The majority of New Orleans landmark recordings came out of first J&M Studios and then the Cosimo Recording Studio, both owned by Cosimo Matassa, a key individual in the evolution of R&B and Rock and Roll during the 1950s and the 1960s. Cosimo set up his first studio in 1945 at 838-40 North Rampart Street, just in the French Quarter opposite Louis Armstrong Park, not far from Congo Square, in a building that dated from about 1835. The studio was small, just 15 by 16 feet. He was just 19 years old, and he was proud to set up an integrated workplace at a time when segregation laws were in force.
Cosimo Matassa
Photo: WhyArts 2015 (Wikimedia Commons)
Jim Putnam, the father of stereo, helped Matassa with the design of a makeshift driver amplifier, and later the construction of a vacuum to pick up the acetate chips made by the cutter head, as it bit a groove into the disc. Matassa was not a record producer as such but an excellent sound engineer. At that time in the music industry the concept of a “producer” had not yet developed. In his J&M and Cosimo Studios Matassa captured many rhythm and blues sessions from 1945 to 1969.
J&M Studios, New Orleans (Infrogmation Wikimedia Commons)
At several locations across the city over the years, Matassa’s studio provided the creative ground where musicians including Dave Bartholomew and Allen Toussaint could develop soulful bass and horn lines and vocals with powerful emotions, with a strong presence of piano and percussion. Matassa developed a simple way of recording, by setting the dials at a reasonable level that was comfortable for everyone. He did not use overdubbing or electronic manipulation, except for the occasional echo sound-effect.
John Broven describes the process in his “Rhythm and Blues in New Orleans”: “Cosimo was the type of engineer who believed in one type of scene. He would set the knobs for the session and very rarely moved anything. If the piano was mixed too low at the beginning, it would stay mixed low until the end of the session, unless the producer came and changed it. But this was how record sessions were conducted for a long time. He developed what is known as the ‘Cosimo Sound’ which was strong drums, heavy bass, light piano, heavy guitar, light horn sound and a strong vocal lead.”
The first major recording to come out of the J&M studio, in 1947, was called “Good Rocking Tonight”, performed by Roy Brown, and featuring Earl Palmer’s driving drumbeat, accompanied by Alvin “Red” Tyler.
The talented arranger and prolific composer Dave Bartholomew led the studio band during many dynamic sessions for DeLuxe Records. Cosimo Matassa’s success attracted record labels from across the States, first De Luxe, then Imperial, followed by, amongst the most well-known, Atlantic, Specialty and Chess. Other cities began to develop their own styles of R&B and Soul, but it all grew from the seeds sown by Cosimo Matassa.
Map of New Orleans, French Quarter, showing position of J&M & Cosimo Studios
U.S. National Park Service, restoration/cleanup by Matt Holly (Wikimedia Commons)
Markers added: Red = J&M Studios Blue = Cosimo Studios
Cosimo Matassa’s Later Studios
In 1956 Matassa closed the facility on N. Rampart Street and relocated to new premises in the French Quarter, on Governor Nicholls Street, where he continued working with Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew, plus many other local singers and musicians. His contribution was absolutely key to allowing the new sound of New Orleans R&B to flourish.
In 1967, Matassa moved the studio again, to 748 Camp Street. He had started using the building in 1966 for a distribution company that he set up called Dover Records. Now he moved the studio there too, along with a third company that handled vinyl record production called Superior Plastics. The new venue was called Jazz City Studio. It was here that many of the Minit Records tracks were cut, produced by Allen Toussaint. The Meters also made their earliest recordings here from 1968.
For over twenty years, Cosimo Matassa facilitated the development of R&B music in New Orleans. In the late 1940s, along with Dave Bartholomew, he started a movement that spread to Memphis, Muscle Shoals, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, the West Coast and the East Coast, and beyond.
