Preservation Hall Recordings to release Animated Music Video!

PRESERVATION HALL RECORDINGS TO RELEASE
BRAND-NEW ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ST. PETER STREET SERENADE
AN ITUNES DIGITAL MUSIC & VIDEO PACKAGE:
LAUNCHING OCTOBER 20, 2009

October 20, 2009 – New Orleans, LA – 12:01AM:
It’s Toon Time! Visit PreservationHall.com at midnight on October 20th as we launch a brand-new animated music video for the Preservation Hall / King Britt re-mix of “St. James Infirmary.” Animated by Lafayette-based animator James Tancill in the style of Max Fleischer (Betty Boop, etc.), the video is an animated romp that plays out like a storybook caper set against a backdrop of beloved New Orleans characters and institutions. Featuring animated versions of Clint Maedgen, Ben Jaffe, King Britt, John Brunious Jr., Sweet Emma Barrett, Ronnie Numbers and Mr. The Turk (of The New Orleans Bingo! Show) and more, this darkly lush imagining of the song’s narrative features more than enough ghostly fun to make it the perfect Halloween release!

ABOUT ST. PETER STREET SERENADE:
Following in the tradition of our 1996 recording, The Preservation Hall Hot 4 with Harold “Duke” Dejan, St. Peter Street Serenade is a collection of five small-arrangement performances of traditional jazz selections featuring vocalist Clint Maedgen and a variety of special guests. Embracing the new era of the independent online release, Preservation Hall Recordings has decided to make this very special package available for digital download only. Available exclusively from iTunes, these five tracks are available individually or as part of a package that includes the brand-new animated music video for “St. James Infirmary,” as well as the very popular videos for “Complicated Life” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.”

TRACK LISTING:
1. Exactly Like You
The Preservation Hall Hot 4 featuring guest vocalists Clint Maedgen and Topsy Chapman.
2. I’ll Fly Away
The Preservaiton Hall Hot 4 featuring guest vocalists Clint Maedgen, Topsy Chapman, Jolynda Phillips and Yolanda Windsay
3. St. James Infirmary
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, as led by John Brunious, Jr. and remixed by legendary Philadelphia DJ and producer King Britt (Sister Gertrude, Digable Planets) and Preservation Hall Creative Director Ben Jaffe.
4. I’m Alone Because I Love You
The Preservation Hall Hot 4 featuring Clint Maedgen
5. Le Petit Fleur
The Preservation Hall Hot 4 featuring Ralph Johnson
6. St. James Infirmary
Animated Music Video
7. Complicated Life
Music Video
8. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
Music Video

MORE ABOUT THE CARTOON:

PRESERVATION HALL RECORDINGS PRESENTS

-ST. JAMES INFIRMARY-
A BRAND-NEW, LOCALLY PRODUCED ANIMATED MUSIC VIDEO

Preservation Hall Recordings is proud to present a brand-new, locally produced animated music video! Directed by Lafayette-based teacher and animator James Tancill, the music video for the Preservation Hall / King Britt remix of “St. James Infirmary” by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is an animated romp in the style of Max Fleischer (Betty Boop, etc.) that plays out like a storybook caper set against a backdrop of beloved New Orleans characters and institutions both old and new. Audiences familiar with the iconography of New Orleans music and culture will thrill as characters and beloved landmarks from the past and present find new life in an animated tableau.

Set to music by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band (as led by dearly departed bandleader John Brunious, Jr. and remixed by legendary Philadelphia DJ and producer King Britt (Digable Planets, E-Culture) and Preservation Hall Creative Director Ben Jaffe) the video for “St. James Infirmary” follows the antics of Ronnie Numbers and Mr. The Turk of The New Orleans Bingo! Show through a dark and mischievous imagining of the song’s classic narrative as sung by Clint Maedgen (PHJB, The New Orleans Bingo! Show). Starring animated versions of Clint Maedgen, Ben Jaffe, and King Britt; and featuring appearances by such departed icons as John Brunious Jr., Sweet Emma Barrett, and Marie Laveau in such familiar settings as Preservation Hall, Jackson Square, and the long-defunct Pontchartrain Beach amusement park, “St. James Infirmary” is the third music video from Preservation Hall Recordings to feature the cross-over appeal of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and The New Orleans Bingo! Show.

