Hear Funeral Procession Jazz
Funeral procession jazz is one of the hallmarks of New Orleans-style jazz and blues culture. The eerie sounds of half-mournful and half-celebratory jazz dirges are unlike any other kind of music. If you want to hear the special sounds of New Orleans' rich culture, just follow these steps.
Instructions
1. Buy a funeral jazz album. Before you buy a plane ticket and head for New Orleans, you should listen to a funeral jazz album to get familiar with the sounds and lyrics of the style. One of the best funeral jazz CD compilations is the "Authentic New Orleans Jazz Funeral" disc that offers funeral jazz classics like "Down by the Riverside," "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" and "Didn't He Ramble."
2. Listen to funeral jazz radio. The explosion of Internet radio has made specialty stations such as funeral jazz radio available to anyone with a web connection. Check out the funeral jazz radio "channel" on the Last FM Internet radio website. The funeral jazz station is free and uninterrupted by commercials.
3. Check out the bands. It didn't take long for the funeral jazz tradition of New Orleans to give birth to funeral jazz bands. The most famous, and some say the original, band is the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The Dirty Dozen popularized and perfected many of the funeral jazz classics. However, check out contemporary bands such as St. Gabriel's Celestial Brass Band, which has music samples online and regularly tours the world.
4. Go to a procession. Hearing live funeral jazz music is much easier than you might think, once you make it to New Orleans. Head to one of the city's famous cemeteries on any given day of the week and, after a little bit of waiting, you are sure to hear a funeral jazz procession shuffle by. If you want to make plans, check with the cemetery or funeral parlor's administration to find out when the next funeral procession will be passing by.
