The music of New Orleans assumes various styles of music which have often borrowed from earlier traditions. New Orleans, Louisiana is especially known for its strong association with jazz music, universally considered to be the birthplace of the genre. The earliest form was dixieland, which has sometimes been called traditional jazz, 'New Orleans', and 'New Orleans jazz'. However, the tradition of jazz in New Orleans has taken on various forms that have either branched out from original dixieland or taken entirely different paths altogether. New Orleans has also been a prominent center of funk, home to some of the earliest funk bands such as The Meters.

The African influence on New Orleans music can trace its roots at least back to Congo Square in New Orleans in 1835, when slaves would congregate there to play music and dance on Sundays. African music local music, including that of such local Whites as Louis Moreau Gottschalk. Along with such popular European musical forms popular in the city, perhaps most notably the brass band traditions, the cultural mix laid the groundwork for the New Orleans musical art forms to come.

New Orleans ( /nuː ˈɔrliənz/ or /ˈnuː ɔrˈliːnz/, locally /nuː ˈɔrlənz/ or /ˈnɔrlənz/; French: La Nouvelle-Orléans [la nuvɛlɔʁleɑ̃] ( listen)) is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The population of the city proper was 343,829 as of the 2010 U.S. Census. The New Orleans metropolitan area (New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area) had a population of 1,167,764 in 2010 and was the 46th largest in the United States. The New Orleans–Metairie–Bogalusa Combined Statistical Area, a larger trading area, had a 2010 population of 1,214,932.

The city is named after Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, Regent of France, and is well known for its distinct French Creole architecture, as well as its cross-cultural and multilingual heritage. New Orleans is also famous for its cuisine, music (particularly as the birthplace of jazz), and its annual celebrations and festivals, most notably Mardi Gras. The city is often referred to as the "most unique" in America.

Buckwheat Zydeco is the stage name of Stanley Dural, Jr. (born November 14, 1947), an American accordionist and zydeco musician. He is one of the few zydeco artists to achieve mainstream success. His music group is formally billed as Buckwheat Zydeco and Ils Son Partis Band, but often they perform as merely Buckwheat Zydeco.

The New York Times says, “Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances.”USA Today calls him “a zydeco trailblazer.”

Buckwheat Zydeco has performed with a large number of famous musicians from Eric Clapton (with whom Buckwheat also recorded) and U2 to The Boston Pops. The band performed at the closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics to a worldwide audience of three billion people. Buckwheat performed for President Clinton twice, celebrating both of his inaugurations. The band has appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman, CNN, The Today Show, MTV, NBC News, CBS Morning News, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition.

Kermit Ruffins (born December 19, 1964) is a jazz trumpeter, singer and composer from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. He has been heavily influenced by Louis Armstrong, Louis Jordan and Eddy Jefferson. Ruffins accompanies a large portion of his songs with his own vocals, and he says that the highest note he can hit on trumpet is a high C note. Most of his bands perform New Orleans jazz standards, though he also composes many of his own pieces. Jon Pareles of the New York Times wrote of Ruffins in a July 16, 2001 article, stating that "Mr. Ruffins is an unabashed entertainer who plays trumpet with a bright, silvery tone, sings with off-the-cuff charm and never gets too abstruse in his material".

Kermit started playing trumpet in 8th grade at Lawless Junior High School in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. He attended Joseph S. Clark Senior High School in New Orleans' 6th Ward. In high school, he played a little bit of classical music at the behest of a strict band teacher. Ruffins developed an appreciation for cooking through his grandmother, observing her movements in the kitchen growing up.