Wednesday,
Feb. 26, 7:30p at the FAC
The Gazette’s recent interview with Preservation
Hall Jazz Band creative director Ben Jaffe really got to the heart of what’s so
special about this musical treasure from New Orleans. Here’s a portion of the
article:
Preservation Hall was
originally an art gallery in the 1950s, Jaffe said. Its owner started holding
jam sessions, though he called them "rehearsals" as a way to
circumvent the Jim Crow laws that prevented blacks and whites from socializing
or interacting in certain ways. Jaffe's parents discovered the gallery in 1961,
and were handpicked by the owner to own and operate it as a new music hall.
"My parents
gravitated here," he said, "and became part of a group of people
interested in New Orleans jazz and aging African-American musicians, many of
which were pioneers of jazz. They were giving them a home, a place to perform
where they received the respect that their art deserved. That was a
revolutionary idea. That's what my parents walked into."
His father died when
Jaffe was 16; Jaffe assumed duties of the hall in 1995 after graduating from
Oberlin College's Conservatory of Music in 1993.
Add dinner and a hotel stay for the
complete Night in New Orleans experience!
No comments:
Post a Comment