Preservation Hall — the French Quarter building at 726 St. Peter Street — hasn’t changed much through the years. The sound of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, hasn’t either — as it shouldn’t. Recently, however, Preservation Hall — the institution — has undertaken one of the most successful and significant transformations in New Orleans music history.

In the fourth episode of OffBeat’s Look-Ka Py Py Podcast, host Zachary Young sits down with Pres Hall Creative Director Ben Jaffe. Here, Jaffe discusses the release of St. Peter and 57th St (a live recording from Carnegie Hall of the PHJB’s 50th anniversary concert) and Preservation Hall Jazz Band 50th Anniversary Collection (a four disc set that spans the band’s history), as well as the opening of Preservation Hall West in San Francisco.

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