New Orleans (1) – Jazz
Dec 31, 2013, New Orleans, LA, Light Rain
What a wonderful world (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2VCwBzGdPM)
I see trees of green…….. red roses too
I see em bloom….. for me and for you
And I think to myself…. what a wonderful world.
I see skies of blue….. clouds of white
Bright blessed days….dark sacred nights
And I think to myself …..what a wonderful world.
The colors of a rainbow…..so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces…..of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands…..sayin.. how do you do
They’re really sayin……i love you.
When I listen to this relaxing and kind song, I always feel it is indeed a wonderful world. That’s the success of Louis Armstrong. He is the foundational character for Jazz, He later brought Jazz from New Orleans to Chicago, which made Jazz known to the outside the world.
Origin and History of Jazz: Jazz is so important to the New Orleans history. There is even an National History Park for Jazz. At New Orleans, there used to have many plantations at some point. Slaves worked very hard on these plantations to harvest cottons and sugar canes. When they had the only time Sunday afternoon off, the slaves gathered around, singing, dancing and beating drums. Jazz is created for celebrating such Sunday relaxation, joy and free after a long-week hard work. It is a mixture of African music which brought by the slaves, and the European music which brought by the French settlers . This picture was taken at Louis Armstrong park, outside of the French Quarter. The place is considered as the birth of the Jazz music where the slaves used to gathered around for Sunday celebrations.
In the old days, poor people were not affordable to go to the Jazz concert. The musicians come to the neighborhood (see picture below) to perform free shows. This place then becomes so historically important.
New Orleans Jazz: when we talk about Jazz, people easily think of Jazz played by Carnegie Jazz Band or some piano music in the wine bar. The best Jazz I have ever heard is New Orleans Jazz, played in this Preservation Hall.
The building is considered as one of the oldest in French Quarter. The room is small. A selection portion of seats can be reserved via their website: http://www.preservationhall.com/hall/. Order several days early as they sold out fast. We ended up waiting outside in the cold for two hours and get a standing position. The players are all very famous local players in New Orleans. For example, the drum player is Jason Marsalis who belongs to this Marsalis family. The instruments used in the Jazz are typical symphony instruments such as Piano, Drum, Clarinet, Trombone, Base and Trumpet; however, they are played using different techniques in Jazz. Sometimes, the musicians insert a section of vocals in the music. For those of you who have no chance visiting New Orleans yet, here is an amazon collection to recommend: City-Of-A-Million-Dreams
There are many Jazz bars in New Orleans. Besides famous Bourbon street, Frenchman street outside of French Quarter has many good ones that attract even locals.
Jazz Funeral: When a Jazz musician dies, many Jazz musicians will come to the funeral and play Jazz. On the way to the cemetery, the music usually is very sad for mourning their friends; however, on the way away from the cemetery, the music usually is very happy, representing new life starts. Many rich people order Jazz funerals. It is a music fest that many people comes to watch.
From those stories, I feel the Jazz culture really alike the Jazz music, has this warm, witty and happy spirit, which deserves us to appreciate.
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