Night in New Orleans [DVD] [Import]

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Over the course of its history, jazz has developed a reputation as heady, difficult music, something that can only be grasped and appreciated by pipe-smoking deep thinkers. While that may be somewhat true of certain styles--the breakneck inventions of the bebop generation or Ornette Coleman's avant-garde probings, for instance, probably wouldn't appeal to your average Kenny G fan--the rap is largely undeserved, and nowhere is that more clear than in this delightful performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. These seven men, young and old, black and white, all of them inheritors of a grand New Orleans tradition, have but one goal: to entertain. And that they most certainly do, taking us back to the time before the saxophone was king, when trumpets, clarinets, trombones, and banjos were jazz's principal instruments, and the jaunty, syncopated rhythms of rags, marches, and the blues were its primary sounds.

Don't expect a musty museum tour, however. While we get plenty of the familiar perennials ("Basin Street Blues," "Tiger Rag," and, of course, "When the Saints Go Marching In"), the musicians are not totally mired in the past. Indeed, the highlight of the 70-minute program (which includes some history of Preservation Hall as well as interviews) is a lengthy version of "St. Louis Blues," with extended solos by all the players, walking bass, and swing tempo--all touches that didn't come along until years after New Orleans jazz was first played. But those are the finer points. The accent here is on letting the good times roll. The musicians are clearly enjoying themselves. So's the audience--and so will you. Okay, so it's not deep. But it sure is fun. --Sam Graham