Born January 12, 1943, Portland, Oregon

Played with: Olympia Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Lee Dorsey

Born into a musical family in Portland, Oregon, Elliott "Stackman" Callier's extended visits to the Crescent City began at the age of five, when his young ears began soaking up the vibrant sounds of traditional jazz, brass and rthythm and blues that reverberated through the streets. Callier graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in New Orleans, where he played in the concert band, and soon after that, formed his own All Fools' Band or A.F.B.

Although his first instruments were violin and piano, it was the saxophone that became Callier's primary axe. The extraordinarily versatile artist loved the experimental sounds being laid down by horn men like Albert Ammons and Dexter Gordon; he also played the familiar street parade riffs of New Orleans with traditional brass bands like the Olympia and Treme, and later on, was a familiar face to the crowds who gathered in Jackson Square to hear him play alongside the late Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen. Callier also recorded alongside many of the greats from the golden age of New Orleans R&B, blowing hot, hard-edged solos with Chris Kenner and Lee Dorsey on well-loved tracks like Kenner's "Sick and Tired" and Dorsey's "Get Out Of My Life Woman," "Working In The Coal Mine" and "Ya Ya.' "Music is music in my sight," he says.

In the late '80s, Callier joined Fats Domino's band, filling the shoes of legendary horn blasters Lee Allen and Walter Kimble. The quintessential journeyman musician, Callier is equally at home playing a second line in the streets of the Treme, in the studio with Natalie Cole or Patti LaBelle, joining the venerable Dirty Dozen Brass Band on tour, or, as now, giving life to New Orleans' traditional-jazz heritage with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

"To be a journeyman, one must travel. And you listen and hear what people are playing, and find out what needs to be done. You don't have to be a nuclear physicist to understand."

"In my family, we all always played musical instruments. My mom was a pianist and vocalist, and also a mathematician. My dad was one of my idols. I can't remember the first time I knew I wanted to play music. I just always did."

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