Article published by www.neworleans.com on July 26th, 2009

NEW ORLEANS | It’s midsummer at St. Roch’s Tavern which means the shade inside is a lot cooler than the paint-blistering heat outside.

His back stiff from the metal attached to his spine and neck, Jerome Deleno “J.D” Hill’s frail body clumps up to the stage with the help of his cane. The stiffness is a leftover from the teenage assailants who broke the 53-year-old’s jaw and neck in 2005, when he was robbed and beaten. He hasn’t recovered fully and doubts he ever will.

From the effects of the beating and his age, Hill has been recently certified as a disabled person. He has little feeling in his left arm or right leg. But that does not stop people from touching and greeting him as he moves through the patrons of St. Roch’s Tavern in the 8th Ward. No one wants to hurry the well known New Orleans blues man.

Once on stage Hill transforms. He begins to wail. The music twists his body. Hill and his band, J.D. and the Jammers, radiate funk music with the rhythm and sadness of the blues. Hill’s principal instruments are his harmonica and voice.

By the second song Hill doesn’t need his cane. Now Hill swings back and forth. He loops a tambourine around his foot for percussion. There aren’t many people in St. Roch Tavern but the local folks that have come out are dancing, cheering, loving it.

Between the third and fourth songs, Hill picks up a Zydeco/Cajun washboard, lashes it to his chest and leads the Jammers through an old Cajun romp. Hill scrapes out the beat, giving the music a Zydeco edge and tone. He doesn’t even know the name of what he is playing. Hill just knows the words and pulse of the song like a librarian knows the plot and history of an old book.

Hill was raised in upstate New York in a musical family. His father sang and played the harmonica and both his older brother and sister had success as Rhythm and Blues artists. But like many African American musicians Hill’s love of music began in church. From age 6 onward, Hill sang in his family’s black Baptist church’s choir.

As a young man Hill made his way to New Orleans and has been a staple in the New Orleans Blues scene for almost 30 years. During that time he’s had the chance to play with personal heroes such as Earl King, Bo Diddley, and James Cotton. His other major musical influences are James Brown, Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter, Little Richard and Guitar Slim.

While he has had some success Hill has certainly lived the life of a Bluesman. As his first set finishes we go outside to talk. It is hard for Hill to move. His stage act has taken a lot of his energy. Looking at his scared jaw in one of the bar’s windows, J.D. remarks, “Sometimes I don’t know if the good Lord blessed me or cursed me… There’s been a lot of heartaches and starving and begging for gigs and getting put down… But you’ve just got to be strong because you’ve got to be damn near crazy to do this as long as I have.”

Following Hurricane Katrina, Hill moved into one of the first homes in Habitat For Humanity’s Musician’s Village. Recently however Hill’s dreams of home ownership have begun to flounder. He explains that his house note has gone up and it is hard for him to find good paying jobs in New Orleans.

As Hill speaks about his home he looks very worried. He doesn’t want to give it up. Hill forges on, seeking out gigs at art galleries on White Linen Night and at Tipitinas. Pressed with hard luck Hill is still lucky. He turns back into the bar, back to what he loves.

If you’d like to make a donation or book a gig to help keep Hill in his home, you can contact him at 504-940-6424.