'St. Peter & 57th St (A 50th Anniversary Celebration)’
by Tom D'Antoni (Oregon Music News)
This just in from the Greasy Big Easy: New Orleans jazz legend Preservation Hall Jazz Band is thrilled to release the live recording, St. Peter and 57th Street, on Rounder Records from their epic January 7th performance at Carnegie Hall in celebration of their 50th Anniversary. The album features a number of special guests from an assortment of genres including: George Wein, Del McCoury Band, Allen Toussaint, Ed Helms,GIVERS, Steve Earle, Tao Seeger, My Morning Jacket, Trombone Shorty, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), King Britt, Blind Boys of Alabama, and Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs.
In celebration of the release, the band is sharing their track “It Ain’t My Fault” featuring Yasiin Bey, Trombone Shorty, and Allen Toussaint, which just premiered on Rolling Stone. The track was initially recorded directly following the Hurricane Katrina (2007) and BP Deepwater Horizon (2010) disasters, which gave the band a new focus. You can also hear the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s track “Careless Love” on NPR’s Fall preview, featuring Merrill Garbus and Frank Demond.
The Carnegie Hall performance was a family reunion in many ways, as Preservation Hall Jazz Band have previously worked with each of their guest musicians over the course of the past 7 years, continuing their mission to preserve and perpetuate traditional New Orleans-Style Jazz. The concert was orchestrated to benefit the Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program, directly supporting the passing of the musical and cultural traditions of New Orleans to the city’s next generation of musicians. A portion of the proceeds from the album will also benefit the program.
On September 25th, Preservation Hall Jazz Band also releasws The Preservation Hall 50th Anniversary Collection box set (out on Legacy Recordings), which draws from 19 albums (and one bonus CD) that were recorded and released between 1962 and 2010.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been carrying the distinctive sound of New Orleans jazz around the world on behalf of Preservation Hall, a unique venue that embodies the city’s musical legacy. With a cast of musicians schooled through first-hand experience and apprenticeship into the music’s historic traditions, the PHJB has served as an irreplaceable, vital link to the earliest days of one of America’s most beloved forms of popular music.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band Artist Page
