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BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™
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06 17 03 |
New Orleans
Know-It-All
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| The
famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band has always called 726
St. Peter St. home. |
Hey Blake,
As a kid I recall the original Preservation Hall, a big white room with high ceiling.
Allen Jaffe had those old paintings. Seems like it was on Royal Street. Am I dreaming
or not?
Kevin Roberts
Dear Kevin,
I believe you are dreaming, my friend. Preservation Hall is,
and always has been, located at 726 St. Peter St. The building was constructed
in the mid-18th century as a residence. And around the War of 1812, it was used
as a tavern. In the 1950s, it was an art gallery and sometime studio where musicians
gathered occasionally. That was until 1961 when Allen Jaffe, a transplant from
Pottsville, Penn., along with his wife, Sandra, bought the building, began to
use it as a music hall, and gave it its now-famous name.
Can you believe that 40 years ago, traditional New Orleans
jazz was in danger? The young people wanted to hear rock 'n' roll stars such
as Elvis Presley. But there were still musicians who loved to play the tunes
of old and wanted to preserve them.
Jaffe offered the jazz musicians a place to play. When the
guys would come in after their gigs, he -- a tuba player -- would often join
them. Then he organized groups that played in the hall and tours for the bands
that traveled around America and to foreign countries. In fact, the Preservation
Hall Jazz Band has been touring the United States for more than 25 years and
has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall and Wolf Trap where it
won a medal for excellence in the performing arts.
Allen continued to play with the band until his death in 1987
at age 59. But the band lives on and Preservation Hall is famous the world over.
For a mere pittance, you can hear music nightly and take it home with you in
the form of one of the many recordings available. Now that you know where it
is, you should go again. Be sure to look for me there.
Hey Blake,
Do you remember (don't know if you're old enough) a film made somewhere around
1984 which included a skirmish/shooting/fight or something similar in one of
the gondola cars of the 1984 World's Fair (LA Exposition) which was an aerial
ride West to East Bank, or East to West Bank if you prefer? I watched the film
several times on TV to remind myself how petrified with fear I was during my
trips across. Nobody but me seems to know of the film.
Dot
Dear Dot,
First off, let me say that they don't call me "Old Blake" for nothing, although
I thank you for your kind suggestion that I might be too young to remember a
movie made in 1985. I can remember movies made in 1895! One in particular was
called Washday Trouble and was produced by a fellow named Edison.
The movie you ask about is titled French
Quarter Undercover. It was made in 1985 and starred Michael Parks and Bill
Holiday. Billed as a true-to-life adventure, the film is about two New Orleans
undercover police agents, Andre and R.J. When they are asked to find the stolen
credentials of an FBI agent, the two officers discover something else -- a terrorist
plot to destroy the World's Fair.
The final scene involves a shootout between
Parks in a helicopter and the bad guy in a gondola car traveling across the
Mississippi River. As you remember, the cable on the gondola snaps and the gondola,
along with the terrorist, plunges into the river and sinks. However, almost
immediately, up bobs a thermos containing the deadly virus intended to pollute
the water supply. A little boy fishing on the riverbank retrieves it. But as
luck would have it, the top is on too tight, so the lad tosses it back into
the river. End of story, and not too soon.
Over the years, there have been dozens of
movies made in New Orleans and some of them have been quite good. Now I can't
speak for all movie lovers, but I believe I preferred Edison's Washday Trouble
to French Quarter Undercover.
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