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American music lost a giant, but Baton Rouge lost a man who gave the city its street credibility in jazz when Alvin Batiste died on the second weekend of Jazz Fest in May.

Batiste was born in New Orleans and is credited with starting the modern jazz scene there, and in the 1950s he toured with legends such as Ray Charles and Cannonball Adderly.

But it is the Batiste Jazz Institute, which he founded at Southern University, that will leave its longest-lasting impression on American jazz. Batiste is credited with teaching some of jazz’s modern masters, including Branford Marsalis, trumpet virtuoso Wes “WarmDaddy” Anderson and New Orleans piano legend Henry Butler. He even taught American Idol’s Randy Jackson, as well as his brother, jazz drummer Herman Jackson.

Musicians are going to study and talk about Alvin Batiste and his music for decades to come. Baton Rouge is blessed to have had such a profound, perpetual ambassador for the city and what’s possible here.