Born August 28, 1958, New Orleans, Louisiana

Played with: Professor Longhair, Irma Thomas, Antoine Domino, Narvin Kimball

From the moment he received his first drum set at age eight, Joe Lastie's destiny was clear -- although given his family history, the odds were always good that he would follow the footsteps of his mother, both grandfathers, and three uncles into a life devoted to music. Church played a critical role in Joe's personal and creative growth; he played his first job with a rhythm section backing the Desire Community Choir. He also studied jazz with Willie Metcalf at the Dryer Street YMCA, where his classmates included the young Wynton and Branford Marsalis. In 1969 he moved with his family to Queens, New York, where he took lessons from Clyde Harris through the public schools. His drumming improved enough to earn him a gig with the pit band for the New Orleans musical One Mo' Time. Joe elected to return to New Orleans after graduating from high school; there, through a casual encounter on Bourbon Street, he picked up a steady gig with bassist Richard Payne's band. On a tip from trumpeter Gregg Stafford, Lastie was invited to substitute on drums at Preservation Hall in 1989; he has been a regular drummer with the band since then.

"I'm saying this from my heart: Playing at Preservation Hall is like playing in church. When we do 'When the Saints Go Marching In' or 'Bye and Bye' I play them the same way I used to do them in church. It's no different. In fact, a lady came up to me in Europe and said, 'You play like you're sharing a gift from God. It's like God put you here just to play drums and God's watching from above.' That's what makes New Orleans jazz feel so good: It comes from the church."

"When my family moved to New York it was funny because I used to look at the Preservation Hall band on TV. I'd see Mr. Percy and Mr. Willie [Humphrey] dancing around the stage. It was beautiful, man. I never dreamed I'd ever play with this band -- and now I do. I still play gospel, I play rhythm & blues, I play the Mardi Gras/Longhair style -- and yes, I want to keep playing that music too. But there's no place I'd rather play than Preservation Hall, with this band."

Like most members of the band, Lastie lost nearly everything he owned to Katrina, including two drum sets and a hand-crafted cymbal that the Paiste cymbal company had specially made for him. Through a kind donation, the Slingerland Drum Company, replaced Joe's drums with a professional drum kit. His current home base is Atlanta.

"We feel the music more than we ever have because we know that we can't come home to New Orleans – not yet. The neighborhoods where all the music and the spirit came from, they're torn up. Things are still rough down there. And with us not playing at the Hall, how can we preserve this music for the younger musicians? That's what scares me the most. So we're doing all we can do now, taking the music of New Orleans to the world. We've always done that, but our hearts are deeper into it than ever. We've got a job to do."

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