Song for My Fathers: A New Orleans Story in Black and White

Song for My Fathers is the story of a young white boy driven by aconsuming passion to learn the music and ways of a group of agingblack jazzmen in the twilight years of the segregation era.Contemporaries of Louis Armstrong, most of them had played in localobscurity until Preservation Hall launched a nationwide revival ofinterest in traditional jazz. They called themselves "the mens." Andthey welcomed the young apprentice into their ranks. The boy was introduced into this remarkable fellowship by hisfather, an eccentric Southern liberal and failed novelist whose powerfularticles on race had made him one of the most effective polemicistsof the early Civil Rights movement. Nurtured on his father's belief inracial equality, the aspiring clarinetist embraced the old musicianswith a boundless love and admiration. The narrative unfolds againstthe vivid backdrop of New Orleans in the 1950s and '60s. But thatmagical place is more than decor; it is perhaps the central player, forthis story could not have taken place in any other city in the world.