When you visit New Orleans, it quickly becomes evident that this city full of vibrant culture is unlike any other. There’s beauty, intrigue, adventure and tradition awaiting behind every corner. As far as music goes – and that’s a big part of the culture – few emit as much musical legacy and tradition than Preservation Hall Jazz Band and Preservation Hall. The band and hall, which were founded in the early ’60s, played a key role in helping revitalize the jazz form in New Orleans and bolster the New Orleans music scene in general. Despite a number of lineup changes over the years, the band hasn’t lost a beat. They’ve remained steadfast with a youthful vigor and desire to keep pushing their musical limits. The hall that they call home – located at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter – is a musical beacon for residents of New Orleans and any curious outsider visitor. It’s one place in New Orleans where everyone is welcome to play, even dating back during segregation. It’s become an important institution in the city and not even Hurricane Katrina could keep it down for long.
That unwavering desire to keep going has been passed down, with each generation taking up the Preservation Hall Jazz Band mantle. The current band leader, Ben Jaffe, has kept the band—which his parents Allan and Sandra Jaffe founded—going strong with a desire to keep its tradition and legacy shining brightly into the future. Jaffe currently acts as the band and hall’s Creative Director and plays upright bass and tuba. He’s lived his whole life surrounded by the vibrant musical culture and talented musicians of New Orleans’ French Quarter. He went to college at Oberlin College in Ohio but returned after graduating in 1993 to play in the band and take over the role that his father had until his death six years earlier. He has kept his parent’s legacy of giving back to the community alive by being part of a number of projects including the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund.
The younger Jaffe has a strong passion for collaboration and is willing to collaborate with anyone, both young or old. In 2013 the band recorded their latest album That’s It! with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James co-producing. More recently, the band contributed to a song with rockers the Foo Fighters for their nation-spanning 2014 album Sonic Highways. We caught up with Jaffe last year to talk about working with the Foo Fighters and the connecting power of collaboration.
First of all, how did this collaboration with the Foo Fighters begin?
I got a phone call from our record label which put us in touch with somebody at the Foo Fighters camp because they were researching places to record in New Orleans. And I said “Sure, have them call me.” And they called and when the conversation started Dave was interested in finding a studio that had some history and some place connected to the music of New Orleans. And I suggested to him, I was like “If you really want to record here you should record at Preservation Hall.” It’s where the Preservation Hall Jazz Band does all of its recordings. And he couldn’t even believe that it was an option, think that we would even allow that to happen. He flipped. He was like “That’s absolutely where we want to do it, thank you!” And that’s how it all came together. A couple phone calls.
Were you familiar with their music beforehand?
Yeah, I am. I go back to Nirvana. I was just getting out of college and that was part of my scene. I’m an anomaly. I grew up in this jazz environment completely unique to itself. My father was in Preservation Hall Jazz Band and him and mom actually established Preservation Hall in 1961. So we grew up a block from Preservation Hall. I had all the musical experience before I ever got into rock and roll and [Led] Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. I was into Preservation Hall and marching bands, brass bands and Mardi Gras music and funeral music, that was my scene. And then I discovered popular music in college and high school. So I knew them. But a lot of the older members of the Preservation Hall Band had never heard of the Foo Fighters before.
How did the collaboration go? Were you together or separate recording with them?
What’s amazing about this recording, is that Dave told me that he had never worked with horns before, that they had never had horns on any tracks that they had before. It was really interesting. He thought it would be disrespectful not to have us play on the track with him. So it was really cool when all the guys from the Preservation Hall Band said “This is awesome. We totally want to do it.” It was something they were excited to do. It was a really cool moment for both bands. And it was really fun for me.
When we knew this project was going to happen it was really fun for me to introduce the older members of Preservation Hall Band to this whole musical world that is a big part of my life but is completely unknown to them. That’s part of the beauty of collaboration is that people get to learn about the other person and take away something positive. Those are the best collaborations.
The band worked with another younger artist, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, on the band’s last album, 2013’s That’s It!. What do you like about working with younger artists like James and Foo Fighters?
