Preservation Hall
The heartbeat of New Orleans jazz, playing every night since 1961.
Preservation Hall is a live music venue in the French Quarter that exists for one purpose: keeping traditional New Orleans jazz alive. Founded in 1961 by music enthusiast Larry Borenstein and later run by Allan and Sandra Jaffe, it was created at a moment when the older generation of jazz musicians had few places to play. Today it's both a working music hall and a cultural institution — home to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which has toured the world while the Hall itself remains exactly where it started, in a beautifully worn 18th-century building on St. Peter Street.
The experience is stripped back and deliberately unpolished. There's no bar, no food, no frills — just music, a room, and a rotating cast of musicians who play multiple sets a night. The space itself is small and candlelit, with wooden benches at the front and standing room behind. Shows typically run about 45 minutes to an hour per set, and the lineup changes nightly. This is not a tourist performance of jazz — the musicians are the real thing, many connected to families that have played New Orleans jazz for generations.
Tickets for the main evening shows sell out regularly, especially on weekends, so booking ahead through the official website is strongly advised. If you're flexible, the earlier sets tend to have shorter queues. The Hall also runs occasional special concerts and private events, and during the day the gift shop and front area are open for browsing. Get there a few minutes before your set — the room fills fast, and standing at the back is fine but the benches up front are worth arriving early for.
