[Dixielandjazz] Storyville limits

[briantowers]

> which were the  street limits of the ``red districts`` inside the French
> quarter ?
>
> Luis Flores


Luis
Another popular myth!  The legalised red light district, popularly known as
Storyville, was not in the French Quarter at all!    One of the reasons for
setting it up in 1897/98 was, in fact, to get the vice out of the French
Quarter and the Garden district, according to Al Rose.

Early in the 1980's I went on a New Orleans bus tour, with Al Rose as the
guide. I ran my tape recorder during the tour and think I still have the
cassette somewhere.
As well as seeing where the old Storyville used to be, we also went
elsewhere to see the homes of Jelly Roll Morton; Nick La Rocca etc.  The
homes of ODJB clarinetist Larry Shields(born 1893)  and Buddy Bolden (born
1877) were surprisingly close together, considering the segregation that
followed later.  If they really lived that close, Shields must have heard a
lot of Bolden, who was only 16 years older than Shields, who played clarinet
from the age of 14.
We also saw the site of Louis Armstrong's home, which had, tragically, been
demolished.  There was still a tree there, at the time, which had been part
of the original home.
Cheers
Brian Towers