“We were looking for a fun way to visually document some of the great icons of New Orleans music and culture. What better way to bridge the past and the present than with a modern cartoon in an instantly recognizable, classic style. And made right here in New Orleans! ”

-Ben Jaffe
Son of Preservation Hall founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe

ABOUT THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND:
Since opening its doors to the public in 1961, it has been the mission of Preservation Hall to showcase the national treasures of traditional New Orleans jazz music. Forty-eight years later, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band still represents the best opportunity for music fans the world over to experience the planet’s happiest music. Boasting a direct lineage from the earliest incarnations of New Orleans jazz, the current roster of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band features some of the Crescent City’s finest and most exciting musicians. These unforgettable, multi-generational players proudly carry on the traditions passed forward from the most prolific jazz heritage on earth.

http://www.preservationhall.com
http://www.myspace.com/preservationhall
http://www.facebook.com/Preservation.Hall
http://www.preshall.blogspot.com
http://twitter/@preshall

ABOUT KING BRITT (in his words):
Well, bios are funny because they tell the story of the past of who you are in the present. I try to only live in the present and the future (as I said, try). Even though beginning my career in 1990 on the now legendary house label Strictly Rhythm as E- Culture, being Silkworm in the groundbreaking, Grammy winning Digable Planets, starting Ovum Recordings with Josh Wink, producing platinum remixes for Macy Gray, Solange, Donna Lewis and hundreds of others, winning the highest grant in the country as the first dj/producer, The Pew Fellowship or starting my empire, FiveSixMedia, I still try to live in the NOW and not the then.

So of course, now, I am a father, fiance', musicologist of sorts and media revolutionary. My label and company FiveSixMedia, set the example of an individual who is able to live outside the box and show what freedom truly is. Doing my own thing on my own time and assisting other to move into that space as well.

The future is bright because I say it is. Stop and smell the flowers.

http://fivesixmedia.com
http://www.myspace.com/kingbritt
http://www.facebook.com/pages/King-Britt/32000132245

ABOUT VISUAL ARTIST JAMES TANCILL:
A former native of New Orleans displaced by Hurricane Katrina, James Tancill now lives in Lafayette, Louisiana with his wife Jo Ellen. Currently an instructor of visual art at the University of Louisiana, James has a BA and MFA from the University of New Orleans. Having spent most of his time in New Orleans projecting films for local theatres and teaching drawing and cartooning at the New Orleans Charter Middle School, it was only natural that he would eventually form his own animation company. Motivated by his passion for film, music, and classic cartoons, as well as by his deep love of all things New Orleans, James is very proud of the collaborative effort by which he and Ben Jaffe of Preservation Hall have captured the city of New Orleans in what may be the city’s first locally-produced animation about the city itself.

