Second Line

S E C O N D L I N E
New Orleans and Jazz did not arise simultaneously.
Jazz came later. New Orleans was the cradle, maybe even
the womb from which African American experience found
its voice in a music unlike anything that had ever been
heard before. They say it was cornetist, Buddy Bolden
who brought together the old gospel spirituals, ragtime,
marching band music and the blues and blew it out so
loud and long that, on a clear night the sound could be
heard a mile outside the city. And, they say it was
Bolden’s innovation to rearrange his band so that the
strings - bass, banjo and guitar - became the rhythm
section, while the clarinets, trombone and his own mighty
horn became the front line. So they say.
This is all by way of saying that Gregory Vaughan
Stafford’s music flows in a direct line from those early days
of Jazz music. He, in the bands he’s played in, the bands
he’s led and the students he’s taught, has helped to
preserve that original sound while, at the same time,
continuing to inject it with new life. To attend a Gregg
Stafford concert is to take a master class in what New
Orleans jazz means - what it has always meant. It is a
celebration of both the joy and the sorrow of life and
living. Gregg knows that music to the bone and leads
each of us in attendance to experience the magic of
finding joy in our sorrows.
Born in 1953, Gregg has been performing and teaching
traditional jazz stylings for over forty years. In 1984
Stafford took over leadership of the Young Tuxedo Brass
Band. It is the last of the traditional New Orleans brass
bands and has been performing since 1938 when it was
founded by clarinetist and bandleader, John Casimir. In
1992, after trumpeter, George “Kid Sheik” Colar’s death,
Stafford stepped up as leader of the Heritage Hall Jazz
Band, which performs regularly at Preservation Hall.
Fortunately for those of us living in the north, far from
New Orleans in both climate and temperament, Gregg has
adopted Toronto as a second home and performs annually
at Lula Lounge and Grossman’s Tavern, gathering local
Toronto musicians to comprise his band. These
photographs were all taken at a concert performed by
Stafford and his band at Lula Lounge in Toronto on
December 1, 2019. It was a gas being present for this
rollicking concert and an honor to be able to take these
photographs of a dedicated and true original.