Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Their 2017 release So It Is taps into a sonic continuum that stretches back to New Orlean’s Afro-Cuban roots, through its common ancestry with the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and the Fire Music of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, and forward to cutting-edge artists with whom the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have shared festival stages from Coachella to Newport, including legends like Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, and the Grateful Dead, and modern giants like My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, and the Black Keys.

At a moment when musical streams are crossing with unprecedented frequency, it’s crucial to remember that throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface, transformed by the Crescent City’s inimitable spirit and joie de vivre. Nowhere is that idea more vividly embodied than in the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.