Preservation Hall Keeps It's Jazz Hot

By Don Heckman

Think of New Orleans jazz as the first rock ‘n’ roll. Bursting into public consciousness in the post-World War 1 years, it was the soundtrack for the Jazz Age, the irresistible, foot-tapping accompaniment for the cultural transformation know as the Roaring ‘20s.

And it’s never really gone away. Sure, there were moments of eclipse – the Swing Era, rock, disco, hip-hop, rap – but New Orleans jazz never disappeared. For nearly half a century, Preservation Hall and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have helped keep it alive.

“The truth is,” says Ben Jaffe, the band’s bassist and leader, “that in New Orleans, this is music that’s never really gone away. It’s had its ups and downs, but it’s always been music that everyone listened to. That’s because it’s not just a sound but a feel, and a look and an experience.”

Jaffe, the son of Preservation Hall’s founders, Sandra and the late Allan Jaffe, is determined to expose the music to new audiences.

“I can’t say much about it now,” he slyly notes in a modest, battered structure dating back more than 250 years. A New Orleans tourist magnet, it’s a venue that resounds with rousing performances of songs such as “St. Louis Blues,” “Bourbon St. Parade,” “Tiger Rag” and, of course, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”

“Think of red beans and rice,” says Ben Jaffe, who leads the Jazz Band in a series of Southland shows beginning tonight. “It’s the staple of our diet in New Orleans, still the recipe that people have been using for 200 years or more. No matter how much you add to it, it’s always red beans and rice, and everybody who tries it loves it.

“I think of the music we play with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band the same way….At its core it always has the same basic, swinging ingredients.

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