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I think I can speak on this subject with a little authority as I'm a jazz guitar player who lives in New York and has been to Nola 4 times this past year to play music. The scenes aren't exactly "better" or "worse", just different. New Orleans definitely has a street scene and party feel to it like no other place. All of the venues are so close to each other on a couple of streets that it feels very happening at certain times. You can walk down Frenchman street and there are a dozen places with live bands, no cover charge and you can bar hop while taking your beer on the street! However, it does start to feel like a small scene after a few visits. There is nowhere near the sheer number of musicians as there are in New York. Music school graduates from all over the world come to New York almost daily it seems to try and "make it". It's to the point where NYC sucks the music scenes out of other places. There are disadvantages especially if you are a musician. A lot of talented people play gigs for free in ny, and its difficult to find paid work. But that's because the caliber of musicians here is far and away higher than any place else (I'm generalizing of course, we have hacks too).
I comparison to ny, Nola feels very provincial. Nothing against the place - NYC has 8 million people, Nola has 1 and still manages to have the second bets jazz scene in the country in my opinion. But if I think of the worlds best (most famous) jazz guitarists for example, almost all of them live in ny. The same the goes for other instruments. Not to mention there are definitely more venues than Nola, just that they are spread out between Greenwich village, the uws, Harlem, and Brooklyn, etc. in the world of jazz music, NYC is the center by far.
I guess it's a matter of a preference. For me, New Orleans is the only city that can capture the true essence of jazz, which certainly isn't yuppies and hipsters sitting around tables bopping quietly to the music in clubs that most people in the city likely care little about. It's pedestrian. It's about celebrating and dancing in the street.
Kind of like the difference between New York pizza and pizza in Naples. There's no denying both are great, but the magic the originators hold can never be replaced.
Last edited by Gunion Powder; 07-12-2014 at 12:53 PM..
I guess it's a matter of a preference. For me, New Orleans is the only city that can capture the true essence of jazz, which certainly isn't yuppies and hipsters sitting around tables bopping quietly to the music in clubs that most people in the city likely care little about. It's pedestrian. It's about celebrating and dancing in the street.
I guess it's a matter of a preference. For me, New Orleans is the only city that can capture the true essence of jazz, which certainly isn't yuppies and hipsters sitting around tables bopping quietly to the music in clubs that most people in the city likely care little about. It's pedestrian. It's about celebrating and dancing in the street.
Kind of like the difference between New York pizza and pizza in Naples. There's no denying both are great, but the magic the originators hold can never be replaced.
This.
Face it, New York is just hipster Disneyland. It's time has been up for years now.
How does SF get on this list and not KC? I don't think of SF at all as a jazz center.
Neither do I, generally speaking, but jazz musicians play at numerous fairs.
Sacramento used to have a wonderful, 4-day+ international, traditional jazz jubilee (300,000 people+ over Memorial Day Weekend), but that fair is now a shadow of its former self. I'm so glad we were able to enjoy it during its heyday when traditional jazz bands from around the world attended.
Jazz is one of my favorite genres of music so when I go to either NYC or New Orleans I try my best to go to a live Jazz show (obviously that's not a hard task in New Orleans ). While the Jazz in New Orleans is everywhere and is basically the soul of the city, NYC has some GREAT jazz. What I like about jazz in NYC is the diversity of the style of jazz that can be found there. One of the best Jazz shows I've ever been to was an Afro-Cuban Jazz band that was playing in midtown.
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). While the Jazz in New Orleans is everywhere and is basically the soul of the city, NYC has some GREAT jazz. What I like about jazz in NYC is the diversity of the style of jazz that can be found there. One of the best Jazz shows I've ever been to was an Afro-Cuban Jazz band that was playing in midtown.
