The evolution of New Orleans’ musical history over the last 100 years will be featured on Loyola’s main campus on Sept. 28.

The Center for the Study of New Orleans is putting on their annual daylong fall event next Friday entitled Beats of the Streets, which is free and open to the public, said Leslie Parr, mass communication professor and director of the Center for the Study of New Orleans.

Beats of the Streets was chosen as the theme for this year’s annual NolaLoyola event because the center’s steering committee found in this topic a theme that incorporates Loyola’s last 100 years as well as the last 100 years of the city, said Justin Nystrom, history professor and co- director of the Center for the Study of New Orleans. Beats of the Streets will reflect the last century of music in the city, focusing on brass and jazz, said Nystrom.

Though brass music is essential to New Orleans history and culture, Parr said she doesn’t know if students take advantage of its prevalence in the city. “I think the event will be educational as well as entertaining for them,” said Parr.

John Mahoney, director of jazz studies and member of the Loyola Faculty Jazz Band, said brass and jazz are closely related. Brass is part of the roots of jazz, said Mahoney. In the Loyola Faculty Jazz Band’s performance, the band will try to show the connection between brass and the traditional jazz they will be playing, said Mahoney.

The NolaLoyola event starts at 10 a.m. with the showing of a film about brass music in New Orleans. Gregg Stafford of the Young Tuxedo Brass Band and Gregory Davis of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band will present the film as they are both featured in it.

At noon, food vendors will be set up in the residential quad and the Baby Boyz Brass Band will perform.

At 2 p.m., Ben Jaffe, director of Preservation Hall and member of several brass bands, will show a film on New Orleans jazz that includes rare archival footage of Louis Armstrong, said Parr.

In Rousell Hall beginning at 7 p.m., the Loyola Faculty Jazz Band will play traditional jazz music, followed by the Young Tuxedo Brass Band playing second line jazz music, and ending with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band playing modern jazz music, said Nystrom.

Mahoney thinks the rich music in New Orleans is something we should be proud of and something we should celebrate. “It’s something we want the younger people to carry on,” said Mahoney.

Aaren Gordon can be reached at [email protected]