Jazz is from New Orleans

I’ve just finished three barnstorming trips around the US to shoot videos for a National Geographic/Cengage textbook series on US history. This was fun. I dressed up as pilgrims, Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactors, Mark Twain, Paul Revere, George Washington, Rosie the Riveter and a caricature of a hippie. It ended with jazz in New Orleans.

I don’t know much about jazz. I have a theory about jazz though. It works when the instruments create their own “phrasing” on a melody then combine efforts. It’s like when Keith Richards calls the noodling between he and Ron Wood’s guitars as “an ancient form of weaving.” I brought this up with a jazz fan in New Orleans, who thought a moment and said, “it’s the basket — jazz is — you can put whatever you want in it.”

That sounds good.

Here’s a video I accidentally made on my telephone while we were hunting down b-roll and whatnot in New Orleans. What a city.

About Robert Reid

Robert Reid is a travel writer (Lonely Planet, New York Times, ESPN), travel expert (Today Show, CNN's Headline News), travel videographer (76-Second Travel Show) and travel artist (don't ask).
Tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *