Culture bearers & community leaders

Desiree’ is a native New Orleanian whose life and work are deeply rooted in the rich cultural and musical traditions of the city—especially its enduring jazz legacy. Alongside her father, she helped curate one of the first exhibits at the New Orleans Jazz Museum in its early days, contributing to the preservation and celebration of the music that has shaped the soul of the city. This early experience cemented her lifelong commitment to honoring and sharing New Orleans’ cultural heritage.

Today, Ms Edwards serves as Executive Director of the Louis Armstrong Foundation, Inc., based in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she continues to champion arts, education, and community engagement. A woman of many talents, she is a successful author, licensed tour guide, dynamic actress, motivational speaker, and accomplished vocalist—each role reflecting her passion for storytelling and performance.

Her signature “Yes I Can Succeed” workshops have inspired students around the world, encouraging young people to recognize their potential and pursue their dreams with confidence. As a proud grandmother of three, Desiree’ embodies resilience, creativity, and the spirit of New Orleans—standing as a powerful example of how dedication and cultural pride can transform challenges into lasting success.

Craig Klein, a true New Orleans native, has been immersed in the city’s music culture since childhood, carrying forward the rich traditions of jazz with both passion and purpose. His trombone journey began in high school, inspired by the iconic sounds of Preservation Hall, setting him on a path that would connect him to generations of New Orleans musicians.

Over the years, Craig has been a driving force in the local music scene—joining the Pair-A-Dice Tumblers, co-founding The Storyville Stompers in 1981 and the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans Nightcrawlers in 1994, and helping shape the city’s brass band revival. In 1990, he began a 16-year run touring and recording with Harry Connick, Jr., before stepping away in 2006 to focus on Bonerama, an innovative brass ensemble known for its powerful, trombone-driven sound. The Nightcrawlers’ name itself was born spontaneously during a late-night recording session at Toulouse Cabaret—just one example of the organic spirit that defines Craig’s career.

Beyond the stage and studio, Craig is deeply committed to preserving and passing on New Orleans’ musical heritage. Through educational programs, performances, and community engagement, he shares the history, traditions, and living culture of jazz with students, locals, and visitors alike—ensuring that the music and its stories continue to inspire future generations.

Craig’s extensive discography spans more than 150 recordings, including his solo work New Orleans Trombonisms (2004) and Talkative Horns (2020), a heartfelt tribute to his friend and fellow trombonist Lucien Barbarin. Throughout his career, he has performed alongside legends such as Dr. John, The Neville Brothers, and Allen Toussaint, solidifying his place as both a steward and innovator of New Orleans music.

Quay Frazier is a cultural historian and jazz aficionado focused on preserving the unique musical heritage of New Orleans. A Grammy-Nominated Jazz saxophonist, Quay has toured extensively with Corey Henry and the Treme Funktet, Troy Sawyer and the Elements, and Smokin’ on Some Brass, a New Orleans brass band he founded in 2017. Locally, he enjoys performing annually at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Fest, and Satchmo SummerFest. Receiving his Bachelor of Arts in History and Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans, Quay specializes in New Orleans culture with an emphasis on the rich legacy of Louisiana Creoles, and oral histories of the French Quarter and historic Faubourg Marigny. Formerly a teacher with the New Orleans Jazz Institute and Greater New Orleans Community Works, his primary focus continues to be integration of the arts and culture. Quay’s extensive research completed during graduate school at Tulane University highlights the importance of local narratives in both the documentation and presentation of culture. Using this as his guiding premise, Quay provides a perspective  that strengthens the city’s long-term goal of cultural preservation.

Janie Luster, a respected elder of the United Houma Nation, was raised in the Houma Indian community of Bayou DuLarge, Louisiana, where tradition, artistry, and storytelling were a part of everyday life. The daughter of two traditional Houma artists, she carries forward a rich cultural legacy as both an accomplished artist and a dedicated cultural preservationist.

Working across multiple mediums, Janie is best known for her masterful basketry and her pivotal role in reviving the nearly lost Houma Half-Hitch Palmetto weaving technique. After the tradition disappeared in the 1940s, she helped bring it back to her community through dedicated study alongside the late Richard Conn, former Chief Curator of Native Arts at the Denver Museum of Art. In true Houma tradition, she has passed this knowledge on to her daughters and granddaughters and continues to teach others within her tribal community.

Beyond her artistry, Janie is a gifted storyteller and educator who shares the deeper meanings behind Houma traditions. Through her work with Bulbancha field trips, she offers students and visitors an authentic connection to Indigenous life in South Louisiana—demonstrating traditional crafts, sharing stories rooted in place, and speaking on ancestral practices such as herbal medicine, a knowledge she carries from generations of healers in her family.

Through every basket, story, and lesson, Janie ensures that the culture of the Houma people is not only preserved, but lived, shared, and carried forward.

