the celebrations here used to happen organically: the trombone player trotting out of his house to join a second-line brass; the masking Mardi Gras Indians readying their feathers in back rooms and backyards; the ladies pulling out their parasols to join in the processions.
As a kid, Amy Stelly would watch revelers zigzag from one Black-owned bar to the next, up and down the streets of Tremé. It was the unofficial, year-round parade route. A community’s well-worn path for celebrating all types of joys and losses.
“Now there aren’t enough left to do that,” Stelly, 65, said as she surveyed the remains of a once-bustling commercial corridor.
The bars have nearly all vanished. Families who for generations could trace their lineage to the same streets have sold their homes. Others were evicted.
“Once upon a time, that was Tremé Market,” Stelly said, pointing. She turned, squinted, then pointed up again. “That used to be a lounge. Black-owned, of course. Now ….” She paused, her voice trailing off.
Today when a second line gathers to mourn the loss of a community member, it takes effort and planning for the musicians and artists, families and friends to make their way back to the old neighborhood. Parked cars crowd under the interstate overpass as people pour out of their vehicles instead of their homes. Many of the families Stelly used to know, she said, have left New Orleans for the suburbs, exurbs or another state altogether.
Spurred on by climate catastrophes, new development and a booming short-term rental industry, gentrification has remade the Big Easy and displaced thousands of Black families, a population that has been shrinking for more than 20 years.
In a city where the very culture is bound to African American tradition, the threat of erasure extends beyond the physical.
“Cultural annihilation is very real here,” said Cheryl Robichaux Austin, 68, executive director of the Greater Tremé Consortium, a neighborhood-based advocacy and community equity nonprofit. “It’s slowly decaying, and we see it … every day in the neighborhood. We see it when the city has special events and we don’t see Black bands, how there are all these White folks playing in the second line now. Things you never used to see before.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/interactive/2023/us-city-white-population-increase/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F390d53e%2F63e135bb1b79c61f877e7a15%2F5977ec549bbc0f6826c7a143%2F25%2F74%2F63e135bb1b79c61f877e7a15&wp_cu=d9f43e4379b7ee197738c3d4698832e7%7C9575ce4e-105e-11e0-a478-1231380f446b
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 February 2023 04:37 (one year ago) link
Any good recent brass band footage for Mardi Gras that’s not in an IG story or Tik Tok?
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 22 February 2023 15:59 (one year ago) link
A history of second lines at Jazz Fest article
https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/streets-fairgrounds-social-aid-and-pleasure-clubs-carry-second-line
― curmudgeon, Friday, 31 March 2023 14:51 (one year ago) link
The state of schools and marching bands and changes since New Orleans got so many charter schools rather than going to neighborhood ones
https://www.hnoc.org/publications/first-draft/keeping-beat-past-glories-and-present-challenges-new-orleans-marching-bands
― curmudgeon, Friday, 31 March 2023 15:36 (one year ago) link
Sporty's Brass Band IG live clips continue to wow me
― curmudgeon, Monday, 10 April 2023 17:55 (one year ago) link
I was at one of those nights at Bullet's bar and the energy was insane.
Hearing that Jeffrey Hills (tuba player on Lil Rascals 'Buck It Like a Horse', frequent sub for Rebirth and everyone else) passed away???
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 10 April 2023 18:43 (one year ago) link
Yeah just saw that on Facebook. So sad
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 11 April 2023 04:20 (one year ago) link
They rolled today for Mr. Jeffery Hills pic.twitter.com/DhVjmBpgZv— Shawniece👑🐝 (@ShawnieceQB) April 11, 2023
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 13 April 2023 04:25 (one year ago) link
Come out tomorrow y’all pic.twitter.com/DLP5oVOsK6— Shawniece👑🐝 (@ShawnieceQB) April 13, 2023
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 13 April 2023 04:27 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLx4dxurbdQ
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 13 April 2023 14:23 (one year ago) link
Truly some all-stars out there - Derrick Tabb, Corey Henry, Eric Gordon, Chad Honore, Terrence Andrews, Stafford Agee, etc
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 13 April 2023 14:27 (one year ago) link
Great to hear all those Lil' Rascals tunes done with the original drummers & Corey Henry in the lineup. Damn.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 13 April 2023 16:01 (one year ago) link
Did I spot Donna Poniatowski, or just someone who looks like her?
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 13 April 2023 17:05 (one year ago) link
Yep, that was her! Got some pics of the second line from her too.
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 13 April 2023 17:07 (one year ago) link
Cool! Good to see her.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 13 April 2023 17:16 (one year ago) link
Seeing on Facebook that 97 year old Peter Chuck Badie who played bass with a who's who of r'n'b greats has passed away.
