New Orleans Jazz Haunts

No trip to New Orleans would be complete without a visit to one of the great jazz clubs around town. Here are some of the favorites.

Preservation Hall
Preservation Hall, located at 726 St. Peter St. in New Orleans' French Quarter, is probably the most well known of all the jazz clubs in the city. Here you can hear the traditional acoustic New Orleans jazz. Everything you are familiar with, like the second lines of Mardi Gras and the dirges of the jazz funerals are staples. One thing to know about Preservation Hall, there is no food nor drink, just pure New Orleans Jazz at its best.

Fritzel's
Fritzel's, located at 733 Bourbon Street, has the atmosphere of a neighborhood pub and is often frequented by local musicians. Here you can dance the second line to the jazz clarinet skillfully played by Ryan Burrage on weekends.

Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse
Irvin Mayfield, who has been officially designated a cultural ambassador for the city of New Orleans has opened this club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel at 300 Bourbon Street. Even if you miss Irvin's gig, you'll see other great Jazz acts.

Colbalt
Colbalt Restaurant & Bar in the Hotel Monaco at 333 St. Charles Avenue is in the middle of the Central Business District and is the favorite places for young execs to chill at the end of a work week at a jazz happy hour. On Fridays David Torkanowsky plays both jazz and New Orleans music on his piano. Colbalt is also a great restaurant and offers a good jazz brunch on Sunday.

Snug Harbor
At the down-river end of the French Quarter, you will find Fauburg Marigny, and Frenchmen Street in “the Marigny" as the locals call the area, is the place to be for good food and music. The oldest and still the best is Snug Harbor music hall on Frenchmen Street. (626 Frenchmen)Here Nicholas Payton grew up and Alan Toussaint made his jazz debut. The focus at Snug Harbor is modern jazz and it features local talent.

French Quarter Bar
This classy bar at the Ritz-Carlton on Canal Street is a great place to people watch since there are often reports of movie star sightings. Lately I've heard John Cusack, Britney Spears, Kate Hudson and Dustin Hoffman have been seen here. So, if you don't mind paying about $15.00 for a glass of wine, enjoy the elegant surroundings of the French Quarter Bar. And the music is pretty good too! Jeremy Davenport sings and plays the trumpet in great style.

Pete Fountain's Club
Pete Fountain opened his own jazz club in the heart of the French Quarter. His national fame and fans followed him to New Orleans which allowed Pete's club to expand, through the past 34 years, into the largest jazz club in the city.

Sweet Lorraine's Jazz Club
Sweet Lorraine's is another great place for modern jazz. It's a short taxi ride to 1931 St. Claude Avenue, and it's worth it. Sweet Lorraine's was recently renovated thanks to a fire and is now has a classy art deco feel. Sweet Lorriane's features mostly local talent, but has some great successes in bringing in out-of-town greats like Gato Brbieri and David “Fathead" Newman.

Vaughan's
Vaughan's is a bar, pure and simple. It's as down-scale as you can get. But Vaughan's has great music six nights a week. Get there on Thursday to hear Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers. Harry Connick, Jr. and Wynton Marsalis have shown up on Thursdays to sit in with Kermit, who is a New Orleans icon. Expect no frills and drink beer and you'll love it.

Donna's Bar & Grill
If you're into no frills, and you liked Vaughan's, try Donna's. Located at the edge of the French Quarter at 800 N. Rampart Street, Donna's hosts the Treme Brass Band on most Fridays, and usually on Monday's you can here Bob Fench, a local jazz drummer and singer.

The Jazz Parlor at Storyville
At 125 Bourbon Street, right off Canal, is the Jazz Parlor. On Mondays Tim Laughlin, a traditional jazz clarinetist, plays.

After reaching a milestone in 2008 with a celebration of the 25th anniversary and reaching attendance of 435,000 people (half locals and half tourists), French Quarter Festival is poised for growth!

The Connie Jones Band opened the French Quarter Festival on April 17, 2009 outdoors in Jackson Square at 11:00. As the “surprise" guest Pete Fountain greeted the crowd as he joined Connie and gang for a few opening numbers which included “Clarinet Marmalade", “Lazy River", “St. Louis Blues", and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee". Pete definitely enjoyed himself smiling and waving to people as the crowd enthusiastically cheered each number, crying for more after “A Closer Walk". Pete embraced Tim Laughlin and Connie Jones with heart-felt hugs at the conclusion of the set. Last year, Pete opened the French Quarter Festival with Connies band as the “surprise" guest. With any luck this will become an annual event.

Exciting new programming for 2010 includes:
Louis-Louis Pavilion Stage on the riverfront, paying tribute to Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima with special performances and a tent where festivalgoers can learn more about New Orleans famous native sons. Sunday morning Gospel music returns to the Riverfront, as the stages open with local gospel choirs. Saturday evening, Music @ Madewood will produce the one-act opera Cabildo in the courtyard of the Cabildo with free admission.

As the festivals attendance has grown to over 435,000, other stages will move to new, more spacious locations, including: the International Stage and one of the traditional jazz stages, which will be hosted by the French Market. The new and expanded home for the Classical Music Stage will be The Historic New Orleans Collection at the Williams Research Center, with live broadcast by WWNO 89.9 FM. The 2009 French Quarter Festival is produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc., (FQFI) the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which also produces Satchmo SummerFest and Christmas New Orleans Style.

For more information on French Quarter Festival, call 504-522-5730 or visit online at www.fqfi.org.

Mardi Gras can clearly be attributed to a Franco-influence. By the mid 1820s, Mardi Gras was firmly rooted in the New Orleans culture. Today, the city's celebrations are considered one of America's biggest parties, with towns and cities throughout the Gulf Coast Region getting in on the fun.

By dawn on that most famous Tuesday, people have claimed the best spots on the streets to watch fabulous floats, outrageous performers, and visiting celebrities go by. Many travel hundreds of miles to be a part of the excitement.

Marching bands, some of them founded more than a century ago, also take to the streets with music and festive dress. They open the day by spreading jazz music through the city before the more than 350 floats and 15,000 costumed paraders take over the scene.

When you're ready for the big experience, you'll need to know when it will be! You'll find the big day can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Carnival celebration starts on January 6, the Twelfth Night (feast of Epiphany); and picks up speed until Midnight on Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday.

How will you know which Tuesday it will be? Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter and Fat Tuesday is always the day before Ash Wednesday. Easter can fall on any Sunday from March 23 to April 25 with the exact date to coincide with the first Sunday after the full moon following a Spring Equinox! There you have it! Voila!