Word: musically
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...when Bunk's, band was recorded in 1942, people realized that there was another half to the story. Many musicians stayed in the city after 1917, and continued playing the same pure style of jazz that had developed around the turn of the century. When Storyville closed up, the music went on as it always had--on the streets of the black sections, in the back yards, in the little churches, at parades, picnics, dances, funerals. The culture which produced these men and their music didn't change very much in those 50 years or so, and the music...
Bunk was a symbol of the perseverence of that music and the culture which had engendered it. His career stretched all the way back to the 1890's when he had played with the famous Buddy Bolden band. Bunk had been the idol and teacher of many great New Orleans trumpet men, including Louis Armstrong. "They was all crazy behind old man Bunk's playing" he said himself in 1942. He had worked in every joint in Storyville, and played countless parades and funerals throughout the city. And now in the 40's, ten years after his "retirement" from music...
...played before packed concert halls, mesmerizing huge audiences with the simple, lyrical beauty of his horn, receiving wildly enthusiastic ovations at the end of each number. What was the magic of this frail little black man from the back streets of New Orleans? What was there in his music that spoke its message to the hearts of these Englishmen, Swedes, Danes, Germans, and Japanese as it had spoken to his own people for almost 50 years...
...years ago, I wandered into Preservation Hall in the French Quarter of New Orleans on a night when George Lewis was playing. I was knocked out by his music. I didn't know what it all meant then; I didn't really know who those old men were, what their lives had been like, or what made their music so great. I only knew that it was great, and that Lewis' clarinet was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard...
...only a handful of active musicians when Preservation Hall opened its gates to French Quarter audiences. When it became successful, the few active professionals were joined by others who had put their instruments down long ago. Before long, they were all playing as if nothing had happened to their music or to their lives, though in some cases, it meant the return of white-haired old men to bands and friends they had left 30 years before. Some have since become internationally known: Billie and Dede Pierce, Sweet Emma the bell gal, the Kid Thomas band, and the Eureka Brass...