Tom Waits, Jim James, Andrew Bird Celebrate New Orleans Music

Over the last year, musicians like Tom Waits, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (above) and Steve Earle traveled to Preservation Hall in New Orleans to collaborate with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band on classic New Orleans repertoire.

The end result is a new album, Preservation, set for release on Fat Tuesday, February 16. Proceeds from the sale of the project will benefit Preservation Hall and The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program.

“Our community is deeply rooted in a tradition of using music to rejoice, heal and overcome adversity. We play music at our funerals to uplift our spirits during our deepest and darkest emotional moments,” says producer Ben Jaffe.

Jaffe said the goal on the project was to create new works steeped in the New Orleans tradition with artists from diverse musical genres and backgrounds who all share a mutual admiration and deep appreciation for the cultural heritage.

From Brandi Carlile’s take on the gospel classic “Old Rugged Cross” to Tom Waits’ arrangement of the earliest known recorded Mardi Gras Song, “Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing,” each artist was able to perform their interpretation of these classics within the warm confines of Preservation Hall’s famous performance space.

“Del McCoury was the first artist to record a track,” Jaffe says. “Then Jason Isbell responded, and we went from there. We put together a wish list of artists and just started reaching out. Some of them were artists we’d worked with; others, like Pete Seeger, had no connection to the hall but were musical institutions.”

The complete roster of artists includes:

• Preservation Hall Jazz Band
• Andrew Bird
• Terence Blanchard
• Pete Seeger
• Dr. John
• Blind Boys of Alabama
• Brandi Carlile
• Cory Chisel
• Ani DiFranco
• Steve Earle
• Merle Haggard
• Richie Havens
• Jason Isbell
• Jim James
• Angelique Kidjo
• Amy LaVere
• Anita Briem
• Del McCoury
• Buddy Miller
• Paolo Nutini
• Tom Waits

Preservation Hall, located in the French Quarter just three blocks from the Mississippi River, remains the intimate venue it originally was when it opened in 1961 as a performance space dedicated to honoring, celebrating and perpetuating New Orleans jazz. Originally erected as a Spanish Tavern in the 1750s, Preservation Hall is a modest French Quarter structure.

In other Jim James-Preservation Hall news, My Morning Jacket have announced a 9-date tour for the springtime alongside Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who will provide opening act duties for the outing. Should be quite a treat!

“When I got the invitation to go to the legendary Preservation Hall–where so much of the music we now know and love on this earth found its early roots–I did not waste a minute,” Jim James explained. “Getting to sing while the guys played with such glorious bursts of sound–all live in that holy room with the ghosts and garbage trucks crankin’ along–was an experience I’ll never forget.”

April 2010

• 20 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theater
• 21 – Nashville, TN – Municipal Auditorium
• 23 – Atlanta, GA – Chastain Park Amphitheatre
• 24 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
• 27 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheater
• 28 – Charleston, SC – Family Circle
• 30 – Raleigh, NC – Koka Booth

May 2010

• 1 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion
• 2 – Columbus, OH – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion