August 23, 2023
No visit to New Orleans is complete without a visit to hear traditional jazz at internationally renowned Preservation Hall. Founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe, Preservation Hall sought to give a home to traditional New Orleans music at a time when it was surviving primarily on neighborhood streets. Integrated from its very inception during the Jim Crow South, the Hall was always a place for black and white musicians to play together for black and white audiences. It swiftly became a hallowed stage for musical luminaries from “Sweet Emma” Barrett, Percy and Willie Humphrey and George Lewis in the 1960s.
Situated in the heart of the French Quarter at 726 St. Peter St., the Preservation Hall venue presents intimate, acoustic New Orleans Jazz concerts over 360 nights a year. It features ensembles from a current collective of over sixty local master practitioners. On any given night, audiences bear joyful witness to the evolution of this venerable and living tradition. For the first time in over sixty years featuring the best jazz New Orleans has to offer, Preservation Hall has appointed its first-ever Musical Director, bandleader, vocalist and trumpet player, Wendell Brunious. He has already made history at the Hall in his 20s when he became the youngest bandleader in the Hall’s history and he now will help to bridge the gap between the storied venue’s seasoned musicians and the next generation of master musicians.
In his new role, Brunious will work closely with Creative Director Ben Jaffe to oversee the musical repertoire performed at the French Quarter venue. Brunious will also serve as the musical ambassador for the Preservation Hall Foundation, assisting in educational programming and community engagement efforts. As Musical Director, he will maintain his fruitful relationships with the musical collective and act as both the venue and foundation’s ambassador to the music world. Brunious has a longstanding mutual respect with his musical peers and will continue to serve as a mentor to the younger members of the Preservation Hall community.
“It is with great respect and passion that I accept this important position. Preservation Hall is the most important venue in the world for Traditional Jazz and I feel very privileged to have been asked to be its first Musical Director,” Brunious stated. “I look forward to working closely with Ben Jaffe and the Preservation Hall Foundation, making sure that the integrity and highest quality of this art form is around for many generations to come.”
While Preservation Hall refrains from holding auditions for new musicians, it preserves and perpetuates the Traditional New Orleans Jazz music performed within its walls by selecting only the most skilled musicians with generational talent and deep relationships with the musical collective. Brunious and Jaffe will work hand in hand to identify new talent to play regularly at Preservation Hall and subsequently guide them. In addition to serving as a bridge from the roots of Preservation Hall to the newest members of the collective, Brunious will simultaneously continue his decades-long tenure as a stalwart bandleader at the St. Peter Street site.
Brunious boasts a towering musical family tree primarily flowered with trumpets. He is the son of trumpet master John “Picket” (or “Picky”) Brunious Sr., the Juilliard-educated pianist and trumpeter, gifted composer and arranger for artists such as Billy Eckstein and Cab Calloway and Nazimova “Chinee” Santiago, the niece of guitarist and banjoist Willie Santiago. Hailing from New Orleans’ 7th Ward, Brunious first picked up a trumpet at 11 years old. He began playing at Preservation Hall at 23 and was only 28 when he took over as a bandleader for 91-year-old Kid Thomas Valentine. He was the youngest musician to ever lead a Preservation Hall band and his older brother John also held the role of bandleader.
“Wendell Brunious reflects an incredibly valuable family history and possesses both tangible and intangible qualities that make him entirely unique as a musician and elder statesperson. His dedication and lifetime commitment to his craft, in addition to his personal story, are both beautiful and singular. I have the highest regard and respect for Mr. Brunious as a musician’s musician,” said Jaffe, the son of the famed venue’s co-founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe. “He is a son of this sacred tradition and a library of information and knowledge. We are all fortunate to have Mr. Brunious fulfilling such an important role.”
Brunious credits some of his early development to having worked with the Olympia Brass Band under the direction of his cousin, bandleader and saxophonist Harold Dejan. He crossed paths with the famed banjoist Danny Barker while in college at Southern University and apprenticed alongside many great New Orleans musicians, including guitarist Justin Adams, with whom he launched the first jazz brunch at Commander's Palace restaurant in the mid-1970s. Extremely knowledgeable in the music’s tradition and history, Brunious enjoys sprinkling his conversation with advisory quotes from his father and other artists who have crossed his musical path through his extensive career.
In addition to traveling the world to play Traditional New Orleans Jazz with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, recording seven albums under his own name and countless features on other recordings over the years, Brunious has worked with a long list of esteemed artists including the Tuxedo Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Wynton Marsalis, Lionel Hampton, Harry Connick, Jr., Gladys Knight & and the Pips and many more.
In the past twenty years, by virtue of its credibility and Ben Jaffe’s creative vision, Preservation Hall has hosted an array of musical guests from a variety of genres and nations including Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, Alabama Shakes, Jimmy Buffett, My Morning Jacket, Del McCoury, Tom Waits, Gary Clark, Jr., Nathaniel Rateliff and others.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Preservation Hall Foundation have preserved cherished tunes, traditions and treasures, while continuing to innovate, collaborate and evolve. Check their busy calendar with four shows every day of the week except for a few holidays and reserve your tickets for the best traditional jazz in town at preservationhall.com.
