As a style, New Orleans blues is primarily driven by piano and French horn, enlivened by Caribbean rhythms and Dixieland music.

[citation needed][opinion] Although New Orleans has drawn to it and produced fewer blues musicians than other major US urban centers with large African-American populations, it has been the center of a distinctive form of blues music, which has been pursued by some notable musicians and produced important recordings,[2] such as Professor Longhair and Guitar Slim, who both had regional, R&B and even mainstream chart hits.

[citation needed] In the period after World War II, a very large number of recordings were produced in the city that were informed by the blues, but had strong R&B and pop influences that anticipated rock and roll and are difficult to classify.

[3] Other significant figures playing keyboard-based blues include James Booker, whose organ instrumental "Gonzo" reached the top 50 in the Billboard chart in 1960 and was followed by a series of minor single hits.

[8] The careers of many New Orleans bluesmen declined in the 1960s, as rock and roll and soul began to dominate popular music, but revived in the 1970s, when there was renewed interest in their recordings.