Artists talk musical traditions of New Orleans
18th February 2019 · 0 Comments
By Victoria Clark
Contributing Writer
New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz music and that sound has evolved in the decades since, say local recording artists at a public talk called “Robin Barnes & Friends Present: The Past, Present & Future of African American Musicians in New Orleans” at the Pythian Market on Feb. 13.
The discussion was based on the how the music culture in New Orleans has changed while keeping its cultural traditions. The event, organized by the Pythian Market, featured Robin Barnes, a New Orleans native and billboard charted jazz singer, and musical artists from the city: Melissa “DJ Soul Sister” Weber, Mia Borders, Nicholas Payton and Bill Summers.
The roots of New Orleans music can be traced back to the presence of people of African descent here, and it is what separates the city from others.
“You can have a trajectory of music from the West African music, to jazz, to swing… all the way to bounce and trap and modern pop, it’s all rooted in New Orleans music in African music,” Borders said.
In the 19th century when Congo Square became a designated place for enslaved Africans to express themselves, they would practice their rituals, dances, and make music that connected them back to their homeland, Payton explained. This is how jazz and the music culture in New Orleans was created. Even though the city’s music life is heavily influenced by Congo Square, Summers explained that there is a lot of history that is not documented about it.
“There’s not enough known about Congo Square,” Summer said. “There were classically trained Black musicians in the city, but no one ever went to Congo Square and note-took what was happening,” Summers added. “So, I think a lot of people don’t know a lot the culture before New Orleans and during the development of music in the city,” he said.
The New Orleans sound is often described as unorthodox. Considering it is the birthplace of genres like zydeco, dixie, bounce, ragtime, and more, the city’s music is shaped by the experiences of people who lived here. From artists like Louis Armstrong to Big Freedia, it is no surprise that the city has a history of being versatile in its music, Barnes explained, and that these different genres help artists from the city mold their own sound into a new century.
“I think the biggest challenge New Orleans artists have is capturing what the New Orleans sound is and trying to take it to a modern level,” Barnes said. “We take these elements and foundations of New Orleans sounds, beats, and rhythm and we create it into something that is what we present as New Orleans.”
Celebrations like second lines, parades, football games, weddings, etc. include the city’s music. It has long a tradition of bringing the community together, which is often taken for granted, according to DJ Soul Sister. She explained that the music is used to create fun through togetherness.
“The crowd participation and call and response are two necessary, integral parts of the New Orleans sound. The thing is to participate and dance, and the call and response thing happens not only vocally but with the instruments and everything else,” DJ Soul Sister said.
Through different generations of New Orleans music, it has become clear that there is no single sound for the city, but that the tradition of making music in this city is what it continues to be known for. There is a specific way artists are taught by each other that helps them reach their goals, Border explained, and that it is almost a mentor-mentee program that produces great artists in the city, historically and today.
“We take people under our wing and then they take that germ of an idea and blossom it into its own thing,” Borders said.
The artists said they wanted aspiring artists to continue this legacy of making the city’s music evolve for future generations. They admit that it is not an easy career path too take, but for musicians in New Orleans, they note they find a way to do what they were born to do: make music.
“To me there’s no plan B, there’s a plan A, and if that don’t work, make another plan A,” Payton said.
This article originally published in the February 18, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
