Disc 1 - Big Easy Blues

1. Al Johnson – Carnival Time (02:39)
2. Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas & Tracy Nelson – Sing It (04:18)
3. Chuck Carbo – Drawers Trouble (04:27)
4. Johnny Adams – Just Because (02:52)
5. Irma Thomas – Don't Mess With My Man (02:19)
6. Eddie Bo – Check Mr. Popeye (02:12)
7. Joe Jones – You Talk Too Much (02:29)
8. Marcia Ball – Big Shot (03:55)
9. Davell Crawford – I Bowed On My Knees (03:53)
10. Ramsey McLean & Charmaine Neville – Drink Jax Beer (03:06)
11. Ruth Brown – Go On Fool (04:30)
12. Clarence Brown – Dollar Got The Blues (04:37)

Rounder Records began recording New Orleans musicians in 1981 and over a quarter of a century later the label has built up an impressive catalog of Crescent City releases across a wide variety of styles, from rag tag second-line street bands, blues singers, and hard pounding piano soloists to sleek and funky pop, soul, and funk sides. Although this four-disc, 48-track box set is essentially a generous sampler of that extensive catalog, it also functions as a lively and vibrant survey of the pre-Katrina modern New Orleans music scene, a scene shattered and altered by the great storm and its unprecedented aftermath. New Orleans musicians were driven from their homes by the devastation and many of them have been emotionally and financially unable to return. The loss in cultural terms is immeasurable, to say nothing of the crushing personal losses many of these performers endured and continue to endure. So, while it is virtually impossible to listen to this set without falling under the shadow of Katrina, it is nonetheless a joyous, exuberant journey through a city whose music is like no other place on earth. The first disc centers on blues and R&B selections, the second on street and festival bands, the third features funk and soul sides, while the fourth offers up solo pianists demonstrating the various dimensions of the distinctive New Orleans piano style. What isn't here is much jazz, although it's safe to say that everything that is included is informed by it in one way or another. The recordings are well done, with bright sound and a delightful immediacy, and tracks like Eddie Bo's "Check Mr. Popeye," Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's horn-driven "Dollar Got the Blues," the vibrantly scuffling "It Ain't What You Think" by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Walter "Wolfman" Washington's "Funk Yard," Tuts Washington's solo piano version of the poignant (especially given recent events) "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans," and the hard charging blast of "Go to the Mardi Gras," complete with some pretty nifty whistling by the immortal Professor Longhair, are timeless gems by any standards. Upbeat, vibrant, elegant, and so full of life that one wonders how this music could ever possibly pass from this earth, City of Dreams reminds us not to take anything for granted, and certainly nothing as grand as the music of New Orleans. It isn't brick and mortar, steel beam or strung wire, but the music of Crescent City is more precious and lasting than any of those things. It'll take a lot more than Katrina to blow it away. On that you can hang your hat. ---Steve Leggett, AllMusic Review

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Disc 2 - Street Beat

1. Rebirth Brass Band – Feel Like Funkin' It Up (05:07)
2. Monk Boudreaux & Golden Eagles – Sew, Sew, Sew (04:18)
3. Professor Longhair – Cuttin' Out (02:37)
4. Bo Dollis, Monk Boudreaux & ReBirth Brass Band – Shoo-Fly (06:11)
5. New Orleans Night Crawlers – Royal Flush (05:37)
6. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – It Ain't What You Think (04:23)
7. All That – T. Chapman (07:33)
8. Dejan's Young Olympia Brass Band – No It Ain't My Fault (03:58)
9. Bo Dollis & The Wild Magnolias – Golden Crown (03:54)
10. The Chosen Few Brass Band – St. Louis Blues (04:58)
11. Alvin Tyler – If My Shoes Hold Out (04:32)
12. Rebirth Brass Band – Just A Little While To Stay Here (06:17)

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Disc 3 - Funk New Orleans

1. Walter "Wolfman" Washington – You Can Stay But The Noise Must Go (06:16)
2. Theryl "Houseman De'Clouet" – Ain't No Yachts In The Ghetto (04:49)
3. George Porter, Jr. – Rough Spots (04:08)
4. All That – Flow On (04:05)
5. The Ed Frank Quintet – A Corn For Crip (04:31)
6. Bo Dollis, Willie Tee & Dr. John – Keeper Of The Crown (04:47)
7. Johnny Adams – Body And Fender Man (05:30)
8. The New Orleans Saxophone Ensemble – Gemini Rising (04:25)
9. Irma Thomas – Sweet Touch Of Love (03:42)
10. Solomon Burke – Here We Go Again (06:46)
11. Walter "Wolfman" Washington – Funk Yard (06:46)
12. Davell Crawford – House That Jack Built (07:01)

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Disc 4 - Ivory Emperors

1. Eddie Bo – Hard Times (02:34)
2. James Booker – Classified (03:14)
3. Professor Longhair – Every Day, Every Night (02:19)
6. David Torkanowsky – Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most (06:15)
7. Tuts Washington – Tee Nah Nah (01:55)
8. Willie Tee – On The Q-Tee (02:02)
7. Davell Crawford – Gumbo Piano (03:31)
8. James Booker – All By Myself (03:29)
9. Art Neville – My Children (03:14)
10. Champion Jack Dupree – I Don't Know (04:49)
11. Professor Longhair – Go To The Mardi Gras (02:47)
12. Tuts Washington – Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans (02:53)

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1 When The Saints Go Marching In - George Lewis
2 Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet - Kid Ory
3 Blue Clarinet Stomp - Johnny Dodds Trio
4 Stock Yards Strut - Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals
5 West End Blues - Louis Armstrong
6 Dearbon Street Blues - Bernie Young's Creole Band
7 Tiger Rag - Bunk Johnson
8 'Tain't Nobobody's Bizness If I Do - Charles A Matson's Creole Serenaders
9 High Fever - Cookie's Gingersnaps
10 Ol' Man River - Bix Beiderbecke
11 Black Bottom Stomp - Jelly Roll Morton
12 Hen Party Blues - Dixieland Jug Blowers
13 Stock Yard Strut - Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals
14 Bill Bailey - George Lewis & His New Orleans All Stars
15 Stomp Time Blues - Jasper Taylor & His State Street Boys
16 Blue Piano Stomp - Johnny Dodds Trio
17 Late Last Night Blues - Richard M Jones' Jazz Wizards (with Sara Martin)
18 Ole Miss - Kid Ory
19 Riverboat Shuffle - Muggsy Spanier
20 Mabel's Dream - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

The earliest style of jazz, the music played in New Orleans from about the time that Buddy Bolden formed his first band in 1895 until Storyville was closed in 1917, unfortunately went totally unrecorded. However with the success of the Original Dixieland Jazz Band in 1917 and the many performances documented in the 1920s, it became possible to hear what this music sounded like in later years. Ensemble-oriented with fairly strict roles for each instrument, New Orleans Jazz generally features a trumpet or cornet providing a melodic lead, harmonies from the trombone, countermelodies by the clarinet, and a steady rhythm stated by the rhythm section (which usually consists of piano, banjo or guitar, tuba, or bass and drums). This music is a direct descendant of marching brass bands and, although overlapping with Dixieland, tends to de-emphasize solos in favor of ensembles featuring everyone playing and improvising together. Due to its fairly basic harmonies and the pure joy of the ensembles, it is consistently the happiest and most accessible style of jazz. ---allmusic.com

