Tom Waits, Pete Seeger and More Contribute to Preservation Hall Charity Album

Pete Seeger, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Tom Waits, Andrew Bird, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Jason Isbell and Paolo Nutini are only a handful of the acts that sat in with New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band over the past year. For those unfamiliar with Preservation Hall, the venue holds a total capacity of about 50 people on six wooden antique benches. Even if you have a ticket, you're probably still likely to sit on the floor. Located in the French Quarter, there is no running water or air conditioning in the building, nor has there been since being built as a Spanish saloon in the mid-1700s. To say the least the venue, and home to the eight-piece The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, is intimate and needs a little fixing up.

Because the economy has been so terrible, the all-star lineup of artists will appear on the new charity collaboration 'Preservation, An Album Benefiting Preservation Hall and Its Music Outreach Program,' which aims to do just as the title suggests. All proceeds will go towards restoring the venue and running the Preservation Hall Outreach Program, which works to keep New Orleans Jazz alive.

"It was important to me to include artists from varied backgrounds, styles and ages to show the impact our music has had on such a wide range of artists," Preservation Hall Jazz Band Creative Director Ben Jaffe tells Spinner of the young and old guns on the album. "Preservation Hall appeals to everyone because our music -- its message and its function -- are universal." Among the young guns, Brandi Carlile lends her chops on the gospel-tinged 'Old Rugged Cross' while old gun and long-time Preservation Hall advocate Tom Waits howls on man's earliest known Mardi Gras Song, 'Tootie Ma Is a Big Fine Thing.'

"The first album I self-released was thoroughly influenced by NOLA jazz. It had clarinets, horns, accordions and even a song called 'New Orleans," emerging rocker Cory Chisel, whose appears on the 'Preservation' track 'Some Cold Rainy Day,' tells Spinner. "I've always been a massive Tom Waits fan and when I began to look into some of his major musical influences, I stumbled onto this incredible hot bed of music that I would have never heard living in northern Wisconsin. I had heard about the legend of Preservation Hall before I even knew about the music, so it was thrilling to be able to record there,"

The 'Preservation' compilation will be released on Feb. 16, 2010, or, as N'awlins natives call it, Fat Tuesday.