New Orleans percussionist Alfred “Uganda” Roberts passed away from lung cancer on May 5 at age 77.

Roberts grew up in the Treme and started out playing bongos on the streets of the French Quarter. Roberts took an interest in calypso rhythms that he heard in the clubs that seamen sailing between New Orleans and the Caribbean frequented. With the encouragement of drummer Smokey Johnson, Roberts switched to congas and started working at Chris Owens’ club on Bourbon Street as Jamaica Joe, dressed in Caribbean-style clothing.

After becoming an in-demand conga and percussion player in New Orleans, Roberts established a relationship with fellow Treme resident and neighbor Allen Toussaint, which led to Roberts becoming the house percussionist at Toussaint’s Sea Saint Studios.

Roberts appeared on Toussaint’s album Life, Love and Faith and on many Meters recordings including “Afrika” and “Hey Pocky Way.”

At the 1972 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Quint Davis introduced Roberts to pianist Henry Roland Byrd aka Professor Longhair, and they became friends. In the December 2018 OffBeat feature on the Professor Longhair centennial Geraldine Wyckoff references a 2011 interview with Roberts. He remembered that Quint Davis said that he liked the way he played drums and said, “I bet you and Professor Longhair ought to sound pretty good together.”

“That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We had a lot of the same rhythm structures in our genes. He had a little rhumba, mambo kind of sound with the way he played the piano. Musically speaking, he taught me a lot about being disciplined. I would come up with a certain beat, or most musicians might call it a groove, and I would stick with the groove and that would give him the freedom to do the little riffs that he wanted to do on piano. I would always sit very close to him at the piano. If there was something extra he would want me to do, then he’d give me a little nod. But other than that, I would stick with him like gravy on rice” said Roberts.

Roberts can be heard on several Longhair recordings including Rock N Roll Gumbo and Crawfish Fiesta. He also worked with the Wild Magnolias and appears on Dr. John albums Goin’ Back to New Orleans and N’Awlinz: Dis, Dat or d’Udda. In 2000 Roberts joined the funk band Groovesect and appears on the album On The Brim.

He also continued to perform with Dr. John, guitarist John Mooney and other local musicians. At the 2018 Jazz Fest, Roberts took part in a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Professor Longhair’s birth, titled “Fess Up!” Other participants included Pat Byrd, Longhair’s daughter; pianist Jon Cleary; and bassist Reggie Scanlan, another alumnus of Longhair’s band.

Recently, Roberts performed with Mo’ Fess, a band consisting mostly of former Longhair sidemen.

Uganda Roberts also performed as himself on the HBO television series Treme.