Joe Krown is a resident and is based out of the city of New Orleans. He is a New Orleans styled piano and Hammond B-3 player. A mainstay of New Orleans music, he brings the city's swampy grooves, second-line swing, and bluesy soul to every stage he touches.
Joe Krown is currently touring all over the United States and internationally as the piano and organ player for the multi-award-winning, chart-topping Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. His current solo project, the Joe Krown Trio +1 featuring Papa Mali performs regularly throughout New Orleans and the Southeast, including appearances at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival. In addition, Krown maintains a regular schedule of weekly performances in New Orleans while also appearing nationally and internationally as a solo piano artist.. His energetic style draws from the rich tradition of legendary New Orleans pianists such as Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, and James Booker.
Joe held the keyboard chair with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown & Gate’s Express from 1992 until Gatemouth's passing in the fall of 2005. Joe is featured on the chart topping albums The Man (1993), Gate Swings (1997), American Music, Texas Style (1999) and Back to Bogalusa (2001) CDs and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - In Concert: Ohne Filter (2003) DVD. The band, Gate's Express won an Offbeat 2004 Best Band in the Blues Category.
In the spring of 2007, Joe started playing every Sunday night at the Maple Leaf Bar (New Orleans, LA) with Walter Wolfman Washington (guitar & vocals) and Russell Batiste (drums). The project features Joe Krown on the Hammond B-3 organ, with Krown performing all of the bass parts on the instrument himself. The trio released 3 CDs, Live at the Maple Leaf (Oct. 2008), Triple Threat (JK1004) in 2010 and Soul Understanding (JK1006) in 2013. Live at the Maple won a 2009 Offbeat Award for Best R&B/Funk CD. The trio also won a 2009 Big Easy Award in the "Best Rhythm & Blues Band" category. The Trio toured all over the U.S. and the world playing nightclubs, concerts and festivals.
Joe Krown has been a headline performer at the WWOZ Piano Night every year since 1996. The event takes place annually during the week of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, In 2017, in addition to performing as a headliner, Krown was selected to serve as the event’s producer. That year’s WWOZ Piano Night proved so successful that he was subsequently named the permanent producer of the event.
In June 2017 Joe joined the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band as the full time piano/organ player. The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band has been nominated six times for a Grammy Award, has received two Billboard Music Awards, two Blues Music Awards and two Orville H. Gibson Awards. The band has had 3 platinum (at least 1 million sold) selling CDs and 1 gold (500,000 to 1 million sold) selling CD. The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band is a headline act on the modern blues scene, has made appearances on late night TV and been an opening act for major acts like Van Halen, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd. Joe is on Kenny Wayne's chart topping recordings, The Traveler, Striaght to You - Live and Dirt on My Diamonds Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Joe's current touring band, the Joe Krown Trio +1 featuring Papa Mali performs regularly in New Orleans and at venues around the world. Joining Joe and Papa Mali are Casandra Faulconer on bass and Eric Bolivar on drums. The band draws deeply from the rich New Orleans piano tradition, celebrating masters such as Professor Longhair, James Booker, Allen Toussaint, and Dr. John, while also showcasing their own original compositions.
Joe Krown’s latest release, Qualified, issued on the Sledgehammer Blues label in March 2026, follows his 2023 album Tribute. Like its predecessor, Qualified is rooted in the rich tradition of New Orleans piano-driven blues and funk.. The album features Joe Krown alongside his band, the Joe Krown Trio +1 featuring Papa Mali and includes a special guest appearance by Cyril Neville.
Photo by Marc Millman
