Exploring The Cultural Delights Of New Orleans Through Jazz Performances, Beignets And Cocktails

You know that a city takes its music and its music history very seriously when its airport is named after a musician. That city can be none other than New Orleans in Louisiana, and the musician none other than Louis Armstrong. No surprise there because jazz music is one of America’s greatest contributions to modern culture. In fact, Armstrong himself was selected as “The Artist of the 20th Century” by Time magazine in their millennium issue at the turn of the century.An Iconic Jazz Music Hall Worth The HypeJazz is in the air, quite literally, as the shops in the French Quarter—the best-known district in town—play jazz throughout the day. The area is teeming with buskers, too. But what better way to soak in this music than by paying a visit to Preservation Hall?Established in 1961, the Preservation Hall Foundation seeks to “Protect. Preserve. Perpetuate” jazz music. No photography is allowed during the programme, which lasts about 45 minutes. The highly talented and considerably youthful 28-year-old trumpet player Aurélien Barnes and his troupe entertained us with an exhilarating jazz performance. Speaking to him after the show, we learnt that his uncle was in the garment business and had visited Bengaluru once for work.Preservation Hall is small, you have to book tickets well in advance, it is certainly not cheap, visitors have to sit on a wooden bench in coach class, there is no air conditioner, the walls are dull yellow and in need of paint... and, yet, it is IS worth the hype.Bibliophile Alert: Places To Visit In New Orleans If You Are A Book LoverAmerica is, of course, known for its national parks—but only in New Orleans can a national park be devoted to music. I was fortunate that the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park had a free, one-hour-long concert starring Duke Heidger and others. To add to this cultural delight, the next day I was in the audience of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at an interview-cum-music performance of the noted saxophonist Aurora Nealand.Tucking Into BeignetsMoving onto the other cultural delights and discoveries of the city—food and drink. Much has been written about gumbo and jambalaya, but not all are born to savour non-vegetarian food, and thus, one must regretfully avoid these dishes if one is a vegetarian. That I am decidedly not, but at eight in the morning, even I would shudder to attempt to eat them. At that time of the day, if you are in New Orleans, there is only one thing to attack: beignets.Café Du Monde, established in 1862, has been serving beignets for quite some time now and is truly world-famous for its dish. It's not for those on a diet, that's for sure. Nor is it the recommended food for diabetic patients. But if you want to relish a breakfast, and you don't fit into the above criteria, a beignet is just the thing.What's a beignet anyway? It's a big, square bun made of dense flour, deep-fried and with loads of demerara sugar coating. (I did warn you.) It's not for the health conscious. Those who have tasted it will definitely note the similarity of the beignet with the decidedly Indian and equally tasty Mangalore bun (sans cumin, but bigger in size and with sugar, of course).Having eaten a beignet at Café Du Monde on an earlier visit to the city, I opted for the tasty treat (three for USD 4.75) at another chain of restaurants which is highly rated, Café Beignet. This beignet was no doubt good, but if memory serves me right, the original beignet was a tad better. A busker singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” just outside the restaurant was an added bonus.Sipping SazeracAt least two alcoholic drinks, both cocktails, trace their origin to this city. Pat O'Brien's is known as the origin of the Hurricane. Again, having tasted that earlier, I opted this time for the other—Sazerac—at the most appropriate place, the home of the Sazerac itself.Sazerac House, situated at the entrance to the French Quarter, offers a free self-guided tour on five days of the week. The tour, which you need to book online a day or more before the actual visit, takes a little more than one hour. The original Sazerac house no longer exists, but this building has been built fairly close to the original site. In fact, a staircase from the original building has been transported here and is on display. The renewed Sazerac House has displays and movies which trace the history of this drink, as well as things related to it, such as the state of Prohibition in the United States in the 1930s. And yes, there are many small, free tastings of the delightful drink.The Sights Of The French QuarterThere is the entire French Quarter to see, of course. You may opt for a paid, guided tour of the quarter or you could choose to go for the free one. Free sounded more attractive to me, but obviously, there had to be a catch. The catch, if you can call it that, was that you were expected to tip the guide after the tour. As the guide said, “I receive housing and electricity bills, which are not a pay-what-you-will.” So, a tip of USD 15-20 was something that all of us gave willingly and with pleasure. It was at any rate less than the USD 25 or more that the paid tours charged.A church adjacent to Jackson Square springs towards the sky, but it's no ordinary church. After all, the Cathedral of St Louis was built in 1851, on the grounds of an earlier church which had been built in 1727, making it the oldest active church in the USA. A sign proudly informs you that Pope John Paul II visited it in 1987. On display is a facsimile of the gorgeously illustrated Bible of St Louis IX (the original one, made between 126 and 1234, is in a cathedral in Toledo, Spain).Finally, don't leave the French Quarter without seeing the most photographed building in the city—the La Branche House, with its iron grills curving around the verandah. You can then say, “Been there, done that.”