Jazz Emerges Part 3
Spirit Matters
Visible Roots of America’s Most Original Cultural Product
CLICK THE ARROW ABOVE to listen to The old Eureka Band, led from the 1930s by Percy Humphrey., Tops in the city, as late as the 1950s its joyous processions were marked by a dignity and decorum since overtaken by the wild and garish. Photos by Tom Sharpsteen, compiled with sound by Clint Baker and Katie Cavera, used here with permission.
Years ago, the French Quarter streets were amazingly quiet. Especially in the mornings, before the few tourists were out and about, this historic section – located near the river, yet built on high ground for good reason – retained its residential feel. New Orleans’ slow-going, personal style, out of the national mainstream, had much to do with how it cradled classic jazz for most of a century.
But other than a couple of sleazy joints on Bourbon Street, it was hard for a musician to feed his family, or for a visitor to hear the real deal. Still, the city’s close-knit neighborhoods proclaimed their musical birthright at pop-up parties, funky dance halls, street events, church memorials. “Let the good times roll,” translated from the French, was always there, highlighted by everyone’s anticipation of the Mardi Gras Carnival, which they prepare for all year long.
The past has always loomed large in this survival culture where one never knew what tragedies the future might hold. Generations of musicians have long been linked by family ties, spiritual traditions, personal musical tutelage, people caring for neighbors. By the 1970s I had met and played with musicians in several cities of the world, but only in New Orleans did you learn so quickly where they lived — on which block of which street, in which ward, near which landmark. And no other city has ever spawned so many tunes named for beloved streets, from Basin to Canal to Bourbon to Burgundy to…
Within weeks of arriving, I knew I had arrived when I was invited to jam on the sidewalk to celebrate the birthday of an old lady named Miss Carrie. Then on ten minutes notice I donned a parade hat to go play a gig at Antoine’s fancy restaurant. Then I joined a procession of Japanese visitors marching to the graveside of clarinet great George Lewis. There were plenty of weeks of no action at all. But one thing was sure: in New Orleans nobody ever needs to be asked to “play with feeling.”
Copyright statement: William Carter papers, © Stanford University Libraries. Click here for a detailed usage guide.
Written by bywilliamcarter
August 4, 2017 at 12:00 pm
Posted in Posts
Tagged with Allan Jaffe, Bourbon Street, camera, De De Pierce, French Quarter, George Lewis, jazz, Jim Robinson, Louis Nelson, music, New Orleans, Paul Barbarin, Percy Humphrey, photo, photographs, photography, Preservation Hall, Sing Miller, Traditional New Orleans jazz, William Carter, Willie Humphrey
7 Responses
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Hi Bill,
The photos are awesome! I’ve seen some of them, but there are plenty that I’d not yet seen. I pretty much grew up in Preservation Hall; my grandmother was Stella Webb. You mentioned my grandmother in your book and the chair that was decorated for her. I inheirited her copy of you book and I had a copy as well…I lent one out and it never came back, so now I’m very careful about lending my only copy out now.
Dani Churchill
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Danielle Churchill
May 5, 2013 at 5:13 pm
Dear Danielle,
Thanks for your kind and interesting words. Such memories are so important. Although the Preservation Hall book is out of print, I did notice that GHB records (George Buck) in New Orleans recently advertised having a few copies still available.
Bill Carter
bill@wcarter.us
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William Carter
May 5, 2013 at 6:07 pm
Hi Dani, I grew up with your grandmother in the French Quarter. What an interesting woman.
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Christopher Skinner
February 25, 2018 at 9:30 pm
Many thanks. Wonderful photographs putting me in the mood.
Jane
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Jane Chai
May 1, 2013 at 11:31 pm
Hello Dear Bill, I’m sure it’s only a slip of the calendar, but surely with reference to the fabulous Eureka BB, you mean “tops in the city as late as the 1950’s” to read “certainly as late as 1962” … this being the date of their magnificent recording for Atlantic, made at Preservation Hall, on July 2nd 1962. Yes, I know some “purists” (the extreme of whom I liken to fundamentalist Christians or Muslims) … decry the presence of Willie and his fabulously convoluted interweaving within the ensembles and “stepping forth” here and there as a soloist. Surely in a concert band presentation of even a more formally organised Brass Band of an earlier era would have seen similar featuring of the clarinet and trumpet(s) in particular. I was even fortunate enough to see a version of the Eureka BB with Percy, “Sheik”, Willie, Louis Nelson Cie and others as late as 1979 at a “Brown Bag Concert” held at lunchtime, outside the City Hall in the geardens on Perdido, as late as Jazz Fest 1979. By this time, while their collective ability to actually march any considerable distance was understandably limited, their playing, as you well know, was not. I enjoy and appreciate your post greatly, so this is not a critisism at all, merely an observation. Thanks and fond regards, Barry Wratten. Melbourne Australia
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Barry Wratten
April 9, 2013 at 1:40 am
Thanks, Barry, for your kind comments. I have made a change per your suggestion; now it reads “tops in the city as late as the 1960’s”
Bill Carter
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bywilliamcarter
April 9, 2013 at 4:45 pm
wonderful photos of the Eureka Brass Band with Percy riding high … an amazong collection … thanks William …
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Peter Haby
April 7, 2013 at 11:38 am