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1. King Porter Stomp - Jelly Roll Morton
2. Whispering - Red Nichols
3. Alexander's Ragtime Band - Bunk Johnson
4. Dippermouth Blues - George Lewis & His New Orleans All Stars
5. Somebody Stole My Gal - Kid Ory
6. My Little Isabel - Johnny Dodds' Washboard Band
7. Potato Head Blues - Louis Armstrong
8. Scissor Grinder Joe - Doc Cook's Dreamland Orchestra
9. Chinaman Blues - Erskine Tate's Vendome Orchestra
10. Down At Jaspers Bar-B-Que - Frankie 'Half Pint' Jackson
11. Swanee River - Kid Ory
12. Tiger Rag - The Firehouse Five Plus Two
13. When I Leave The World Behind - Bunk Johnson & His New Orleans Jazz Band
14. Blue Washboard Stomp - Johnny Dodds' Washboard Band
15. You're Driving Me Crazy - Bob Crosby
16. Adams Apple - Jimmy Blythe & His Ragamuffins
17. Tin Roof Blues - George Lewis & His New Orleans All Stars
18. Get It Right - Kid Rena's Delta Jazz Band
19. Grandpa's Spells - Jelly Roll Morton
20. Alligator Hop - King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band

Dixieland is an early form of jazz that originated in New Orleans sometime around the early 1900s. It is differentiated from Mississippi jazz by its instrumentation and size; where Mississippi and rural southern jazz generally had just a solo performer with a guitar, Dixieland typically featured a larger group with a soloist. Its roots are different too; rural jazz generally came from plantation songs, whereas Dixieland was more an amalgam of brass bands, military bands, and ragtime, amongst others.

The name comes from the first commercially successful record of the genre, the Original Dixieland Jass Band (yes, jazz was once spelled 'jass'). Its popularity peaked in the 1920s, and it essentially fizzled out in the 1930s when swing jazz began to take over. Like other forms of jazz, Dixieland migrated from the south to Chicago and eventually New York (Harlem specifically).

The Dixieland sound is similar to that of a military marching band, with driving rhythms and powerful brass sections. The melody is typically played by a solo high brass sound, the rhythm section keeps the harmony going, and the other front line instruments improvise melodic material around the soloist. The rhythm section generally consists of some of the following: a strummed string instrument (guitar or banjo), a low instrument (string bass or tuba), piano, and a drum. Front line instruments are trumpets, trombones, and clarinets. ---study.com

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1. Louis Armstrong - Mahogany Hall Stomp (5:04)
2. George Lewis & His New Orleans All Stars - St. James Infirmary (3:12)
3. Bunk Johnson - Careless Love (2:17)
4. Paul Barbarin & His New Orleans Jazz - Eh La Bas (5:28)
5. Cookie's Gingersnaps - Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man (3:27)
6. Dixieland Jug Blowers - Memphis Shake (3:19)
7. Bunk Johnson & His New Orleans Jazz Band - Shine (3:01)
8. Charles A. Matson's Creole Serenaders - I Just Want A Daddy (4:16)
9. Kid Ory - Snag It Blues (7:20)
10. Louis Armstrong - Struttin' With Some Barbecue (5:08)
11. Paul Barbarin & His New Orleans Jazz - Bourbon Street Parade (5:59)
12. Freddie Keppard's Jazz Cardinals - Salty Dog (2:46)
13. George Lewis (vocal: Joe Watkins) - Down By The Riverside (3:13)
14. Jasper Taylor & His State Street Boys - It Must Be The Blues (2:29)
15. Johnny Dodds' Washboard Band - Bucktown Stomp (3:11)
16. Sidney Bechet - Honeysuckle Rose (2:58)
17. Jelly Roll Morton - Kansas City Stomp (3:32)
18. Paul Barbarin & His New Orleans Jazz - Bugle Boy March (5:16)
19. Jimmy Blythe & His Ragamuffins (with Trixie Smith) - Messin' Around (2:58)
20. Kid Rena's Delta Jazz Band - Clarinet Marmalade (2:59)

Jazz wasn’t just born in New Orleans – it grew up here. Every night of the week, the streets and clubs of the Big Easy come to life with what’s been called “America’s only original art form.” Like New Orleans itself, jazz is constantly changing, forever evolving into something new and exciting. Jazz is alive. And it will make you feel that way, too. Great jazz can be heard all over this town – in the French Quarter, the Marigny, the Treme, uptown on Oak Street and on St. Claude Avenue. From traditional jazz to acid jazz, there's something for every ear, every day of the week. Come feel it. ---neworleans.com

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