Conn alumnus plays at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Alex Owen ’12 and his band The Messy Cookers Jazz Band performed at the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

Owen’s band is billed as one of the “hottest traditional jazz and swing groups in New Orleans,” according to the Festival’s publicity.

After graduating from Conn, Owen, an international relations and Hispanic studies double major, moved to New Orleans to work with a nonprofit geared toward ending housing discrimination in Louisiana. He eventually started The Messy Cookers, named after his sloppy cooking habits.  

Owen started playing the trumpet at age 9, but it wasn’t until he went to Conn that he came to love traditional jazz.

Featured in offbeat.com, Owen said: “Our band director [at Conn] had previously been the tuba player in the Coast Guard Band. He had started the traditional jazz band there, then during my first semester at college he asked me if I wanted to join a traditional jazz ensemble at school. I had no idea what to expect, but quickly realized how much I was drawn to the music.”

Listen to The Messy Cooker’s latest album, That’s My Home.