New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, and its influence on the genre is still felt around the world. From Preservation Hall to The Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street, the city is full of venues where you can listen to and dance to local favorites. Learn about the rich history of the area's famous jazz musicians and their continuing influence on jazz in New Orleans and beyond. Preservation Hall and its resident band are New Orleans jazz institutions. Located in the heart of the historic French Quarter, this legendary jazz club was inaugurated in 1961 by a young couple in love with the city's traditional jazz, at that time overshadowed by primitive rock and bebop.
That couple's son, Ben Jaffe, owns and operates Preservation Hall today. The venue is open almost every night of the year, with a line of people waiting before each performance. It's the ideal intimate space to enjoy the sounds of the world-famous jazz band Preservation Hall, with a picturesque patio in the back. The Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street is another illustrious destination for all things jazz, metal and funk in New Orleans. This is a must-visit bar and music venue, where you can listen to and dance to local favorites, such as the Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, Miss Sophie Lee, Hot Club of New Orleans and more.
The small, informal space is adorned with quirky works of art by local popular artist Dr. New Orleans. In the 1880s, New Orleans brass bands, such as Excelsior and Onward, tended to consist of formally trained musicians who read complex scores for concerts, parades, and dances. A well-known example of the first ethnic influences important to the origins of jazz is the African tradition of dance and drums, which was documented in New Orleans. The most likely explanation is that some New Orleans cats took the music they listened to at home, in church and in bars, put it together and created a new sound.
These horns, which collectively improvised or simulated ragtime, produced the characteristic polyphonic sound of New Orleans jazz. Some of New Orleans' best-known jazz greats include Louis Satchmo Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Pete Fountain, Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Freddie Keppard and more. Most of the New Orleans events were accompanied by music, and there were plenty of opportunities for musicians to work. Later innovations such as bebop in the 1940s and avant-garde in the 1960s strayed even further from the New Orleans tradition. To round out the experience, Baccchanal features a variety of established and emerging musicians who are part of New Orleans' next wave of talent. It's the place where the New Orleans jazz tradition thrives in a relaxed and discreet environment - perfect for hanging out with old and new friends indoors or on the tropical patio. A review of the unique history and culture of New Orleans helps to understand how its distinctive character rooted in colonial times laid the foundation for many distinctive traditions that eventually led to the development and evolution of jazz.
At the turn of the century, New Orleans was thriving not only as a major seaport and river port but also as a major entertainment center. There's no better place to hear live jazz than New Orleans - a city full of music that dances to its own rhythm. Its historic past includes frequent visits by Frank Sinatra and Truman Capote; it is also where the New Orleans Saints franchise was named in 1966.
