A Tulane University graduate student is looking for music recordings on perhaps one of the greatest jazz guitar players of all time: Eddie “Snoozer” Quinn.

Quinn, who died in 1949, was a Bogalusa native who played with the likes of Paul Whiteman, Jimmie Davis and Louis Armstrong.

“He was one of the very earliest jazz guitarists, and though he is obscure, he is considered to be one of the true greats by jazz-guitar aficionados,” according to Kathryn Hobgood, a 31-year-old music grad student who has been researching Quinn for the past three years.

Eddie “Snoozer” Quinn was a guitar jazz musician from Bogalusa. A Tulane University student is searching for recordings and other artifacts of the man who died in 1949. This scanned photo was from on original that Snoozer had signed for his parents. Below: An article from The Daily News in 1976 highlights the musician. COUTESY PHOTO/Terry “Foots” Quinn Advertisement

Quinn is the subject of her master’s thesis, which she expects to be 150 pages by the time it’s finished. Hobgood also plans to turn the project into a book one day.

Problem is, finding artifacts and musical recordings of Quinn, who died of tuberculosis in his early 40’s, has not been easy. Hobgood, a distant relative of Quinn and a Bogalusa native herself, is hoping folks in the Magic City may have the answer.

“There are a few things I am hoping to find in Bogalusa,” she said. “Among them are any photos of Snoozer, letters, correspondence between Snoozer and others, such as his close friend H.E. Rester, who owned the Ford Motor Co., and most of all, the recordings he did for Victor in 1928 which were never widely released. I recently found an article in the Bogalusa Enterprise which says that these records did get released but they are so far lost to history.”

Hobgood already has a good start, reconnecting with her relatives like Terry “Foots” Quinn, a local musician and Snoozer’s nephew. She’s also been reading old newspaper articles including “Snoozer’s Song,” a nine-part series written by Al Hansen that ran in The Daily News in 1976.

“This series of newspaper articles has been a wonderful roadmap in my research,” Hobgood said. “Hansen features interviews by Snoozer’s brothers and other Bogalusa residents who still vividly recalled Snoozer in the 1970s.”

Hobgood said she intends to finish the project in the fall, but it would be much better if she could find a copy of the missing recordings. She has found some silent film footage of Snoozer playing.

“We recently unearthed this footage and the Louisiana State Museum has acquired a grant to restore and digitize this film. It should take a few months,” she said.

If anyone knows the whereabouts of any of Snoozer’s recordings, they can contact Hobgood at (504) 650-1238 or email her at khobgood@tulane.edu.