Andrew Hilaire

Who was Andrew Hilaire?

Andrew Henry Hilaire was a jazz drummer active from the 1910s to early 1930s, highly regarded by his fellow musicians.

Hilaire was born in New Orleans of a comparatively middle-class Creole of Color family that lived in the French Quarter. His family moved to Chicago in the 1910s. By 1917, he was touring Vaudeville with the Tennessee Ten jazz band, fronted by Florence Mills.

Hilaire was active in Chicago's "Roaring Twenties" music scene, playing with the bands of Lil Hardin Armstrong and Carroll Dickerson before 8 years with Doc Cook. He took part in various recording sessions during his time with the Doc Cook Orchestra, including with Freddie Keppard and perhaps most famously as a member of Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers.

In the 1930s he played with Jerome Don Pasquall and Eddie South in addition to leading his own band.

Andrew Hilaire was remembered by his fellow musicians as being of slight and weak constitution, and had trouble breathing—believed to be either asthma or tuberculosis. He died at home in Chicago at the age of 36.