By Pia Stokes
On Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m., the Preservation Hall Jazz Band will be performing in Weber Chapel at Susquehanna University.
Preservation Hall is a historic music venue in the French Quarter that preserves the spirit of traditional New Orleans Jazz. Their mission is to nurture and perpetuate the art of New Orleans Jazz. This band contains unique members who are all incredibly talented. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band comes to Susquehanna University as part of their 60th anniversary nationwide tour. Tickets can be bought at the Box Office from now until the performance. Tickets are free to SU students, faculty and staff and are $5 for non-SU students, $15 for seniors and $20 for adults.
The story of Preservation Hall dates back to the 1950s at Associated Artists, a small art gallery in New Orleans’ French Quarter. After opening the gallery, Larry Borenstein, also known as the “Father of Preservation Hall,” found that it cut back on his ability to attend the few remaining local jazz concerts, so he began to invite these musicians to perform “rehearsal sessions” in the gallery itself. In these sessions, there were featured living legends of New Orleans Jazz: George Lewis, Punch Miller, Sweet Emma Barrett, Billie Pierce, De De Pierce, The Humphrey Brothers and so many more.
The Preservation Hall club itself in New Orleans was molded into its current form by a couple from Pennsylvania. Sandra Jaffe, who ran the club alongside her husband Allan, died last December at the age of 83. On their way back from their honeymoon in Mexico, the couple stopped in New Orleans, where they wandered into a random art gallery to hear a group playing jazz. Mesmerized by the music, Sandra and Allan decided to stay a few extra days in New Orleans to hear the group play again. When they had visited the gallery a few days later, Larry Borenstein offered the space since he was moving the gallery next door. They agreed to this and opened Preservation Hall in 1961. The couple later had their son, Ben Jaffe, who is now the creative director and plays the tuba and double bass with the band.
