Art News

New Orleans Jazz Landmark Razed in Rebuilding Push

NEW ORLEANS, LA (AP).- New Orleans’ heritage as the cradle of jazz helps it draw millions of visitors each year, and the city reminds them of that history with pamphlets, murals and bright neon. Yet numerous homes and music halls that incubated the art form have disappeared, with the city allowing the most recent of them to be razed late last year. In the push to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina and eliminate eyesores, officials unwittingly approved the demolition of the childhood home of jazz great Sidney Bechet. While many landmarks still stand, the city lacks markers at many places where pioneers lived and learned how to play. Other cities have razed jazz history, too, but the spate of New Orleans demolitions in recent years has alarmed enthusiasts. “They took a backhoe and knocked it down, and hauled it away in a trailer,” said Melvin Peterson, a 76-year-old minister who lives across the street from where Bechet’s home