Rickie Monie is a celebrated pianist, a longtime fixture with the storied Preservation Hall Jazz Band and a recipient of a National Medal of Arts. The New Orleans native, born in 1952, was raised in the Ninth Ward near pianists Edward Frank and Roosevelt Sykes, and absorbed the sounds and rhythms of his native Crescent City as he grew. Monie’s father was a church pianist who taught his son the basics while playing jazz records at home by ivory experts like Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson. The younger Monie attended Dillard University, playing clarinet, piano, and organ, and after graduation, became adept in the traditional jazz idiom, although he also picked up work in every style of music from rock to bluegrass.

In 1982, Monie received a call from Preservation Hall to substitute for the legendary resident pianist, Sweet Emma “The Bell Gal” Barrett after she suffered a stroke, and he has pretty much been with Preservation Hall ever since. He has played with many of the old masters, including Percy and Willie Humphrey, Harold “Duke” Dejan, Milton Batiste, and Dave Bartholomew, among many others.

Monie has toured the world, performed for five U.S. presidents, Queen Elizabeth of England, and the kings of five African nations. He has performed with a Who’s Who of popular music, ranging from Stevie Wonder to John Legend. He has performed at the Kennedy Center and other legendary venues, and has played multiple concerts for and with King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

In 2006, Monie and his fellow Preservation Hall Jazz Band members were presented with the National Medal of Arts Award from the National Endowment for the Arts by President George W. Bush at the White House. Monie is also an accomplished clarinetist and regularly plays the organ in churches around New Orleans, and is a featured artist at WWOZ’s annual Piano Night fundraiser.