Why New Orleans is the Best American City for Jazz.

Morning on Bourbon Street is like seeing actress Mila Kunis without makeup—both are much more approachable. That’s my thought as we step out from our boutique digs at Hotel Le Marais, a quiet sanctuary just off the infamous strip known for its booze and boobs. We push on past families strolling Bourbon Street—the evening crowd is all but gone–and cut down St. Peter through Jackson Square to Café Du Monde, where people line the sidewalk for café au lait and Beignets. It’s 10:30 a.m. and already sticky hot in the French Quarter, as we wait for the Satchmo Fest Parade to kickoff.

In 2005, when the levees broke during Hurricane Katrina, the French Quarter suffered minimal damage from the floodwater compared to other neighborhoods in New Orleans. This left the district’s historic buildings, many dating back to the early 19th century and the Louisiana Purchase, in relatively good shape. Today, the French Quarter—the city’s oldest neighborhood and a National Historic Landmark—is as alive as ever as New Orleans experiences a renaissance in the decade since Katrina.

Suddenly, a trumpet razzes a long note and, before we know it, the Storyville Stompers Brass Band start a second line to the Old U.S. Mint, where the Satchmo Summerfest is being held. A descendant of New Orleans’ iconic jazz funerals, second line parades are famous for their wonderful mix of pomp and spontaneity, taking over city streets with a moving soundtrack of blaring brass instruments. We join in immediately, strutting along as the band thunders down Decatur Street drawing curious tourists to the sidewalk’s edge. For them (and us) this something ridiculously special. For locals and the band, this is just New Orleans.

We arrive at the festival gate and the band and its followers come together for a raucous When The Saints Go Marching In, the unofficial Anthem of New Orleans and a fitting tribute to Louis Armstrong, who, in 1938, transformed the spiritual tune into the song we know today. As the Storyville Stompers draw silent and begin mingling with friends and family, we go into the festival.

Now in its 15th year, the Satchmo SummerFest is a three-day local music showcase that brings together the city’s best jazz musicians (think: Ellis Marsalis, Treme Brass Band, James Andrews, to name a few) to celebrate the life and music of New Orleans’ favorite son, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. This year festival also coincided with the 100th anniversary of Armstrong’s first professional gig in New Orleans. Located at the Old U.S. Mint, now a Louisiana State Museum, the grassy festival grounds, which feature two stages, are no bigger than a football field with the museum taking up a majority of the space. Its small stature, however, only adds to the block party atmosphere that permeates the festival and spreads into the surrounding streets. Not to mention, there is an array of seminars and a fascinating exhibit relating to Armstrong’s life in New Orleans, which are all held inside the museum during the festival. Plus, there’s beer on tap from Louisiana’s own Abita Brewing Company as well as food vendors from some of New Orleans most popular eateries.

Once inside, we meet Darryl Young, better known as Dancing Man 504, who is a cult hero around New Orleans for his second line dancing, which involves incredibly high jumps or as Young puts it “athletic moves of everyday life.” Young was part of the Storyville Stompers second line. Returning home seven months after Katrina, Young tell us he found New Orleans in pain. “She needed to be more than rebuilt,” he says. “She needed to be enjoyed!” So Young responded with second line dance. Shortly after, he started the Heal to Toe Project to turn kids onto the New Orleans art form—a perfect blend of the city’s culture and physical activity.

Saying goodbye to Young, who had another second line to attend, we grab a cold Abita draft and explore the festival, feeling things out. For the next 48 hours, we fall into the joyous routine of lounging on the lawn in front of the stages, listening to jazz as only Big Easy musicians can do it in a setting that’s distinctly New Orleans. After all, that’s how Satchmo would have wanted it, right?

Know Before You Go

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Disclosure: Visit New Orleans is a Must Love Festival Partner, and provided our accommodation and transportation while we were in the region to cover the Satchmo Summer Fest. As always, though, our thoughts and opinions are entirely our own.