HISTORIC RECORDINGS AVAILABLE
EXCLUSIVELY BY DIGITAL DOWNLOAD FROM
PRESERVATION HALL RECORDINGS AND ITUNES

New Orleans’ Billie and De De and Their Preservation Hall Jazz Band (1966)
Recorded at Preservation Hall on April 26, 1966 by noted jazz historian William Russell, New Orleans’ Billie and De De and Their Preservation Hall Jazz Band stands as testament to the extraordinary power of one of Preservation Hall’s earliest lineups. Born in Marianna, Florida in 1907, Billie Goodson Pierce was a passionate player of ragtime and blues piano. From her teenage turn playing for blues legend Bessie Smith to her lean depression-era years playing the honkytonks of the French Quarter’s lower Decatur Street, this self-taught player would later become one of the most widely heard performers in the history of New Orleans Jazz. Born in New Orleans in 1904, Joseph “De De” La Croix Pierce was the Creole son of an established brick mason who fell in love with the trumpet at an early age and spent his life balancing his father’s blue collar assertions with his own musical aspiriations. Married on March 28, 1935 with George Lewis as best man, Billie and De De Pierce rarely worked a job that they didn’t play together. With De De on cornet and Billie on piano, the couple had already been together for thirty years by the time this album was recorded. Joined by George Lewis on clarinet, Cie Frazier on drums, Louis Nelson on Trombone, Narvin Kimball on banjo, and Chester Zardis on bass, this record captures some of the greatest jazz musicians from the first half of the twentieth century in the midst of one of the most remarkable comebacks in New Orleans history.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Peanut Vendor 6. Sallee Dame
2. Just A Closer Walk With Thee 7. Lonesome Road
3. Just a Little While To Stay Here 8. Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet
4. St. James Infirmary 9. Freight Train Blues
5. Eh La Bas 10. Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Here Come Da Great Olympia Band! (The Olympia Brass Band, 1974)
Founded in 1958 by alto saxophonist Harold “Duke” Dejan, The Olympia Brass Band operated continuously for more than 45 years before Hurricane Katrina scattered its last remaining members to new homes across the country. Boasting an all-star lineup and an intense New Orleans parade repertoire, The Olympia Brass Band was truly one of the greatest in a long tradition of New Orleans marching organizations. Through their standing Sunday night engagement at Preservation Hall, appearances in films like the James Bond feature “Live and Let Die,” and their many European tours, The Olympia Brass Band brought the vibrant street music of New Orleans to music lovers all over the world. Recorded in 1974, at the height of their glory, Here Come Da Great Olympia Band features leader Harold “Duke” Dejan backed up by a dozen legends of New Orleans Brass and traditional jazz, including Emmanuel Paul, Milton Batiste, and Kid Sheik Colar. Also, included here for the first time, the digital version of this classic album is accompanied by three previously unavailable tracks from the Olympia Brass Band’s 45rpm single, Mardi Gras 77.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Everything’s Lovely
2. Down By The Riverside 8. Westlawn Dirge
3. Just A Closer Walk With Thee 9. Didn’t He Ramble
4. The New Second Line 10. I Got A Woman
5. Lord, Lord, Lord, You Sure Been Good To Me 11. Mardi Gras In New Orleans
6. Precious Lord Take My Hand 12. Sing On!
7. Olympia On Parade 13. Strutting With Olympia

Some Lovely Comments From Our Visitors!

Ladies and gentlemen, as most of you know, one of the primary motivations in the establishment of the Made In New Orleans blog was the desire to interact on a regular basis with you, our fellow lovers of New Orleans and its Traditional Jazz. Today, we thought we'd take a moment and share a couple of the nice stories that have been recently shared by our visitors.

Jennifer Broady Zolkos said...

I visited Preservation Hall last spring for the first time. I have always loved New Orleans Jazz and had listened to many of the albums in my home in New England with a bad case of Southern envy. I automatically fell in love with the city and the culture of New Orleans. The endearing people in the quarter, the beautiful architecture, the food and of course the toe tapping joy that is New Orleans made music. I went into club after club listening to the fine music and thinking if it only could be like this at home.
If you are an artist of any kind it would be hard not to find a muse in NOLA. I had always loved the music that came from the Preservation Hall and wondered if it was really like the legend it has become. I literally walked by it the first time. I immediately smiled as I knew by the look that it had not been commercialized and I began to feel the excitement of what would lie ahead in the evening. When I came back that night, to my astonishment there was a line that spanned many blocks with all walks of life just sitting waiting for their chance to hear the music.
It was great to see children and people of all ages and backgrounds patiently waiting in the queue outside on a balmy hot night. When it was finally my turn I walked through the gates and stepped inside. It was dark, too dark to make out the faces of the audience. We were crammed in the back of the seats facing the musicians. There were a couple of ambient lights lit and then the music began. I felt something come over me I tell you. In the middle of the music the trumpet player put his instrument down and began to sing. Tears streamed down my cheeks without warning. It was true beauty. I will never forget that moment in my life and I am truly thankful that I had a chance to experience such a magical musical moment.
I will return someday to sit and listen but I am happy to play my records at home and smile when I think of the beloved French Quarter of New Orleans and the beautiful musicians that created a unique part of our culture.

