"The Silverbook...draws its essence from the echoes of Congo Square..."
–Harold Battiste
Our Mission
Congo Square Jazz Orchestra (CSJO) is a professional organization and platform for musicians in addition to creating education, research, preservation, and live performances to record and archive jazz’s African, American, and European foundations through an orchestral format that restores traditional drum families and ancestral instrument traditions. CSJO recreates Congo Square repertory and African-centered American music through performances, workshops, and community partnerships across Louisiana and the global jazz community.
Freddi Evans, in her book “Congo Square,” states that “In 1786 Bishop Cyrillio (Cirilo Sieni) issued a pastoral letter that denounced “Negroes who at the vespers hour, assembled in a green expanse called ‘Place Congo’ to dance the Bamboula and perform the rites imported from Africa by the Yolofs, Foulahs, Bambarras Mandigoes, and other races.”
In the 1790’s five forts were developed in consideration of potential battles.
Congo Square is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is bordered on the Southeast by Rampart St., on the Northeast by St. Phillip St (or the imaginary St. Ann), on the Northwest by Essence Way (or the Municipal Auditorium), and on the Southeast by Basin Street (or the somewhat imaginary St. Peter).
Freddi Evans, in her book “Congo Square,” states that “In 1786 Bishop Cyrillio (Cirilo Sieni) issued a pastoral letter that denounced “Negroes who at the vespers hour, assembled in a green expanse called ‘Place Congo’ to dance the Bamboula and perform the rites imported from Africa by the Yolofs, Foulahs, Bambarras Mandigoes, and other races.”