Category: New Orleans

Preservation

Little did Ben Jaffe know as a young boy being dragged to art galleries and parades that one day he would play the very music he heard there—as a member of the most famous band in the world. His parents and several others had gotten together in the early 60s to make sure the music would never die. Today Ben is Director of Preservation Hall. For $15 you can see guys from the street-to-music schools play the Hall together. New Orleans jazz is unique. They own it. The care and feeding from people like the Jaffes has sustained this happy-sad simple-complicated crazy-sane style of jazz. New Orleans is celebrating 50 years of Preservation Hall with a show at The Old US Mint Museum in The Quarter (through 2012). It’s a walk through the mist of a heritage preserved by the vision of a few and the patronage of many.

Jukebox Leonard

We caught up with him at the Jackson Square Trolley stop on the Mississippi River. Leonard calls himself “the human jukebox” and rhythmically rattles off the names of a dozen artists and their catalog of songs to drive the point home. After about 10 minutes we pressed Otis Redding’s “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay.” Leonard rendered every verse honey-sweet pitch-perfect with professional flair and true feeling. He says he’d been doin’ this for 49 years when he stopped counting. We believed him. And for $3, money well-spent.

Jukebox Leonard comes from an era when solo acts owned the streets of New Orleans—independent contractors and entrepreneurs who could spot a mark on a crowded street from two blocks away. Most of them are gone now victims of Katrina, a new life, or old age. In Jackson Square the vacant balconies stare at each other reflecting the haunting hopeful look in the eyes of the human jukebox.

Café Du Monde

The loud blow on your beignets comes from the street musicians out front. When they’re done one of them takes the bucket, counts the bills, and slides a fold for every player between his fingers for all to see. He holds out his hands and each guy takes one, counts it, and pockets it. They pack-up and disappear slowly into the steamy background of Jackson Square, each player going his own way. This looping vignette acquires diabolical mojo as you sip Café Au Lait.