NEW ORLEANS - Trumpets wailed and tubas boomed as New Orleanians danced in the streets on Sunday, on a weekend celebrating jazz great Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong's birthday and praying for the return of musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
"Without Louis Armstrong, we wouldn't really have a clue. He gave us a foundation," said Troy Andrews, known as 'Trombone Shorty', but whose trumpet solos brought down the house during a jazz mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church in the historic Treme neighbourhood near the French Quarter.
The service began with a call to prayer for musicians not yet home. Trumpeter Lionel Ferbos, 95, who had met Louis Armstrong, played with 20-year-old Andrews, testifying to both the history and staying power of jazz in the city.
Armstrong was an international hit playing jazz trumpet and singing hits such as What a Wonderful World and Hello Dolly.
Many New Orleans musicians still revere Armstrong, who was born August 4, 1901 but celebrated his birthday on July 4. He died on July 6, 1971. This year he would have been 105.
Musicians strive to make ends meet after Katrina because housing is scarce and expensive, and many smaller music clubs have closed. The storm killed 1,339, according to the National Hurricane Centre, and flooded 80 per cent of New Orleans.
"It's terrible right now because all of the musicians are scattered around the United States," said Ferbos.
That may not be apparent to tourists ambling through the French Quarter, where musicians play at all hours on the streets, and in bars and hotels.
During the weekend "Satchmo" festival, tents popped up at the French Market. Favourites such as Trombone Shorty and singer Charmaine Neville worked from wrought iron balconies on nearby Frenchman Street.
Morgan Clevenger, founder of the New Orleans Jazz Legacy Foundation, said the city had begun to appreciate Armstrong in the last few years but needed to work harder to preserve his legacy. "I celebrate Louis Armstrong any day of the week," she said.
Vocalist John Boutte, listening to the mass, said that despite the city's continued struggle, jazz musicians had to return.
"New Orleans is a power spot. I've been all over the world, but like Dorothy says, there's no place like home," he said.
- REUTERS
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