Preservation Hall, the label of this record, is the name of a jazz venue in St Peter Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It was founded by the couple Allen and Sandra Jaffe at the location of an established art gallery. It was so successful that the gallery moved next door, and the Preservation Hall was born. It is dedicated to reliving the past glories of traditional jazz, that is the jazz before the bop of the 50s took over.
It is still there for you to visit, and hosts a lovely website with it’s history. Including a picture of Dan Leyrer taking the picture for the cover of this album. I guess that for copyright reasons I cannot include it here, but do check it on https://www.preservationhall.com/about/
The back of my version has signatures all over the place. I’m pretty sure they’re not from exactly the same line-up as accompanied Sweet Emma Barret in 1964. Clearly visible however is the signature of Percy Humphrey, who was still in the band in 1975. My guess is that the record was bought there by an enthusiastic visitor. That makes it quite special to me.
