History of New Orleans is wonderful read

"The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square" (Lawrence Hill Books 352 pages, $24.95), by Ned Sublette: Founded, but not much valued, by the French, New Orleans was passed back and forth with the Spanish and finally sold to the Americans.

Although that much of the city's and Louisiana's history is well known, Ned Sublette fleshes it out, adding the impact of thousands of slaves from many cultures, a myriad of criminals from Europe and even a band of nuns who helped develop jazz.

Sublette tells a fascinating tale of criminals, prostitutes, beggars and misfits that France forced to settle the area. Indeed, the area became a penal colony in 1719-1720. France was in such desperate need of settlers, it picked up every person it could and swept out its prisons. The move caused such panic that French prisoners revolted, overpowering the guards and fleeing the prison, "in terror of being sent to Louisiana."

The mention of Louisiana in France in 1719 was the equivalent of saying Siberia in 20th-century Russia, Sublette writes.

The misfits and criminals that populated New Orleans were not skilled in many of the things needed to build a successful colony. The city would have probably died out if it had not been for the slaves imported to do every thing from growing crops to building the city.

The slaves — from a multitude of African tribes and countries — had a profound affect on the culture and the music of the city. The Sunday gatherings permitted in Congo Square allowed slaves to practice their traditions, play their music and dance, all of which were outlawed in most of the colonies.

Jazz funerals, still a part of the city's black community, date from a Knogo tradition of dancing at funerals, according to Sublette.

Another unlikely contributor to the birth of jazz were the Ursaline nuns, who arrived in New Orleans in 1727.

Sublette speculates that jazz "derives from a typical feel still easily audible in the Senegambia and Mali today, and that New Orleans was a key point in its dissemination."

In New Orleans, both the African and French musical cultures played unequal eighth notes. The Ursalines taught music and taught those musical notes, "helping to establish an environment where white, free colored, and enslaved musicians all crossed paths."

New Orleans was always dissolute, musical and full of unique conditions, Sublette points out. For example, from its earliest days, "intoxication seemed to prevail at all levels" in the city, Sublette writes.

Slaves were given more freedom in New Orleans than in many other areas. Besides the Congo Square gatherings, they had opportunities to earn money, and some slaves even owned slaves themselves.

There were also many free people of color, making up 33.5 percent of the black population of the city in 1805, and about 19 percent of the overall population.

From this hodgepodge thrown together in a mysterious swamp town, grew the city of today.

Sublette's examination of the history that created a city still distinct in America, and exploration of the complex cultural heritage makes for lively and fascinating reading. For those who learned so much about New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, he offers a view of its roots and the tragedies of the past.