2006年VOA标准英语-National Park Dedicated to Jazz Back In Op

By Greg Flakus
New Orleans
26 April 2006
 
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New Orleans is recognized as the place where the music called “jazz” had its birth, around a century ago. It is also the site of a unique national park dedicated¹ to the music and its history. Operations were disrupted by Hurricane Katrina last year, but, as VOA's Greg Flakus explains, the park rangers³ are back at work, not only talking about jazz, but playing it.

In the early part of the 20th century, jazz burst out of New Orleans and became a national craze. As depicted⁴ in the 1947 film "New Orleans," jazz went from small barrooms and rough dance halls to what some music critics proclaim as America's most important contribution to world culture.

New Orleans Jazz National Historic Park, Congo Square  
  
Visitors to New Orleans can learn all about jazz and its origins at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, which was established here in 1994.

Bruce Barnes and Matt Hampsey are park rangers who provide the lectures and also play the music.

Within a few years the National Park Service plans to move the Jazz Historical Park to a site north of the New Orleans French Quarter in the city's Louis Armstrong Park, named for one of the most famous jazz players of all time.

Part of the reason for the move is that many historians believe the roots of jazz can be traced to this patch of ground in the park, known as Congo Square.

Matt Hampsey  
  
Ranger² Matt Hampsey says this spot is where African slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries kept some of their music and culture alive. "It was a free day for African slaves who came here on Sundays under the code noir, which under French and Spanish colonial rule provided a loosening up of the regulations on slaves."

Hampsey says the music performed here wasn't jazz, but it was a beginning. "There are elements of jazz that you would have been able to pick out here: the syncopation, with the rhythmic⁵ drumming and singing, the call-and-response singing styles, those are all things that we find in jazz music."

Bruce Barnes  
  
Bruce Barnes helps educate visitors about such African traditional songs as "Legba," which would have been sung in Congo square.  The conversion⁶ of African slaves to Christianity led to the birth of the spiritual, which also influenced jazz.

Many freed slaves, who had learned to play European musical instruments, and many white people as well came to appreciate the African sound, according to Hampsey. "The African rhythms and the blend of cultures between Africa and Europe is really what made jazz so special."

In recent decades the roots of jazz have been nurtured⁷ in New Orleans by benevolent⁸ societies and social organizations that sponsor parades and other events. But Hurricane Katrina scattered⁹ people from New Orleans all over the United States.

Matt Hampsey worries about what effect the disruption will have on New Orleans jazz. "That remains¹⁰ to be seen whether they will be back in full force to carry on the same kind of parading schedule and keep the music alive the way they did before the storm."

In the meantime, the park rangers are doing their part to keep the story of jazz alive.
 
 

1 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

2 ranger   

n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员

参考例句：

• He was the head ranger of the national park.他曾是国家公园的首席看守员。
• He loved working as a ranger.他喜欢做护林人。

3 rangers   

护林者( ranger的名词复数 )； 突击队员

参考例句：

• Do you know where the Rangers Stadium is? 你知道Rangers体育场在哪吗？ 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Now I'm a Rangers' fan, so I like to be near the stadium. 现在我是Rangers的爱好者，所以我想离体育场近一点。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

4 depicted   

描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• Other animals were depicted on the periphery of the group. 其他动物在群像的外围加以修饰。
• They depicted the thrilling situation to us in great detail. 他们向我们详细地描述了那激动人心的场面。

5 rhythmic   

adj.有节奏的，有韵律的

参考例句：

• Her breathing became more rhythmic.她的呼吸变得更有规律了。
• Good breathing is slow,rhythmic and deep.健康的呼吸方式缓慢深沉而有节奏。

6 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

7 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

8 benevolent   

adj.仁慈的，乐善好施的

参考例句：

• His benevolent nature prevented him from refusing any beggar who accosted him.他乐善好施的本性使他不会拒绝走上前向他行乞的任何一个乞丐。
• He was a benevolent old man and he wouldn't hurt a fly.他是一个仁慈的老人，连只苍蝇都不愿伤害。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。