Situated in the heart of the French Quarter at 726 St. Peter St., the Preservation Hall venue presents intimate, acoustic New Orleans Jazz concerts over 360 nights a year. It features ensembles from a current collective of over sixty local master practitioners. On any given night, audiences bear joyful witness to the evolution of this venerable and living tradition. For the first time in over sixty years featuring the best jazz New Orleans has to offer, Preservation Hall has appointed its first-ever Musical Director, bandleader, vocalist and trumpet player, Wendell Brunious. He has already made history at the Hall in his 20s when he became the youngest bandleader in the Hall’s history and he now will help to bridge the gap between the storied venue’s seasoned musicians and the next generation of master musicians.
In his new role, Brunious will work closely with Creative Director Ben Jaffe to oversee the musical repertoire performed at the French Quarter venue. Brunious will also serve as the musical ambassador for the Preservation Hall Foundation, assisting in educational programming and community engagement efforts. As Musical Director, he will maintain his fruitful relationships with the musical collective and act as both the venue and foundation’s ambassador to the music world. Brunious has a longstanding mutual respect with his musical peers and will continue to serve as a mentor to the younger members of the Preservation Hall community.
“It is with great respect and passion that I accept this important position. Preservation Hall is the most important venue in the world for Traditional Jazz and I feel very privileged to have been asked to be its first Musical Director,” Brunious stated. “I look forward to working closely with Ben Jaffe and the Preservation Hall Foundation, making sure that the integrity and highest quality of this art form is around for many generations to come.”
While Preservation Hall refrains from holding auditions for new musicians, it preserves and perpetuates the Traditional New Orleans Jazz music performed within its walls by selecting only the most skilled musicians with generational talent and deep relationships with the musical collective. Brunious and Jaffe will work hand in hand to identify new talent to play regularly at Preservation Hall and subsequently guide them. In addition to serving as a bridge from the roots of Preservation Hall to the newest members of the collective, Brunious will simultaneously continue his decades-long tenure as a stalwart bandleader at the St. Peter Street site.
Brunious boasts a towering musical family tree primarily flowered with trumpets. He is the son of trumpet master John “Picket” (or “Picky”) Brunious Sr., the Juilliard-educated pianist and trumpeter, gifted composer and arranger for artists such as Billy Eckstein and Cab Calloway and Nazimova “Chinee” Santiago, the niece of guitarist and banjoist Willie Santiago. Hailing from New Orleans’ 7th Ward, Brunious first picked up a trumpet at 11 years old. He began playing at Preservation Hall at 23 and was only 28 when he took over as a bandleader for 91-year-old Kid Thomas Valentine. He was the youngest musician to ever lead a Preservation Hall band and his older brother John also held the role of bandleader.
“Wendell Brunious reflects an incredibly valuable family history and possesses both tangible and intangible qualities that make him entirely unique as a musician and elder statesperson. His dedication and lifetime commitment to his craft, in addition to his personal story, are both beautiful and singular. I have the highest regard and respect for Mr. Brunious as a musician’s musician,” said Jaffe, the son of the famed venue’s co-founders Allan and Sandra Jaffe. “He is a son of this sacred tradition and a library of information and knowledge. We are all fortunate to have Mr. Brunious fulfilling such an important role.”
Brunious credits some of his early development to having worked with the Olympia Brass Band under the direction of his cousin, bandleader and saxophonist Harold Dejan. He crossed paths with the famed banjoist Danny Barker while in college at Southern University and apprenticed alongside many great New Orleans musicians, including guitarist Justin Adams, with whom he launched the first jazz brunch at Commander's Palace restaurant in the mid-1970s. Extremely knowledgeable in the music’s tradition and history, Brunious enjoys sprinkling his conversation with advisory quotes from his father and other artists who have crossed his musical path through his extensive career.
In addition to traveling the world to play Traditional New Orleans Jazz with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, recording seven albums under his own name and countless features on other recordings over the years, Brunious has worked with a long list of esteemed artists including the Tuxedo Brass Band, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Wynton Marsalis, Lionel Hampton, Harry Connick, Jr., Gladys Knight & and the Pips and many more.
In the past twenty years, by virtue of its credibility and Ben Jaffe’s creative vision, Preservation Hall has hosted an array of musical guests from a variety of genres and nations including Robert Plant, Elvis Costello, Alabama Shakes, Jimmy Buffett, My Morning Jacket, Del McCoury, Tom Waits, Gary Clark, Jr., Nathaniel Rateliff and others.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Preservation Hall Foundation have preserved cherished tunes, traditions and treasures, while continuing to innovate, collaborate and evolve. Check their busy calendar with four shows every day of the week except for a few holidays and reserve your tickets for the best traditional jazz in town at preservationhall.com.
