JAZZ CLASSIC OF THE MONTH
While New Orleans traditional jazz has had several major revivals from the mid-1930s on, the opening of Preservation Hall in 1961 was particularly noteworthy. The Hall gave some long-neglected veteran African-American musicians opportunities to play on a regular basis and resulted in the formation of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, an outfit that was soon touring the world.
The Atlantic label was one of several that took note and started (at least briefly) documenting some of the local legends. The Mosaic label (www.mosaicrecords.com) back in 1998 came out with the four-CD limited-edition box set The Atlantic New Orleans Jazz Sessions which collects together all of the music (plus five previously unreleased performances) originally released on six LPs.
With the exception of a set by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band from 1958 (led by Percy Humphrey) and one of the two Paul Barbarin dates (from 1955), all of the music was recorded during July 2-7, 1962. Featured are the albums Jazz Begins: The Young Tuxedo Brass Band, Paul Barbarin and his New Orleans Jazz, and the four volumes in the series Jazz At Preservation Hall which feature the Eureka Brass Band and groups led by Billie & De De Pierce, Jim Robinson, Paul Barbarin (a different band than on the earlier album), Punch Miller, and George Lewis.
While not all of the music is flawlessly played (particularly
