Going Home

Preservation Hall Jazz Band will perform a New Orleans benefit concert at McCarter Theatre.

By: Josh Appelbaum
(The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has set up Do You Know What It Means…, a fund for New Orleans musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.)
   To say it’s been a trying year for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orleans would be a gross understatement.
   Its venerable home, just three blocks from the French Quarter, opened by tuba player Allan Jaffe in 1961, was extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina and just reopened April 28 for the city’s Jazz and Heritage Festival. And banjoist Narvin Kimball, who was the last surviving founding member of the band, died March 17 at age 97.
   Normally splitting its time between nightly performances at the hall and about 150 shows worldwide every year, the traditional Big Easy jazz outfit was without a home as the band celebrated its 45th anniversary. The band has been touring extensively since September and will perform at McCarter Theatre in Princeton May 9.
   Bassist Ben Jaffe, who grew up at the hall and on tour with his father, Allan, now fronts the jazz band, and says promoters have been especially accommodating to his band and other New Orleans musicians in light of chaotic circumstances. "The people of New Orleans have found success in the shadow of Hurricane Katrina," Mr. Jaffe says, speaking from a Houston, Texas, tour stop. "It’s been bittersweet for all of us. On the one hand, members of the band have lost their cars, their instruments and memorabilia. On the other hand, we all have jobs, which a lot of people who evacuated don’t have right now."
   He imparts that music was one of the last family trades still thriving in New Orleans before the storm, its craftspeople deeply connected to the community. Mr. Jaffe views the Crescent City as the cultural capital of the U.S. "Without New Orleans, you wouldn’t have jazz; without New Orleans there wouldn’t be great tasting Creole and Cajun food."
   Just as the city has been changed forever, so has the jazz band. Mr. Jaffe recently inherited the role of record producer, and now leads a younger Preservation Hall Jazz Band with musicians who are eager to push its style in new directions. "My production style is a lot different from that of my father’s, and you’ll really be able to hear it on our next release," he says.
   The album Mr. Jaffe speaks of was recorded in August 2005, finished just days before Katrina struck. Like many of the accounts of hardship, rescue and displacement of the people of New Orleans, the recording’s ultimate survival was in doubt. "The hurricane had destroyed the studio while the engineer was working on post-production," Mr. Jaffe says. "It took us months just to track down the engineer, and fortunately, he had enough sense to take all the master hard drives… to Lafayette (La.), where he was staying."
   Originally slated for a January release, the album will likely hit the streets in June.
   Since the storm, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has not only been working to ensure its own survival and prosperity, but has been helping organizations raise funds for relief efforts on the Gulf Coast.
   Just weeks after the hurricane — on Sept. 20 — the jazz band, along with New Orleans funk fusion band Galactic, marched up the aisles of Radio City Music Hall’s stage to kick off "From the Big Apple to the Big Easy." The marathon concert benefited the Clinton-Bush Katrina Fund, with artists including Tom Waits, Dave Matthews and Trey Anastasio, and a special appearance by former president Bill Clinton. Money raised from the May 9 performance at McCarter will go to the group’s fund for New Orleans musicians affected by the disaster, called Do You Know What It Means…
   Mr. Jaffe says the grand entrance to the New York City concert was symbolic of the unique communal ties among New Orleans artists. "With New Orleans musicians, there’s a common language we all speak," Mr. Jaffe says. "We and (Galactic drummer/front man) Stanton Moore were able to pull it together without really rehearsing, and what we were doing was simulating a New Orleans second line parade."
   The second line is common to the city’s "jazz funerals" (though locals don’t call them that) and the memorials have been emblematic for the band and the city, both of which are in the throes of disruptive transitions.
   Mr. Jaffe says because so many folks have been displaced, Mr. Narvin’s own funeral was attended by only a handful of friends and family. Mr. Jaffe played in the brass band that marched alongside the procession (hence, "second line") and as it segued from somber to revelatory tunes, he says the healing process began.
   "Suddenly, you could see this burden of loss being lifted off people’s shoulders," he says. "It becomes a celebration of the person’s life, and it’s a beautiful, bittersweet event."
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will perform at McCarter Theatre, 91 University Place, Princeton, May 9, 8 p.m. Tickets cost $25-$35 to benefit Hurricane Katrina relief. For information, call (609) 258-2787. On the Web: www.mccarter.org. Preservation Hall Jazz band on the Web: www.preservationhall.com