One of the most famous of all New Orleans jazz clarinetists, Pete Fountain has the ability to play songs that he has performed countless times, such as “Basin Street Blues,” with so much enthusiasm that one would swear he had just discovered them! His style and most of his repertoire have remained unchanged since the late ’50s, yet he never sounds bored.
Well the Omega crew and Paul Christensen was certainly not bored when they had the honor of recording an upcoming record release 
of the “living 
legend” for California based Ranwood Records. Ranwood’s President, Larry Welk, Jr., arranged for Pete to stay over following the taping of a soon to be released PBS TV special, and record a new album with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra under the baton of Music Director, John Bahler. Welk Music Group and Vanguard Records executive Steve Buckingham produced the sessions, which were tracked under studio conditions at the Welk Theatre and Resort in Branson, MO.
Bob Bain, who was the arranger for Johnny Carson and the Tonight show for many years, provided the arrangements. Paul Christensen, Omega Productions President, 
provided the personnel and facilities for the date by teaming San Francisco based engineer Dave Luke with Tim Powell and his Metro Mobile remote facility located in Chicago. Luke is known for his exceptional acoustic and jazz recording chops as demonstrated through years of tracking and mastering experience
at the legendary San Francisco facility, Fantasy Studios. Tim Powell’s reputation as the engineer’s engineer, made him the natural choice for a project requiring such a high level of quality and attention to detail. Besides the wonderful material, talented musicians, producers and proficient engineers, Metro’s exhaustive inventory of legendary and rare, vintage microphones helped assure the success of the project. Ranwood Records is currently planning a Spring 2001 release.
The unrivaled king of Dixieland, Pete Fountain became endeared to an entire generation of Americans as a result of his appearances on the Lawrence Welk TV show 
from 1957 through 1959. The rest, as they say, is history. Pete has appeared on the Tonight Show more than 58 times, played four “command performances” at the White House and still can be seen at his own 600-seat club in the New Orleans Hilton. At the New Orleans Papal Mass in September of 1987, he performed for Pope John Paul II who was quoted as saying, “I have always heard about the beautiful music of New Orleans. Today I have been able to hear it and admire it personally.” Pete is one of the most recorded clarinetists in music history, having recorded more than 92 albums, three of which have “gone gold” – “Pete Fountain’s New Orleans,” “The Blues” and “ Mr. New Orleans.”
Pete Fountain has been married to Beverly Lang for 41 years and has three children and five grandchildren. One of his other passions, besides playing the clarinet, is collecting automobiles. Pete says, “I’m a car junkie, a car nut. We never strapped ourselves over cars, but sometimes we came close. Through the years I’ve owned more than 50 cars. …My attitude about cars is that they should be driven and enjoyed.” Pete has been influential in preserving and furthering the development of the clarinet in jazz since the early 1950s. Although his playing defies an adequate description, his music represents the essence of swing, blues and New Orleans-style jazz. He is a living legend. To this day, Pete Fountain is most likely the best-known clarinetist in popular music.
