On July 3rd, members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band performed songs from the New Orleans traditional jazz repertoire and selections from their new album of original songs, “That’s It!” at Battersea Park for an outreach performance. During the show, Creative Director Ben Jaffe, whose parents started the legendary venue of the band in 1961, briefly discussed the origins of jazz in New Orleans, a history of Preservation Hall and its significance of in the American Civil Rights movement.
In November, 2013, Preservation Hall Jazz Band was interviewed by Bennett Intermediate School‘s 5th grade students as a part of their Project Based Learning. In this project, students learned further about music, the city of New Orleans, and of course, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Take a look at the video from this amazing experience for Bennett Intermediate School’s students.
Back in March, The Preservation Hall Junior Jazz Band performed as a part of Celebrate Africa Day. The festival strives each year to promote, preserve, perpetuate and encourage the music, culture and heritage of African and African-American communities in Louisiana.
In 1977, Preservation Hall’s Allan Jaffe teamed up with Arthur Hall and his Afro-American Dance Ensemble to release Fat Tuesday and All That Jazz! A Mardi Gras Dance Musical. The world premiere of the dance musical was presented on February 19th, 1977 and was followed by a tour throughout the United States.
Staging and Choreography
Arthur Hall
Musical Directon
Allan Jaffe
The featured performers in Fat Tuesday and All That Jazz were none other than Dejan’s Olympia Brass Band from Preservation Hall and the Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Dejan’s Olympia Brass Bandand Musicians of Preservation Hall including:
Milton Batiste, lead trumpet, Mardi Gras Indian Kid Sheik Colar, trumpet Harold Dejan, saxophone Edmond Foucher, trumpet Nowell Glass, bass drum David Grillier,clarinet Allan Jaffe, bass horn Benjamin Jaffe, beggar Andrew Jefferson, snare drum Gerald Joseph, trombone Anthony Lacen, bass horn, Mardi Gras Indian Frank Naundorf, trombone Emanuel Paul, tenor saxophone William Russell, violin
Arthur Hall’s Afro-American Dance Ensemble:
Carol Schley, choreography for Baby Dolls Farel Johnson, dance company master drummer Alan Trumpler, scenic design and construction Elizabeth Roberts, costume design and construction C. Edward White, dance wardrobe master Lillian Avery, wardrobe mistress David K. H. Elliott, stage manager R. Michael Holden, company manager Oswald Wallace, dance company manager Roscoe Smith, property manager George Calvert, carpenter Cornell Cooper, electrician Thomas Priest Teasley, publicity
The production of Fat Tuesday and All That Jazz! is a snap shot in Preservation Hall’s history and exposes the Hall’s need to collaborate with artists outside of the realm of New Orleans Jazz. These early collaborative efforts defined and paved a path that is still followed by 35 years later with such collaborations as the Trey-McIntrye Project, The Del McCoury Band, and My Morning Jacket.
Finally, this rare 1977 performance from Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts is now available on DVD! All proceeds from the sale of this DVD go to support the music education programs at Preservation Hall in New Orleans and the long-term preservation and accessibility of the Arthur Hall Collection.
In case you missed it, check out this incredible video of the Preservation Hall Junior Jazz Band at the ELCA Youth Gathering in the Superdome on July 21st, 2012!
The Preservation Hall Junior Jazz Band performed on the finale with The Blind Boys, the Del McCoury Band, Ed Helms, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on the song “I’ll Fly Away.” The entirety of the performers came out and cheered on the kids to this sold out concert. After a standing ovation, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Junior Jazz Band came out to perform on last tune on “When the Saints Go Marching In.” While cameras weren’t allowed, we did have some bold people who took some incredible footage of this memorable night. We hope you enjoy it!
A big thanks to our Preservation Hall family and all those who attended. We can’t wait to continue to teach our students so they can continue to make music and become the future of New Orleans music.
Early this month, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band announced that special guests that will join them on stage for their 50th anniversary performance. On January 7th, 2012 at 8:00pm, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band will grace the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall, with special guests My Morning Jacket, Del McCoury Band, Trombone Shorty, GIVERS, Allen Toussaint, Blind Boys of Alabama, Tao Seeger, & Mos Def, and THE PRESERVATION HALL JUNIOR JAZZ AND HERITAGE BRASS BAND.
Tickets for what is bound to be an unforgettable night go on sale December 2nd and are available atwww.carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th street and 7th avenue.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been carrying the distinctive sound of New Orleans jazz around the world on behalf of Preservation Hall, a unique venue that embodies the city’s musical legacy. With a cast of musicians schooled through first-hand experience and apprenticeship into the music’s historic traditions, the PHJB has served as an irreplaceable, vital link to the earliest days of one of America’s most beloved forms of popular music.
The group manages to evoke the spirits of times past in an ever-evolving modern context that has found them traveling around the world. Along the way, they have brought in collaborators of all musical stripes to play, honor, and reinterpret America’s first true art form. The PHJB have played and recorded with artists like TomWaits, PeteSeeger, Ani DiFranco and My Morning Jacket. Their most recent collaboration has been with the Grammy-winning bluegrass outfit, the Del McCoury Band, with whom they released a joint album earlier this year titled American Legacies.
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