used to refer to those that practice Parkour.
• PAWA (former member)
  • David helped form the Parkour World Association, but he stopped the group for lack of cohesion.
• Yamakasi
  • Contrary to popular belief, David was never a member of the Yamakasi group. He was a part of the group that later called themselves the Yamakasi, but the group chose the name Yamakasi during the filming of the Stade 2 news feature, credited as the first news feature about Parkour. Belle was against the name and wanted to call the practice Parkour. He then split from the group after the feature because he felt that naming took away from the recognition of the discipline and its history.

See also[link]

• Free running
• Sébastien Foucan

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: David Belle

• David Belle at the Internet Movie Database

Damien Gareth Walters (born 6 April 1982) is a British former gymnast from Derbyshire who specialises in tumbling.

Career[link]

Walters participated in four Trampoline World Championships. In 2003 he was one of four members of the British team winning the World Title in the team competition.^[1][2] In the years 2001 and 2007 he ranked 4th with the team. He also finished 5th in singles competition in 2003 and 2005. In addition he won the European Title with the British team in 2006, just after he was placed 2nd in team and 8th in the singles competition two years earlier.^[3]

Since 2007 Walters has not participated in further tournaments and has focused on his other projects, mainly his career as a stuntman. He also appeared, however, in a number of television commercials and has performed in acrobatic shows.^[4]

Walters has had the role of stunt double or stunt performer in the films: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Ninja Assassin, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Eagle, I Am Number Four, Blitz, Colombiana, and Captain America: The First Avenger. In Kick-Ass, he was credited as both a stunt double and assistant fight coordinator. He will also appear in the films Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and 47 Ronin.^[5]

In 2010 he won the Taurus World Stunt Awards for "Best Fight" in the film Ninja Assassin.^[6]

Walters also has a passion for Parkour and Freerunning where he incorporates his gymnastic skills as well as his stuntman abilities. On YouTube he is one of the most watched Freerunners, with his videos having a total of over 60 million views.^[7]

Currently Walters is running his own gym Derby City Gymnastics Club, Derby and shooting films.^[5]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

This biographical article relating to a United Kingdom sportsperson is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article related to gymnastics is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Professor Longhair (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980; born Henry Roeland Byrd, also known as Roy "Bald Head" Byrd and as Fess) was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. Professor Longhair is noteworthy for having been active in two distinct periods, both in the heyday of early rhythm and blues, and in the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz after the founding of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

The journalist Tony Russell, in his book The Blues – From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray, stated "The vivacious rhumba-rhythmed piano blues and choked singing typical of Fess were too weird to sell millions of records; he had to be content with siring musical offspring who were simple enough to manage that, like Fats Domino or Huey "Piano" Smith. But he is also acknowledged as a father figure by subtler players like Allen Toussaint and Dr. John."^[1][2]

Biography[link]

Professor Longhair's House 2010

Professor Longhair was born on December 19, 1918 in Bogalusa, Louisiana.^[1] He made a living as a street hustler until he started to play piano seriously in his thirties. He taught himself how to play on a piano with missing keys so his style became distinct.^[1]

He began his career in New Orleans in 1948, earning a gig at the Caldonia Club, where the owner, Mike Tessitore, bestowed Longhair with his stage name (due to Byrd's shaggy coiffure).^[3] Longhair first recorded in 1949, creating four songs (including the first version of his signature song, "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," complete with whistled intro) for the Dallas, Texas based Star Talent label. His band was called the Shuffling Hungarians, for reasons lost to time. Union problems curtailed their release, but Longhair's next effort for Mercury Records the same year was a winner.^[3] Throughout the 1950s, he recorded for Atlantic Records, Federal Records and other, local, labels. Professor Longhair had only one national commercial hit, "Bald Head" in 1950, credited to Roy Byrd & His Blues Jumpers.^[3] He also recorded his pet numbers "Tipitina", "Big Chief" and "Go to the Mardi Gras".^[1] However, he lacked the early crossover appeal of Fats Domino for white audiences.^[1]

After recuperating from a minor stroke, Professor Longhair came back in 1957 with "No Buts - No Maybes."^[3] He revived his "Go to the Mardi Gras" in 1959; this is the version that surfaces every year at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.^[3]

In the 1960s Professor Longhair's career faltered.^[1] He became a janitor to support himself, and fell into a gambling habit.^[4]

He appeared at the 1971 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival to restore his standing, and played at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival.^[1] His recorded live set, Live on the Queen Mary (1978) came from a party given by Paul and Linda McCartney.^[1] His single visit to the UK, in 1978, was commemorated by The London Concert.

