Sullivan Dabney is a professional drummer and vocalist born, trained, and based in New Orleans. For over 50+ years, he has performed in bandleader and support roles, debuting his first band during high school, The Orientals, and starting his long-term project, Sullivan Dabney Muzik Jazz Band, in 1972.

Mr. Dabney has toured extensively throughout the US and abroad. He’s been a staple at both French Quarter Fest and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for eyars, and headlined multiple international jazz festivals in the UK, Germany, Switzerland, and beyond. He’s appeared in numerous films and commercials, performed for famed Bourbon Street entertainer Chris Owens, LA Representative Lindy Boggs, and for eight years he played with the Krewe of Bacchus parade. With his Muzik Jazz Band, long-term local residencies include Harrah’s Casino and from 1986 – 2019, he performed on the Creole Queen, Cajun Queen, and River Rose New Orleans Paddlewheelers, where he was also the Director of Entertainment from 2016-2019.

Mr. Dabney’s musicality developed from percussion experiments with his mother’s pots and pans to memorizing the lyrics that drifted through the neighborhoods from local jukeboxes, porch steps, and radio. Early performance experience included playing trombone in the LB Landry Junior Marching Band and becoming the school’s flag bearer in its Senior Band. Dabney then was transferred to George Washington Carver Senior High School. There, under the tutelage of influential music educator and bandleader Miss Yvonne Busch, Dabney honed his craft and cultivated the discipline required of a working musician as he started playing the drums again and then became the section leader of the school’s band.

He shrugs off the label of traditional jazz often assigned to him, instead describing his style as a synthesis of jazz dialects, R & B, and various New Orleans phrasings. In his words, he plays to the room, “a little bit of everything to please everyone”, adding that he “seasons” the music to taste. In 1967, Mr. Dabney joined Tommy Ridgley’s R&B outfit, The Untouchables. Ridgley became a mentor, stressing the importance of professionalism and presentation, and learning the business of music. Dabney later toured with Ernie K-Doe for five years, and played with greats like Johnny Adams, King Floyd, Irma Thomas, Eddie Bo, Porky Jones, Jean Knight, Margie Joseph, Sammy Ridgley, among many others.

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Doors at 4:00pm

Show at 4:30pm - 6:00pm

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*This performance is FREE OF CHARGE, as part of Snug Harbor's community happy hour concert series, sponsored by the Jazz Foundation of America* 

No reserved tickets; seating is first-come, first-served upon arrival. Bar opens at 4pm, Kitchen opens at 5pm.

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