In the early 1900s, jazz was created in New 17ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø. Soon afterwards the fear began...it’s moving away, it’s going to die out, it needs to be preserved. Yet each generation has put time and energy into making sure the roots of the music stay strong in the city. This book is about the history of that kind of organizing work, and what happened when the New 17ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø Jazz National Historical Park brought together a new group of young people to learn traditional brass band music from older musicians and the Black Men of Labor Social Aid & Pleasure Club.
Rachel Breunlin is co-director of the Neighborhood Story Project. She is currently the ethnographer-in-residence in the Anthropology Department at the University of New 17ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø where she teaches courses on public culture and collaborative ethnography.
Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes lives and works in New 17ºÚ¹Ï³ÔÁÏÍø, Louisiana as a musician, writer, and photographer. His music ranges from blues, to jazz, to zydeco accordion.