4th of July

Berklee Staffers Bring Music Back To New Orleans

Part Of WBZ's 'American Spirit' Series

BOSTON (WBZ) ― It has been almost two years since Hurricane Katrina left much of the Gulf Coast in ruin. The musicians of New Orleans were one of the communities hardest hit. They are still trying to come back to where they were before the storm hit, and they are getting some real help from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Jazz is a uniquely American sound cultivated in the bayous of Louisiana and the Back Bay of Boston.

"The city of New Orleans has a very special meaning to Berklee," said Berklee's Larry Simpson. "It is the birth place of jazz in this country and jazz is the foundation upon which this school was built."

The powerful winds of Hurricane Katrina left New Orleans' signature sound fighting for survival. Many musicians have not returned to New Orleans. That threatens a legacy that has defined the American music scene for more than 60 years, and hot spots like the Dew Drop Café, which helped launch the career of Ray Charles.

Now volunteers from around the country are coming to the aid of New Orleans' musicians, building affordable housing in the Lower 9th Ward. A group from the Berklee College of Music recently returned from a week of working in 100 degree weather.

"There is so much work to be done," said Berklee volunteer Kris Quinones.

"My family came to Cape Cod in 1986 as a refugee from Afghanistan," said Berklee staffer Roya Nassery. "We had to escape our country through the mountains and leave our home with very few precious things because we didn't want to be detected as escaping. So I know first hand what it feels like to be displaced."

"It is hard to believe that you are standing in reality," said volunteer Jason Clinkscales, reflecting on his time in New Orleans. "It felt like I was on the set of a movie, a horror movie."

"We had also gone into a high school in the Lower 9th Ward that looked like a war zone… like it had been bombed out," recalled Kris. "It was outraging. It was. That was a part of the trip that I just cried these angry hot tears, and became really angry and felt all these emotions of grief."

In a word, Kris said, the people were thankful. "Thank you, thank you for being here, thank you for coming, thank you for helping us."

The Berklee volunteers were part of an army of workers, people from all walks of life who wanted the musicians of New Orleans to know they are not forgotten.

"Music washes away the dust of every day life," said Roya Nassery. "I feel that by going down there, Katrina and also Rita, brought a lot of dust to the community there, and now it is our turn to wash away some dust for our fellow musicians."

Kris Quinones recalled listening to a fellow Berklee staffer play his music over a lunch break one day. "Somebody said, 'do you know any blues?' And he said 'yea, but to play the blues you need to be feeling a certain way and I don't feel that right now. I feel love and celebration.'"

"It's just that great sense of community," said Roya. "I walk with a more proud expression."

That pride finds its way into Berklee's classrooms, where many musicians from New Orleans' jazz scene find a safe harbor until they can go home. It's a connection held together by the power of music, and it creates the inspiration that links the historic sounds of yesterday with those of today.

A sound demonstrated by Clinkscales, who wrote a rap based on his time in New Orleans, called 'New Orleans, Taught Me.'

"You're not alone and I hope this is proof," the lyrics read. "That others do care enough to fill a stat; like me with ink and the Red Sox hat; couldn't do it myself we have to thank the troops; you know who you are, we form the Berklee group."

Read full lyrics to 'New Orleans, Taught Me'
Watch Jason perform 'New Orleans, Taught Me'

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