New Orleans has always been a significant center for music, with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. New Orleans' unique musical heritage was born in its pre-American and early American days with a unique blending of European instruments with African rhythms. As the only North American city to allow slaves to gather in public and play their native music (largely in Congo Square, now located within Louis Armstrong Park), likely due to the more relaxed attitudes of French and Creole slave owners as compared to their Anglo-American neighbors, New Orleans give birth to an indigenous music: jazz. With New Orleans' large, educated, and influential Creole, Haitian, and free black population, these African beats intertwined with trained musicians and the city's now famous brass bands gained wide popularity and remain popular today.
Congo Square
Decades later, New Orleans was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. A great example of the New Orleans sound in the 60s is the 1 US hit "Chapel of Love" by The Dixie Cups, a song which had the distinction of knocking the Beatles out of the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.
Dixie Cups
The city also created its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals. Traditional New Orleans funerals feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still take place when a local musician, a member of a club, krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music," but out of town visitors have long dubbed them "jazz funerals." Younger bands, especially those based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and now have funerals featuring only jazz music.
Rebith Brass Band
