Last weekend, we celebrated National Public Lands Day and Bike Your Park Day with the National Parks Service Jazz Rangers. Community members from 5 different neighborhoods came out on a 7-mile bike ride and tour of New Orleans jazz history, Greenway history, and stormwater management. Our guide from the National Park Service, Chandra Teddleton, compared the development of Jazz music to making a gumbo, starting with the roux of cultural traditions from West African slaves and local Creoles.

Over its early history, native tribal cultural traditions, French and Spanish music joined the mix. Time, tradition, and New Orleans jazz greats like Jellyroll Morton, Buddy Bolden, Louis Armstrong and others have added to the gumbo to create the many forms of jazz music we enjoy in New Orleans today.

We are still adding to the many gumbos of New Orleans, from the continued evolution of Jazz music to the continued evolution of public spaces, and the evolution of the City itself. We were delighted to spend a day learning more about where the Greenway fits into the gumbo of New Orleans neighborhoods, cultural traditions, and musical legends.

Thanks to the National Park Service Jazz National Historical Park and all who attended! We look forward to further exploring the the ever-changing gumbo of this wonderful city we call home.