A world-renowned bastion of traditional New Orleans jazz for nearly a half-century, Preservation Hall has weathered two cosmic impacts in recent years. One was Hurricane Katrina, which threatened its economic viability. The other has been Ben Jaffe, whose father Allan founded the place in 1961. The younger Jaffe (who, like his dad, plays tuba with the band), for better or worse, has led the PHJB into a more contemporary realm, expanding the traditional repertoire to include material far outside the canon, introducing younger players with diverse musical backgrounds (leader/trumpeter Mark Braud is in his 30s; singer Clint Maedgan has an experimental/punk background), and matching the venerable outfit with a vast range of nontraditional artists. The... More >>>