Jordan Hirsch, a native New Orleanian, has spent fifteen years chronicling and championing his city’s glorious musical heritage. From the early traditions of enslaved Africans to the contemporary hip hop and rap scene, Hirsch is well-versed in the cultural and historical influences that make New Orleans the musical powerhouse it is today. A journalist, activist, and screen-writer (who once played himself on the HBO series “Treme”), Jordan also leads Atlas Obscura’s trip Beyond the Quarter: Music and Reinvention in New Orleans. Below, Jordan gives us a primer on the city’s vital music culture and creates a NOLA playlist to transport you to The Big Easy.

What makes the New Orleans music scene different from anywhere else?

New Orleans’ music scene is unique because it’s rooted in a site-specific culture. In Congo Square, directly behind the French Quarter, Africans and people of African descent had the opportunity, under French colonial law, to sustain Old World musical traditions in a way not allowed in Anglo-America. They established the basis of what we now call New Orleans music, using particular rhythms and elements like call-and-response. They also used music to perform social functions: it was a psychological release, a unifying force, a form of resistance. It was also communal, participatory, and physical—it brought people together and put bodies in motion. This sensibility was fundamental to the birth of jazz and rock and roll (though the former tends to overshadow the latter).

This tradition lives on in the city’s contemporary music. There may be more brass bands in New Orleans today than ever before, with most infusing what was once exclusively parade music with contemporary R&B and hip hop. Traditional jazz bands draw from a century-old repertoire, putting themselves into the interpretation. Some veterans of the original rhythm and blues era are still performing. And on any given night, bands across the city weave these influences together in unique ways.

Can you tell us a bit about your recovery efforts with local musicians, and why it’s essential to preserve NOLA’s music history?

For years after Hurricane Katrina, I ran a nonprofit that supported the recovery of the city’s music community. Now I’m consulting with organizations delivering resources to artists in response to the pandemic. It’s challenging work. Significant numbers of artists, especially elders, don’t have internet access. Many live in a cash economy and may not have the documentation required to qualify for various kinds of assistance. And the needs are acute—the virus hit at the time of year when local musicians make most of their money, and their income comes mostly from live performances, which have yet to resume. But we learned a lot in the years after the flood, and I’m heartened by the way the community is responding.

It’s vital to support these artists because their work has been a wellspring of American culture since the 19th century. There’s an unbroken line connecting Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, the Meters, and Lil Wayne. But the uneven rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina thinned the communities that sustain this culture, and those who remain face a dire economic outlook in the wake of the pandemic. With New Orleans’ historically black neighborhoods transforming and many older artists in a vulnerable position, it’s more important than ever to appreciate where we stand in the continuum of the city’s cultural heritage. The best way to learn about it is to hear directly from the artists themselves, and the best way to support them is by paying them for their work. When it’s safe for us to get together again, we’ll do both. 

If you had to describe New Orleans music in three words, what would they be?

Shake that thing.

Jordan Hirsch’s NOLA Playlist

“Bamboula, Danse des Negres Op. 2” by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.

Gottschalk was an internationally renowned 19th-century composer and pianist whose childhood in New Orleans exposed him to African rhythms, which he incorporated into his work.  

“I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say” by Jelly Roll Morton.

Morton, one of the greats of the New Orleans piano tradition, recorded this ode to Charles “Buddy” Bolden, who is now widely regarded as the first jazz musician (though the label didn’t exist while he was performing). 

“West End Blues” by Louis Armstrong.

Armstrong used his cultural inheritance from New Orleans to reshape American popular music, in large part thanks to landmark recordings like this one from 1928.

“The Thing That I Used to Do” by Guitar Slim.

Though not a household name, Guitar Slim, who was known to dye his hair, suit, and shoes in complementary colors, was a crucial figure in the development of rhythm and blues in New Orleans.

“I’m Walkin” by Fats Domino.

Fats Domino, born and raised in the Lower Ninth Ward, did as much as any individual to give birth to rock and roll. This recording features the drummer Earl Palmer, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer in his own right, who brought New Orleans’ distinctive second-line rhythm into the studio.

“Didn’t It Rain” by Mahalia Jackson.

Jackson was an icon of African American gospel music who grew up singing in church in Uptown New Orleans.

“Tipitina” by Professor Longhair.

Professor Longhair was a local legend, a pianist whose Afro-Caribbean rhythmic touches shaped generations of New Orleans artists.

“Ruler of my Heart” by Irma Thomas.

Thomas—The Soul Queen of New Orleans—collaborated with Allen Toussaint, one of the Crescent City’s most celebrated producers, on timeless recordings like this one from 1963.

“Street Parade” by Earl King.

Earl King was a guitar ace, first-rate songwriter, and bona fide New Orleans character. His backing band on this track is the Meters, one of the tightest rhythm sections ever to do it. 

“Such a Night” by Dr. John.

Malcolm Rebennack immersed himself in New Orleans’ rhythm and blues as a teenage phenom before adopting the persona of Dr. John. In the 1970s, he drew on that legacy to create classics like this one.

“Back That Thang Up” by Juvenile.

After giving rise to jazz and rock and roll, New Orleans’ musical sensibility put a stamp on hip hop through powerhouse labels No Limit and Cash Money. Juvenile and producer Mannie Fresh rattled off hit after hit in the 1990s and 2000s, including this one.

“Knock With Me, Rock With Me” by Little Rascals Brass Band.

While New Orleans exported rap, new waves of brass bands like the Little Rascals brought hip hop culture to the city’s century-old parading traditions. This track, will vocals by Glen David Andrews, is a prime example of the contemporary brass band sound.