[Dixielandjazz] Wynton Marsalis & New Orleans Hurricane Relief Efforts

[Steve barbone]

September 2, 2005 14:45:36 - CBS - NEW YORK, NY
Jazz Great Organizes Relief Effort

Wynton Marsalis performed a tribute for victims of Katrina today. 

"I know so many people in the city and we are all so connected in New
Orleans. But we know we have a certain kind of spirit because we are blues
people." Wynton Marsalis

(CBS) America's artistic community is stepping forward to help raise money
for people suffering as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Jazz great Wynton Marsalis, artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in
New York City, is putting together a benefit concert.

Marsalis says it is heartbreaking to see the destruction and hopelessness in
his hometown. 

"It's too much to describe ‹ not just for me, but for New Orleaners all over
the world. I think I've gotten over 400-something calls in the last two
days," he says. 

The calls come from friends who have been in New Orleans and describe a
desperate situation; other calls are from friends around the world offering
to help in any way they can.

Marsalis says his parents are fine, but no one there is really OK.

"I know so many people in the city and we are all so connected in New
Orleans," he says. "But we know we have a certain kind of spirit because we
are blues people. 

"What we see going on now with the mayor having to call on the federal
government and things not getting there with a certain type of quickness ...
It's frustrating in lieu of the history ‹ the way that the people we have
seen on the TV are treated."

Despite the devastation, Marsalis says he is not fearful that the city's
rich cultural history will be lost.

"We are like the soul of the country," he says. "We are the melting pot and
that's why we created jazz. Jazz is the object identification of democracy."

U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert's (R-Ill.) said the city shouldn't be rebuilt.

"They are always people who have things to say," Marsalis says. "They can
say what they want, but this represents a challenge. If we can get to the
2005 intelligence with the social conscience of this time, we will make our
city much better." 

Marsalis will be participating in a number of programs benefiting hurricane
relief, including a BET telethon scheduled for Friday, Sept. 9.

"Americans have been generous so far," he says. "What they need (the folks
who live in New Orleans) is money and support."