One of the many notable rhythm and blues artists to emerge from New Orleans in the 1950s, Willie Turbinton — better known as Willie Tee — is best remembered for the infectious soul hit Teasin’ You and two records that became popular in UK clubs during the Sixties, Walking up a One-Way Street and Thank You John.

A talented singer and keyboards player, Tee also produced the Wild Magnolias, a Mardi Gras “Indian” group, whose 1973 album, They Call Us Wild, combined festival chants with New Orleans funk.

Born in New Orleans in 1944, Tee came from a musical family and his elder brother, Earl Turbinton, who died in August, was to become a respected jazz saxophonist. The piano was Tee’s initial instrument and he formed his first band, with Earl, while at school. The group’s name, the Seminoles, reflected Tee’s interest in the musical traditions of the Mardi Gras.

Heard by the musician Melvin Lastie, Tee was signed to AFO — a label run as a co-operative by local jazz and R&B performers, including Tee’s high school music teacher, Harold Battiste.

Tee’s AFO records failed to impress and it wasn’t until he was taken on by another local label, Nola, that he found fame with Teasin’ You. The record was leased to the much larger Atlantic label — a common occurrence at the time — and its success enabled him to go out on tour. However, like many artists of the time, he claimed never to have seen any of the record’s profits,

“All the monies from the record I never got, because I was not aware what the business end of it was about,” he told blues researcher John Broven.

But according to Earl it was Tee’s ambition to become a jazz musician rather than a successful R&B artist that stood in the way of his success. “I think we were a little impracticable. We had a hit record out but we opened up playing some jazz tune that we wanted to play.”

By the late 1960s Tee had, with the formation of the band the Gaturs, moved into the funk field and enjoyed success with the single Cold Bear. He was also persuaded by jazzman Cannonball Adderley to join a production company that he had formed. This led to Tee’s first album release, I’m Only a Man. He is also thought to have had an influence on the work of Adderley’s keyboards player at that time, Joe Zawinul (obituary, Sept 12), who went on to form Weather Report.

In the 1970s Tee’s work with the Wild Magnolia on two groundbreaking albums brought much acclaim. He also cut an another album of his own, Anticipation, in 1976.

In the 1980s Tee and Earl recorded an album together, Brothers for Life. The two also helped to launch a musical academy for young people that evolved into the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts.

In later years many of Tee’s songs were sampled by rappers such as Puff Daddy and the Geto Boys.

Tee lived in a house near Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans, which was badly damaged when Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. “I went home for the first time expecting the worst and found worse than the worst,” he said.

Tee relocated to Baton Rouge and also took up a post as artist in residence at Princeton University. He continued to perform and appeared at a festival in New York in July.

Tee had been suffering from colon cancer. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn, and a daughter.

Willie Tee, singer, musician and producer, was born on February 6, 1944. He died on September 11, 2007, aged 63