Keeping the rich tradition of New Orleans music alive, 19 Rider University students took the annual American studies pilgrimage to New Orleans this past May.

Since 1990, Dr. Jack Sullivan, professor of English and director of Rider’s American studies program, has made this trip a Rider tradition. Every year since then, he has led students from Westminster Choir College of Rider University and Rider’s Lawrenceville campus on the trip for his three-credit American studies course, “The Literacy and Musical Culture of New Orleans,” journeying into local neighborhoods to hear jazz, blues, zydeco, Mardi Gras Tex-Mex and other subgenres of New Orleans music.

Although the journey usually takes place in January, the trip was delayed to allow more time for post-Katrina clean-up efforts. “We love this city and did not want to let it down,” said Sullivan. “New Orleans music is the heartbeat of American musical culture. My students wanted to go no matter what so I held my breath and scheduled the trip for mid-May, the last possible minute during the spring semester. People I knew in the city really thought it would be fine by then. They were right. The weather was gorgeous and some business establishments were up and running.”

The group, which included two exchange students from Austria, stayed at The Dauphine Orleans in the French Quarter. During the day, they ventured into town. Some chose to go on what is called the “Misery Tour” of devastated neighborhoods. In the evenings, they enjoyed the music scene. Several Westminster students joined the local bands to sing at Donna’s on Rampart Street. Preservation Hall, Donna’s, the Maple Leaf, Vaughans and Rock ‘n’ Bowl were the other places they heard music.

Student participants with Dr. Jack Sullivan (far right, bottom row)

To their astonishment, most of these local jazz clubs, including several outside the French Quarter, were miraculously spared.

“I really did not know what to expect,” said John Cloys of Beaumont TX, a senior bachelor of arts in music major (voice primary) with minors in American studies and arts marketing at Westminster. “I am originally from that area and did personally experience some hurricane loss in my family. The internal effect the devastation had on me is still indescribable. Despite this, on the trip, there didn’t seem time for sadness. Much to my amazement, the city was swarming with energy.”

Katherine Hammons, an elementary education/American studies major, made the journey a second time as part of an independent study project. Hammons had the opportunity to interview city officials, displaced residents, and hotel employees in the French Quarter. “I never had anything in my life touch me this way. I saw exactly where the levees broke. I saw that residents nevertheless had an undying spirit, a love for their city. I learned to not take anything or anyone for granted. There may come a time when there might not be any time for regrets.”

According to Sullivan, a subtle undertone of loss permeates the music of the city, but the club atmosphere was lively. “It is a bit more personal and intimate since there are fewer tourists now,” said Sullivan, who sponsored a rebuild New Orleans fundraiser with the support of students last fall. The latest fundraiser was held at Jacques-Imos restaurant in New York City this past summer.

“The life-affirming spirit of the music – the jazz funeral tradition of looking death in the eye and then partying anyway – is still entirely there. The music of the Big Easy really does transcend hardship and tragedy and it creates its own space for joy. I always knew this in an abstract way. This time, I saw it was real.”

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