Trumpeter Duke Heitger came to New Orleans
in 1991 to join Jacques Gauthe’s Creole Rice Jazz Band and since that time he
has become one of the most sought after players on the international scene,
performing and recording around the world with a diverse roster of musicians.Hailing from Toledo, Ohio, Heitger carries on a family tradition in the music business. As a youngster he became fascinated with the sounds embedded in the grooves of his dad’s record collection, discs by Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berrigan, Roy Eldridge, Red Allen, Bobby Hackett, and Bix Beiderbecke. Rather than rebel against that music, he would sit in with his father’s Cake Walkin’ Jass Band, a Toledo institution that has played a weekly engagement since 1968. Duke started playing professional jobs at age twelve and was touring while still in his teens. His travels broadened as he played jazz festivals across the country with his father’s band.
Since arriving in New Orleans, Heitger has received international exposure leading to work with bands led by such classic jazz stalwarts as Dick Hyman, James Dapogny, Butch Thompson, John Gill and Banu Gibson. He has made a number of guest appearances on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion with Butch Thompson, and has been featured numerous times on Riverwalk Jazz. Heitger has performed at the Hollywood Bowl with Banu Gibson’s Jazz Band, at New York’s 92nd Street Y, and with Butch Thompson at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis. He has toured Hungary, Switzerland, France, Norway and Germany. Last summer he led his own Big Four on a European tour that included stops in Finland and Sweden.
As a sideman Heitger has recorded widely. While well known among jazz enthusiasts through those many recordings, he also made his mark on popular music with his trumpet work on the Squirrel Nut Zippers million selling disc Hot, earning him a platinum record.
Heitger has recorded four compact discs as a leader. The first featuring his Steamboat Stompers was recorded for GHB Records; the second, a critically acclaimed Fantasy release Rhythm is our Business, features his Swing Band; the Stomp Off release Prince of Wails finds Heitger leading a quartet; and most recently Duke Heitger's Krazy Kapers on the Jazzology label.
In March of this year Singapore’s Lindy Hop Ensemble premiered “New Heights,” a dance item performed to the music of Duke Heitger.
When not playing, Heitger managed to squeeze in a Bachelor’s Degree in Geology and is finishing his Masters at the University of New Orleans.
