Unfinished Blues is the story, told in his own words, of New Orleans composer, producer, arranger, educator, and jazz ambassador Harold Battiste Jr., who passed away in June 2015. Chasing the dream from New Orleans to Los Angeles and back, Battiste thrived in the jazz, blues, and pop scenes. He founded All for One (AFO) Records, the first black-owned and black-operated record label in America. The creative force behind a bevy of number-one hits and the sage who launched the careers of Dr. John and Sonny and Cher, Battiste worked behind the scenes of the music industry for more than half a century.

Richly illustrated and featuring excerpts from Battiste’s personal letters and journals, Unfinished Blues inaugurated the Louisiana Musicians Biography Series. The Historic New Orleans Collection’s Williams Research Center is the permanent repository for the Harold R. Battiste Papers, an archive of music-industry photographs, manuscripts, and memorabilia.