PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND TO PERFORM AT THE CLARK LEGENDARY BAND MARKS 50TH YEAR OF TOURING

For Immediate Release

January 22, 2013

Williamstown, MA—Just four days shy of Mardi Gras, the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute warmly welcomes Louisiana’s Preservation Hall Jazz Band on Friday, February 8 at 8 pm. Advance tickets are $42 ($38 members and students), or $45 at the door. Reserve tickets at clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524.

A three-course dinner preceding the concert will be served at 6 pm in the Clark Café. Cost is $27 per person (does not include beverage, tax, or gratuity). Reservations are required; space is limited. For reservations, call 413 458 0524 or email Maria Gamari at [email protected].

Rolling Stone, in a recent music review, said Preservation Hall Jazz Band “shines like a beacon of New Orleans jazz, celebrating the unique artistic culture and music form of the Crescent City.” The band derives its name from Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans’s French Quarter and founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The band has traveled worldwide, spreading their mission to nurture and perpetuate the art form of New Orleans jazz—a mission strengthened by the devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina in 2007.

Whether performing at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, for British royalty or the king of Thailand, the band plays music that embodies a joyful, timeless spirit. Under the auspices of current director Ben Jaffe, son of founders Allan and Sandra, Preservation Hall continues as a venue, band, and record label.

PHJB began touring in 1963. Many of the band’s charter members performed with the pioneers who invented jazz in the early twentieth century, including Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, and Bunk Johnson. Band leaders over the PHJB's history include the brothers Willie and Percy Humphrey, husband and wife De De and Billie Pierce, famed pianist Sweet Emma Barrett, and Wendall and John Brunious. These founding artists and dozens of others passed on the culture of their music to a younger generation, who now follows in their footsteps.

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Press contact:

Amanda Powers
[email protected]
413 458 0471



Calendar Listing

Preservation Hall Jazz Band at the Clark

February 8, 2013
8 pm

Preservation Hall Jazz Band will perform at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute on Friday, February 8 at 8 pm. Advance tickets are $42 ($38 members and students), or $45 at the door. Reserve tickets at clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524.

A three-course dinner preceding the concert will be served at 6 pm in the Clark Café. Cost is $27 per person (does not include beverage, tax, or gratuity). Reservations are required; space is limited. For reservations, call 413 458 0524 or email Maria Gamari at [email protected].