The Beaufort Gazette: Marsalis trusts New Orleans will rebuild

The Beaufort Gazette: Marsalis trusts New Orleans will rebuildMarsalis trusts New Orleans will rebuild
Published Tuesday September 13 2005
The Associated Press
PARIS (AP) - New Orleans native Wynton Marsalis says he feels a profound sense of loss about Hurricane Katrina's devastation of his hometown, though he trusts in the people's will to rebuild the city.

In an interview published Monday, the jazz musician told Le Monde newspaper he was counting on international aid, despite the federal government's initial lukewarm reaction to offers.

"Please, please, please," he said. "I know that, at first, (President) Bush claimed he didn't want aid. But governments don't reflect the spirit of the people, their feeling."

Marsalis, who is among the performers at Jazz at Lincoln Center's benefit concert Saturday in New York City, said he felt "a sense of loss, a great and deep loss."

But "New Orleans will be rebuilt," he said, adding that money wasn't the issue. "It's a question of will."