Harold Andrew "Duke" Dejan (February 4, 1909 – July 5, 2002) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in New Orleans.Dejan is best remembered as leader of the Olympia Brass Band, including during the 1960s and 1970s when it was considered the top band in the city.
Born into a Creole family in New Orleans, he took clarinet lessons as a child before switching to saxophone, and became a professional musician in his teens, joining the Olympia Serenaders and then the Holy Ghost Brass Band. He played regularly in Storyville, at Mahogany Hall, and on Mississippi riverboats. He also worked in the mail office of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for 23 years, and, in World War Two, played in Navy bands.
Harold Andrew "Duke" Dejan (February 4, 1909 – July 5, 2002) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in New Orleans.Dejan is best remembered as leader of the Olympia Brass Band, including during the 1960s and 1970s when it was considered the top band in the city.
Born into a Creole family in New Orleans, he took clarinet lessons as a child before switching to saxophone, and became a professional musician in his teens, joining the Olympia Serenaders and then the Holy Ghost Brass Band. He played regularly in Storyville, at Mahogany Hall, and on Mississippi riverboats. He also worked in the mail office of the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for 23 years, and, in World War Two, played in Navy bands.