With this week marking the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, people are once again reflecting on the economic and cultural impact the disaster had on New Orleans. The city's rich music history in particular has been in jeopardy as a result, with many of the area's best musicians fleeing after losing both their homes and instruments. And on an immediate level, the disaster has left many unable to make ends meet in the birthplace of jazz, but there's a more threatening consequence beyond that.

"You have to remember that there was somewhere in excess of ... 5,000 musicians that lived here in the city ... When you have that many musicians living in one place, they push each other's envelopes, they learn from each other, they take chances and that's what makes it a living musical tradition, still growing, even after 150 years," says David Friedman, general manager of local radio station WWOZ. "But the tragedy here is that we're going to lose that unless we find some way to institute it."

With this in mind, the organization Music Rising was formed with the mission of not only helping local musicians who lost everything, but saving the city's jazz and blues tradition as well. With the help of music stars like U2 guitarist the Edge, Dave Matthews, Arlo Guthrie and local legends like Walter "Wolfman" Washington have helped raise both money and awareness to bring back the city's local musicians. If you'd like to find out more about Music Rising and the state of music in New Orleans, check out this documentary, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms, after the jump.