Scott Aiges, who was The Times-Picayune’s first full-time pop music critic before moving on to produce festivals, manage bands and teach high school, died Tuesday of glioblastoma in White Plains, New York. He was 63.
At first glance, Aiges was an unlikely candidate to be a music critic and tireless New Orleans music advocate.
He grew up in New Jersey. After earning a political science degree from Columbia University — where he met his future wife, Lisanne Brown — he traveled to Nicaragua in 1986 as a freelance journalist to cover the Sandinista turmoil.
In 1987, he joined States News Service, which distributed Washington D.C. coverage to local and regional newspapers. Wanting to write more crime-and-corruption stories, he took a job in The Times-Picayune’s River Parishes bureau in 1988. He was based in LaPlace while Brown lived in New Orleans pursuing a master’s degree at Tulane University.
When the Picayune created a new position for a nonclassical music critic, Scott — a music fan and guitarist who was also eager to be with Lisanne in New Orleans — lobbied hard for it, even as some editors tried to convince him he’d be better off sticking with hard news.
In 2014, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation executive director Don Marshall, left, then-foundation president Demetric Mercadel, Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis and former Jazz & Heritage Foundation director of programming, marketing and communications Scott Aiges attend the grand opening celebration of the foundation’s multi-million-dollar George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center on N. Rampart St. on Thursday, December 11, 2014.
As the Picayune’s music critic, he wrote music business and news stories as well as cultural criticism. He championed unknown bands, including a band of Tulane University students fronted by Alex McMurray, and interviewed and reviewed major stars.
Moving on from the paper
By 1995, he was ready for a change. As Lisanne recalled last year, he wanted “to be with the band, not just criticizing the band. At heart, he was always a musician, but he was never going to be a successful musician. The closest he could get was being a manager.”
His first management client was the Continental Drifters, the all-star Americana band that was akin to a New Orleans Fleetwood Mac — with similar levels of talent and drama.
Scott Aiges of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation with singer-songwriter Jim McCormick.
When McMurray recorded a cassette with a new band called Royal Fingerbowl, Aiges passed it along to music industry contacts. Royal Fingerbowl signed with TVT Records and, with Scott as manager, released an album called “Happy Birthday, Sabo!” nationally in 1997.
Aiges also worked with Astral Project, the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars and other bands.
Frustrated that managing bands yielded more stress than income, he shifted gears to work on Ray Nagin’s first mayoral campaign. That led to a job in the Nagin administration’s economic development department supporting the local music industry.
He was laid off following Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, the nonprofit that owns Jazz Fest, hired him.
As the foundation’s director of programs, marketing and communications, he produced the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival and other events, launched the Sync Up music business conference and oversaw construction of the multi-million dollar George & Joyce Wein Jazz and Heritage Center in a former funeral home on North Rampart Street.
Scott Aiges and Lisanne Brown attend a kick-off party for the New Orleans Fringe Festival in New Orleans, LA, on Nov. 19, 2013, Photo by Eliza Morse, for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
Late one night after his wife and kids were asleep, he started strumming Tom Petty’s “Refugee” on guitar, but with a reggae lilt.
That was the genesis of the Jamaican Me Breakfast Club, which reimagined ‘80s New Wave hits as reggae songs. The band’s self-titled 2017 CD contained reggae versions of A Flock of Seagulls’ “I Ran,” a-ha’s “Take On Me” and Devo’s “Whip It.”
A devastating diagnosis
In 2019, Scott and his family moved to Denver, Colorado. He earned a master’s degree in education and taught civics and financial literacy at a high school in nearby Aurora.
A poster for the “Rock For Aiges” benefit for Scott Aiges on Sunday, May 25, 2025 at Tipitina’s. The show features Samantha Fish, Paul Sanchez, Susan Cowsill and other New Orleans musicians performing Tom Petty songs.
In November 2024, he and Lisanne traveled to Mexico for a wedding. Soon afterward, he was diagnosed with glioblastoma, or GBM, an incurable and aggressive form of brain cancer. He endured multiple surgeries and suffered a litany of side effects.
He was unable to work. Lisanne also stepped away from her job to be Scott’s fulltime caregiver.
On May 25, 2025, Tipitina’s hosted a benefit concert called “Rock For Aiges: A Night of Love for Scott Aiges.” Given that Aiges was a big Tom Petty fan, it featured an all-star cast of local musicians performing Petty songs, including Samantha Fish, the Continental Drifters’ Susan Cowsill, Vicki Peterson and Robert Mache’, Paul Sanchez, CC Adcock, John “Papa” Gros, Jim McCormick and John Cowsill.
Lisanne attended the show along with her and Scott’s adult children, Ella Aiges and Ben Aiges. Scott was too weak to travel from Colorado.
In June, he and Lisanne moved in with Ella in White Plains, N.Y., so she could help care for her father and they could be closer to other relatives.
Funeral arrangements are pending.