LCV Spring 2013 - (Page 68)

68 Louisiana EndowmEnt for thE humanitiEs • Spring 2013 TTE ORY COURTESY OF BABE d nd 1917, he an this shot arou k Ory posed for white and blac When demand with s, playing at mates were in his band w Orlean all around Ne nces. audiences alike n parties and social hall da bs, law country clu COURTESY BABETTE ORY in 1819 another writer noted blacks drumming and dancing in circular gatherings at Congo square near orleans avenue and rampart street but also noted the presence of other instruments: “the most curious (one) ... was a stringed instrument which no doubt was imported from africa. on top of the fingerboard was the rude figure of a man in sitting posture, and two pegs behind him to which the strings were fastened. the body was a calabash.” these intriguing stories of african dance and music making at Congo square are snapshots in time of an evolving and variegated scene. other observers witnessed the playing of fifes, fiddles, banjos, triangles, Jew’s harps and tambourines while participants danced jigs, Virginia breakdowns and fandangos. africans and their descendants “were borrowing rapidly from the culture around them.” But the gatherings at Congo square were a memory by the time ory’s father was born in 1850, much less by the time ory came along. more relevant to the new orleans traditions that directly influenced ory are the emergence of dance bands and brass bands in the nineteenth century. the popularity of brass instruments in new orleans was well established by the antebellum period. in 1838 the Daily Picayune noted “a mania” in the city for “horn and trumpet playing.” By 1853, musical funerals with brass bands had become immensely popular with militia units, firemen and benevolent and fraternal societies. while it is not surprising that militia and firemen would hold military-style brass band funerals for their fallen comrades, what is interesting is the way this practice caught on with the general public through benevolent societies and fraternal orders. Benevolent organizations served as social safety nets for their members, providing sickness and death benefits. when a member died, the cost of the funeral was covered, and a brass band was often part of the benefit. dozens of societies, representing many ethnicities, existed before the Civil war; what is noteworthy is that they became immensely popular among freedmen after reconstruction. these grassroots groups helped communities organize and pool collective resources for the benefit of their members in time of need. it was, in large part, these societies that funded the brass band music “movement” within the community of color in new orleans. Brass instruments were also used for dance bands, often coupled with violin and guitar. dance balls were popular to the point of obsession across all classes and ethnicities in new orleans throughout the nineteenth century, providing work for a diverse collection of bands. “the story of music in new orleans must begin with dancing. this was the earliest sustained musical activity there; it was always the greatest—in terms of effort and quantity; and it was the source and support of opera, concerts, and various other endeavors in the music-mad city.” in 1804, Louisiana Governor william C. C. Claiborne wrote President madison on the subject of dance balls in new orleans, saying they “occupy much of the public mind.” frenchmen were apparently concerned that the americans planned to ban the public balls. ultimately, Claiborne let them go on as a sign of american goodwill. dance halls and ballrooms were the primary amusement in new orleans at the time, catering to its entire population, black and white, slave and free, in many venues and contexts. a century later, that enthusiasm was little diminished. Between the brass and dance bands, ory’s new hometown boasted a healthy population of musicians fully integrated into the social celebrations and events of their communities. within the confines of the city’s music scene at the turn of the century and beyond, there was a division (as much social as musical) Edward “Kid” Ory and his wife Elizabeth moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1919, after his New Orleans dances were repeatedly raided by police. Out of venge ful spite, Pete Lala, Ory’s former business partner in sponsoring dances, said he would make sure that all of Ory’s events would be raided. 

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