Preservation Hall

Preservation Hall is a landmark traditional jazz venue at 726 St Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe, it was created to give older New Orleans jazz musicians a dedicated place to play and to preserve a style then in decline, and it has since become one of the most famous small music rooms in the United States. The hall is a modest, unrenovated space with worn walls, a small stage and very limited seating, comprising a few benches and cushions near the front, with the remaining audience standing or sitting at the back. It is intentionally intimate and unadorned; the focus is the music, performed acoustically by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and other resident ensembles of traditional New Orleans jazz, a repertoire that includes hymn-based tunes, blues and Dixieland standards. Performances are organised as short, roughly forty-five-minute sets given several times each evening, and tickets are sold per set, with prices commonly about US$25 to US$70 depending on seating tier and performance. Buying online in advance is strongly recommended because sets sell out, and lines for standing places form in the narrow street outside shortly before each show. The audience is a mix of music lovers, international visitors and tour groups, mostly adults, though all ages are generally welcome, and the dress code is casual. The room is quiet and attentive; conversation, phones and photography are discouraged during sets, in contrast to the neighbouring bars. Because it is a concert hall rather than a bar, the drinks programme is limited, and visitors who want cocktails typically visit nearby venues on St Peter and Bourbon Streets before or after. There is no bottle service. As the street is narrow and the entry modest, mobility access is limited and visitors who use wheelchairs should contact the venue in advance.