Book Breaks New Ground in New Orleans Jazz History

Suhor played drums with Tom Brown, Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, Armand Hug, the Loyola University big band, Bill Huntington, Buddy Prima and others and wrote for Down Beat during the postwar years. He says that “traditional, Dixieland, and modern jazz were being plyed by outstanding artists during that ntime. Many of them later became famous, but others' stories need to be told. I tried to give an insider's view of the varied jazz scene and capture the feeling of the times."

Racial politics is another theme in the book. “Jazz musicians of all styles were pretty good at outfoxing Jim Crow in the years when it was illegal for integrated bands to perform onstage, or even in the privacy of their homes," Suhor says. Changes came slowly, culminating in the first massive Jazzfest--in 1968, not the widely publicized date of 1970.

The book also traces the slow acceptance of jazz by the local Establishment. The press, educators, and business leaders at first condemned then canonized local jazz and its practitioners, including Louis Armstrong during his visits to the city. Most local leaders did not climb on the jazz bandwagon until artists like Pete Fountain, Al Hirt, and the Preservation Hall bands became internationally famous. And modern jazz remained out of favor for years after.

More than 30 historic photographs are included, among them Harold Battiste, Al Belletto, Ed Blackwell, Sharkey Bonano, Papa Celestin, Irving Fazola, Pete Fountain, Bill Huntington, Al Hirt, Bunk Johnson, George Lewis, Ellis Marsalis, Earl Palmer, Buddy Prima, and Doc Souchon. Jazz critic Doug Ramsey writes, “Suhor rises above advocacy, partisanship, and politics to put jazz in New Orleans in historical and stylistic perspective. At last, we have a sense of the continuum from the traditional to the modern."

Jazz in New Orleans--the Postwar Years (Scarecrow Press Studies in Jazz Series; 330 pages, 34 photos, $45 hardback) can be ordered at bookstores or on-line at a discount from www.scarecrowpress.com. The author can be reached at [email protected]