R.I.P. The Saxophonist Amadee Castenell from New Orleans

 


A few days ago I learnt that the saxophonist Amadee Castenell passed away. I had the opportunity to come in contact with him through Facebook and email messages. Also, he had sent me a few tracks, recordings in order to listen to them.
Amadee was a master tenor saxophonist and flautist. He had collaborated with Dr. John, The Neville Bros, Allen Toussaint, Elvis Costello, Irma Thomas and many others in his career. He was a member of the seminal New Orleans funk band Chocolate Milk. He was also musical director of this group. He was a member of Allen Toussaint's orchestra for many years.



I love the song "Save The Last Dance". It was included in the album of 1979 "Milky Way". He co-wrote that song.


After the last album with his group Chocolate Milk in 1981, they continued to play music in the festival. But the loss of the RCA deal and his growing reputation as a master on saxophone and flute, opened the door for more performances with Allen Toussaint and Dave Bartholomew.
In the 1990s he released two jazz albums. The first one was released in 1996 with his name "Amadee". I had the opportunity of playing a few tracks on my show. I like the track "Angels" who plays an exceptional flute. Also, I want to note the track "Always There For You". This track was written by the pianist Chuck Chaplin and Amadee himself. The album was produced by the great Allen Toussaint.


The second album was released in 1999.under the title 'Dreams". I also played a few tracks on my show from this album. Especially the moment that I presented a tribute to New Orleans in 2018. It was a fantastic show. 
In 2019, he released the album "Amadee And His Driving Force". 



In fact it was his last album. I remember he sent me all the tracks at that time. This album was dedicated to his brother Andre who passed away of cancer three months before the album was released. 
Here below is a video as a tribute to him. I got it from a friend of Amadee, Armand Powers. Thank you for reading my article.



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