Issue Articles
A Post-K Education
“The history of New Orleans in the wrenching aftermath of Hurricane Katrina can be telegraphed in one sentence. Politics failed, culture prevailed.” Jason Berry uses this thought to start “Memory […]
Rethinking the Roots of Jazz
For many years a debate percolated among writers and historians about the origins of jazz: Did America’s “native art form” truly arise from New Orleans? The late Leonard Feather, and […]
Allen Toussaint: On the Spiritual Side
It has been 18 years since Allen Toussaint, the premier New Orleans songwriter, released a major album of his own. That was Southern Nights, a minor classic with the dreamy […]
Jazz Funerals in Time
No one knows when the first jazz funeral occurred, but whenever it did, the word jazz did not apply. From the dawn of jazz music in the 1890s through middle […]
Bill Russell’s Explorations of the Origins of Jazz
When the outspoken jazz documentarian died, much history died with him. But he left behind enough to keep historian arguing for a very long time. Editor’s Note: This is the […]
Brass Bands After World War II: A Crossroads
Editor’s note: Although no one has pinpointed when the music we now can jazz coalesced into an idiom, a September 1995 symposium held in New Orleans celebrated the 100-year mark. […]
Davell Crawford Comes of Age
The piano whiz kid, who just turned 20, says “Let Them Talk’: as his first album demonstrates, he’s too busy living up to the legacy of Sugarboy Crawford, his fabled […]
Snug Harbor: Jazz Haven
Five years ago New Orleans music was booming. Oil was flush, collaborations between musicians and various artists blossomed, and the town was pitched for a world’s fair whose promoters promised […]
