New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the American Folklife Center

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve will host a free event on April 14 and 15 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Folklife Center (AFC) at the Library of Congress.

For the past 50 years, the AFC has preserved and shared cultural heritage through its archives, public programs and national collaborations. Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is one of the NPS units included in the AFC's collection, as highlighted in the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve Collection currently held in the Library of Congress.

During the event, the AFC will highlight collections from Louisiana featuring New Orleans jazz traditions and community-based documentation projects. The event will also feature cooking demonstrations and musical performances. The event will also feature cooking demonstrations and musical performances.

April 14

• At 10 a.m. CDT, the program will begin with a presentation from the AFC. Johnette Downing and Scott Billington will perform "Song Spinners," a set of songs first recorded by pioneering folklorists John Lomax, Alan Lomax and others, including many by women artists in the AFC collection.
• At noon, Dianne Honore and Richard Scott will present "Making a Jazz Gumbo," combining live music with a cooking demonstration, connecting the metaphors of jazz and gumbo ingredients.
• At 1 p.m., the Arrowhead Jazz Band will play songs from the Collection, followed by a performance by the Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band.
• At 3 p.m., Leyla McCalla will perform.

April 15

• At 10 a.m., the program will begin with a presentation from the AFC.
• At 11 a.m., Grammy-nominated musician Cedric Watson will perform.
• At noon, United Houma Nation member Janie Luster will give a food demonstration on corn maque choux.
• At 1 p.m., Bentonia blues legend Jimmy "Duck" Holmes will perform, followed by an intimate juré performance by Jeffery Broussard, Cedric Watson, and others. Juré is a style of a cappella, call-and-response song with rhythmic handclaps. Along with la-la music, it is considered a forerunner of zydeco. Alan Lomax recorded examples of juré in the 1930s, which are housed in the Library of Congress.
• At 3 p.m., Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys will perform.
• The program finishes with the 27th annual Bill Russell Lecture, "Syncopated Siblings: The Music of Cuba and New Orleans" at the Historic New Orleans Collection, 410 Chartres Street. Music historian, producer and author Ned Sublette will engage in discussion with CUBANEXION, a group of renowned musicians led by legendary percussionist Bill Summers. Together, they will guide the audience through a musical journey that illustrates the cultural legacy that connects Cuba and New Orleans.

Visit New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park webpage for more information. All programming presented during the celebration will be recorded. These recordings will be featured on the July 4 episode of "American Routes," allowing a wider audience to experience the anniversary festivities.