Kai Knight is a dynamic scholar-artist, dance educator, and arts administrator who serves as a dedicated cultural bearer of African diasporic traditions. With over 40 years of teaching experience and 35 years of leadership as a company founder, her work bridges scholarship, performance, and community practice.

Her research centers on African retentions in the Americas, with a focus on the sacred traditions of Congo Square, Haiti, and Afro-Cuba. She is the creator of the African Diaspora Embodied Movement Therapy (ADEMT) framework and advances the concept of Spiritual Resilience within Black Atlantic dance culture, re-centering Modern and Jazz techniques in their African foundations.

Kai is the Artistic Director of Silhouette Dance Ensemble and Cultural Ties Dance & Percussion Collective, and an active member of Kumbuka African Drum and Dance Collective and Bamboula 2000. She is the founder of the Seasons Center and Cultural Ties Dance Festival, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, integrating faith, performance, and social justice in her work.

As a key field trip partner, Kai brings the spirit of Congo Square to life through music, dance, and storytelling, connecting students to the traditions of the 1700s while encouraging them to be mindful of the ripples their lives create—positive or otherwise.

Growing up in her family’s Creole restaurant in Tremé, Dianne “Gumbo Marie” Honoré developed a deep connection to the foodways, stories, and traditions that shape New Orleans culture. Today, she is a celebrated historic interpreter, Creole culture activist, teaching artist, and event producer dedicated to sharing these traditions with students, visitors, and her local community.

As the founder of the Black Storyville Baby Dolls, the Amazons Benevolent Society, and Unheard Voices of Louisiana, Dianne’s work centers on preserving and uplifting cultural legacies. She masks as Big Queen of the Yellow Pocahontas Hunters Tribe, creating intricate, one-of-a-kind suits adorned with thousands of beads and feathers—continuing a powerful Mardi Gras Indian tradition.

Through decades of programming, Dianne has brought history to life in engaging and accessible ways, from the Roots of Creole Cooking tour for Culinary Backstreets to the Golden Crown exhibit and symposium at the New Orleans Jazz Museum, as well as descendant heritage tours. A gifted storyteller and educator, she creates immersive experiences that connect audiences to the people, places, and traditions of Louisiana.

Whether leading a tour, curating an exhibit, or engaging students in hands-on learning, Dianne ensures that Creole culture is not only preserved but actively shared across generations. Her work extends beyond the classroom and stage through media appearances, her former exhibit space “Gumbo Marie,” and her annual Baking for Breast Cancer fundraiser, supporting local cancer fighters through the Amazons Benevolent Society.

Big Chief Darryl Montana is a revered cultural leader, artist, and educator who has dedicated his life to preserving and sharing the traditions of Black Masking Indians in New Orleans. The son of the legendary Chief Tootie Montana, Darryl carries forward a powerful legacy rooted in craftsmanship, resistance, and cultural pride.

As Big Chief of the Yellow Pocahontas Hunters, he is known for creating extraordinary hand-sewn suits adorned with intricate beadwork, feathers, and storytelling imagery—each one a reflection of history, identity, and community. Beyond the parade route, Darryl has spent decades ensuring that the deeper meanings behind these traditions are understood and honored.

A committed educator and culture bearer, Big Chief Darryl plays a vital role in cultural field trips, where he shares the history, symbolism, and lived experience of Black Masking Indian culture with students and visitors alike. Through storytelling, visual artistry, and personal insight, he brings to life the origins of the tradition—its ties to resistance, mutual aid, and the honoring of Indigenous influence—offering participants a rare and meaningful connection to this uniquely New Orleans practice.

Through his presence, teaching, and artistry, Big Chief Darryl Montana continues to pass down traditions across generations, ensuring that the spirit and significance of Black Masking Indian culture remain vibrant, respected, and alive.

Julius McKee is a GRAMMY-nominated sousaphonist and the leader of the New Orleans jazz collective, BassX. Julius is celebrated for his 30+ year career with brass bands like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Preservation Brass, Tremé Brass Band, and The Paulin Brothers. He has recorded 16 albums and played at elite venues such as The Lincoln Center, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, The Blue Note, The Apollo, and Madison Square Garden. He is known for his work in traditional jazz and for playing the sousaphone like a bass. He's one of the world's premier sousaphone players, whose style is studied globally. Julius, a 9th Ward native, will be the first to share his passion for New Orleans, jazz, and instruments tuned to lower frequencies, demonstrating that love at every performance.

The Congo Square Preservation Society preserves and honors the Black and Indigenous traditions and sacred integrity of historic Congo Square’s roots of resistance, ritual, and remembrance.
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Vision #1
To honor the past of Congo Square's historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic, and economic identity while envisioning its future through education, advocacy, and programming.

Vision #2
To envision a future for Congo Square that honors its ancestral past and elevates its role as a vital cultural, spiritual, artistic, and economic hub.