Preservation Hall
Encyclopedia
Preservation Hall is a noted jazz
performance hall located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter
of New Orleans, Louisiana
. It hosts nightly concerts featuring a rotating roster of bands. The bands of Preservation Hall typically perform jazz in the New Orleans style
.
Despite the fame of the institution, admittance is affordable, being $12 as of March 2011. Because of limited seating, crowds typically begin lining up well in advance of a performance. No reservations are accepted and the line typically is quite long. Sometimes musicians will play for those waiting in line. Inside, a large portion of the audience must stand in back, behind a limited number of benches, chairs, and floor cushions.
The hall is not cleared forcibly between sets and an audience member can expect to stand in the dark with little or no view of the musicians for one set, stand with a good view for the next set, and find a seat for a third set. There is no dance floor and neither food nor drink is served. Smoking is not permitted, but outside drinks may be permitted, with decisions apparently based on safety and cleanliness.
. At that time, many older jazz musicians were employed only minimally. Borenstein arranged for some of them to play for tips there to help draw in potential customers to the gallery. More people began coming for the music than the art.
Allan Jaffe
took over running of the Hall and made it into a famous institution, in part by ignoring the then prevalent ideas of what was needed for a successful music business—there was no dance floor and no food or drinks were served—the focus being just on the music. The only products sold were the recordings of Preservation Hall players and rare recordings of other New Orleans jazz musicians. Alan Jaffe's family continues to run the Hall.
In addition to playing in the French Quarter Hall, bands of New Orleans musicians tour the world under the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
name.
In August 2005, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
forced Preservation Hall to close for several months, although the building remained intact. The first post-Katrina performance at Preservation Hall took place on April 27-28, 2006, commemorating its 45th Anniversary.
A subsequent 1812 sale advertises a "house lately belonging to M. Faisendieu, $4000 cash and two years of notes." In 1816, when the Orleans Ballroom burned, this building also burned, and according to an act of sale, the architects Gurlie and Guillot bought the lot and rubble for $5000 in 1816, selling the property to Agathe Fanchon, femme de couleur libre, for $13,500 in November 1817.
Madame Fanchon owned the property until 1866. The service wing and patio were home and office to the photographer "Pop" Whitesell in the first half of the twentieth century.
The porte-cochere
house appears to be Spanish colonial in style, simple and chaste in its anonymous facade, with a wrought iron balcony and the remnant of a terrace roof with tiles peeking out beyond the newer pitched roof. The facade even has the Spanish style banding bordering it. Like Madame John's Legacy , this building seems to have been rebuilt or renovated after the fire in the same manner it was originally built.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
performance hall located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
of New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. It hosts nightly concerts featuring a rotating roster of bands. The bands of Preservation Hall typically perform jazz in the New Orleans style
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
.
Despite the fame of the institution, admittance is affordable, being $12 as of March 2011. Because of limited seating, crowds typically begin lining up well in advance of a performance. No reservations are accepted and the line typically is quite long. Sometimes musicians will play for those waiting in line. Inside, a large portion of the audience must stand in back, behind a limited number of benches, chairs, and floor cushions.
The hall is not cleared forcibly between sets and an audience member can expect to stand in the dark with little or no view of the musicians for one set, stand with a good view for the next set, and find a seat for a third set. There is no dance floor and neither food nor drink is served. Smoking is not permitted, but outside drinks may be permitted, with decisions apparently based on safety and cleanliness.
History of the jazz hall
The origins of musical performances at Preservation Hall go back to the start of the 1960s along with the opening of an art gallery run by local entrepreneur Larry BorensteinLarry Borenstein
Larry Borenstein was an American property owner and art dealer.He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Russian parents and when 13 years old he went to Chicago to join the World's Fair...
. At that time, many older jazz musicians were employed only minimally. Borenstein arranged for some of them to play for tips there to help draw in potential customers to the gallery. More people began coming for the music than the art.
Allan Jaffe
Allan Jaffe
Allan Phillip Jaffe was an American jazz tubist and the entrepreneur who developed Preservation Hall into a New Orleans jazz tradition....
took over running of the Hall and made it into a famous institution, in part by ignoring the then prevalent ideas of what was needed for a successful music business—there was no dance floor and no food or drinks were served—the focus being just on the music. The only products sold were the recordings of Preservation Hall players and rare recordings of other New Orleans jazz musicians. Alan Jaffe's family continues to run the Hall.
In addition to playing in the French Quarter Hall, bands of New Orleans musicians tour the world under the Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the name for numerous groups of Dixieland Jazz and traditional jazz bands at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on tours as organized by the Preservation Hall...
name.
In August 2005, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
forced Preservation Hall to close for several months, although the building remained intact. The first post-Katrina performance at Preservation Hall took place on April 27-28, 2006, commemorating its 45th Anniversary.
Historic building
Antoine Faisendieu bought a lot here from Guillermo Gros in 1803 and built a tavern, selling it in 1809 to Pierre and Barthelemy Jourdain.A subsequent 1812 sale advertises a "house lately belonging to M. Faisendieu, $4000 cash and two years of notes." In 1816, when the Orleans Ballroom burned, this building also burned, and according to an act of sale, the architects Gurlie and Guillot bought the lot and rubble for $5000 in 1816, selling the property to Agathe Fanchon, femme de couleur libre, for $13,500 in November 1817.
Madame Fanchon owned the property until 1866. The service wing and patio were home and office to the photographer "Pop" Whitesell in the first half of the twentieth century.
The porte-cochere
Porte-cochere
A porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...
house appears to be Spanish colonial in style, simple and chaste in its anonymous facade, with a wrought iron balcony and the remnant of a terrace roof with tiles peeking out beyond the newer pitched roof. The facade even has the Spanish style banding bordering it. Like Madame John's Legacy , this building seems to have been rebuilt or renovated after the fire in the same manner it was originally built.
Further reading and references
- Preservation Hall by William Carter
- "Song for My Fathers" by Tom Sancton
- Historic Architecture of Preservation Hall
- Historic Architecture of Preservation Hall TV Interview