Courtesy of Preservation Hall
Jazz trumpeter and Preservation Hall Musical Director Wendell Brunious.
Jazz trumpeter Wendell Brunious and legendary French Quarter venue Preservation Hall each have their own storied histories in the world of New Orleans jazz. Brunious heralds from a long musical line, including his father, trumpeter John “Picket” (“Picky”) Brunious Sr., and has had an impressive career of his own as both a trumpeter and a bandleader. Meanwhile, Preservation Hall has provided a home for both traditional and more contemporary forms of jazz since it was founded in the 1950s, and today carries jazz forward by providing educational opportunities and resources through its nonprofit The Preservation Hall Foundation.
So, it seems only natural that Preservation Hall's first musical director in all its history would be someone like Brunious—a product of New Orleans musicians, and a champion of New Orleans music—both its traditions of the past, and its evolutions of the future.
To mark the historic occasion of Brunious's appointment, we asked him a couple of questions about his goals for his tenure as musical director, and the reasons he thinks jazz must be carried forward as a genre.
What do you hope to accomplish as Musical Director of Preservation Hall?
As Musical Director of Preservation Hall, I hope to ensure that the integrity and quality of New Orleans Music is around far into the future. I plan to make sure that the younger musicians get to carry pieces of my unique knowledge of New Orleans music and by doing so, [am] passing on the real sound of New Orleans jazz, the way it was passed on to me.
"I plan to make sure that the younger musicians get to carry pieces of my unique knowledge of New Orleans music and by doing so, [am] passing on the real sound of New Orleans jazz, the way it was passed on to me." —Wendell Brunious
Why do you think it's important that jazz/BAM is carried into the future in New Orleans, and what do you hope Pres Hall's role in that will be, with you as Musical Director?
It is so important that jazz is carried into the future, because it is America’s artistic contribution to the world. It is an art form born and developed in America, started in New Orleans and spread throughout the nation and eventually the whole world. As Musical Director of Preservation Hall, I feel an obligation to keep the roots of jazz solid and true and allow younger musicians a fair shot at playing music with the feeling and love that it was meant to be played with.
