Jazz Museum Planned For NOLA

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A $4 million project is planned that will
transform the third floor of the Old U.S. Mint in the French
Quarter into a multimillion-dollar jazz museum and performance
space.
Construction is scheduled to begin in August, with the opening
slated for spring 2010.
Grammy Award-winning modern jazz trumpter Terence Blanchard says
the project is not about preserving the past, but about recognizing
the past and moving into the future.
As part of the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park, the
beefed-up museum will incorporate the State Museum's already
substantial collection of jazz artifacts. That collection includes
sheet music, manuscripts, photographs, records - including what is
thought to be the first jazz recording, from 1917 - and instruments
such as Louis Armstrong's first cornet.