Dew Drop Jazz

Tim and I are currently in Mandeville, LA for another Habitat for Humanity build (more about that later) when our team leaders, Larry and Ty, told us, "You've got to go to the Dew Drop on Friday night, if you want to experience jazz."

So we, along with the rest of our Care-A-Vanner team, packed a picnic and drove over to the Dew Drop Social and Benevolent Association's hall, a place with a long and storied history beginning with its foundation on May 5, 1885.

Most of the information that follows I quote almost verbatim from the Dew Drop Inn website which has a more in-depth account of the history of the hall.

The years following the Civil War were desperate times for African Americans as they struggled to survive in the post-war economy.  The association, like many formed by African Americans after the Civil War, had altruistic goals.  Led by Olivia Eunio, this group of Mandeville's civic-minded black residents came together to care for the sick, to provide help with funeral arrangements, to give food to the needy and to organize temporary housing for the homeless.

Ten years after its founding in 1895 (the year that most scholars agree was the birth of traditional jazz in New Orleans), a small, wooden hall was built in the older part of Mandeville.  This hall on Lamarque Street is now considered the world's oldest virtually unaltered rural jazz dance hall.

Mandeville, situated on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain directly across the lake from New Orleans, was developing as a lakefront resort at the turn of the century.  So it wasn't long before New Orleans jazz musicians made their way to the Dew Drop and its lively Saturday night dances.  Even Louis Armstrong is reported to have played here.

Positioning our lawn chairs for the best view through the hall's open windows, we settled back to hear the Pfister Sisters, a lively trio of ladies, sing songs such as "Gonna Take a Sentimental Journey" and "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B."

I think we had the best (free!) seats of the hall, much better than the wooden benches inside that cost $10 because we had an added attraction.  We could watch the rise of November's full moon.  All in all, it was quite an experience, one we'll long remember!