Born June 21, 1973, New Orleans, Louisiana

Played with: Tuxedo Jazz Band, Eddie Bo, Henry Butler, Dr. Michael White, Harry Connick, Jr

At 34, Mark Braud joins the Preservation Hall Jazz Band as one of its youngest members, but he hardly lacks in experience. Growing up in New Orleans in the musical Brunious family, Mark's 'education as a musician began practically at birth. The sounds of traditional jazz entered his consciousness as a child, when his parents brought him out to hear the music in New Orleans clubs. By the time Mark began studying music at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts as a teenager, he'd already played the trad-jazz hot spot the Palm Court Jazz Cafe' – and he already knew in his heart that playing music would be his love and his vocation. “The sound was in my head,' he says. "Once I started playing the trumpet I knew what I wanted it to sound like. It was just a matter of my putting in many hours of practice and gaining some experience."

Mark started his career with the Olympia Kids, a young players' offshoot of the Olympia Brass Band, and soon went on to jobs recording, touring and gigging with New Orleans legends of both traditional jazz and R&B, including Eddie Bo, Henry Butler, Harry Connick, Jr. and Dr. Michael White. Although he keeps returning to the traditional jazz arena, his favorite players in that field remain the individualists – artists like Frog Joseph and Percy Humphrey, who put their own stamp on a time-honored style by bringing their own diverse musical experiences to the table.

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