THIS IS AMERICA - Keeping New Orleans Jazz Alive

THIS IS AMERICA - Keeping New Orleans Jazz Alive
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Monday, May 23, 2005

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ANNOUNCER¹:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA, in VOA Special English.

 
Preservation² Hall(Image: www.preservationhall.com)
This week, come along to the American South, to a special place in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a very small building on Saint³ Peter's Street. For more than forty years, musicians who perform there have done their part to continue the tradition of New Orleans jazz. Now, Shirley Griffith and Sarah Long tell the story of Preservation Hall.

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VOICE ONE:

Saint Peter's Street is in the oldest part of the city of New Orleans. French people built this part of the city. The area is still called the French Quarter. The little building that is home to Preservation Hall was built as a home in about Seventeen-Fifty.

In nineteen sixty-one, Allan and Sandra Jaffe began using the small building as a music hall. Musicians there played traditional New Orleans jazz. Mister⁴ and Missus Jaffe named the building Preservation Hall.

VOICE TWO:

The word "preservation" means keeping or protecting for the future. When Allan and Sandra Jaffe opened Preservation Hall in nineteen sixty-one, traditional New Orleans Jazz music was in danger of disappearing.

Young people wanted to hear the music of Elvis Presley and other rock and roll stars. Not many young people wanted to listen to a very old kind of music that was first popular in the early Eighteen-Nineties.

VOICE ONE:

However, many older musicians still liked traditional New Orleans jazz. They often came together and played, sometimes just for their own enjoyment⁵. Allen Jaffe learned⁶ about these older musicians. He offered them his small building as a place to play their music.

Each night, when they were done with their other work, these jazz musicians gathered at the small building and played.

Allen Jaffe played with them. He was a tuba player. He also organized the music groups that played in the hall. Much later he organized trips so the bands could play around the United States and in many other countries.

VOICE TWO:

 
French Quarter
Allen Jaffe was the force behind Preservation Hall until his death in nineteen eighty-seven.

Now we would like to take you to Preservation Hall, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It is really a very easy thing to do. Just close your eyes and listen.

VOICE ONE:

It is a warm evening in New Orleans. We have just finished eating dinner at one of the famous New Orleans restaurants. We are walking along a very narrow street. Most of the buildings are very old.

Just ahead, people are standing⁷ in the street near a small building. Listen closely⁸ now. You can hear music coming from the little building at Seven-Sixty-Two Saint Peter's Street. The music is coming from Preservation Hall.

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VOICE TWO:

 
Preservation Hall
We can hear the music from outside. A line of people waits to enter the building. When a few people leave the building, a few more are permitted to enter. We take our place in line. It is a nice warm evening and the music is great fun.

As we stand in line we hear the bandleader say softly⁹, "A Closer Walk." The leader has just told the members of the band what song they will play next.

The full name of the song is "Just a Closer Walk With Thee." This is a traditional church song that jazz bands have played for more than one-hundred years.

The song is slow and sad and very beautiful. It clearly shows the link between church music of black Americans and the beginnings of jazz music. It is the kind of song that the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has helped to pass to the future. Listen. The band is beginning to play.

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VOICE ONE:

As the band finishes this song, many people leave the building. Now there is room for us to go inside. A young man at the door collects the money to enter the building. We pay a few dollars and walk inside. Near the wall a huge white cat sleeps on a chair. We can see pictures on the walls of the Preservation Hall Jazz Bands.

We turn to the left and enter a very small room. About thirty people are in here. There is no room for any more. Most people stand near the walls. A few sit on the floor in front of the band. A few sit on seats made from long pieces of old wood. Preservation Hall is about music, not costly¹⁰ surroundings¹¹.

VOICE TWO:

Six men are facing us. One sits at a piano. Another plays drums. One plays a clarinet. Another plays a trumpet¹². One man plays the tuba and one a banjo. The trumpet player is almost always the leader of these groups. The trumpet player says, "Joe Avery" and the band begins to play another traditional early jazz song.

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VOICE ONE:

There is a funny sign in back of the band. The sign says the band will play songs requested by the people in the hall. The price for a request is one dollar for any traditional jazz song. The sign says other songs cost two dollars. And the sign says it will cost five dollars if anyone requests the song "Saints¹³."

The sign means the song, "When the Saints Go Marching In." It is a very traditional song that is closely linked with New Orleans and jazz. People request it so often that the band would really rather play something else.

However, a man sitting on the floor gives the bandleader five dollars and says, "Please play 'The Saints.' " The bandleader takes the money and smiles. He says, " 'The Saints' it is."

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VOICE TWO:

It is time for us to leave now and permit others to enter Preservation Hall. We look around the small, famous room and move toward¹⁴ the door. The huge white cat is still asleep on the chair, its tail moving slowly. As we reach the door to the outside, the band begins another song. It is a very old Duke Ellington song, "Mood Indigo¹⁵."

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VOICE ONE:

As we walk away from Preservation Hall and into the warm evening, a man and woman are dancing in the street to the slow music. They are dancing while they wait to enter the famous little building at Seven-Sixty-Two Saint Peter's Street, in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

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VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. Our studio engineer was Mick Shaw. I'm Sarah Long.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. Join us again next week for another report about life in the United States on the VOA Special English program This is America.

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1 announcer   

n.宣布者；电(视)台播音员，报幕员

参考例句：

• The radio announcer said it was nine o'clock.电台播音员报时9点整。
• The announcer tells the listeners what programme comes next.广播员告诉听众下一个是什么节目。

2 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

3 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

4 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

5 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

9 softly   

adv.柔和地，静静地，温柔地

参考例句：

• He speaks too softly for her to hear.他讲话声音太轻，她听不见。
• She breathed her advice softly.她低声劝告。

10 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

11 surroundings   

n.周围的事物(或情况)，环境

参考例句：

• She is not very well tuned into her surroundings. 她不太适应周围的环境。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

12 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

13 saints   

圣人般的人（指特别善良、仁爱或有耐性的人）( saint的名词复数 )； 圣…（冠于人名、地名之前）； （因其生死言行而被基督教会追封的）圣人； 圣徒

参考例句：

• The children were all named after saints. 这些孩子都取了圣徒的名字。
• In 1461, the bishop of Saints, Louis de Rochechouart, saw only a plain wall. 1461年Saints主教，LouisdeRochechouart主教看到只剩一堵朴质的墙。

14 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

15 indigo   

n.靛青，靛蓝

参考例句：

• The sky was indigo blue,and a great many stars were shining.天空一片深蓝，闪烁着点点繁星。
• He slipped into an indigo tank.他滑落到蓝靛桶中。