Wendell Brunious

Wendell Brunious (b. October 27, 1954, New Orleans) is an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.

Born on October 27, 1954, Wendell Brunious was born into a Louisiana Creole family, the son of Nazimova "Chinee" Santiago and John "Picket" Brunious, Sr. who was a trumpeter who studied at Juilliard, played with the Onward Brass Band, Young Tuxedo Brass Band, and Paul Barbarin, and arranged for Billy Eckstine and Cab Calloway. Brunious' brother was John Brunious, Jr., another notable New Orleans jazz trumpeter and a predecessor as bandleader of Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and his nephew is Mark Braud, a successor as bandleader of Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

Brunious sang in Chief John and the Mahogany Hall Stompers in the 1960s, a group in which his father was also a member. He began on trumpet at age 11 and played at Paul Barbarin's funeral. He studied at Southern University (where he played with Danny Barker) and played dance music in clubs on Bourbon Street in the middle of the 1970s.