WWOZ have just launched a website A Closer Walk to “highlight, contextualize and advocate” for the future of these locales. It’s a bit late in the day for this: such a damn shame that so much has already been destroyed. Here are some of the locales that are meaningful to me. Cosimo MatassaErnie K-DoeFats DominoJazzkarnofskyLouis…
H/T to OffBeat mr. okranew orleans
Speaking of New Orleans characters here is a lovely 60 second outline of the joy this man brings to New Orleans (H/T OffBeat). mr. okranew orleansokra
“Throw Me Something, Mister!”: Mardi Gras is much more than a debaucherous party. The exchange of gifts in parades and parties binds New Orleans’ diverse communities together. The importance of giving for its own sake, rather than for prestige or other benefits, is emphasized by krewe anonymity. Mardi Gras law requires that krewe members wear masks…
Larry Blumenfeld reports: During a press conference at last year’s Jazz & Heritage Festival, Mayor Landrieu told me, “There is a way to organize culture without killing it.” Those words are either comforting or alarming, depending upon whom you ask. As David Freedman, the general manager of listener-supported WWOZ-FM (self-proclaimed “Guardians of the Groove”), told…
A balanced and insightful analysis by very excellent Wayne Curtis. . . . more than the loss of indoor smoking itself, seems to aggrieve many of those who opposed the ban. In fact, the loudest grousing I heard came from friends who are nonsmokers. They saw this as an attack on what makes New Orleans…
Controversial view expressed in Offbeat Magazine. There is much to say for this view but I can think of plausible counter-arguments to do with the inherent dynamism of tradition which New Orleans is the instantiation par excellence. Music in New Orleans is indeed inextricable from the city’s lifestyle. “In the 6th Ward, 7th Ward, 9th Ward…
Here is Walter Isaacson’s review of Gary Krist’s Empire of Sin. Storyville’s sporting houses became cribs for jazz. Like most of the creative culture of New Orleans, this new style of music was spawned by the town’s diversity. Flowing together on the street corners were the sounds of marching brass bands, church spirituals, plantation blues, Creole…
New Orleans is a city where cultural tradition matters. In New Orleans there is a balance between innovation and tradition. Improvisation never comes out of nothing. It is always rooted in history . . . in New Orleans. So this is an environment where people sort of backslide into the future. — Bruce Boyd Raeburn…
You’ve got to love Susan Ford’s “understated overstatedness” or perhaps the reverse or even perhaps Southern Stoicism — whatever, she is a treasure! Check out her Louisiana Kitchen and Culture mag. Two summers ago, when hurricane Isaac was looming in the Gulf of Mexico, I took stock of my freezer to see what I could…
manwithoutqualities 