There's a mystic quality to this unique city. It's French influenced in an Anglo centric country. It's Catholic and bawdy in an American South full of conservative Christians. Back in the day it was the stomping grounds of the debauched pirate Jean Lafitte and he'd still fit right in today.
With the French Quarter Festival happening I was hoping to see some good Cajun music and Dixieland jazz. I got way more than I hoped for. Music is like breathing here. It everywhere and it's good, really good, and when you breathe it in you feel alive.
You also inhale slices of another time. It's an ancient and modern mix of culture; like being in a Harry Potter movie. It's a gumbo of time periods and cultures but it isn't a melting pot. Nothing is melted or diluted here. It's cultures and time periods reveal themselves to you as the veils of time peel away. French, Creole, Spanish, Caribbean, Haitian, Piracy, Voodoo, Jazz, Zydeco, Outlaws, Literary Giants, Ghosts, Vampires, Swamps, the Mississippi. They all co-mingle in a thick hot swampy jumble. Let's call it a Jambalaya :)
Jazz was invented in New Orleans by Buddy Bolden. The legendary inimitable Louis Armstrong stormed the world from New Orleans. Dr. John, Professor Longhair, the Marsalis brothers, Harry Connick Jr, The Neville Brothers, Fat's Domino and a multitude of great musicians hail from this legendary music town.
Early on I got an appreciation of brass music from my Father the trumpet player. As I watched the wailing expressions blown by New Orleans street musicians my mind took me back to my own brass band days and my Father's fire dept bands. I'm hoping he was on my shoulder experiencing this spectacle with me. God knows he would have loved New Orleans.
But enough words, check this out. It's a bit long for an Internet video but you gotta see the breadth of music the French Quarter Festival provides...for free. Dig it!
I'd never seen Mardi Gras Indians before so on Saturday night we went to see the funky 101 Runners at Waterfront Park. They were great. What a spectacle and they came down in the crowd where we all participated in their mad bacchanalia. Check it out. In the middle of the video they do a cover of the Grateful Dead's Fire On The Mountain. The crowd went wild.
Last but not least are Washboard Chaz and Doc Houlind. I loved these two moments in time.
We saw the Washboard Chaz Blue's Trio at The Spotted Cat. The Spotted Cat is a club in the Faubourg Marigny district which is just a short walk east of the French Quarter. Frenchmen Street is a great street full of music clubs where the locals go. Check it out next time you're in N'awlins. I don't have a lot of tape of Chaz because if you watch you'll see him wave me off to stop filming. The group was tight. Chaz kept a mean rhythm with his washboard. Along the bottom of it he has a wood block, two tin cans and a bell for additional percussion. Teamed with a driving bluesy Dobro player and a screaming, chugging and churning harmonica jockey they rocked it hard. I went online when I got back and bought a CD. Get one!
We saw Doc Houlind's Revival Jazz Band at Preservation Hall. The band was excellent but Preservation Hall is a star in it's own right.
From the Hall's website;
Preservation Hall is located in the French Quarter, just three blocks from the Mississippi River. The Hall has served many functions over the years. Originally built as a private residence in 1750, the hall has evolved into a tavern, inn, photo studio and an art gallery. The inside of the hall contains portraits of the musicians who first filled it with the beautiful sounds of New Orleans Jazz.
Preservation Hall opened its doors in 1961. The hall was created as a sanctuary, to protect and honor New Orleans Jazz which had lost much of its popularity to modern jazz and rock n roll. Allan and Sandra Jaffe, the hall’s founders, wanted a place where New Orleans musicians could play New Orleans Jazz, a style, they believed, should not disappear.
Today, over 40 years later, the hall is still going strong. On any given night, the hall is filled to capacity with people eager to hear New Orleans jazz played by veteran musicians in their 70’s and 80’s and younger musicians learning and embracing music that is both sweet and very beautiful.
Listen to Doc Houlind and you'll hear that kicking Rag Time Dixieland sound is still alive! Doc's band is from Denmark but you'd think they grew up right here in New Orleans. It's a testament to the global appeal of this music.
One thing I really got a kick out of was a lot of bands didn't have a bass player, instead they had a Sousaphone. They use Sousaphones as basses down here!
I'm sucked in. New Orleans has captivated me. I've fallen under it's spell. My friend John told me I have the "disease". If I do, I don't want to be cured...I just want to go back.
Next posts - We explore, eat, drink and visit the grave of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
4 comments:
Can I go with you the next time you go??
Yeah let's do it!!
great videos --- you are right --- Dad would have loved it!!!!!!
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