Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
Changing of the Guard at Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
Since hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many musicians to flee New Orleans, the jazz and blues that was the city’s musical score have been harder to find, as have the musicians who seek to return, but, like so many, have no place to go.
“Music is as much a part of the fabric of life in New Orleans as the cuisine, the culture,” said Branford Marsalis, a native of New Orleans. “Katrina and Rita scattered musicians across the country, and shuttered many clubs and concert venues across the city.”
Habitat for Humanity and New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, working with Harry Connick Jr., and Branford Marsalis announced a plan that will bring those scattered musicians and their music back home. Through a program called Operation Home Delivery, a “Musicians’ Village” will be built in the Crescent City.
The Musicians’ Village will consist of Habitat-constructed homes for displaced New Orleans musicians, and in its center will be the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. The center will focus on celebrating the music and musicians of New Orleans, and will include performance rooms and classrooms.
Funding for the Musicians’ Village comes from proceeds of the “From the Big Apple To The Big Easy” benefit concerts, held in New York this past September. Funds raised through the CDs “Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now” and “Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast,” will also benefit Musicians’ Village.
“This plan, this village, will help restore New Orleans’ musical heritage, and protect it for the next generation that will follow,” said Marsalis. To having the center named after him, Ellis Marsalis said, “I am humbled and proud to have a role in the rebirth of this great city.”
For more information please visit www.habitat-nola.org.
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
On October 23, Ted Nash – having toured the world playing alto, soprano and tenor saxophone, clarinet and bass…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
The Blue Note Jazz Festival New York kicks off May 27 with a James Moody 100th Birthday Celebration at Sony Hall.
Apr 8, 2025 1:23 PM
Blue Note Entertainment Group has unveiled the lineup for the 14th annual Blue Note Jazz Festival New York, featuring…
“You’ve got to trust that inner child, keep exploring, even though people think it’s wrong,” says Fortner.
Feb 25, 2025 11:20 AM
Every week at the Village Vanguard fosters its own sound. No one really knows how the music might evolve by Sunday, but…
