Thread by @mrjordanhirsch

A thread about the jazz landmarks damaged in Hurricane Ida. Pics and videos are from Monday, 8.29.21, the day after landfall.

First, the Eagle Saloon:

This was truly one of the places where jazz was born. Buddy Bolden, regarded as its progenitor, played here, as did bandleader John Robichaux.

acloserwalknola.com/places/eagle-s…

It was vacant despite pledges to renovate it around 2016. Two windows are broken, exposing it to the elements.

Next, the Iroquois Theater, in the middle of the same block…

It was a Black vaudeville theater where bands played early blues and jazz. Louis Armstrong lived nearby, and as a kid won a talent show here in whiteface, a reversal of blackface. The structure appears in decent shape.

Then, a few doors up Rampant Street, the Karnofsky building…

Louis Armstrong worked for the Jewish family that lived here. They welcomed him to dinners in their home, and Armstrong stayed in touch after becoming a superstar. acloserwalknola.com/places/karnofs…

The building changed hands a few times since Katrina. A developer recently bought it, and much of the block, but hadn’t announced specifics about what it was planning.

Last, the Little Gem Saloon, another haunt of Buddy Bolden, as well as Jelly Roll Morton…

It was a different bar in the mid -20th century, and a pit stop for Black masking traditions like the Baby Dolls

acloserwalknola.com/places/little-…

The muralist @2cent_bmike had painted an amazing image of Bolden on the building based on the only known photograph of him. The Little Gem was the only one successfully returned to commerce post-Katrina.

For more on the musical history of South Rampart Street, check out this virtual tour

acloserwalknola.com/tours/harlem-n…

Also, since I forgot to include it above, here’s more on the Iroquois Theater

acloserwalknola.com/places/iroquoi…

My bad: images are from 8.30.21

John Hasse, curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institution: “There is probably no other block in America with buildings bearing so much significance to the history of our country’s great art form, jazz.”

Here’s what it looked like before Ida: