Tomb honors musicians

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NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Lloyd Washington was a member of the legendary Ink Spots from 1945 into the late 1960s, but when he died in June his family couldn't afford to bury him. For months, his ashes were kept in a box at the Ernie K-Doe Mother-in-Law Lounge.

Thanks to another family of musicians, Mr. Washington now has a clearly marked tomb -- and so will other musicians, rich or poor.

Descendants of jazz pioneer Isidore Barbarin, who died in 1960, granted the Friends of New Orleans Cemeteries, a preservation group, the right to use six of the 18 vaults in the family mausoleum. Each vault can hold multiple urns or boxes of ashes.

The new resting place is called the New Orleans Musicians Tomb. After a brief ceremony Saturday, two porcelain angels and a silver and black urn housing Mr. Washington's remains were placed in the tomb, which also holds the remains of drummer Lucien Barker and trumpeter Charles Barker -- both descendants of Mr. Barbarin.

"This is the beginning of something big," said Paul Barbarin, 73, who with his sister, Marie Barbarin Baptiste, granted use of the tomb.