August 28, 2009 10:29 AM

sarah evanko said...
Hello, Preservation Hall... i would like to share with all my last visit to your music temple. We were in town for the Krewe of Little Rascales parade and seeing as we had the kids we were looking for a family friendly palce to soak up the toons in NOLA.... so of course besides the out door cafes it's no where but P.H...
Anyway we saw 21Jazz band at the first toot of the tuba my 4 year old fell asleep .. a deep deep sleep that nothing , not the tuba or the trumpet ,or me and her dad passing her back and fourth when our arms felt numb not even the percussionist could wake her... But somehow that jazz crept in her little ears because about every other song she'd clap along with everyone else, she was sleeping but she was clapping. it is something i will never forget. we had such a great time. Music never feels as good anywhere else but here. Can't wait to come back in october.. hopefully we can keep her up for the show this time... i mean she is 5 now she should be able to handle it.... See ya than...

August 22, 2009 2:16 PM

Thanks for the comments, folks!

If you've got a story you'd like to share about a special experience you've had at Preservation Hall, or with the music of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, feel free to leave us comments at any time. Every once in a while, we'll make sure to round them up and share them with the world.

Everything's Lovely!
~Preservation Hall

Stay Tooned. 10.20.09

10.20.09  stay tooned.

A Performance Review: ANDREW BIRD AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND

CaptAbernathy from Groovescapes.com points to a very good reason to follow @PresHall on Twitter...

ANDREW BIRD AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND

Posted by: CaptAbernathy on Sep 15, 2009

"If you happened to be following any number of New Orleans related twitter streams last Wednesday (9.9.09), you might have noticed one from @preshall mentioning that indie-folkman Andrew Bird would be sitting in with the one and only Preservation Hall Jazz Band at that night’s show. Though I had no plans of venturing out, the moment I heard the news, my mind was made up. Preservation Hall was on my agenda. I know I talk a lot about those rare, “only in New Orleans” experiences… well, they don’t get much more authentic, compelling, magical, inspirational, etc etc etc than this. The ramshackle hall located in the heart of the French Quarter – with it’s creaky floors, crumbling walls, flickering lights and clammy, non-air conditioned ambiance – is the living embodiment of traditional New Orleans music. It’s lineup consist of some of New Orleans’ the most influential musicians over the last 50 years. If you’re wondering exactly what Andrew Bird was doing there – apart from having a good time – earlier that day, he recorded with the band for a soon to be released album that features contributions from the likes of Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Ani DiFranco among others..."

FULL ARTICLE HERE
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER!

Another Sad Loss for New Orleans...

Funeral services for Juanita Brooks set for Friday, Sept. 18

by Keith Spera, Music writer, The Times-Picayune

Monday September 14, 2009, 2:03 PM

The funeral for Juanita Brooks, a vibrant traditional jazz and gospel singer and veteran of the hit musical "One Mo' Time, will be held on Friday, Sept. 18, at Rhodes Funeral Home 3933 Washington Ave., at Broad Street. Visitation will be at 11 a.m., with a service at noon.

Brooks died early last Thursday at Ochsner Medical Center of complications following back surgery. She was 55.

"She could bring down from up there real joy and pain, all the things that blues and gospel singers can bring," said Vernel Bagneris, the writer, director and star of "One Mo' Time." "She would call upon it, and it was there for her. Between her humor and spirituality and goodness, as far as her love of her family...she was a solid person. People that worked with her loved her." (Hear selected tracks from Juanita Brooks )

Ms. Brooks grew up in a musically inclined family in Mid-City and the 9th Ward; her brothers Detroit and Mark were destined to play banjo and bass, respectively. She first sang in church. After graduating from Francis T. Nicholls High School, she attended the University of New Orleans. Her early professional career included a stint in rhythm & blues pianist Eddie Bo's band.

