The Preservation Hall Jazz Band was the featured musical artist on a 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live. The band features Percy Humphrey(trumpet),Willie Humprey(clarinet), Frank Demond(trombone), Narvin Kimball(banjo), Sing Miller(piano), Allan Jaffe(tuba), and Cie Frazier(drums). Check it out on our website by clicking HERE
Welcome to Made In New Orleans!
Hello everyone and welcome to the Preservation Hall Made in New Orleans Blog! We put this up with the intentions of creating a dialogue with you about New Orleans and New Orleans Music, in addition to a place to post questions, answers, and comments about the latest Preservation Hall Jazz Band release, MADE IN NEW ORLEANS: The Hurricane Sessions.
Each week, Benjy and I will post on a variety of topics; everything from what’s been happening here at the Hall, features on Preservation Hall musicians of the past/present, responses to your questions/comments, and personal accounts of life in our fair city of New Orleans. We’d like for you to contribute your stories and memoirs as well. Tell us about that time you stumbled off Bourbon Street and into the Hall and saw Billie & Dede Pierce in 1963. Or maybe that time when the Preservation Hall Band played in your hometown. Tell us your New Orleans story. We welcome it.
For those of you who’ve purchased MADE IN NEW ORLEANS, please feel free to drop in with any questions or feedback about your sets. As you may or may not know, each box is unique and contains a variety of Preservation Hall memorabilia. Our initial plan was to create a page on our website displaying all the possible contents of the sets along with a brief description of each item. In the process, we realized that the stories surrounding these items and people are beyond what a caption can summarize. I can speak personally when I say that every week I’m learning something new about the Hall, the venerable musicians who’ve played here, and New Orleans. So ask away. If we can’t answer you right away, we’ll look it up for you. So tell us what ya got. For more info on MADE IN NEW ORLEANS or PRESERVATION HALL, ask us or visit www.preservationhall.com.
Have a lovely day. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Ronnie Numbers & Ben Jaffe
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Saturday Night Live.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
M.I.N.O. Feature: "Creole" George Guesnon
During the ‘randomized’ hand assembly of the Made In New Orleans box collections, it was difficult to not put this amiable photograph of banjoist/guitarist George Guesnon in every box. One of New Orleans’ best known banjo players, “Creole” George was a scrapbooker and photo collector in his own right, and often made handwritten captions on the face of the photographs with sometimes ‘opinionated’ comments on the portrayed. Here’s some info on Guesnon:
“CREOLE” GEORGE GUESNON(pronounced gay-no)
(BANJO, GUITAR)
b. May 25, 1907
d. May 5, 1968
Played with: Sam Morgan, Oscar “Papa” Celestin, Kid Rena, Chris Kelly, Buddy Petit, Punch Miller, George Lewis…
Creole George Guesnon began playing professionally in 1927, when he joined Kid Clayton’s Happy Pals at the Hummingbird cabaret. George had a few lessons from John Marrero, but for the most part perfected his own amazing technique on guitar and banjo. He recorded several blues records for Decca during the thirties, when he was seeking his fortune in New York and sharing an apartment with Jelly Roll Morton, who arranged some of his compositions.
In 1935 he went to Jackson, Mississippi, where he joined Little Brother Montgomery’s orchestra and a year later the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. For two years he was featured as a banjo soloist and during this time he extemporized endless lyrics which he sang to his own standard blues accompaniment. In 1940 he recorded again for Decca.
When World War II came, he joined the Merchant Marine and afterwards returned to New Orleans to play jobs with a variety of bands. He traveled with George Lewis to California and also to New York where they recorded for Blue Note. In 1959 George recorded for Icon and afterwards appeared on many traditional New Orleans jazz releases, including the Riverside “Living Legends” series and the Atlantic “jazz at Preservation Hall” series.
Until his retirement in 1965, George appeared at Preservation Hall as leader of his own group or as sideman with other groups.
from “Preservation Hall Portraits” By Noel Rockmore; text by Larry Borenstein & Bill Russell
more reading on George Guesnon:
“Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White” by Tom Sancton
“Preservation Hall” by William Carter
“New Orleans Style” by Bill Russell
“The Jazz Crusade:The Inside Story of the Great New Orleans Jazz Revival of the 1960s” by Big Bill Bissonnette
on the web:
jazzbanjo.com:George Guesnon
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Preservation Hall on YouTube
Next time you're on YouTube, search for 'Preservation Hall'. Just make sure you got some time on your hands, there's a whole lot to watch. Here's one featuring the Kid Thomas Band. For some reason they have Emanuel Paul listed as Charlie Hamilton. Anyhow, enjoy!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
"New Orleans Ain't the Same without Walter Payton"
Here's an article we stumbled into on our much loved bass player, Walter Payton.
"New Orleans Ain't the Same Without Walter Payton" by Larry Benicewicz
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