Throughout time, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been known as a bunch of old geezers that would play at the old “Hall” in New Orleans the tried and true pieces like “Careless Love” and “The Saints.” They toured around as well, hitting all of the “Traditional” Festivals. Well, those days have come and gone.
Yes, you still have some vets, but the present roster includes Ben Jaffe/b-tub, Charlie Gabriel/ts-cl, Clint Maedgen/ts, Ronel Johnson/tb, Walter Harris/dr, Kyle Roussel/key and Branden Lewis/tp and they now give concerts at places like the Coachella Music Festival and Bonnaroo! Likewise, the songs are all originals, and they cover a wide palate ranging from a bluesy bopper on the title track to Afro Funk on “Mad.” Harris’ calypso’d groove teams with sax riffs and Lewis’ horn on a wild “Santiago” and the tenor saxes sound Wardell Grey breathy on the quasi modal “Innocence” and the soul grooving “Convergence.” Johnson growls to some shuffling keyboards on “One Hundred Miles” and the streets get festive on “La Malanga.” Preservation Hall goes modern, and it works!