Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz, the musicologist who played a central role in chronicling the music of Louisiana and Texas and exposing it to a broader audience, died Friday (5/5) in Marin County, California. He was 91. The cause was complications from congestive heart failure, the Arhoolie Foundation announced.

A second-line parade in his honor was held Sunday at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, where a collection of Strachwitz's photos were on display.

Born Christian Alexander Maria, Graf Strachwitz von Groß-Zauche und Camminetz, in Gross Reichenau, Lower Silesia, then in Germany and now known as Bogaczów, Poland, Strachwitz was bewitched by American regional music after seeing the 1947 musical New Orleans, which featured Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway and other important jazz artists.

He recorded more than 400 albums for the label he started in 1960—"Arhoolie" comes from a word for a field holler—fostering the careers of such Louisiana artists as King of Zydeco Clifton Chenier and Cajun acts Michael Doucet & Beausoleil and Marc & Ann Savoy. He discovered and recorded the blues musicians Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi Fred McDowell and was a central figure in the resurrection of Tex-Mex nortenÌƒo music.

With Les Blank he produced two landmark documentaries of traditional music: Chulas Fronteras, a 1975 film examining the Mexican American music of Texas, and J’ai EÌteÌ au Bal, a 1989 film exploring the Cajun and Creole musical traditions of Southwest Louisiana.

Smithsonian Folkways purchased Arhoolie Records in 2016.

Strachwitz received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2000 and a Trustees Award from the Recording Academy in 2016.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is saddened to announce Arhoolie Records founder Chris Strachwitz passed away on Friday, May 5 at his Marin County assisted care living facility from complications with congestive heart failure. He was 91 years old. pic.twitter.com/SkDpFhq1mx
— New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation (@Jazznheritage) May 6, 2023