About Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a New Orleans jazz band founded in New Orleans by tuba player Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s. The band derives its name from Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. In 2005, the Hall's doors were closed for a period of time due to Hurricane Katrina, but the band continued to tour.
In the 1950s, Larry Borenstein, an art dealer from Milwaukee, managed Preservation Hall in the French Quarter as an art gallery. To attract customers, he invited local New Orleans jazz musicians to play. After their honeymoon in 1961, Allan Jaffe and his wife Sandra visited to hear some traditional New Orleans jazz. The Jaffes were from Pennsylvania. Allan Jaffe was a tuba player who had graduated from the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, while his wife had been employed at an advertising agency. They attended concerts, grew to love the French Quarter, and stayed longer than they had intended. Borenstein asked if they wanted to manage Preservation Hall, and they agreed.
Allan Jaffe hired local musicians whose ages ranged from the 60s to the 90s. Many were struggling with poverty, racism, and illness. At first the Jaffes served no alcohol, used no amplification, and didn't advertise. In 1963, Allan Jaffe began to tour with bands in the U.S. and in other countries. These tours included such popular figures as pianist Sweet Emma Barrett, trumpeter Kid Thomas Valentine, brothers Percy Humphrey and Willie Humphrey, trumpeter De De Pierce and his wife, pianist Billie Pierce. The most popular was clarinetist George Lewis, whose reputation preceded the Hall. Fans from all over the world came to New Orleans to hear traditional jazz.
Barrett's health began to decline in the 1970s, which forced her to stop touring. She was replaced as leader by brothers Percy Humphrey and Willie Humphrey . The lineup included Frank Demond , James Prevost , James "Sing" Miller , Cie Frazier , Jim Robinson , Narvin Kimball , and Allan Jaffe .
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, many of the touring members were hired by Harold Dejan for his Olympia Brass Band. This band became not only a staple at Preservation Hall, but also influenced the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and future Preservation Hall musicians.
Dejan's regular sidemen included Andy Anderson , Milton Batiste , Kid Sheik Cola , Paul Crawford Gerald Joseph , Emanuel Paul , Andrew Jefferson , John Smith, Henry "Booker T" Glass, Nowell "Papa" Glass. Cag Cagnolatti, Kid Thomas Valentine, Louis Nelson, Louis Cottrell, Jr., Cié Frazier, Emanuel Sayles, and Allan Jaffe on tuba were among those who played with the group. During the Olympia years, a young Harry Connick Jr. performed with Barrett and the band at Preservation Hall.
In 1977, Jaffe and Arthur Hall and his Afro-American Dance Ensemble released Fat Tuesday and All That Jazz! A Mardi Gras Dance Musical. The world premiere of the dance musical was on February 19, 1977, and was followed by a tour in the United States. Dejan's Olympia Brass Band was featured in Fat Tuesday and All That Jazz, in addition to the Arthur Hall Afro-American Dance Ensemble of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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