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Brian Keith Labat

Brian Keith Labat

DAY 186 Brian Labat photographed exclusively for the 100 Men Hall People Project (100MHPP). 

My grandparents were with the Hall. There was a time when this place didn’t have a roof. My grandfather was Joe Labat (Papa Joe). Daddy Joe was my grandfather, Teedy Boy was my father, and my mother was Carmen) – kids called my grandfather Papa. He was a bandleader in his younger years. (Great, great aunt) Teenie Labat used to call him a hand clapper because he played clarinet and he wasn’t that good, and so he would hire a bunch of musicians out of New Orleans and he would clap his hands. The band would ride around town to promote the dance. That was the advertisement - a sign on the side of the truck and then people would come to the Hall that night. My daddy had a haberdashery that he turned into a drycleaners. I knew about the Hall when I was a kid, I used to work at St. Rose and I used to come every Saturday to cut grass and pick up the trash so I always knew about the Hall. The first time I ever came in the Hall, I was a little older. I used to bartend Mardi Gras balls here. I was about 19. A Mardi Gras group, a group of friends who formed a krewe, the Krewe of Kinsky, used to hold dances here. I’ve been to a couple of events here before, but I moved away when I got older, and when I came back the Hall wasn’t vibrant then like it is now. I had a brother-in-law who saw James Brown and Fats Domino here.  

 (Photo by: Gus Bennett | The 100 Men Hall People Project) 

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100MHPP RIGHTS USAGE TERMS: This official 100 Men Hall People Project (100MHPP) photograph is made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products or promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement by the 100 Men Hall People Project or Rachel Dangermond 

© 2019 The 100 Men Hall People Project (100MHPP) 

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