“When people were doing other things, I was always looking for the music,” Steve Blailock explained in a 1997 interview. A consummate guitarist and banjo player who was a fixture on the New Orleans traditional jazz scene for two decades, Blailock died on July 19, 2013 in Pearland, Texas. Police allege that he shot his wife, Jing Blailock, and then turned the gun on himself. He was 69.

McComb, Mississippi native Blailock made frequent trips to New Orleans and absorbed rhythm and blues, call...