Jazz Master Eases New Orleans’ Pain

“In New Orleans, jazz is life. When we are sad or happy, we play jazz. At wedding ceremonies and funerals, we play jazz. Even when we divorce, we alleviate the suffering with jazz.”

Tom Laughlin, who is considered a next generation jazz musician in New Orleans, has already released 10 albums, and now he plays clarinet at a club in Manhattan, New York. Jazz clubs where he used to play are closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Last December 31, when the correspondent met Laughlin at a café in Manhattan, he said that when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, he was on a tour in Latin America. “Every night, I saw helplessly what was done by the hurricane through the Internet,” said Laughlin.

He could not go back to New Orleans. At the request of the U.S. Department of State, he held “concerts of gratitude” in Central and South American countries that helped relief work in New Orleans.

Laughlin’s apartment was on third floor, so he suffered little damages from looting. But his neighbors and friends were severely damaged by the hurricane.

To ease the pain of victims, he had a jazz parade with his musician friends in November in New Orleans. He called this the “healing process.”

He is planning to go back to New Orleans and play music for the people who like and understand jazz more than anyone else.

He said he had a jazz performance a few years earlier in Japan. “I’d like to have a concert in Korea that offered great support for Katrina relief and reconstruction efforts soon,” said Laughlin. His blog (www.timlaughlin.com) contains samples of his music.

Jong sik Kong kong@donga.com