VOICE ONE:
There is a special place in the southern city of New Orleans,Louisiana. It is a very small building on Saint Peter’s Street. Forforty years, musicians who play their music in this hall have triedto continue the tradition of New Orleans jazz. I’m Shirley Griffith.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Sarah Long. Preservation Hall is our report today on theVOA Special English program This is America.
((CUT ONE: “The Bucket’s Got A Hole In It”))
VOICE ONE:
Saint Peter’s Street is in the oldest part of the city of NewOrleans. French people built this part of the city. The area isstill called the French Quarter. The little building that is home toPreservation Hall was built as a home in about Seventeen-Fifty.
In Nineteen-Sixty-One, Allan and Sandra Jaffe began using thesmall building as a music hall. Musicians there played traditionalNew Orleans jazz. Mister and Missus Jaffe named the buildingPreservation Hall.
VOICE TWO:
The word “preservation” means keeping or protecting for thefuture. When Allan and Sandra Jaffe opened Preservation Hall inNineteen-Sixty-One, traditional New Orleans Jazz music was in dangerof disappearing.
Young people wanted to hear the music of Elvis Presley and otherrock and roll stars. Not many young people wanted to listen to avery old kind of music that was first popular in the earlyEighteen-Nineties.
VOICE ONE:
However, many older musicians still liked traditional New Orleansjazz. They often came together and played, sometimes just for theirown enjoyment. Allen Jaffe learned about these older musicians. Heoffered them his small building as a place to play their music.
Each night, when they were done with their other work, these jazzmusicians gathered at the small building and played.
Allen Jaffe played with them. He was a tuba player. He alsoorganized the music groups that played in the hall. Much later heorganized trips so the bands could play around the United States andin many other countries.
VOICE TWO:
Allen Jaffe was the force behind Preservation Hall until hisdeath in Nineteen-Eighty-Seven. Today, Sandra Jaffe still owns thesmall building. She keeps the doors open to the now very famousPreservation Hall. Six different bands appear there, each ondifferent nights.
Now we would like to take you to Preservation Hall, in the FrenchQuarter of New Orleans. It is really a very easy thing to do. Justclose your eyes and listen.
VOICE ONE:
It is a warm evening in New Orleans. We have just finished eatingdinner at one of the famous New Orleans restaurants. We are walkingalong a very narrow street. Most of the buildings are very old.
Just ahead, people are standing in the street near a smallbuilding. Listen closely now. You can hear music coming from thelittle building at Seven-Sixty-Two Saint Peter’s Street. The musicis coming from Preservation Hall.
((CUT TWO: “IN THE EVENING”))
VOICE TWO:
We can hear the music from outside. A line of people waits toenter the building. When a few people leave the building, a few moreare permitted to enter. We take our place in line. It is a nice warmevening and the music is great fun.
As we stand in line we hear the bandleader say softly, “A CloserWalk.” The leader has just told the members of the band what songthey will play next.
The full name of the song is “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” Thisis a traditional church song that jazz bands have played for morethan one-hundred years.
The song is slow and sad and very beautiful. It clearly shows thelink between church music of black Americans and the beginnings ofjazz music. It is the kind of song that the Preservation Hall JazzBand has helped to pass to the future. Listen. The band is beginningto play.
((CUT THREE: “JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH THEE”))
VOICE ONE:
As the band finishes this song, many people leave the building.Now there is room for us to go inside. A young man at the doorcollects the money to enter the building. We pay a few dollars andwalk inside. Near the wall a huge white cat sleeps on a chair. Wecan see pictures on the walls of the Preservation Hall Jazz Bands.
We turn to the left and enter a very small room. About thirtypeople are in here. There is no room for any more. Most people standnear the walls. A few sit on the floor in front of the band. A fewsit on seats made from long pieces of old wood. Preservation Hall isabout music, not costly surroundings.
VOICE TWO:
Six men are facing us. One sits at a piano. Another plays drums.One plays a clarinet. Another plays a trumpet. One man plays thetuba and one a banjo. The trumpet player is almost always the leaderof these groups. The trumpet player says, “Joe Avery” and the bandbegins to play another traditional early jazz song.
((CUT FOUR: “JOE AVERY”))
VOICE ONE:
There is a funny sign in back of the band. The sign says the bandwill play songs requested by the people in the hall. The price for arequest is one dollar for any traditional jazz song. The sign saysother songs cost two dollars. And the sign says it will cost fivedollars if anyone requests the song “Saints.”
The sign means the song, “When the Saints Go Marching In.” It isa very traditional song that is closely linked with New Orleans andjazz. People request it so often that the band would really ratherplay something else.
However, a man sitting on the floor gives the bandleader fivedollars and says, “Please play ‘The Saints.’ ” The bandleader takesthe money and smiles. He says, ” ‘The Saints’ it is.”
(((CUT FIVE: ” WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN” )))
VOICE TWO:
It is time for us to leave now and permit others to enterPreservation Hall. We look around the small, famous room and movetoward the door. The huge white cat is still asleep on the chair,its tail moving slowly. As we reach the door to the outside, theband begins another song. It is a very old Duke Ellington song,”Mood Indigo.”
((CUT SIX: “MOOD INDIGO”))
VOICE ONE:
As we walk away from Preservation Hall and into the warm evening,a man and woman are dancing in the street to the slow music. Theyare dancing while they wait to enter the famous little building atSeven-Sixty-Two Saint Peter’s Street, in the French Quarter of NewOrleans.
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byCynthia Kirk. Our studio engineer was Mick Shaw. I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for anotherreport about life in the United States on the VOA Special Englishprogram This is America.
((CUT SEVEN: “THE BUCKET’S GOT A HOLE IN IT”))