Legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band to bring New Orleans jazz to Purdue
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The performance is a celebration of the band's 45th anniversary and will be a New Orleans Revue with special guest Clint Maedgen and Bingo!
Purdue Convocations will present the performance.
Harkening back to the vaudevillian revue shows of the early 20th century, this multi-faceted musical revue combines the performances of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band with a Mardi Gras-inspired revelry of special guests, video and live performance.
The group, which has been touring for more than 25 years and currently consists of musicians who range in age from 31 to 88, works to preserve the New Orleans jazz style.
Maedgen, a vocalist and player of multiple instruments on the New Orleans music scene for nearly 20 years, will emcee the performance. He built his reputation in the music scene through Bingo! and Liquidrone, two projects whose experimental performances continue to draw from sources that are wildly eclectic, yet indigenous to New Orleans at the same time.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band derives its name from Preservation Hall, the music venue located in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The hall was created as a sanctuary to protect and honor New Orleans jazz, which had lost much of its popularity to modern jazz and rock 'n' roll.
The hall has served many functions during the years. Originally built as a private residence in 1750, the hall has evolved into a tavern, inn, photo studio and an art gallery. The building was closed for eight months after Hurricane Katrina and reopened in May 2006 with a limited performance schedule. Five of the band's seven members lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina.
Under the auspices of current director Ben Jaffe, the son of founders Allan and Sandra, Preservation Hall continues in the modern day as a venue, band and record label.
Tickets are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster outlets.
Tickets are $34 for adults and $26 for children 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Group discounts for 10 or more are available by calling (765) 494-9071.
Members of the public also are welcome to a pre-show discussion titled "A Musical Gumbo." Don Seybold, former Associate Director of Purdue Convocations, will describe the reasons why New Orleans was the perfect place for the emergence of a new kind of music indigenous to America. The discussion will be at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 5 in Stewart Center, Room 202. It is free and open to the public.
Lafayette Cancer Care, SIA and the Jeanne Compton Endowment for Artistic Excellence are supporting this presentation of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Source: Kerry Schutt Nason, Purdue Convocations interim director of marketing, (765) 494-9071, knason@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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