An artist named Jim Hart installed the wind chimes as part of an effort to make City Park more appealing to both locals and tourists. City Park is a good place to spend the morning exploring and spending time outdoors in the fresh air before heading into the bars and jazz clubs at night.
A musical tree is the perfect tribute to New Orleans, a city known as one of the best places in the world to see and hear jazz (especially on Bourbon Street). In fact, according to Secret New Orleans, the chimes on the tree are tuned to the “pentatonic scale, the same scale that characterizes West African gospel hymns and New Orleans jazz.”
When the rhythms of New Orleans – which lets face it, can get loud – feel overwhelming, escape to City Park to sit under not just the Singing Oak but one of the park’s many other old and majestic trees, and enjoy a coffee or a book. If you do want to visit the Singing Oak, make sure you do so on a breezy day, so that you can hear the full song created by the chimesh.
This is one of the most peaceful places in New Orleans. The park offers views of Big Lake, and it’s located within walking distance of the New Orleans Museum of Art. 