“New Orleans is one of my favorite places in the country to visit because of its rich history and culture. So imagine how much of a treat it was to get a taste of both while visiting Los Angeles. Preservation Hall educated, enlightened, and entertained us Saturday night with a wide range of rich, soulful music and that New Orleans flare. One moment I was being brought to tears by the magical piano playing of Kyle Roussel and the next I was on my feet snapping and tapping with the audience to upbeat vocals by Clint Maedgen and Branden Lewis. From their newly minted bass player to those from some of New Orleans’ famous musical families, namely Revon Andrews on the trombone, to rising world star Peter Varnado on drums, Preservation Hall transported us from Malibu to The French Quarter on a cloud of rhythmic soul.” – Sheronda Rochelle
Be transported to New Orleans with Preservation Hall Jazz Band at Smothers Theatre on Pepperdine University’s Malibu campus on Saturday, September 28 at 8 p.m. “Laissez les bons temps rouler” with this high-energy, joyous performance.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band tours worldwide with a mission of nurturing and perpetuating the art of New Orleans jazz. Throughout its history, New Orleans has been the point at which sounds and cultures from around the world converge, mingle, and resurface. Preservation Hall Jazz Band has held the torch of New Orleans music aloft for more than 60 years, forging boldly forward into the future while proudly preserving its vibrant sonic past.
Marching that tradition forward once again, Preservation Hall’s album “So It Is” redefines what New Orleans music means today by tapping into a continuum that stretches back to the city’s Afro-Cuban roots, through its common ancestry with the Afrobeat of Fela Kuti and the Fire Music of Pharoah Sanders and John Coltrane, and forward to cutting-edge artists with whom the band has shared stages with. Preservation Hall has performed with legends such as Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, the Grateful Dead, Beck, The Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, and the Black Keys.
“I’ve been playing since I was 11 years old,” band member Charlie Gabriel says, “I never did anything in my life but play music. I’ve been blessed with that gift that God gave me, and I’ve tried to nurse it the best way I [know] how.” Gabriel has been a musician for over 75 years and a member of Preservation Hall Jazz Band since 2006. With the group’s bassist and tuba player, Ben Jaffe, and guitarist, Joshua Starkman, they recorded Gabriel’s debut album “89” presented by Preservation Hall.
Tickets are available now and are priced at $43–$78 for the public. Price includes ticket fees. Discounted tickets are available for groups, Military, Wave Associates, and Pepperdine faculty, staff, students, and alumni. To purchase tickets, call the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts box office at (310) 506-4522 or visit the Preservation Hall Jazz Band event page.
