Narvin Kimball, 97, Jazz Banjoist
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Narvin Kimball, the last founding member of the New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who was known for his vocal stylings and banjo playing, died Friday in Charleston, S.C. He was 97.
Kimball was the son of bassist Henry Kimball, and he made his first banjo with a cigar box, stick and string. He began playing professionally in the 1920s on Mississippi riverboats with the Fate Marable Band. He made his first Columbia Records recording in 1928.
Kimball formed his own band, Narvin Kimball’s Gentlemen of Jazz, and played around New Orleans for 40 years. He also worked for 37 years with the U.S. Postal Service. It was on his mail rounds that he broached the idea of his band playing at the hall.
Kimball last played with the band in 1999 in a PBS performance.
