The genesis of New Orleans jazz, which spawned rhythm/blues, Cajun / Zydeco music, and delta blues, took place nearly one hundred years ago. It seems that in the wake of recent disasters, one might suggest that many factors including Hurricane Katrina, the death of Clarence Gatemouth Brown and folklorist Alan Lomax have led to the destruction or silencing of this type of music and its contributors. Jazz guitarist Clarence Gatemouth Brown fought hard to keep his style of music from being silenced and overshadowed by what was popular at the time. Alan Lomax's, a white folklorist, deliberate absence of black scholars in his book "The Land Where the Blues Began" was yet another attempt to silence the contributions of African American jazz musicians. While many jazz musicians are held in captive suspense wondering if the music will survive, others are trying to save The Preservation Hall Band and undo the historical damage left by folklorist Alan Lomax. New Orleans jazz, like all music, must be preserved at any cost. …
