Biography
Born on 2 April 1911 in Madisonville, Louisiana, USA, Cagnolatti died on 7 April 1983. He took up trumpet studies during his teenage years and devoted much of the 1930s to work inside a large ensemble. Across the 1940s and 1950s he performed with assorted brass groups at parades and funerals throughout New Orleans, and he also appeared in units directed by Alphonse Picou, Bill Matthews and Paul Barbarin. He maintained an active schedule in New Orleans into the 1960s and 1970s, appearing at times alongside Jim Robinson. Although dependable yet occasionally short on invention, Cagnolatti brought a stabilizing presence to every group in which he participated.