MUSEUM ON JAZZ

Press, Volume C, Issue 29671, 15 November 1961, Page 5

MUSEUM ON JAZZ

New Orleans Institution

(N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 13. About 200 jazz enthusiasts huddled in heavy rain yesterday for the dedication of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The museum, the first of its kind in the world, would preserve the history of America’s native music, the Mayor of New Orleans (Mr Victor Schiro) said. Brief, raindrenched ceremonies were held in Congo square, where once slaves gathered to dance on Sundays. Then, the Eureka Brass Band led by flower-bedecked Fats Houston, started parading to the museum, playing the old-time Dixieland tunes. A hand-clapping throng of whites and negroes trailed the band, dancing in the streets.

Housed in a reconstructed brick French quarter cottage and slave quarters, the museum held fie largest collection of jazz memorabilia, the museum chairman, Mr Harry Souchon, said. It had a banjo used by Emile (“Stablebread”) Lacoume, one of those who claimed to have originated jazz, Papa Laine’s drum, a bass fiddle made and played by 73-year-old Emile ("Slow Drag”) Pavageau. and Pete Fountain’s first clarinet.

Display cases are devoted to the origin of the blues, the instruments of blues musicians, and the beginnings of jazz in Chicago. A research area has hundreds of books on jazz, plus sheet music, piano rolls and records. The museum also has a panel of 10 telephones. A listener can dial and hear as much as five hours of jazz. Each of seven digits presents a different phase.

Feed Bale Pact. The United States Agriculture Department has announced an agreement with Venezuela to finance the sale of up to 25 million dollars worth of United States farm commodities through long-term dollar credits under the Food for Peace Programme.— Washington, November 13.