"The spectators, white and black, line the sidewalks or perch on the above-ground tombs of the New Orleans cemetery as solemn as ravens and ghosts. The black musicians, splendid in uniforms and polished brass, march with a gravity worthy of bishops and kings. Even the street dancers who follow the funeral procession have solemn unsmiling faces. They are carrying open umbrellas though there is no rain, and they seem to be dancing not for the fun of it, but in tribute to the awful power of death, in whose fearful presence the only truly appropriate response is a solemn affirmation of the sweetness of life.....I am truly impressed by Leo Touchet's success in recording this strange and moving ceremony..."

       "This document of Touchet's is a coherent, well-structured record of a unique phenomenon in the black culture of North America. The "Jazz Funeral," is a distinctive form of wake in which the deceased is mourned en route to the graveyard and celebrated during the return therefrom. This is a highly ritualized ceremony, for which the musical program is often preselected by the deceased. The music played prior to the burial is slow, sombre; the procession moves with grave solemnity. Afterwards, the music explodes exuberantly and the "second lines" - the accumulated parade behind the bands - begin a dance whose symbolic purpose is the affirmation that in the midst of death we are in life. Touchet has etched all this in a dramatic way: crisp clean prints in which the figures of the participants are silhouetted against clear, featureless skies. The essay is divided into three sections: the first explores the spectators, as they would be seen by a member of the funeral procession. The second studies the processions from a spectator's-eye viewpoint, and the third records the excitement of the "second line" dance from inside the line, as though the camera were a participant. This is a coherent essay, carefully considered and assembled..."