It’s good to get a fresh perspective on what you do. And Jim was one of many [younger] people who embraced the Preservation Hall Band and understood the significant contribution these musicians and Preservation Hall have had on American music. And that’s awesome. I think younger musicians should honor the musicians that laid the groundwork for American music. As an artist, someone who appreciates creativity is always great to work with. People who are constantly exploring and it seems like their lives are a constant musical adventure. And Jim, the first time I met him we immediately felt there was a kindred spirit there. And we continued to be friends and collaborated on several projects and it kind of culminated with him co-producing our last album.
It must have been a unique experience too with the Foo Fighters bringing their rock style to the Hall.
Yeah. Like I said, every time you get to collaborate with someone outside your immediate musical soundwave or immediate musical experience it’s enriching. It’s enriches your life. It influences you and leaves an impact on who you are. It’s something you can’t undo experience. Once you’ve had that experience it becomes part of your DNA.
I read an interview where producer Butch Vig was saying it was a little bit tricky recording there, with how the Hall is laid out.
Yeah, well it’s not a recording studio. It’s a very small room. When we have nightly performances in Preservation Hall, we maybe have 70 people in the hall with the band. There’s no microphones or anything, everything is acoustic. It’s set up to be a performance space. So when Butch came there and they laid the hall out…actually what they did was turn my office, which used to be my parent’s apartment, they turned that into the control room studio and ran a snake all the way to the main room. For about 50 or 70 feet they ran a snake to the front room and recorded the band up there. They communicated back and forth with each other with microphones and headphones and cameras. We had cameras set up in the main room and large screens so that everybody could be in communication with each other.
What’s your favorite memory or story from the experience?
There are a dozen or so stories that are in my mind that were totally memorable but I would say for me is the moment that Dave arrived and walked in for the very first time. He was seeing Preservation Hall for the very first time. And he walked in and to see the expression on his face, that this is where he was going to get to call home for the next week of his life, was priceless. He was like a kid in a candy shop. When he walked in he couldn’t have been happier.
Let’s talk a little bit about New Orleans and its music scene. How else did you and others help share it with Dave and the band?
One of the reasons Dave wanted to come to New Orleans was to immerse himself in the heart of New Orleans music community. Hanging out at Preservation Hall for a week and to be part of our work, he got to see a side of New Orleans very few people get to experience. And that was amazing to get to share our histories and our legacies with him. He got to met members of peoples’ families. He got to go to churches. He got to go to peoples’ apartments. He had meals cooked for him at peoples’ houses. He got to go to peoples’ backyards. He got to have a Crawfish Boil. He got to become part of our world for a week.
Do you think outsider’s perception of New Orleans is pretty accurate?
I don’t know. I’m so in it so I don’t know what people think about it or what their perception is. I can say that having the opportunity to share Preservation Hall and New Orleans with people through our eyes I’ve seen it change peoples’ lives enough times now that I’ve come to recognize there is something very, very special about New Orleans and there’s something very unique about it.
There seems to be a strong tradition of handing down musical legacies and traditions.
Yeah. Every great musician at some point or another discovers New Orleans themselves. You can go back however many decades…you could go back to Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, everybody had to discover New Orleans music. And I’m just talking about Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, I’m talking about Smiley Lewis and Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew and Professor Longhair and Allen Toussaint and The Meters and The Neville Brothers and Dr John. At some point you have to discover those people. You have to discover that for yourself. As a musician I really appreciate the value of that and being part of that tradition.
What do you feel about being part of the Foo Fighters album that highlights all these different places across the country?
I’m honored. I feel honored and blessed to be part of the project. First of all, to have the opportunity to work with and be a part of the Foo Fighters world for a week. What was incredible for me was that they’re some of my idols there, in the Foo Fighters. So to be in that spot for a week was priceless for me. Priceless. And it was so priceless for me because I feel so strongly about the value of collaboration and it’s a big part of what Preservation Hall does. To really collaborate with an artist for a week and provide them with a home to record in and be creative in and be safe in…it’s where an artist goes to feel safe and to feel the warmth of being in the room. And there’s no place like that, like Preservation Hall. Preservation Hall creates that warmth, that safety net, where you’re willing to explore, to go somewhere, and not be afraid of where that is.
