William Miller, illustrated by Charlotte Riley-Webb
Rent Party Jazz
Lee and Low, 2001.

Ages 5-10

Rent Party Jazz, set in 1930’s New Orleans and exuberantly illustrated, introduces children to the unique spirit and music of that much-loved and much-maligned city and to the difficulties its poor people and people of color still endure amidst their vibrant and distinct culture.

Sonny makes a dime a day for his before-school job shoveling coal into customers’ cellars. His mom makes a penny for every tin of “fancy fish” she packs. They scrape by, just ahead of the rent man—who would change the locks and sell their belongings the day they missed a payment—until Sonny’s mom is laid off.  

Things look dire, and after school Sonny consoles himself by listening to Smilin’ Jack play music in Jackson Square (near the French Quarter). When the trumpet player notices Sonny’s long face and discovers the trouble, he tells the boy about rent parties and offers to play for one.

“We’re going to have a party tonight and raise all the money we need for the rent, every last nickel and dime,” Sonny tells his dubious mother. He invites everyone in the neighborhood, asking them to bring food and talking up Smilin’ Jack’s talents. Then he sets up a donation bucket by the front door.

As the party heats up, the bucket fills up, coin by coin. When it’s finally time to wind down the party, Smilin’ Jack begins singing “When the Saints Go Marching In,” a capella. The whole crowd joins in, and “Sonny felt like he was in another world, a place where the music and the singing he loved would never stop.”

An author’s note explains how rent parties in New Orleans and New York played a role in the development of jazz and were a forerunner of large-scale contemporary efforts like Farm Aid. In New Orleans, Miller explains, “music and sudden, spontaneous parties…continue to be an important part of the cultural life of the city.”

Rent Party Jazz offers children some background on the special place of New Orleans in America’s musical history. Moreover, it’s a testament to the uniting potential of music in every child’s life.

Charlotte Richardson
August  2009