The genesis of New Orleans jazz, which spawned rhythm/blues, Cajun / Zydeco music, and delta blues, took place nearly one hundred years ago. It seems that in the wake of recent disasters, one might suggest that many factors including Hurricane Katrina, the death of Clarence Gatemouth Brown and folklorist Alan Lomax have led to the destruction or silencing of this type of music and its contributors. Jazz guitarist Clarence Gatemouth Brown fought hard to keep his style of music from being silenced and overshadowed by what was popular at the time. Alan Lomax's, a white folklorist, deliberate absence of black scholars in his book "The Land Where the Blues Began" was yet another attempt to silence the contributions of African American jazz musicians. While many jazz musicians are held in captive suspense wondering if the music will survive, others are trying to save The Preservation Hall Band and undo the historical damage left by folklorist Alan Lomax.
New Orleans jazz, like all music, must be preserved at any cost. These musicians realize that African Americans through their music provides cultural values and a since of belonging.
The New York times recently publish several articles about the after life of music, particularly jazz, in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. One of the first things that came to my mind when I began reading these articles was the relationship they shared with one another. This music provided a sense of belonging to the musicians and residents of New Orleans and now all that seems to be lost. Ben Ratliff's article "Jazz Musicians Ask If Their Scene Will Survive" is a bleak look into the future of jazz bands in New Orleans. Don Marshall, director of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Foundation believes the future of brass bands...