Music scene · New Orleans

New Orleans gave jazz to the world, and the French Quarter still echoes with brass bands pouring from Preservation Hall and the Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street. Tipitina's carries the funk and soul lineage of Professor Longhair into the present, while second line parades roll through Treme without warning. From the Maple Leaf Bar's weekly brass band residency to late night bounce sets in the Marigny, the Crescent City treats music as public conversation.

New Orleans developed jazz as brass band marches, blues, ragtime, and spirituals collided in Congo Square and the backstreets of Tremé. The city's port brought Caribbean rhythms and European harmonic structures together, creating improvisational music that spread worldwide. That lineage continues through funk, brass band revival, and bounce music born from neighborhood parades and block parties.

Preservation Hall on St. Peter Street offers nightly acoustic jazz in a bare bones room unchanged for decades. Tipitina's uptown carries the funk legacy of Professor Longhair with a sprung wood dance floor. The Maple Leaf Bar on Oak Street hosts brass band residencies and late night funk jams. The Spotted Cat on Frenchmen Street packs listeners into standing room only sets of traditional jazz.

New Orleans has produced artists such as Louis Armstrong, who transformed jazz into a global language, and Dr. John, along with the Neville Brothers and Trombone Shorty.

Visit the Maple Leaf Bar on a Monday night for the standing brass band residency and meet the players afterward. The Spotted Cat offers an unpretentious entry point into traditional jazz among locals. For open jams, d.b.a. on Frenchmen Street welcomes sit ins on select weeknights. The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic provides health services and community resources specifically for working artists.