By the 1980s his albums, such as Crawfish Fiesta on Alligator and New Orleans Piano for Atlantic, had become readily available across America.^[4] He appeared on the PBS series Soundstage (with Dr. John, Earl King, and The Meters) and co-starred in the film documentary Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together.^[3] The latter became a memorial tribute when Longhair died in his sleep from a heart attack in the middle of filming.^[3][4] Footage from his funeral was included.^[3]

In 1981 he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. He was awarded a posthumous Grammy for his early recordings released as House Party New Orleans Style, and in 1992 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[5]

The B side of the 1985 Paul McCartney single 'Spies Like Us', entitled 'My Carnival', credited to Paul McCartney & Wings, was recorded in New Orleans and dedicated to Professor Longhair.

Fess's song "Tipitina" is covered by Hugh Laurie on the 2011 CD album "Let Them Talk". Laurie is a long-time fan, having used Fess's "Go to the Mardi Gras" as the theme for the pilot episode of A Bit of Fry & Laurie.

Incorporating Afro-Cuban elements into the New Orleans sound[link]

In the 1940s Professor Longhair was playing with Caribbean musicians, listening a lot to Perez Prado's mambo records, and absorbing and experimenting with it all.^[6] He was especially enamored with Cuban music. Longhair's style was known locally as rumba-boogie.^[7] Alexander Stewart states that Longhair was a key figure bridging the worlds of boogiewoogie and the new style of rhythm and blues."^[8] In his composition "Misery," Professor Longhair plays a habanera-like figure in his left hand. The deft use of triplets in the right hand is a characteristic of Longhair's style.

"Misery" by Professor Longhair (1957).

Tresillo, the habanera, and related African-based single-celled figures have long been heard in the left hand part of piano compositions by New Orleans musicians, for example—Louis Moreau Gottschalk ("Souvenirs From Havana" 1859), and Jelly Roll Morton ("The Crave" 1910). One of Longhair's great contributions was the adaptation of Afro-Cuban two-celled, clave-based patterns in New Orleans blues. Michael Campbell states: "Rhythm and blues influenced by Afro-Cuban music first surfaced in New Orleans. Professor Longhair’s influence was . . . far reaching. In several of his early recordings, Professor Longhair blended Afro-Cuban rhythms with rhythm and blues. The most explicit is 'Longhair’s Blues Rhumba,' where he overlays a straightforward blues with a clave rhythm."^[9] The guajeo-like piano part for the rumba-boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949), employs the 2-3 clave onbeat/offbeat motif.^[10] The 2-3 clave time-line is written above the piano excerpt for reference.

Piano excerpt from the rumba boogie "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" (1949) by Professor Longhair. 2-3 clave is written above for rhythmic reference.

According to Dr. John (Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr.), the Professor "put funk into music . . . Longhair's thing had a direct bearing I'd say on a large portion of the funk music that evolved in New Orleans."^[11] This is the syncopated, but straight subdivision feel of Cuban music (as opposed to swung subdivisions). Alexander Stewart states that the popular feel was passed along from "New Orleans—through James Brown's music, to the popular music of the 1970s," adding: "The singular style of rhythm & blues that emerged from New Orleans in the years after World War II played an important role in the development of funk. In a related development, the underlying rhythms of American popular music underwent a basic, yet generally unacknowledged transition from triplet or shuffle feel to even or straight eighth notes.^[12] Concerning funk motifs, Stewart states: "This model, it should be noted, is different from a time line (such as clave and tresillo) in that it is not an exact pattern, but more of a loose organizing principle."^[13]

Discography[link]

• New Orleans Piano (1973)
• Rock 'N' Roll Gumbo (1974)
• Live on the Queen Mary (1978)
• Crawfish Fiesta (1980)
• The Last Mardi Gras (1982)
• Piano Players Rarely Ever Play Together (1982) – award-winning 76-minute documentary film featuring Professor Longhair, Tuts Washington, and Allen Toussaint
• House Party New Orleans Style (1987)
• Fess: The Professor Longhair Anthology (1993)
• Fess' Gumbo (1996)
• Ball the Wall – a live album of solo piano playing
• The London Concert – a live album with Alfred "Uganda" Roberts (2005 re-release)
• Collector's Choice – a greatest hits album

Quotation[link]

Black or white, local or out-of-town, they all had Longhair's music in common. Just that mambo-rhumba boogie thing.

—Allen Toussaint^[14]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• Allmusic
• Professor Longhair At Myspace
• Henry Roeland Byrd at Find-A-Grave