From Jambalaya To Jazz

If there’s one single city that could claim the name of the Melting Pot of the World, it has to be new orleans la to me. I’m not sure if it’s thanks to, or despite of, natural tempests with names like Katrina or man-made like the American Civil War or the slave trade, but all ingredients that have made this city are still alive and for the taking. Perhaps one of its nicknames ‘The Big Easy’, gives an answer? How else to explain the balance between ‘having the most prosperous community of free persons of color in the 19th century’ and the billions of dollars earned in the slavetrade? Having been under Spanish, French and eventually under American government within a short period of time (1718-1803), the city grew rapidly and with natural ease with influxes of Americans, French, Creoles, Irish, Germans, Haitian refugees and Africans. To name just a few. It was inevitable that New Orleans would show this simmering of European, African and American cultures and serve this international stew that still attracts many to its streets, concert halls and restaurants.