The Preservation Hall Jazz Band will perform in Washington Park on Sunday, June 22nd, as part of the OTR Performs series. The famous band, known for its New Orleans’ style jazz and the venue from which it draws its name, will perform a 90-minute set at 6:30pm with no intermission. Opening acts are yet to be determined.
Although band members have changed over the years since the Preservation Hall opened its doors in the French Quarter in 1961, all the musicians have played at the Hall as well as toured around the world. Current members include creative director Ben Jaffe, whose father Allan Jaffe was the American jazz tubist and entrepreneur who founded the Preservation Hall and turned it into a New Orleans jazz tradition. Ben Jaffe plays the sousaphone and bass.
3CDC was contacted by the band last month, seeking a performance venue between a concert in Kent, Ohio on the 21st of June and one in Chicago on the 24th. Washington Park was a perfect fit. During the early 1960s when Preservation Hall and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band were making a name for themselves, the venue welcomed both Caucasian and African-American musicians; very rare in the racially-segregated community of New Orleans at the time. Washington Park, having recently undergone a $48 million renovation, has been deemed by some as “the most democratic place in the city.” What better venue for the renowned Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
The free concert will be complemented by full bar service at the concession stand and New Orleans’-style food vendors in the Park. Parking is available in the Washington Park Garage, accessed from Race or Elm streets. The June 22nd concert is part of the “DBL Law presents OTR Performs” series, and is sponsored by the Ladislas and Vilma Segoe Family Foundation and Enjoy the Arts. More information is available at www.washingtonpark.org.
