Lionel Charles Ferbos is a New Orleans jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

er.

Of slight sickly build in his childhood, his family denied his desire to play trumpet early in his youth. When he saw a petit woman trumpet player with Phil Spitalny

Phil Spitalny

Phil Spitalny was a musician, music critic, composer and bandleader heard often on radio during the 1930s and 1940s...

's All Girl Orchestra, he insisted he should be able play trumpet. He learned to play music professionally in addition to a day job metalworking

Metalworking

Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...

. He played in the "Mighty Four" band with Harold Dejan

Harold Dejan

Harold "Duke" Dejan 4 February 1909 - 5 July 2002) was a New Orleans jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader. Dejan is best remembered as leader of the Olympia Brass Band, including during the 1960s and 1970s when it was considered the top band in the city....

.

Ferbos was influenced by Fats Pichon

Fats Pichon

Walter "Fats" Pichon was a jazz pianist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter.Pichon was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and began playing piano in his childhood...

 and Captain John Handy

Captain John Handy

Captain John Handy , was an American jazz alto saxophonist. Handy's style was rooted in New Orleans Jazz but also incorporated elements of R&B....

.

In the jazz revival he joined the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra and played in the "One Mo' Time" show. He became a regular at the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, where he continues to play at the age of 100

Centenarian

A centenarian is a person who is or lives beyond the age of 100 years. Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only...

, the oldest still-active New Orleans jazz musician.