Joe Krown is a resident and is based out of the city of New Orleans. He is a New Orleans styled piano and Hammond B-3 player. He has been nominated twice and won a New Orleans Big Easy Award in the Blues category in April 2001. His blues trio, Sansone, Krown & Fohl won a 2004 Big Easy Award. Krown has been highlighted in a feature article in the September 2000 and April 2005 OffBEAT Magazine. Joe's third compact disc, Buckle Up, was picked #4 CD, "Best of 2000 CDs" in the Times Picayune, and "Best CDs of 2000" in OffBeat magazine. Joe was also selected "Best Keyboardist, Editor's Choice" at CitySearch.com for New Orleans. Joe's fourth CD, Funkyard was picked #4 CD in Gambit Magazine and #15 in the Times Picayune "Best CD's of 2002" and "Critic's Choice Best of 2002" in Offbeat Magazine. Joe's band, the Joe Krown Organ Combo was the front page feature "Fest Focus" article for the Times Picayune 2003 Jazz Festival Focus series. Joe's CD, Livin' Large (2005) clocked in at #11 in overall sales for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2005. His trio with Walter Wolfman Washington & Russell Batiste Jr. won a 2009 Offbeat Award for "Best R&B/Funk CD" (Live at the Maple Leaf) and a 2009 Big Easy Award in the "Best Rhythm & Blues Band" category.
Joe held the keyboard chair with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown & Gate’s Express from 1992 until Gatemouth's passing in the fall of 2005. Joe is featured on the chart topping albums The Man, Gate Swings, American Music, Texas Style and most recently Back to Bogalusa albums. In 1995, Gatemouth and the Gate's Express including Joe on keyboards, did a 62 date world tour as the opening act for Eric Clapton. The band, Gate’s Express won an Offbeat 2004 Best Band in the Blues Category. Joe is also featured in Gatemouth's band on Carlos Santana's Carlos Santana Presents Blues At Montreux 2004 (2006) DVD
From September 1996 to June 2001, he held the Traditional Piano Night slot at the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans, which was once occupied by Professor Longhair and James Booker. Joe followed that strong tradition with his debut solo release Just the Piano...Just the Blues (1998) and the follow-up CD, New Orleans Piano Rolls (2003). Joe has been a headline performer at WWOZ's Piano Night during the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival every year since 1997. As of Labor Day 2001, Joe and the Traditional Piano Night moved to Le Bon Temps Roule in New Orleans. In November 2003, Joe made his German debut as a solo piano performer. He’s been the house piano player at the famous Brennan family restaurant, Ralph’s on the Park since January 2006. Joe performs solo piano shows several days a week around New Orleans in places like Le Bon Temps Roule, Irvin Mayfield’s Playhouse and Dos Jefes Cigar Bar.
Joe Krown formed the Joe Krown Organ Combo (New Orleans, LA) in 1999. The Joe Krown Organ Combo made its European debut in November 2001 at the Ingolstadt Jazztage in Ingolstadt Germany and made regular appearances at the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the Ottawa Blues Fest from 2000 until 2005. The Joe Krown Organ Combo appeared at such noted nightclubs as the Boom Boom Room in San Fransisco, CA and Tobacco Road in NYC. The band performed every week at one of the many New Orleans nightclubs, including the Maple Leaf Bar, House of Blues, Tipitina's, Le Bon Temps Roule, dba, and the Funky Butt. The Joe Krown Organ Combo released 4 CD releases. Down & Dirty (1999), Buckle Up (2000) and Funkyard (2002) were all released on the New Orleans label STRdigital. The Joe Krown Organ Combo’s last release was Livin’ Large (February 2005). It was also Joe’s first independent release as producer.
In June 2000, Joe started playing around New Orleans with Jumpin' Johnny Sansone (harmonica, vocals) and John Fohl (acoustic guitar and vocals) in an acoustic delta blues trio featuring Joe on piano. Sansone, Krown & Fohl made their New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival debut in May 2001 and has also performed at "Rivers Festival" in Columbia South Carolina. In April 2004 Sansone, Krown & Fohl released thier first self-titled CD on the Shortstack Records label. Sansone Krown & Fohl won a 2004 Big Easy Award in the blues category.
In the spring of 2007, Joe started playing every Sunday night with Walter Wolfman Washington (guitar & vocals) and Russell Batiste Jr. (drums). It features Joe playing Hammond B-3 organ where Joe plays all the bass parts on the organ. The Sunday nights were so successful that the trio released a live CD, Live at the Maple Leaf (Oct. 2008). Live at the Maple was produced by Joe and will be the first live CD in Joe’s catalogue. Live at the Maple won a 2009 Offbeat Award for "Best R&B/Funk CD". The trio also won a 2009 Big Easy Award in the "Best Rhythm & Blues Band" category. In the fall of 2010, the Trio released Triple Threat (Nov. 2010), the follow up to Live at the Maple Leaf and their first studio CD. The Trio was the feature band for a 3 week tour called “New Orleans Nights” (Nov. 2010). The band had a set then they backed up Grammy Award winning artists Nicholas Payton and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Allen Toussaint for a 15 city Northeast Tour.
Joe was featured in an episode of the HBO drama Treme. Treme is an HBO drama about life in New Orleans in the months following the destruction of New Orleans from the failure of federal levee system during Hurrinca Katrina. Joe plays himself in a scene in episode 4, season 1 (2010) and one of Joe's songs is used in episode 2, season 1 for background music.