Engineer, studio owner and Recording Academy Trustees Award recipient Cosimo Matassa died Sept. 11. A cause of death has not been disclosed. He was 88. Matassa opened J&M Studios in a back room of his family's shop in 1945 before moving on to the larger Cosimo Recording Studio in his hometown of New Orleans in 1955. Matassa is often credited with helping to create the "New Orleans Sound" of the '50s and '60s with artists/producers Dave Bartholomew and Allen Toussaint, among others. He recorded hits with Fats Domino ("The Fat Man"), Aaron Neville ("Tell It Like It Is), Lloyd Price ("Lawdy Miss Clawdy"), and Little Richard ("Tutti Frutti") and cut songs for artists such as Dr. John, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles. Matassa was honored with a Trustees Award by The Academy in 2007. In 2012 he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
