WBRZ - Baton Rouge

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans jazz band leader and drummer Robert "Bob" French Sr. has died after a long illness. He was 74.

The Times-Picayune reported French was the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band drummer and band leader and an oftentimes outspoken and controversial deejay at WWOZ-FM. He last performed with the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band in the summer of 2011.

Afflicted with dementia and suffering from diabetes-related complications, he then moved into an assisted-living facility.

He died on Monday.

A visitation is scheduled Saturday at 1 p.m. at D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home in New Orleans.