Congo Square and where jazz began

Congo Square

Congo Square sits inside Louis Armstrong Park in Tremé, on the far side of Rampart Street from the French Quarter. Its fame comes from the part it played in African American musical history, jazz above all. In the early 1800s a city ordinance confined the gatherings of enslaved Africans to this single spot, and every week they traded at a market there, sang, danced and made music.

Music from many places

Wikipedia describes New Orleans as the only North American city to have allowed enslaved people to gather in public and play their native music, largely in Congo Square. Its musical heritage was born in colonial and early American days from a blending of European musical instruments with African rhythms. New Orleans gave birth in the early 20th century to jazz, and the rhythms played at Congo Square can still be heard in jazz funerals, second lines and Mardi Gras Indian parades.

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans and rose to prominence in the 1920s as an inventive trumpet and cornet player. Wikipedia counts him among the most influential figures in jazz, with a career that spanned five decades. He later moved to Chicago, where his fame grew. The park that holds Congo Square carries his name, and a walk through it fits an evening spent on the river.

Tremé and the French Quarter

Close to the Quarter is the Tremé community, which contains the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and the New Orleans African American Museum, a site listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail. The French Quarter is where the evening cruise starts, and Tremé lies across Rampart Street. Wikipedia also describes New Orleans funerals in which sad music is played on the way to the cemetery and happier music, hot jazz, on the way back.

The jazz park in the French Quarter

New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park is a National Park Service site in the heart of the French Quarter. The park says passing jazz traditions from one generation to the next is an important part of its mission, and it offers live performances. Check the park's own pages for what is on during your dates, since the programme changes. The park also works with local partners to share jazz at community events and festivals.

Festivals and the city's calendar

The largest of the city's many music festivals is the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, commonly called Jazz Fest, which Wikipedia describes as one of the nation's largest music festivals. It features native Louisiana and international artists. Whenever you visit, a jazz cruise is not tied to a festival date, and the booking calendar shows the sailings that run for your dates.

Pairing the cruise with a walk

The cruise gives you the river and a band, and a walk gives you the neighbourhoods. A small-group walking tour of about two and a half hours covers Tremé, Congo Square and the French Quarter and ends at a live-music venue with one drink; guests must be 21 or older. It is a separate booking, listed on the cards on the home page, and the evening cruise suits a different night. Many visitors give each their own evening, since the walk is on foot through several neighbourhoods and the cruise is a seated sailing on the water.

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