This has become a terrible month for Louisiana music. In recent weeks, we’ve reported on the passings of Rockie Charles, Alex Chilton, Bunchy Johnson, and this morning we learned of Marva Wright’s passing. Wright suffered two strokes last summer, one in mid-May and a more debilitating one in June. She was living with a daughter in New Orleans East when she died as a result of complications from the strokes. She was 62.

Wright sang all her life starting as a child at home and in church, but she didn’t start her professional career as a blues singer until 1987 when she began singing on Bourbon Street. Though the venues changed size and location throughout her career, her warmth, passion and vocal power made every gig seem like a club gig – a little intimate, a little rowdy, and timeless. She will be missed.