This news, originally posted on June 10, 2019, has been updated to include funeral services.
Paul “Lil Buck” Sinegal,whom Allen Toussaint once called the “Gentle Giant of Guitar,” has died.
A staple at Jazz Fest since the 1970s, Lil Buck was a celebrated blues and zydeco musician who performed with his own blues band as well as on stages with Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco and Rockin’ Dopsie, among others. The Lafayette, Louisiana native was inducted into the Louisiana Blues Hall of Fame in 1999. He was a frequent performer at Ponderosa Stomp.
“When it comes to blues, I have to get the guitars out of my face,” Sinegal says. “Because if I grab one, it’s going to be all day and all night,” he told OffBeat‘s Herman Fuselier in 2010.
Sinegal’s death was reported by Acadiana news outlet KATC. In that report, Fuselier said of the 75 year old, “People just thought the world of him. I know every Jazz Fest he stayed in New Orleans for two weeks, because all the musicians wanted him to play with them. Everybody just loved Lil Buck.”
KATC also shared video from a February 2018 interview with Sinegal.
A cause of death has not been reported.
Funeral services will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church located at 818 12th St. in Lafayette, Louisiana. These include a wake on Sunday, June 16, 2019 and the funeral service on Monday, June 17.