In 1982, she joined the cast of Bagneris's "One Mo' Time" for its years-long run at the Toulouse Street Theater. As the character Ma Reed, she also toured with the show's Australian company and appeared in a film version for German television.

See more photos of Juanita Brooks here »

Her voice was "sassy and gritty and real," Bagneris said. "Her whole personality was like that. She would go with things, but in the end it was on her terms."

In 1986, she starred in "Staggerlee," a musical Bagneris wrote with Allen Toussaint that spent six months off-Broadway. Her character, Zelita, closed the first act with a solo rendition of Toussaint's "I've Been Saved By the Grace of God."

"She could have lived in New York and made her mark," Bagneris said. "But her kids and her heart" were in New Orleans.

In 1999, she portrayed the title character of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" at Le Petit Theater. She identified with Rainey, a real-life, no-nonsense blues singer.

"Playing this character is like playing me," Ms. Brooks said at the time. "We exist in different periods of time and we like to think a lot has changed since Ma's time. But we're still dealing with the same issues, the same beast.... I can be a problem when things aren't right."

In recent years, Ms. Brooks often performed at Sweet Lorraine's, Donna's and the Palm Court Jazz Cafe, often with either Bob or George French's bands, fellow vocalists Germaine Bazzle and Sharon Martin, or keyboardist Davell Crawford. During a memorable set at Cafe Brasil for the 2006 "Nickel-a-dance" traditional jazz series, she continued to sing by candlelight after the building's power went out.

She was frequently called upon to sing on other artists' recordings. She is a backing vocalist on "I Count the Tears," a stark song from Irma Thomas' Grammy-winning 2006 CD "After the Rain."

She is featured on "Livin' the Legend," a 2000 release by Bob French's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, and Lars Edegran's Palm Court Jazz All-stars' self-titled 2004 project. She sings on jazz-fusion band the Headhunters' 2003 reunion CD "Evolution Revolution" and wails the gospel opening of "When I Die (You Better Second-Line)," a Treme street party-style highlight of Kermit Ruffins' 2002 release "Big Easy."

Her 2007 album "More Jazz" offered her take on such standards as "Basin Street Blues," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "What a Wonderful World" and the gospel mash-up "Down By the Riverside"/ "Ain't Gonna Study War."

The Treme Brass Band dedicated its Thursday afternoon set at Lafayette Square to Ms. Brooks' memory.

Survivors include her mother Margie Brooks, three brothers, George Brooks Jr., Mark Brooks and Detroit Brooks; two sisters, Barbara Brooks-Harris and Joyce O'Neal; and four children, Timisha Brooks, Timantha Brooks, Jabari Brooks and Awood Magic Johnson.

Stay Tooned. 10.09

stay tooned.

Preservation Hall Engineer In The News

Recently we told you that Earl Scioneaux III, engineer for several Preservation Hall Jazz Band recordings, was profiled in a New York Times article for a project in which he is attempting to combine the disparate threads of Traditional New Orleans Jazz and Electronic Music. The project is called Electronola, and all of the funding for the project has come through fans who want to see the project through via a website called Kickstarter.com.



Well, the project is nearing completion. And now you can preorder your copy with customized extras! Just like the nontraditional means by which the project was funded, Earl and Kickstarter are offering varying packages of customized extras to patrons who are interested in preordering the Electronola recordings at varying levels of monetary commitment!

INTERESTED? CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Here's what a recent New Orleans Times-Picayune article had to say about the project:
Musicians Are Increasingly Using The Web To Finance Their Albums
by Alison Fensterstock, The Times-Picayune
Sunday, September 06, 7:00 AM

"Earl Scioneaux III, a recording engineer for many of Preservation Hall's projects, took a similar approach to funding Eletronola, an album that combines traditional jazz and rhythm and blues with electronic music.

