[Dixielandjazz] Preservation Hall Players

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

with all respect Margaret,

The place only hold thirty to fifty people if you stand them all up and 
cram them along the walls and the foyer outside the tiny room.

They with a sellout show at their door charge, they don't make enough 
money to even pay the band a livable wage, so unless the room was full 
of Wealthy big time contributors with check books in hand they are not 
raising much  Hurricane relief money for the musicians of New Orleans.  
 They could raise more money playing out front of a Starbucks for tips.

Sounds impressive to those who wish to believe the old Preservation PR 
press releases.

It is a MYTH  about a Hall that was never a Hall in it's entire life.

Somebody should make it one,  Pick it up and move into the lobby of the 
Super DOME OR major Hotel or anyplace but where it is where folks with 
real money would go and spend it.   Put in the Best Traditional Jazz 
Players in N.O. and Pay them what they are worth.   People will always 
pay for Quality.


That place and other small clubs where the scene once thrived  ( or not 
) is gone and it is not coming back,  why?

Simple folks ,  Rent is a lot more expensive, Insurance, cost of 
Liquor, cost of labor, cost os transportation, lack of livable wages in 
the neighborhood which caused most of the really good players to leave 
New Orleans a long time ago,  Heck even Louis Armstrong left why ?  
because he could not make enough money to live there.  He was not the 
last one to leave either, and the new crop of younger folks going there 
are searching for a dream that is Myth and has been for a long long 
time.   Historical importance you bet, but it has been allowed to just 
rot away, and nobody really cares especially in New Orleans Politics, 
you would think that the ONE thing they have to offer the world would 
have been improved upon and nurtured and supported to keep the tourist 
coming there and spending money.

Heck ReBirth is gone most of the time too, because they make a lot more 
money on the road than they ever did in New Orleans and more than 
likely ever will.    There are a lot of great musicians all over the 
country that DO know what it means to MISS NEW ORLEANS, but not for the 
reasons we all think.   I work with some of them and know them well and 
have heard them talk about it, but then turn around and say what is 
necessary to the media and such to do their part to keep the Myth alive.


Cheers,

Tom Wiggins




-----Original Message-----
From: saxymargeaux at sbcglobal.net
To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
Sent: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 3:00 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Preservation Hall Players

   It seems like Preservation Hall was the place to be
last night.  I just heard an interview, on WWOZ
online, of a musician, sorry I did not catch his name,
who is in the United States with his band from Sudan.
They performed last night at Preservation Hall with
several New Orleans musicians including some
"regulars" at the hall as well as some from Rebirth
Brass Band.

The musician from Sudan was talking of how he felt the
history as he entered the Hall and of how energizing
it was performing with the musicians there.

The concert was sponsored by Preservation Hall and the
New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund.

Margaret


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