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Branford Marsalis has traveled the world over, but one trip back to his hometown, New Orleans, still stands out. He was visiting from Los Angeles, where he was the bandleader on “The Tonight Show” in the early 1990s, and was invited on a local talk show that was being broadcast from the Superdome.
Marsalis, now 64, knew the building well. An avid sports and music fan, he saw many Saints football and Jazz basketball games there, as well as concerts and other events. He also sold programs at Saints games. The joy of those days hit him when he walked into the stadium.
“As soon as I saw the field, I got overcome with all this emotion and reflexively bought season tickets,” Marsalis said. “Back when it opened, there were very few domed stadiums, and none of them looked as good as this one. It was a great place to be.”
Marsalis couldn’t use his season tickets because he was living in California, so he gave them to his brother and bandmates. But his impulse purchase was a reminder of how the building, which turns 50 this year, and what it represents still has a hold on him and many others with connections to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
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For the past half century, the Superdome has been best known as a sports venue. It is the home of the Saints, and also a host for Super Bowls, Final Fours, title bouts and other sports including high school and college football, baseball and soccer. Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl there, and it was where a freshman named Michael Jordan made a jump shot that clinched a national title for the North Carolina men’s basketball team.
