When the COVID-19 pandemic rolled across the globe, it silenced live music everywhere. Perhaps nowhere was that silence more deafening than New Orleans.

To help offset the fallout for struggling musicians, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation launched a Music Relief Fund last spring. Through their efforts, they’ve distributed more than $1MM to musicians across Louisiana. And this year on February 9, one week before we endure a silent Mardi Gras, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation will commence the next wave of relief efforts in partnership with independent creative agency LIGHT+CO, by asking people everywhere a simple question:

Have you ever been saved by a song?

“When there’s a cause attached to art, the vision is easily shared, dialed in, and everyone puts their heart into it. Every person involved wanted to make the best film possible for the foundation and was open to how we got there. There was no ego, just a truly unified effort. Everyone was all in.”  

Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s latest effort kicks off with a PSA entitled “Rise and Shine” — helmed by director Benjamin Sonntag and featuring New Orleans’ own Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews — created to reawaken the New Orleans and to invite music lovers everywhere to join together and help the city’s sound carry on for generations to come.

Of the collaboration, Sonntag remarks, “When there’s a cause attached to art, the vision is easily shared, dialed in, and everyone puts their heart into it. Every person involved wanted to make the best film possible for the foundation and was open to how we got there. There was no ego, just a truly unified effort. Everyone was all in.”  

“By cancelling live music in New Orleans, the pandemic robbed the city’s musical community of not just their sound, but their livelihood,” added David Cameron, CEO LIGHT+CO. “Their ability to make ends meet, and do what they do best: share their sound with the world. We’ve all had that moment when music has saved our lives. Now it’s time to save music.”