Preservation Hall Jazz Band Hosts Livestream Benefit

Saturday night's (June 20) event was intended to raise funds for the Preservation Hall Foundation.

An all-star group of rock icons banded together on Saturday night (June 20) to support New Orlean’s iconic Preservation Hall.

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s “Midnight Preserves” livestream — with all the musicians performing at home — featured an all-star group of guest performers, from Sir Paul McCartney to the Foo Fighters‘ Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Dave Matthews, PJ Morton, My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James and Nathaniel Rateliff.

Among the performances was archival footage of the Dave Matthews Band doing “Ants Marching” with the legendary Preservation Hall band, as well as a newly-recorded, socially-distanced version of “That Girl is You” with the band’s horn and rhythm section backing up Matthews.

The Hall’s creative director, Ben Jaffe, hosted the livestream, which included chats with the performers about the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as their enduring love for New Orleans music and the legacy of the Preservation Hall band.

The Foos Fighters’ Grohl played the Pres. Halls’ hometown anthem “Come With Me” and returned later for a solo acoustic “Best of You,” as well as the previously recorded “In the Clear,” which was tracked for the Foos’ 2014 Sonic Highways project.

Other archival performances with the Preservation Hall Band included MMJ’s James playing the iconic standard “St. James Infirmary,” the Alabama Shakes doing “Rise to the Sun,” Beck performing “Sexx Laws,” Sharon Jones’ “Fish in the Dish” and Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up.”

Among the socially-distanced bits were Costello performing “The River in Reverse,” James doing “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” and the whole thing wrapping up with an all-star performance of “When the Saints Go Marching In” headlined by McCartney (on trumpet), joined by Grohl, Matthews, Rateliff, Irma Thomas, James and more.

The stream also included pop-ins from comedian Amy Schumer, Jude Law and Jon Batiste, among others.

Watch the stream here and check out the performance of “When the Saints” below.