New Orleans Music Tour
- 2 hours
- Free cancellation up to 24h before
- Guided in English
- Instant confirmation
Highlights
Although New Orleans is heavily associated with Jazz, this tour will show how every form of American popular music is informed by New Orleans. As the outgrageous New Orleans R&B legend Ernie K-Doe said: “I'm not sure, but I'm almost positive, all music came from New Orleans.”
Inclusions
What's included
- A look at current street music and where the hottest live acts
- Tour Guide
- Visits to music-related landmarks
What's not
- What to bring: comfortable shoes, water, sunscreen, hat, and rain/sun protection
- Gratuities
Itinerary
Explore the world’s richest musical city, starting with Louis Armstrong Park and Congo Square, historic site of African slave gatherings, the only place in North American where pure West African religious ritual and musical traditions were performed. Congo Square is considered the wellspring of all New Orleans music and, consequently, so much of worldwide popular song. It is also the site of the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970. From Armstrong Park, view the building which housed Cosimo Matassa’s groundbreaking J&M Studios which created the “New Orleans Sound” with such New Orleanians as Professor Longhair, Dave Bartholomew, Fats Domino, Guitar Slim, Shirley & Lee, Lloyd Price, Ernie K-Doe, Allen Toussaint, Clarence “Frogman” Henry & visitors including Little Richard, Ray Charles, & Jerry Lee Lewis. J & M Studios is the true birthplace of rock ’n roll.
You will visit Basin Street Station and stroll down Basin Street where you’ll see the remains of Storyville (including Frank Early’s “My Place” Saloon where “Pretty Baby” was written), fabled turn-of-the-century red light district whose parlors presented the likes of King Oliver, Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet and many more during the early days of jazz.
Then stroll through the Tango Belt to May Bailey’s and the site of the Old French Opera House.
End at the legendary Preservation Hall, a place which represents the past, present, and future of New Orleans music. Learn the origins of New Orleans Bounce Music and check out the world’s greatest street musicians who are carrying the flame to this very day.
Congo Square is the only place in North America where pure West African religious ritual took place. If American popular music comes from New Orleans, it specifically originates in Congo Square.
Cancellation
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.
Reviews
4.6
- 560
- 48
- 31
- 21
- 15
Ratings come from 75 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.
Know before you go
- Meeting point
- Meet the tour guide at the Rampart Treehouse, 740 North Rampart Street
- Pickup
- Everyone meets at the starting point; there is no pickup.
- Ticket type
- Mobile or paper ticket accepted
- Group size
- Up to 20 travellers
- Operated by
- Historic New Orleans Tours
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
How it compares in New Orleans
- Its from-price is 57% below the median of the 707 experiences we list in New Orleans.
- Its length is typical for the group.
- By number of reviews it ranks 215 of 707.
- The operator lists free cancellation on it.
About New Orleans
New Orleans is the Louisiana city of jazz, Creole food and the French Quarter, set on a bend of the Mississippi River near the Gulf of Mexico.
New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and later ruled by Spain, and the French Quarter still shows it, with wrought-iron balconies, courtyards and Jackson Square, which St Louis Cathedral overlooks. Jazz was born here, and live music pours from clubs on Frenchmen Street. The St Charles streetcar rattles beneath oaks to the mansions of the Garden District.
Top-ranked sights in New Orleans: French Quarter, Jackson Square, LaLaurie Mansion.
Special offers in New Orleans
Was/now prices come from the operator, never from us.
