New Orleans jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis will be the most famous face in a guest of honour roster that includes workers from New York city agencies who responded to the disaster.

"This year we want to celebrate the generosity, sacrifice and heroism of the men and women who took part in the unprecedented humanitarian efforts," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters.

"We will honour not only the work of hundreds of police officers, firefighters, correction officers and emergency managers, but everyday New Yorkers who responded in the aftermath of Katrina," Bloomberg said.

Some one million people are expected to throng Times Square on Saturday night for what is the traditional centrepiece of New Year celebrations across the United States.

Last year's guest of honour was the then US secretary of state Colin Powell. That event was overshadowed by another natural disaster -- the Asian tsunami -- which was remembered with a minute's silence for the victims.

The main task of the guest of honour is to press the button to lower the half-tonne crystal ball whose descent counts down the final 60 seconds of the outgoing year.

Marsalis said he hoped the event would look to New Orlean's future rather than dwell on the past.

"We want to concentrate on rebirth and rebuilding," said Marsalis, who organised a highly successful fundraising concert in the wake of the hurricane.

The official death toll from Katrina, which slammed into the US Gulf Coast on August 29, stands at more than 1,300.

The Times Square event will include performances by singers Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey and is expected to draw a worldwide televised audience of one billion people.

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