Preservation Hall - Jazz in a Plain Room

Photo: Jeff Hitchcock, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)

A stop on New Orleans French Quarter Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This weathered doorway on St. Peter Street does not look like much, and that is the point. In the 1950s the room behind it was an art gallery where local musicians played for tips. By 1961 the music had taken over, and Preservation Hall opened as a place to hear traditional New Orleans jazz played by the older musicians who had grown up with it.

That same year Allan and Sandra Jaffe, a young couple from Pennsylvania, took over running the hall. They kept it simple: wooden benches, no amplification and no drinks sold, so the music stayed front and center. Many of the first players were in their 60s, 70s and 80s, and the hall gave them steady work and a new audience.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band still tours the world, and short all-ages concerts happen here most nights. If you hear a brass band warming up, stop and listen. Check the website for current showtimes and tickets.

Getting here: Continue on Royal to St. Peter Street, turn left away from the river, and look for the old wooden doorway at 726 St. Peter.

Did you know?: Allan Jaffe was a tuba player who came to New Orleans on his honeymoon, wandered in to hear the music and stayed to help run the hall for the rest of his life.

Photo op: Stand across St. Peter Street to capture the faded facade, the iron lantern and the hand-painted sign together.

More on Wikipedia: Preservation Hall · Preservation Hall Jazz Band · Jazz

Preservation Hall - Jazz in a Plain Room

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