New Orleans jazz band leader and drummer Robert "Bob" French, Sr. was the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band drummer and band leader and an oftentimes outspoken and controversial deejay at WWOZ-FM.



Robert French grew up immersed in the traditional sounds of New Orleans. His father, banjo player Albert "Papa" French, took over the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band in the 1950s after the death of Oscar "Papa" Celestin, who founded the group in 1910.



As a child Bob French took drumming lessons from Louis Barbarin. As a teenager, Bob rejected his father's music in favor of rhythm and blues.



He organized an R&B band in high school in 1954 that included piano wizard James Booker, Art Neville and Charles Neville (of The Neville Brothers), plus Kidd Jordan, and Alvin Batiste.



In the 1960s Bob recorded with Earl King and Fats Domino. He has also played and recorded with Dave Bartholomew, who is a relative on his mother's side). Bob French & Friends played often on Frenchmen Street at the D.B.A. nightclub.



Bob French last performed with the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band in the summer of 2011. His nephew, Gerald French, took over the drum chair and leadership of the band.



Afflicted with dementia and suffering from diabetes-related complications, Bob French then moved into an assisted-living facility.



Bob French died on Monday, November 12, 2012 after a long illness. He was 74.