New Orleans: Birthplace of Jazz

Welcome to Crescent City, birthplace of jazz! "Crescent City"? Yes, the nickname for New Orleans is Crescent City, due to its downtown location along a particularly deep bend of the Mississippi River. No matter what this unique American city is called, New Orleans has something for everyone.
　　To understand why this southern city is so different from any other city of the United States, and perhaps also how it evolved the musical form of Dixieland jazz, it is necessary to give a brief description of its history. Founded in 1718 by French developers, New Orleans grew rather slowly. Although ideal for shipping (New Orleans is only 180 kilometers from the mouth of the Mississippi, the world's fourth-longest river), the land around New Orleans is extremely low-lying (the city is actually below sea level!) and was at that time nothing more than a swamp. Despite this, the city attracted a wide range of peoples, including Canadian and European French, slaves, American Indians, and a few white British settlers. The area's continued slow growth, however, convinced France that it should sell all of its extensive land holdings in North America to Spain in 1763. Spain ruled this large area including New Orleans until 1800, when the whole area was again returned to France, only to be sold to the United States in 1803. The early French and Spanish cultures have remained with the city, even with the approach of 200 years of American rule.
　　The fortunes of New Orleans have always depended on its riparian location. The city gained importance in the War of 1812 and later as the terminus for shipping along the Mississippi through the Civil War. As shipping declined in importance due to the building of the railroads near the end of the 19th century, however, the Golden Age of New Orleans wound down. At this time, however, an artistic creation particular to New Orleans would resuscitate the city's fortunes.
　　Music has always played an important part in the daily lives of most Americans, and New Orleans happened to be home to some of the best musicians in the country. From 1880 to World War I, New Orleans with its cafe and night club society became host to a new form of music based mostly on the blues, but also on marches and ragtime music. In this style of music, the trumpet, clarinet, and trombone form the basis of instrumentation. As the trumpet is the loudest, it normally carries the melody, with the clarinet and trombone improvising above and below the trumpet, respectively. Sidney Bechet, Buddy Bolden, King Oliver, and most famously Louis Armstrong became symbols of the new music, playing to packed houses at first in the New Orleans red light district, and later to fans in music halls all around the world.
　　Though Dixieland jazz is today a preserved form of music like classical music, it later spawned Big Band music popular until the end of World War II, and urban jazz, still popular in the United States as well as in other countries. To hear the original Dixieland jazz one has only to book a hotel room in the Vieux Carre district of New Orleans anytime of the year. The French and Spanish architecture and laid-back lifestyle there is the perfect place to enjoy the upbeat but relaxing sounds of Dixieland jazz. Devotees of jazz pack Preservation Hall, Dixieland Hall, and the night clubs along Bourbon Street to hear their favorite songs. The New Orleans Jazz Club stages many jazz events, as does the city government, such as the International Jazz and Heritage Festival. If you can visit New Orleans only once in your life, though, save it for the world-famous Mardi Gras. You can then enjoy the best of New Orleans's night life with as many as one million other party revelers!
　　The city of New Orleans has so much to offer. Its history, unique cultural blend including world-acclaimed cuisines, and, of course, its musical gift to the world, Dixieland jazz, are reasons enough to place New Orleans high on everyone's "must list" of places to visit. Whether you want to travel to relax or join in spirited partying, New Orleans offers the tourist the best of both worlds.

　　欢迎莅临新月市，爵士乐的发祥地！“新月市”？没错，新月市也就是新奥尔良的别名，因为它的市中心是沿着密西西比河上一段特别弯曲的河岸而得名。不管人们怎么称呼这个独特的城市，新奥尔良对每个人而言都有看头。
　　我们有必要简略说明这座南部城市的历史，裨能了解该市与其它美国城市的不同，及其南方爵士乐风的演进史。新奥尔良是在1718年由法国人开发建立的，发展相当缓慢。新奥尔良因距离世界第四大河——密西西比河河口仅180公里，所以非常适合航运，不过新奥尔良四周属低洼地区（该市事实上低于海平面！），在开发初期它根本就是个沼泽区。虽然如此，新奥尔良却吸引了各类的移民包括法裔加拿大人、来自欧洲的法国人及奴隶、北美印第安人及少数的英国白种殖民者。不过该区发展一直迟缓，这使得法国将它在北美洲所占有的广大土地于1763年卖给西班牙。西班牙便统治了这块包含新奥尔良在内的广大土地，一直到1800年，这时西班牙才又把整个区域归还给法国，不过在1803年却又卖给了美国。早期的法西文化依然为该城所保有，即使美国统治了两百年，这种情形仍然未变。
　　新奥尔良的财富一直与其河岸的位置息息相关。1812年的美英战争突显其重要性，之后在南北战争整个期间，它又成了密西西比河的航运站。不过19世纪末期由于铁路的发展使得航运式微，造成新奥尔良的盛况不再。但就在此时，新奥尔良独有的一项艺术创造再度造就这个城市的繁荣。
　　音乐在大多数美国人的日常生活中一直是很重要的一部分，而新奥尔良正巧是美国一些杰出音乐家的故乡。从公元1880年到第一次世界大战期间，新奥尔良的社会充斥着餐厅和夜总会，成了一种新音乐风格的大本营，这种乐风大体上以布鲁斯为基础，也融合了进行曲和切分音节奏的乐曲。这种新乐风演奏的基本乐器包括小号，黑管和长号。因小号的声音最大，就由它吹奏主旋律，黑管和长号则配合小号分别作即兴高低音搭配。希尼‧贝彻特、巴第‧勃尔顿、金恩‧奥立佛、以及最有名气的刘易斯‧阿姆斯特朗，就成了这种乐风的代表人物，早期在新奥尔良红灯区为满场的观众演奏，后来在全球各地音乐厅为乐迷表演。
　　虽然今天南方爵士乐像古典音乐般是一种刻意保留下来的音乐，但从中却发展出大乐团曲风，这种曲风一直流行至第二次世界大战结束，也演译出都市爵士乐，至今仍流行于美国及其它国家。如果想要听纯正的南方爵士乐，一年中任何时间，您只要向新奥尔良市福克区的旅馆订房间就可以了。那儿法式和西班牙式的建筑以及悠哉的生活方式正是亨受南方爵士乐欢乐、轻松的旋律最理想的环境了。爵士乐的爱好者常常挤满了文化保护厅、南方爵士音乐厅以及波本街上的夜总会，以欣赏他们最喜爱的乐曲。新奥尔良爵士乐俱乐部和市政府也经常举办爵士乐演奏会，国际爵士乐和传统文化节就是其中的盛会之一。不过，如果一生中您只有一次造访新奥尔良的机会，建议你不妨就选在闻名世界的玛蒂歌节吧！（译注：玛蒂歌节为新奥尔良地区特有的天主教节庆，为时约一个半月。在这期间新奥尔良地区每日均轮流有花车游行。花车经过时，车上人员会投掷项链、面具、铜币给在两旁观看之路人以增加欢乐的气氛。在节庆的最后一天午夜时分前达到最高潮。午夜后教徒们则必须开始斋戒，禁酒、禁肉甚至禁欲以赎罪。）届时您就可以与多达百万的狂欢者一起分享新奥尔良夜生活的精华了。
　　新奥尔良大有看头。它的历史、独特的文化融合，包括享誉全球的美食，当然也包括它赐给全世界的大礼——南方爵士乐，这些都足以构成让每个人将新奥尔良列为旅游重地的理由，不管你是要闲情逸致的旅游或者是参加派对狂欢，新奥尔良都能满足您的需求。