PERFORMING ARTS

Of all the styles of American music, none is more iconic than jazz: born of hard times, the music is a defiant celebration of freedom and individuality. It has taken many forms over the years, and continues to evolve, but New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band proves nightly that there’s plenty of adventure left in its original form: the rich musical interplay known as Dixieland.

A French Quarter legend, Preservation Hall opened its doors in 1961, inspired by years of informal jam sessions that had taken place in the early 1800s building. Several of Preservation Hall’s original members honed their talents playing alongside jazz originators such as Louis Armstrong, Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton. Their craft, in turn, has been passed on directly to successive generations of band members. Not everyone can go to New Orleans, but the seven-piece band is only too glad to bring it to you on the Barclay stage.