A Brief History of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band derives its name from Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter, founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The band has traveled worldwide on their mission to nurture and perpetuate the art form of New Orleans jazz. Whether performing at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, for British Royalty or the King of Thailand, the band exudes a joyful, timeless spirit. Under the auspices of current director, Ben Jaffe, son of Allan and Sandra, Preservation Hall continues with a deep reverence and consciousness of its greatest attributes in the modern day as a venue, band and record label.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band began touring in 1963, and for many years there were several bands successfully touring under the name Preservation Hall. Many of the band's charter members performed with the pioneers who invented jazz in the early twentieth century, including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and Bunk Johnson. These founding artists and dozens of others passed on the lessons of their music to a younger generation who now follow in their footsteps, including current bandleader and trumpeter John Brunious.

Bandleader John Brunious is known as a gifted ambassador for the music and spirit of New Orleans. From his earliest days in the city's Seventh Ward, Brunious breathed in the spirit and sound of jazz. Brunious began taking lessons from his father, John Sr., a respected trumpeter, composer and arranger, at age ten. He also taught himself to play by listening to records and emulating what he heard. Inspired by Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson, he developed a flair for flashy, high-note solos, earning him live performance and recording opportunities. His love for traditional jazz prevailed, and eventually, while playing at a club in the French Quarter, Brunious walked down the block to hear the band at Preservation Hall, who invited him to sit in. That was over 20 years ago, and he has been with Preservation Hall ever since.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band Director Benjamin Jaffe was raised in the heart of the French Quarter and under the influence of its culture. Jaffe began playing bass in his school band at age seven under the directorship of Walter Payton, who was a fixture at Preservation Hall. In rehearsals and concerts, he learned to explore traditional repertoire as well as songs drawn from the unique history of New Orleans and informed by the music of its churches and its clubs. After hours, with his parents at Preservation Hall, Jaffe listened to and got to know the reigning royalty of jazz. The day after his graduation from Oberlin College in 1993, he flew out to join the Preservation Hall Band as bassist on their world tour. Gradually, he assumed his late father's responsibilities as the director of Preservation Hall while continuing as a full-time band member and teaching as an adjunct professor at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, his high school Alma Mater.

Jaffe and his wife, Sarah, stayed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, an experience that changed his life in several critical ways. In the aftermath, he yielded his position as bassist with the touring band to his teacher and mentor, Walter Payton, in order to devote full energies to the recovery of Preservation Hall. Though damage to the building itself was minimal, the city's devastation, and the flight of citizens and tourists from the area hastened the Hall's closure. The institution was, in some ways, strengthened by Jaffe's determination to look after the musicians who played there and to adapt to the challenges faced by his city. Along with his wife, Jaffe organized the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund, with a mission to restore New Orleans' culture and vitality, and to provide emergency relief for performers in need.