The fossil record isn't there with forms of music being written down. So there's a lot of conjecture. McCusker emphasizes the emergence of white ensemble players finding an idiom at the same time black players were forging a distinctive style. Rather than taking sides on who deserves greater credit, McCusker takes a nuanced approach. The fact that so much spiritual music was in the funerals is important.
Funeral processions are sacred, but also secular.
We think about at what point jazz was played, and forget about the human diversity we define as part of the New Orleans jazz experience. And then a quick hop, with music of Sidney Bechet on the tape system, to 1716 Marais St., the Bechet family home. From there, McCusker heads back to Basin Street with a commentary on Storyville, little of which is left, with a loop around to St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 and to the Barbarin and Bechet family tombs. The tour does not make a stop at the cemetery, sadly, because of inadequate security. People step out and gaze at the old Iroquois Theatre, the Oddfellows and Masonic ballroom.