840 North Rampart and Dumaine: Where Cosimo Matassa Made Rock and Roll History
New Orleans Jazz Museum®
840 North Rampart and Dumaine: Where Cosimo Matassa Made Rock and Roll History
Cosimo Matassa's original J&M Recording Studio stood at 840 North Rampart Street — on the corner of Dumaine, directly across from Armstrong Park. In a room just fifteen by sixteen feet, Matassa recorded virtually every New Orleans rhythm-and-blues record that made the national charts between the late 1940s and early 1970s.
Recordings made there include "Good Rocking Tonight" by Roy Brown in 1947, "The Fat Man" by Fats Domino in 1949, and "Tutti Frutti" by Little Richard in 1955. Ray Charles, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, and Professor Longhair all recorded there. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named the building one of eleven rock and roll landmarks nationwide.
The corner was already legendary before most of those records were pressed. In his 1949 Carnival anthem "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," Professor Longhair named Rampart and Dumaine as the exact intersection where he planned to stand to watch the Zulu Queen pass.
