by Andrew Frisicano

Preservation Hall Jazz Band...

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a rotating group of some of the most esteemed musicians in New Orleans, are all kinds of big easy - the mindset, not the proper noun. They are consummate professionals, but it doesn't lend itself to a stuffy or by the numbers brand of jazz music. It's a style that waltzes, lurches and whistles Dixie. It is dripping with the bourbon flairs that might be transcendent there in the streets and the waters, living there amongst a proud group of people who regularly show their elasticity and that pride in the way New Orleans is pulled off, the way that it's perpetrated and seasoned. [Daytrotter]

The band, formed in 1961 under the direction of the late Allan Jaffe, has worked to promote New Orleans-style jazz through the county and world. Now, under the direction of Jaffe's son, Preservation Hall creative director Ben, the collective and its rotating lineup continue to flourish, with concerts booked through 2010. This week, from March 31st to April 5th, the Preservation Hall Jazz band holds court for six-nights at NYC's Blue Note. Each night has an early show and a late show; table reservations for each set are currently available.

Also this week, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is releasing a live CD titled New Orleans Preservation, Vol. 1. The disc was recorded earlier this year at the group's home venue, New Orleans' Preservation Hall, "located in the French Quarter, just three blocks from the Mississippi River" (says the band's history).

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will also return to NYC to the perform on the already-huge-and-growing bill of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday celebration at MSG on May 3rd (sold out).

In other New Orleans-to-New York news, we previously reported that NOLA Fest Ponderosa Stomp is presenting a special three-night program of music at Lincoln Center, the first of which takes place on July 17th. A set of pictures from the Ponderosa Stomp event at SXSW was also recently posted.

All tour dates, New Orleans Preservation Vol. 1 track list and art, and clips of Preservation Hall Jazz Band + the Blind Boys of Alabama (PHJB tourmates for part of 2009) below...

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