Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Musical fashion has known radical changes in the past few decades, but the song remains the same--stubbornly, proudly the same--for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Since the group formed in 1961, it has championed the jubilant sound of seminal New Orleans jazz, which is approaching its centennial as a genre. Its predictability is a source of comfort and a reminder of the timelessness of certain musical idioms.

Talk to Woody Allen and he'll go out of his way to tell you what a crummy musician he is, and yet, for the past half-century or so, his innumerable live performances likely have introduced New Orleans-style jazz to more audiences in America and Europe than anyone outside of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The renowned filmmaker's enthusiasm for his hobby animated a recent phone chat that found the 76-year-old passionate in discussing topics as varied as the artist he'd most like to have played with and his dogged determination to practice at all hours.

New Orleans' image as the cradle of jazz is based upon impressive historical fact. The breakthrough, genre-establishing efforts of everyone from Buddy Bolden and King Oliver to Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong firmly established the Crescent City as the source from which the music flowed.

Ben Jaffe, the tuba player and creative director for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, was sitting in his Faubourg Marigny house one spring morning, drinking fresh-brewed New Orleans chicory coffee and worrying about the oil spill. He and music producer Bill Lynn had just watched oil executives blame one another for the Deepwater Horizon rig disaster, and Jaffe, who comes from a long line of jazz musicians, was sick of it. He glanced over at a glum Lynn, and as if by instinct, they started riffing on a standard New Orleans tune, "It Ain't My Fault."

On the day the New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration reached its climactic frenzy earlier this week, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, that cornerstone of New Orleans music, was starting its day in . . . Cedar City, Utah? "We're on our way to Salt Lake City," said trumpeter Wendell Brunious, leader of this particular Preservation Hall band (there are three), in an early-morning phone interview before the group's bus headed north. The current tour--with stops in Tempe and Sun City, Ariz.

New Orleans musicians often write about tragedies and the BP oil spill is no exception. These are just a small sample of the jazz, bluegrass, rap and other songs New Orleans musicians wrote about the spill. Nobody knows nothin' . Written by John Boutte, Bill Lynn and Paul Sanchez. Featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Clint Maedgen and Threadhead Records artists John Boutté, Paul Sanchez, Susan Cowsill, Craig Klein, and Margie Perez Ain't My Fault. with Mos Def', Lenny Kravitz, Trombone Shorty, Tim Robbins, Preservation Hall Jazz Band Sorry Ain't Enough No More by Shamarr Allen, Dee-1, Paul Sanchez, & Bennie of Hot 8 Sportsman's Paradise by Ramblin' Letters Sweet Crude Blues by John Bagnato Hey Tony!

8pm Jazz Ken Burns' "Jazz" series devoted generous attention to the raw, straight-from-the-heart brand of jazz that Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and others developed in New Orleans in the early part of the 20th century. The style is still embraced at Preservation Hall in the Crescent City. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band returns for another of its foot-stamping performances in Irvine.* Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive. 8 p.m. $26 to $32. (949) 854-4646.

In its continuing crusade to perpetuate New Orleans jazz, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band--with its mix of young and old players--provided a convincing case at UCLA's Wadsworth Hall for the past and present value of this collectively improvised music. This particular ensemble, perhaps the best of the various Preservation Hall groups, featured on Friday night a number of top musicians, particularly in the front line of horns, with leader Wendell Brunious a standout on trumpet.

Trad, Dixieland, New Orleans and related older jazz forms are more uplifting, fun and consistent with the upbeat spirit of the American experience than so much of the later, dissonant, brooding jazz that draws inspiration from poppy pods and Colombian agriculture. Trad-oriented jazz societies are deeply aware of, and grateful for, the black invention of jazz a century ago. Apart from the elderly members of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, there are practically no blacks learning, playing or interested in listening to classic jazz, and outreach efforts by clubs like ours fall flat.

Think of New Orleans jazz as the first rock 'n' roll. Bursting into public consciousness in the post-World War I years, it was the soundtrack for the Jazz Age, the irresistible, foot-tapping accompaniment for the cultural transformation known as the Roaring '20s. And it's never really gone away. Sure, there were moments of eclipse -- the Swing Era, rock, disco, hip-hop, rap -- but New Orleans jazz never disappeared.

New Orleans musicians often write about tragedies and the BP oil spill is no exception. These are just a small sample of the jazz, bluegrass, rap and other songs New Orleans musicians wrote about the spill. Nobody knows nothin' . Written by John Boutte, Bill Lynn and Paul Sanchez. Featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with Clint Maedgen and Threadhead Records artists John Boutté, Paul Sanchez, Susan Cowsill, Craig Klein, and Margie Perez Ain't My Fault. with Mos Def', Lenny Kravitz, Trombone Shorty, Tim Robbins, Preservation Hall Jazz Band Sorry Ain't Enough No More by Shamarr Allen, Dee-1, Paul Sanchez, & Bennie of Hot 8 Sportsman's Paradise by Ramblin' Letters Sweet Crude Blues by John Bagnato Hey Tony!

Trumpeter John Brunious, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's leader and the senior member of the New Orleans ensemble, died Tuesday after an apparent heart attack in Orlando, Fla., where he had been living since Hurricane Katrina. He was 67. A native of New Orleans who had a striking physical presence with a full head of white hair and a white mustache, Brunious began his career at the famous French Quarter music spot in 1987.

The Blind Boys of Alabama "Down in New Orleans" (Time Life) * * * 1/2 The former president isn't the only Jimmy Carter who's done some work for Habitat for Humanity. Another gentleman with the same name visited the organization's New Orleans Musicians' Village last year with some associates to help rebuild that hurricane-devastated city -- though not with the usual tools.

Narvin Kimball, 97, the last founding member of New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who was known for his vocal stylings and banjo playing, died Friday at his daughters' home in Charleston, S.C. He and his wife, Lillian, had been staying there since shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Kimball's vocal renditions of "Georgia on My Mind" always brought standing ovations, said hall director Ben Jaffe, whose parents founded Preservation Hall in 1961.

New Orleans, the wounded birthplace of jazz, will be saluted during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival June 17 and 18 at the Hollywood Bowl. The survival and recovery of the Crescent City will be celebrated in a joint performance by Elvis Costello & the Impostors with Allen Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section. .

Think of New Orleans jazz as the first rock 'n' roll. Bursting into public consciousness in the post-World War I years, it was the soundtrack for the Jazz Age, the irresistible, foot-tapping accompaniment for the cultural transformation known as the Roaring '20s. And it's never really gone away. Sure, there were moments of eclipse -- the Swing Era, rock, disco, hip-hop, rap -- but New Orleans jazz never disappeared.

New Orleans, the wounded birthplace of jazz, will be saluted during the 28th annual Playboy Jazz Festival June 17 and 18 at the Hollywood Bowl. The survival and recovery of the Crescent City will be celebrated in a joint performance by Elvis Costello & the Impostors with Allen Toussaint and his New Orleans Horn Section. .

Jazz The 23rd annual Playboy Jazz Festival takes place Saturday and next Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl. The lineup includes something for every stripe of jazz fan. Wynton Marsalis, Etta James & the Roots Band, Arturo Sandoval, Nnenna Freelon, Preservation Hall Jazz Band with special guest Pete Fountain, Marcus Miller, Maraca (direct from Cuba), Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, and others take to the stage Saturday.