If music had a beating heart, its rhythm would echo from New Orleans. Known the world over as the birthplace of jazz, this city isn’t just about notes and melodies—it’s a living, breathing symphony of culture, soul, and sound. At JamFest, we live for moments like these: when heritage and rhythm collide, and the streets themselves seem to sway with syncopation. Every week, we dive deep into the world of live, soul-powered music, and tonight’s no exception.
🎷 What is Hip?! Radio Show — Live Tonight!
Before we explore the roots, make sure you’re locked in tonight for a new episode of What is Hip?!, the JamFest Radio show that celebrates New Orleans’ finest music legends. Every track is a tribute, every beat a blast of history and soul. From early jazz pioneers to funk kings and queens, every song is performed by a true NOLA icon. This isn’t just a playlist—it’s a celebration of the city’s legendary influence on American music.
👉 Tune in: What is Hip?! on JamFest Radio
Now, let’s take a walk down Royal Street and beyond as we break down the sounds that make New Orleans the most musically influential city in the world.
🎺 Jazz: Where It All Began
New Orleans didn’t invent rhythm—but it gave it a home.
Jazz was born in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the melting pot of cultures that is New Orleans. With roots reaching into African drumming traditions, Caribbean beats, European harmonics, and blues tonality, jazz in New Orleans was a sonic revolution. Early pioneers like Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong, and Jelly Roll Morton laid the groundwork for what would become one of the most influential genres on the planet.
🎶 What is Hip?! tonight features traditional New Orleans jazz, also known as Dixieland, where clarinets wail, trumpets shine, and rhythm sections bounce like second lines through the French Quarter.
🎸 Blues: The Soul Beneath the Surface
While jazz might headline New Orleans’ musical résumé, the blues is its emotional foundation. Influencing and intertwining with early jazz, New Orleans blues developed its own flavor—smoother and more melodic than its Delta cousin, but every bit as powerful.
From the 12-bar blues patterns to the heartache-heavy lyrics, this genre helped shape the city’s distinct musical vocabulary. Artists like Champion Jack Dupree and Snooks Eaglin didn’t just play the blues—they channeled the heartbeat of the city through it.
🎤 R&B and Soul: NOLA’s Golden Groove
You can’t talk about soul without bringing up New Orleans rhythm and blues. The city gave rise to legends like Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, and Dr. John, whose music combined funky backbeats, gospel-soaked vocals, and jazz-laced arrangements into a sound that’s unmistakably Crescent City.
In tonight’s episode of What is Hip?!, expect to hear some of those classics performed live—from intimate club sessions to festival show-stoppers. These are the grooves that defined an era and shaped the sound of American pop and soul.
✝️ Gospel: Faith, Fire, and Harmony
New Orleans’ gospel scene isn’t just a spiritual experience—it’s a musical one. Uniquely, the city was one of the first places where gospel music entered Catholic churches, fusing sacred traditions with African-American spirituals. Gospel choirs here don’t just sing—they soar.
With powerhouse voices and communal energy, New Orleans gospel laid the groundwork for many of the soul and R&B artists who grew up in these choirs before taking the stage.
💥 Bounce and Zydeco: Culture on Fire
Beyond the classics, New Orleans has birthed sounds that reflect the city’s modern heartbeat:
- Bounce: Born in the underground clubs of NOLA, bounce music is rapid-fire, high-energy, and rooted in call-and-response party culture. It’s a genre that’s found mainstream recognition while staying true to its local roots.
- Zydeco: This genre fuses Creole tradition, blues, and Caribbean rhythms—driven by accordions, washboards, and enough groove to power an entire parade. Though it hails more from southwestern Louisiana, Zydeco is essential to the musical mosaic of New Orleans.
🎶 Iconic Venues That Made the Magic Happen
Where music lives, venues breathe life into it. And in New Orleans, these spots are sacred:
- Preservation Hall – A time machine for traditional jazz lovers.
- Frenchmen Street – A sonic buffet where genres blend and bands play ’til dawn.
- Tipitina’s – A haven for funk, soul, and everything in between.
- Snug Harbor – Intimate, legendary, and steeped in jazz history.
- The Spotted Cat – The ultimate dive for an authentic jazz night.
🌟 New Orleans: More Than a City—A Soundtrack
From the brass parades of Treme to the gospel harmonies in Tremé churches, New Orleans is a place where music isn’t a scene—it’s a way of life. Whether you’re swaying in Preservation Hall or grooving at a corner block party, you’re stepping into a story that’s always unfolding.
And here at JamFest, we honor that legacy every day—and especially every Friday night with What is Hip?!. This is where NOLA legends live on through live performances, pure soul, and deep grooves you won’t find anywhere else.
📻 Tonight’s the night. Feel the beat of New Orleans.
Tune into What is Hip?! and get swept away.
▶️ Listen now at JamFestRadio.com
JamFest Radio – Where NOLA’s past, present, and pulse play on.