Albert 'Gentleman June' Gardner jumped directly from high school into a professional music career that spanned some six decades.



Like so many of this city's musicians, Albert Gardner studied with the influential Professor Valmont Victor and first hit the road with vocalist Lil Green. When he returned to New Orleans he became a regular at the now-infamous Dew Drop Inn playing with Edgar Blanchard & the Gondoliers with whom he also recorded. In his younger days, Gardner was heavily on the rhythm and blues scene both in the studio and on tour.



Albert 'June' Gardner played and recorded with the greats including spending nine years with Roy "Good Rockin' Tonight" Brown.



Gardner also recorded “99 Plus One” b/w “Mustard Greens” soon after his gig in Sam Cooke’s band ended with the singer’s untimely, tragic death in 1964. Gardner was hired by Cooke around 1960, replacing another New Orleans drummer, Leo Morris (a/k/a Idris Muhammad), and played on some sessions but mostly on the road with the singer. He can be heard on Cooke’s At The Copa and Live At The Harlem Square Club, 1963 albums. After this first single for Hot Line, Gardner did many more instrumental sessions as a leader over the next few years; but only one other single was issued, as far as I know, “Hot Seat” (with an unknown flip).



Gentleman June, as he was sometimes called, could play straight or make it funky, as the situation required. It's Gardner laying down the essential rhythm on Lee Dorsey's smash hit "Working in a Coal Mine" and he also performed regularly with Dave Bartho­lomew's band.



Beyond rhythm and blues, Albert 'June' Gardner was most often recognize as a traditional jazz player, leading his own group, June Gardner & the Fellas.



For seven years, he and the "Fellas" played a mix bag of material at South Claiborne Avenue's Maison's Las Vegas Strip. After that, Gardner headed to Bourbon Street to perform at the Famous Door, La Strada and the Maison Bourbon plus he joined trumpeter Wallace Davenport at the Paddock.



June Gardner was also heard on more modern stylings working with artists like saxophonist Alvin "Red" Tyler, vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and jazz/soul vocalist Lou Rawls.



One of New Orleans most-beloved musicians, Albert 'June' Gardner, died died on Friday, November 19, 2010, at the age of 79.



Gardner's son, Albert "Lil' June" Gardner jr., passed away in 1999. He, like his father, had taken up the drums and played with Professor Longhair, The Neville Brothers and Irma Thomas.



In recent years, Albert Gardner made an annual appearance at JazzFest with his band June Gardner and the Fellas.