Here's a 2017 article that touches on some of his accomplishments
https://louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com/news-events/events/scholarship-fundraiser/peter-chuck-badie-receives-the-jazz-pioneer-award-at-the-noachc-2017-scholarship-fundraiser/
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 18 April 2023 20:14 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugOhN0YObr4
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2023 21:23 (one year ago) link
https://www.offbeat.com/music/new-breed-brass-band-made-in-new-orleans-525-worldwide/
A review of album by New Breed Brass Band
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 April 2023 04:19 (one year ago) link
Old-school me was hoping to see website news obits for New Orleans music greats Jeffrey Hills , Sr and for Peter Chuck Badie. But I never did.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 25 April 2023 04:23 (one year ago) link
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/music/drumming-for-treme-brass-band-or-driving-his-famous-orange-truck-benny-jones-sr-is/article_cec1bfe2-e9da-11ed-ac1c-db40cc19cc0e.html
Long profile of percussionist Benny Jones Sr
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 May 2023 20:37 (one year ago) link
So Nola.com gave New Orleans bass player legend Peter Chuck Badie this standard obit. He played with Dave Bartholomew r’n’b sessions in the 50s and on Sam Cooke “A Change is Gonna Come” plus with Lionel Hampton, and more.
https://obits.nola.com/us/obituaries/nola/name/peter-badie-obituary?id=51734149
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 18 May 2023 13:14 (one year ago) link
Heard some Alabama brass band on that American Routes show that sounded good
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 28 May 2023 18:17 (one year ago) link
Melissa A. Weber (a.k.a. Soul Sister), D.J. and scholar“Right Foot” by Rebirth Brass Band
A special characteristic of New Orleans jazz is its function as dance music. It invites audience members to not spectate, but participate. In the New Orleans brass band jazz tradition, the pioneering Rebirth Brass Band has specialized in making people dance since the group formed 40 years ago, while its founding members were teenagers. In 2008, they rerecorded their original song “Put Your Right Foot Forward,” first released in the mid-1980s as a 45 on the local SYLA label. It’s a classic that other brass bands have added to their repertoires, whether on the stage or in the second-line streets. (Listen on YouTube)
From https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/arts/music/new-orleans-jazz-music.html
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 8 June 2023 18:31 (one year ago) link
YIL that "Didn't He Ramble" was written about a goat.
https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-curious-history-of-oh-didnt-he-ramble/
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 8 June 2023 18:58 (one year ago) link
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/keith_spera/new-orleans-drummer-russell-batiste-jrs-st-aug-funeral/article_8655a294-67b3-11ee-a45b-c34a8115590e.html
Russell Batiste jr , New Orleans drummer Dead at 57 from a heart attack.
For four decades, he was a stalwart of the New Orleans music community. In the late 1980s he applied his powerhouse style to a latter incarnation of the Meters, then spent years with that band’s successor, the Funky Meters.
Batiste also powered George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners, Dumpstaphunk, Bonerama, Papa Grows Funk, the Wild Magnolias, the Joe Krown Trio and his own Orkestra from da Hood and Russell Batiste & Friends.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 11 October 2023 14:31 (eight months ago) link
Yeah, I saw that the other day, sad. Younger than I am.
― Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable POST (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 11 October 2023 14:51 (eight months ago) link
RIP.
I thought he played on a couple tracks on Maceo Parker's Southern Exposure record, then realized that was Herman Ernest III, who died in 2011 at age 59. :(
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 11 October 2023 15:31 (eight months ago) link
Every Grammy Awards nominee for best Regional Roots music Album for the February 2024 Grammys is from Louisiana:
New BeginningsBuckwheat Zydeco Jr. & The Legendary Ils Sont Partis Band
Live At The 2023 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage FestivalDwayne Dopsie & The Zydeco Hellraisers
Live: Orpheum Theater NolaLost Bayou Ramblers & Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Made In New OrleansNew Breed Brass Band
Too Much To HoldNew Orleans Nightcrawlers
Live At The Maple LeafThe Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr
― curmudgeon, Monday, 13 November 2023 20:57 (seven months ago) link
I should listen to these Grammys nominees but will any of them wow me the way Sporty’s Brass Band Instagram Live’s do ?
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 14 November 2023 19:38 (seven months ago) link
Probably not, but I do like that Buckwheat's, Rockin' Dopsie's and Monk's offspring are all carrying on the tradition.
― Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable POST (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 November 2023 22:14 (seven months ago) link
Yes , and the Lost Bayou Ramblers are a very creative Cajun band . Louis Michot from that group has done some cool solo stuff and the group was did nice music on the Beasts of the Southern Wild soundtrack
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 15 November 2023 19:28 (six months ago) link
https://www.offbeat.com/news/frenchmen-street-club-d-b-a-new-orleans-is-sold/
D.b.a. Club owner retiring and selling club to locals who already own other clubs
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 16 November 2023 16:39 (six months ago) link
Thank god for this woman and anyone else who's uploading full second line footage, rather than IG clips:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paLacuoI5Iw
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Wednesday, 24 January 2024 20:14 (four months ago) link
Yes, thanks !
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 24 January 2024 20:36 (four months ago) link
St. Mary’s Academy’s skirt-wearing band first formed in 1937, making it the oldest Black girls band marching in the city. Today, it is one of just a handful of all-girl bands to regularly appear in Mardi Gras parades...This Mardi Gras season also marks the first time Raynice Crayton, 27, will be at the band’s helm. A St. Mary’s alumna who joined the band as a seventh-grader, Crayton has already more than doubled band membership during her short tenure as director..The group’s 52 players have varying levels of experience, from novices to passionate musicians, and they range in grades from fourth to 12th. In New Orleans East, where the school’s campus has been located since the 1960s, Crayton spends hours teaching girls the 10 tunes they will perform this Carnival, ranging from traditional music to a Janet Jackson song to the group’s favorite this year: “Talking in Your Sleep” by the Romantics..
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2024/02/12/mardi-gras-girls-marching-band/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzA3NzE0MDAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzA5MDk2Mzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MDc3MTQwMDAsImp0aSI6Ijk5OGU2NGM1LTg2NDktNDUyYS1hNTE4LWZlZTI3ZWNjOGJlZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9zdHlsZS9vZi1pbnRlcmVzdC8yMDI0LzAyLzEyL21hcmRpLWdyYXMtZ2lybHMtbWFyY2hpbmctYmFuZC8ifQ.v-dFiptu0EAVbzwspUbkiE3UJD4SNps-CIPtXTNLnZs
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 13 February 2024 16:04 (four months ago) link
Happy Mardi Gras!
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 18:26 (four months ago) link
Seeing sad news on Instagram that snare drummer Kerry “Fatman” Hunter was killed by a car ( reportedly a drunk driver) on North Claiborne at Pauger Monday night
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 15 February 2024 05:20 (three months ago) link
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/13/arts/music/new-orleans-rapper-flagboy-giz.html
37 years old rapper & Black masking Indian merges the 2 cultures on “We Outside “ 2022 song and newer album, and a remix project
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 15 February 2024 16:02 (three months ago) link
I heard that, so sad. He was never the flashiest player but had a huge and unmistakable sound, deeply rooted in the tradition. The groove on 'D-Boy' is fathoms deep. Unfortunately a lot of the best parts of New Birth Brass Band's (his main band) discography are not streaming or even on youtube, but here are some of my favorite Kerry Hunter recordings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQELLw2A_nwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=verTSC200Lshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDuwGU_cB5ghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUtJAsp28WQ
― Jordan s/t (Jordan), Thursday, 15 February 2024 16:29 (three months ago) link
I am not going to be there and so hope the Friday 1 pm pacific time Pop Con presentation by USC professor Josh D Kun on the Mexican musical legacies of New Orleans will be streamed or recorded
― curmudgeon, Monday, 4 March 2024 23:37 (three months ago) link
WWOZ is streaming some of French Quarter Fest
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 11 April 2024 18:35 (two months ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/04/african-caribbean-artists-new-orleans-music-jazz
African and Caribbean musicians moving to New Orleans
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 7 May 2024 04:51 (one month ago) link
https://www.offbeat.com/news/palm-court-jazz-cafe-announces-closure-after-35-years/
Trad jazz place Palm Court Jazz Cafe closing after 35 years due to rising expenses
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 21 May 2024 01:32 (three weeks ago) link
The Mother-in-Law Lounge will open Tuesdays at 4 p.m. ahead of trumpeter Irvin Mayfield's weekly performance from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The club will then go dark until Saturdays, when doors open at 6 from Ruffins' weekly gig from 8 to 10 p.m.
Otherwise, the Mother-in-Law Lounge will only be active for private events.
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/keith_spera/kermit-ruffins-cuts-back-treme-mother-in-law-lounge-hours/article_975dd374-1d1e-11ef-8164-877897fa52df.html
― curmudgeon, Monday, 3 June 2024 22:11 (one week ago) link
Damn, bad news for both of those venues.
― Overly dramatic elevator music (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 4 June 2024 03:53 (one week ago) link