July 28, 1956 – June 10, 2013

BATON ROUGE — A celebration of the life and music of Roger Sherman Phillips Jr., of Baton Rouge, who died Monday, June 10, 2013, will be at 5 p.m. Saturday at Sullivan’s Ringside in Baton Rouge.

Arrangements were under the direction of Rabenhorst Funeral Home in Baton Rouge.

Roger Sherman Phillips Jr. was born July 28, 1956, in Greenwich, Conn., the son of Roger Sherman Phillips Sr. and Michelle Phillips.

Mr. Phillips moved to Natchez at the age of 14 and graduated from Trinity Episcopal Day School. He later moved to Baton Rouge, where he lived the remainder of his life.

Mr. Phillips was a pianist and composer who studied at the Berkley School of Music in Boston and at the Southern University Jazz Institute under the direction of Alvin Batiste. During his career, he performed and composed for a number of jazz ensembles under his direction, including Danger Music, Pyramid Jazz and Forty Acres and a Mule. He also played with a number of groups in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area, including John Fred and the Playboys and Bloozi Jacuzzi. Mr. Phillips was a founding member of the Jazz Society of Baton Rouge and served as past president of the organization.

Mr. Phillips performed and recorded a number of his own beautiful and intense jazz compositions.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his loving wife, Sharon Davis Phillips; three children, Roger Phillips, Jon Davis and wife, Kristen, and Trey Davis and wife, Chele Winship Davis; three siblings, Sherman “Sherri” Phillips, Richard Phillips and Ginni Genestra; one granddaughter, Lexi Davis; and his nieces and nephews.

The death of Mr. Phillips represents a profound, grievous loss to his loving family and many friends, and is tempered only by the knowledge that his laughter, his smile, his soul and his music will remain in their hearts forever.