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Contact: Matt Hampsey
NEW ORLEANS — On April 14 and 15, New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve will host a free, two-day event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the American Folklife Center, established in 1976 as part of the Library of Congress. Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is one of the National Park Service units featured in the Center’s collection at the Library of Congress.
Join John Fenn and Andrea Decker of the Center for a lively introduction to the Center’s 50-year legacy of preserving and sharing cultural heritage through its archives, public programs, and national collaborations. Highlighting rich collections from Louisiana, including materials connected to Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, New Orleans jazz traditions, and community-based documentation projects, they will showcase the depth and vibrancy of these holdings. Their presentations will be followed by cooking demonstrations and musical performances. The artists chosen to participate in this event have been selected to reflect the spirit and variety of the Center’s collection.
All programming presented during the celebration will be recorded by “American Routes” and featured on the show’s July 4th episode, allowing a wider audience to experience the anniversary festivities.
Schedule of Events:
Tuesday, April 14
The program starts at 10 a.m. with a presentation from the Center, followed by Johnette Downing & Scott Billington performing “Song Spinners,” a set of songs first recorded by pioneering folklorists John Lomax, Alan Lomax and others, including many by women artists in the Center’s 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 a selection of songs from the Collection, followed by a performance by the Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band. Tuesday’s program closes out with a 3 p.m. performance by Leyla McCalla.
Wednesday, April 15
The program continues on the second day with a 10 a.m. presentation from the Center, followed by a performance by Grammy-nominated musician Cedric Watson at 11 a.m. United Houma Nation member Janie Luster will give a food demonstration on corn maque choux at noon. 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, and these are now housed in Library of Congress. Jeffery Broussard & the Creole Cowboys will perform at 3 p.m. The program finishes with the 27th annual Bill Russell Lecture, “Syncopated Siblings: The Music of Cuba and New Orleans.” Music historian, producer and author Ned Sublette will be joined in dialogue with CUBANEXION, a supergroup of renowned musicians led by legendary percussionist Bill Summers. Together, they will guide the audience through a musical journey that illustrates the incredible cultural legacy that connects Cuba and New Orleans.
Partners for this two-day celebration are the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, American Folklife Center and Library of Congress, the Historic New Orleans Collection, the New Orleans Foundation for Francophone Cultures and the National Council for the Traditional Arts.
Visit NPS.gov/Jazz for more information.
Last updated: April 3, 2026