{{short description|American jazz musician}} {{distinguish|Al Jaffe|Al Jaffee}} {{nofootnotes|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Allan Jaffe | image = Allan Jaffe in 1981 (cropped).jpg | caption = Jaffe seen at left playing bass horn behind Olympia Brass Band grand marshal "King" Richard Matthews at "jazz funeral", 1981 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} | birth_place = Pottsville, Pennsylvania | death_date = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} | death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana | instrument = Sousaphone | spouse = [[Sandra Jaffe]] }} '''Allan Phillip Jaffe''' (April 24, 1935, [[Pottsville, Pennsylvania]] – March 9, 1987, [[New Orleans]]) was an American [[jazz]] [[tuba|tubist]] and the entrepreneur who, along with his wife [[Sandra Jaffe|Sandra]], developed [[Preservation Hall]] into a New Orleans jazz tradition. He played the [[sousaphone]] in the Preservation Hall house band.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pope |first=John |date=2021-12-28 |title=Sandra Jaffe, whose Preservation Hall spread traditional jazz worldwide, dies at 83 |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/sandra-jaffe-whose-preservation-hall-spread-traditional-jazz-worldwide-dies-at-83/article_a716d644-6826-11ec-b27e-a304c4750808.html |access-date=2025-10-15 |website=NOLA.com |language=en}}</ref>
Jaffe's grandfather was Russian-Jewish as was his father-the grandfather played [[french horn]] in the [[Imperial Russian Army]]. His father was a [[mandolin]] player and teacher. Jaffe learned piano and [[cornet]] before settling on tuba in [[junior high school]]. He studied at the [[Wharton School]] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]] before joining the [[United States Army|Army]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Stewart |first=Zan |date=1988-02-27 |title=Jazz Entourages Play On After Band Leader Dies |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-02-27-ca-11951-story.html |access-date=2025-10-10 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> He was stationed to [[Fort Polk, Louisiana]].
Jaffe was living in [[New Orleans]] in 1961, when he took over management and creative direction of [[Preservation Hall]] with his wife Sandra.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fensterstock |first=Alison |date=2017-08-21 |title=As Jazz Fest Looks At 50, What Keeps It Alive? |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/08/21/544532673/as-jazz-fest-looks-at-50-what-keeps-it-alive |access-date=2025-10-15 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> As owner of the facility, he played a major role in the [[Dixieland|New Orleans jazz]] revival of the 1960s, shepherding the latter-day careers of [[George Lewis (clarinetist)|George Lewis]], [[Jim Robinson (trombonist)|Jim Robinson]], [[Alcide Pavageau]], [[Punch Miller]], [[Chester Zardis]], [[Kid Sheik Cola]], [[Percy Humphrey]], [[Willie Humphrey]], [[Kid Thomas Valentine]], [[Billie Pierce|Billie]] and [[De De Pierce]], and others.
He also played the tuba in the [[Preservation Hall Jazz Band]] and took the group on tours worldwide, booking them into the finest music and performance halls and making appearances at cultural events of note even in small communities.{{Cn|date=October 2025}}
Jaffe's son, [[Ben Jaffe]], is a [[double-bass]] and tuba player, who now leads and performs with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Jaffe died of cancer at age 51 on March 9, 1987.<ref name=":0" /> He is interred at Chevra Thilim cemetery in New Orleans.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sancton |first=Tom |date=2011-12-09 |title=The Venerable, Musical History of Preservation Hall in New Orleans |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/preservation-hall-201201 |access-date=2026-01-29 |website=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== *Floyd Levin, "Allan Jaffe (i)". ''[[The New Grove|The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz]]''. {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffe, Allan}} [[Category:1935 births]] [[Category:1987 deaths]] [[Category:American jazz tubists]] [[Category:Jewish jazz musicians]] [[Category:American male jazz musicians]] [[Category:Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania]] [[Category:20th-century American musicians]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]] [[Category:United States Army soldiers]] [[Category:20th-century American male musicians]] [[Category:Preservation Hall Jazz Band members]] [[Category:Olympia Brass Band members]] [[Category:People from New Orleans]]