NEW ORLEANS JAZZ FATHERS II
Offered here is a real gem of New Orleans and Jazz history. An original Ticket for a Mardi Gras dance given by the Orleans Stock Club for March 19th, 1918.
There are so many historical details coming together in this card. I’ll try to highlight a few .
The date, St. Joseph Night, March 19th , 1918. / A few months before the end of the WWI . St Joseph’s Night in New Orleans has a special meaning , a night where the Wild Indians of Mardi Gras celebrate out in the streets. not sure how old this ceremony is but that this dance card date is for the same night looks like no coincidence to me . If you want to learn more about the Wild Indians and St Joseph” nigh I recommend this article .
The Venue, ECONOMY HALL , a dance hall where trombonist Kid Ory’s Creole band cultivated jazz improvisation as far back as 1910. Economy Hall was not only a legendary laboratory for jazz improvisation, as was typical of the many social aid and pleasure clubs at that time. It also provided a variety of social services, including brass band funerals and dances, to the New Orleans black community. A new book ( Fatima Shaik’s Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood ) sheds light on the less know side of the Hall , a remarkable history that preceded jazz by almost a century. The radical politics and philanthropic efforts of the society that built Economy Hall touched most corners of New Orleans and some parts of the globe. From a modest house purchased secretly by the members of the Société d’Economie et d’Assistance Mutuelle in 1836 to the famous Economy Hall that stood until 1965, a diverse cross-section of people came to Ursuline Street to socialize, debate, advocate, dance, memorialize the dead, and bring back some of their dearly departed in seances. Communal, political, and soulful—in sum, Economy Hall was New Orleans under a roof. The fifteen free men of color who began the organization and the others who joined during the society’s early years reads like a roster of well-established Creoles of the 19th century: Pierre Crocker, builder and lover of Marie Laveau; Etienne Cordeviolle and François Lacroix, international tailors whose designs and real estate holdings made them wealthy; Pierre Casanave, a well-known mortician; Charles Martinez, musician, grocer, and later notary; and Ludger Boguille, a teacher beginning in the 1840s and important secretary of the organization.
The Band, The Magnolia Orchestra , no other than Louis Keppard’s band. Now if you are something of a Jazz aficionado or nerd , you might have heard the name. Louis Keppard was not only Freddie Keppard’s (successor of Buddy Bolden as “ King” ) older brother but an accomplished Jazz Guitarist and band leader . He led the Magnolia Orchestra, which became the regular band at Huntz's and Nagel's cabaret on Iberville in the District. The Magnolia Orchestra included Joe Oliver on cornet, who would later succeed Keppard's title as "King" by winning a "cutting contest" against him.
Louis Keppard, Afro-French Creole guitarist, alto horn player, and sousaphonist Louis Keppard (1889-1986) was the older brother of cornetist Freddie Keppard. He took guitar lessons from Bud Scott and Willie Santiago. Before 1915 he was the leader of the Magnolia Band, which often worked at Economy Hall in Tremé, but also played with Oscar Celestin and Manuel Perez, as well as performing with the Olympia Band led by his brother. After a brief sojourn playing vaudeville theaters in Chicago in 1917, he returned to New Orleans, playing alto horn with brass bands. In the 1940s Keppard worked as a solo guitarist and with Wooden Joe Nicholas in dance bands and in the 1950s and 60s played sousaphone with the E. Gibson Brass Band and others.
Joe “King” Oliver , Mentor to no other than Louis Armstrong and pioneer of what would become known as the Harmon trumpet mute, Joe “King” Oliver was a key figure in the first period of jazz history. His most significant ensemble, King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, was a live sensation and also the first black New Orleans ensemble to gain recognition in the record industry.
A one in a lifetime chance to own a significant piece of American Jazz and Nerw Orleans history.
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