Scioneaux had the know-how to develop the album. He just needed the money. So he set up a page on Kickstarter.com, a site that matches artists with donors. Scioneaux uploaded video explaining the project, sent the link out and waited.

He posted updates as work on the album progressed and offered playful incentives to donate. Scioneaux even cooked a gumbo dinner in his home for a dozen or so donors.

In six weeks, he'd exceeded his $4,000 fundraising goal. The album will be out this fall, Scioneaux said..."

FULL ARTICLE HERE

Tonight @ Preservation Hall: Andrew Bird with PHJB!

Wow!

Chicago singer/songwriter/violinist Andrew Bird updates the traditions of small-group swing, German leider, and New Orleans jazz, mixing gypsy, folk, and rock elements into his distinctive style. Bird's projects include his group the Bowl of Fire (which also includes drummer Kevin O'Donnell, bassist Josh Hirsch, and guitarist Colin Bunn) and performing as an auxiliary member of the Squirrel Nut Zippers; in turn, the Zippers' Katharine Whalen and James Mathus appeared on the Bowl of Fire albums Thrills and Oh! the Grandeur. Bird has also recorded with artists like Pinetop Seven and Lil' Ed Williams, teaches music at the Old Town School of Folk Music, and performed on the score and soundtrack from the 1999 Tim Robbins film The Cradle Will Rock. His third album, 2001's The Swimming Hour, surprisingly found the Bowl of Fire turning to pop music, and with excellent results. As bandmembers remained active in their various other projects, the band continued and work on a follow-up began in 2002. To tide fans over, Bird self-released a limited-edition EP, Fingerlings, which documented live performances of some old and new songs by the band and solo. Early 2003 brought the release of another LP, Weather Systems, on the independent Grimsey label. Bird debuted on Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe imprint in 2005 with Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs. He switched to Fat Possum for 2007's Armchair Apocrypha and 2009's Noble Beast, both of which were ambitious and eclectic albums even by Bird's standards.

Roberta on the Arts reviews NOPV1

"This CD is a selection of New Orleans favorites from the renowned Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which that I visited twice, some years ago, in its own historical Hall in New Orleans, and which I reviewed this year at Blue Note. This music evokes every mood imaginable, from joyous, to melancholy, to inspirational, to dreamlike, to energized. The eight seasoned musicians take turns on vocals, while they share the brilliantly rhythmic arrangements on sousaphone, piano, bass, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and drums. I had the chance to meet these warm, vibrant musicians at Blue Note, and I can’t wait to see them again in New Orleans.

Notable tracks:

#1 – Short Dressed Gal – Composed by Preservation Hall Jazz Band. In this lively, humorous track, Ben Jaffe plays sousaphone, Clint Maedgen is on vocals, and the band could not be more rhythmically resonant. It’s obvious that they enjoy working together, as the harmonies and timing are so precise. From the very first track, you just want to dance.

#4 – Sugar Blues – Composed by Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Marc Braud is featured on muted trumpet, as well as vocals here. The mood is bluesy, bubbly, and breezy, with Charlie Gabriel on mellow clarinet, Joe Lastie, Jr. on sharp percussive beats, and Walter Payton on equally pulsating bass. You can just imagine this band walking through The French Quarter, filling Bourbon Street with this stirring sound.

#7 – Tailgate Ramble – Composed by Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Red hot swing fills your heart on hearing this sensational track. Charlie Gabriel seizes the vocals, with Rickie Monie featured on piano and Freddie Lonzo on trombone. The brass and percussion work wonders with this scintillating song.

#11 – Tiger Rag – Composed by Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Marc Braud leads the band on their combined vocals and brass, with Joe Lastie, Jr. backing up the rapid, bouncy tempo with wooden, clicking drumsticks and engaging percussive repetition. Ben Jaffe’s bass strings infuse syncopated spirit, and plenty of “Hold that Tiger” adds to this fun musical romp."

Hey, Alabama!