I just saw the Offbeat magazine weekly e-mail description of that accident you referred to. How terrible:
"We’re saddened to hear that Hot 8 Brass Band trumpeter Terrell Batiste lost his legs in an accident in Atlanta. He was putting up cones on the highway to alert drivers that his truck had broken down when he was hit. . . ."
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 4 May 2006 14:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 4 May 2006 14:45 (seventeen years ago) link
The wizards of 'OZWhile showcasing New Orleans culture, radio station WWOZ became a cultural icon itself. General Manager David Freedman and his colorful collection of music devotees are hellbent on saving it. Wednesday, May 03, 2006Dave Walker http://www.nola.com/search/index.ssf?/base/living-6/114663642483370.xml
"With WWOZ mostly returned to task -- broadcasting live from Jazzfest and Monday's annual Piano Night concert -- Freedman continues to ponder the station's larger role in cultural restoration.
Mostly, he worries about the city's "living culture" as created by its high school marching bands, church choirs, second-line clubs and Mardi Gras Indian tribes.
Without restoring those, "this city is going to be a museum of its past," he said.
Recalling seeing kids carrying their school-issued instruments through the Treme neighborhood, Freedman wonders where the next generation of New Orleans musicians will come from.
"We'd watch those kids blasting their trumpets and trombones on the sidewalk as they walked home," he said. "We were watching New Orleans re-create itself in front of our eyes. Until we can see that again, we think that the culture of New Orleans stopped on Aug. 27, as living culture.
"I'm as focused right now in the future of marching bands as I am in the future of the radio station. I think (the station has) landed. We're on our feet and . . . we're going to make it. I am concerned that the marching bands won't make it.
"We know those rhythms will cease in this city in a generation."
To be taught, he said, only in music conservatories. If then.
"As corrupt as the school system was, the one function it could handle beautifully was as a carrier for our culture," Freedman said. "If we don't somehow redevelop that, we're going to be without that culture in the future."
. . . . . . .
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Friday, 5 May 2006 13:20 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 5 May 2006 13:49 (seventeen years ago) link
Thanks, The Edge! We couldn't have done it without you.
― adam (adam), Friday, 5 May 2006 19:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 5 May 2006 20:08 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Saturday, 6 May 2006 04:22 (seventeen years ago) link
'So much of my life, well, drowned' -A depressing article by Edna Gundersen on brassmen Dr. Michael White and Irvin Mayfield. Jazz clarinetist and music professor Michael White lost his huge collection of recordings, sheet music, books and instruments at his home in the Gentilly section.
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Saturday, 6 May 2006 04:38 (seventeen years ago) link
by Steve Hochman
"On that note, leave it to New Orleans to overcome the cancellation of not just one but two of the final JazzFest 2006 day's headliners and still go out partying.
And it wasn't Lionel Richie, who moved over from another stage to headline the Acura in Fats' place after Simon, that made the concluding magic. It was the replacement for Nicholas Payton, the trumpeter scheduled for the closing Jazz Tent slot who was also injured and unable to appear. With that opening, a gaggle of stars of the ever-vibrant brass band scene here took over the stage for what was billed as "Takin' It To the Streets JazzFest Finale Jam 2006." There were a couple of Andrews, some of Rebirth Brass Band and the Lil' Rascals, some New Orleans Nightcrawlers, a fraction of the Dirty Dozen, trumpeters Christian Scott and Maurice Brown, two sousaphones, singer John Boutte and we lost track of the rest. Morgan Freeman was spotted in the crowd looking on as everyone danced to funky cutting sessions of "Caravan" and, of course, an ending "When the Saints Go Marching In." The only thing that would have made it better would have been for them to really take it to the streets, leading the audience out the gates with a second-line. So we'll just pick it up again next year where we left off, then."
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 8 May 2006 14:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 8 May 2006 14:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 8 May 2006 15:14 (seventeen years ago) link
If celebrities want to help they need to go up to the 17th street canal and FIX THE MOTHER FUCKING LEVEE. I haven't seen the Industrial Canal lately so it might be in just as bad shape but as of two days ago at the 17th they are NOT DOING SHIT. There was like one dude smoking a cigarette surrounded by idle machinery. Hurricane season starts in 3 weeks.
― adam (adam), Monday, 8 May 2006 15:35 (seventeen years ago) link
Sad news. When I saw him just a couple years ago he was using his big ol' belly to bump his piano-on-wheels across the stage and didn't look frail at all.
― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 8 May 2006 15:47 (seventeen years ago) link
― tice, Monday, 8 May 2006 22:13 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 01:49 (seventeen years ago) link
They don't have a record or a website, but here's the website of the people that did the documentary, and it has a pretty hot clip on there.
― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 9 May 2006 04:22 (seventeen years ago) link
http://images.citypages.com/articles/0000/CallingAllMyPeople.mp3
Calling all the peopleCome back homeNew OrleansWhere you belong
― Pete Scholtes (Pete Scholtes), Thursday, 11 May 2006 23:11 (seventeen years ago) link
― novamax (novamax), Friday, 2 June 2006 13:46 (seventeen years ago) link
On a brighter note, I see that the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC is going to include 3 special free concerts with Louisiana artists under tents down near the Washington Monument. Hot 8 are gonna be playing Saturday July 8th along with Chief Monk's Mardi Gras Indian troupe.
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:33 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:36 (seventeen years ago) link
Hot 8 at SXSW. In the first clip they're doing Word on the Street, a Digd0wn/Youngbl00d tune.
Also looks like there's a new S0ul Rebels joint, live in the studio.
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 2 June 2006 14:39 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 2 June 2006 23:19 (seventeen years ago) link
Crowd goes wild. Band goes batshit. playing like an all-brass Funkadelic on crystal. Amazing.
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Saturday, 3 June 2006 00:10 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 3 June 2006 00:38 (seventeen years ago) link
― Grey, Ian (IanBrooklyn), Saturday, 3 June 2006 06:38 (seventeen years ago) link
Friday June 30
BEEN IN THE STORM SO LONGJubilee Stage6:00-8:00 p.m.
Friendly Travelers (gospel)Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band (jazz)
Friday July 7
Hot 8 Brass BandBig Chief Monk Boudreaux and the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indian Tribe
Saturday July 8
The Dixie CupsDavell Crawford
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Tuesday, 27 June 2006 16:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 6 July 2006 14:28 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 6 July 2006 14:31 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Sunday, 9 July 2006 04:05 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 10 July 2006 03:21 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 10 July 2006 16:46 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 17 July 2006 20:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 17 July 2006 20:14 (seventeen years ago) link
THE 22nd ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER OPEN HOUSE ARTS FESTIVAL:Featuring Sounds Along the Gulf Coast Highway
Sat., Sept. 1612 p.m.-7 p.m.Throughout the buildingFREE (some events may require free tickets)
The 22nd annual Kennedy Center Open House Arts Festival celebrates the Center’s 35th birthday with more than 30 performances, activities and events for the whole family presented throughout the building. A parade featuring a marching band, The Wild Magnolias, Tremè Brass Band, ArcheDream, and DC dance company Step Afrika, kicks off at noon near the Hall of Nations entrance and progresses along the Center’s main plaza. This year’s festival highlights the arts of the Gulf Coast region—following fabled U.S. Route 90 from San Antonio Texas, through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Jacksonville, Florida. The festival also presents programming selections from the 2006-2007 Season at the Kennedy Center and Washington, D.C. area artists.
NOTE: Complete Open House Schedule to be issued later.
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Wednesday, 19 July 2006 14:10 (seventeen years ago) link
From the Los Angeles Times
New Orleans Endures the `New Normal'Sure, Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest came back. But everyday life in the city remains shattered.By Ann M. Simmons, Times Staff WriterJuly 15, 2006
excerpts: "At the end of the school year, 25 of 128 New Orleans public schools had reopened; and just 12,000 of the city's 60,000 students had returned. By September, 57 schools with space for up to 34,000 students are expected to be open, although according to school officials, there only will be staff to handle 22,000."
"The low-income workers lived in public housing units, most of which are still closed. Meanwhile, house prices and rents have skyrocketed.Public housing residents have been clamoring to return, and over the last few weeks, hundreds have been coming home for the first time since the storm. Residents of St. Bernard Housing Development in the 7th Ward, who had erected a "Survivors Village" outside the city's largest public housing complex, recently learned the units are among hundreds slated for demolition under a federal plan to rid New Orleans of obsolete public housing in favor of modern developments.
The tenants said they planned to fight the decision, but housing officials, citing safety concerns such as collapsing lumber and mold, said the demolition would move ahead."
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 20 July 2006 13:09 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 1 August 2006 18:23 (seventeen years ago) link
As the world starts documenting the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, WDSU gets in the game locally this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. with "A Song for New Orleans."
The film focuses on the Rebirth Brass Band, their experiences and losses due to Katrina, and the return of the band and their music to New Orleans. The feature will be aired this evening in New Orleans, and will be repeated twice during the week of the Katrina Anniversary. The Executive Producer, Emerson Coleman, VP of Programming for Hearst- Argyle Television in New York, had seen Rebirth and was interested in using the story of the band as a hopeful symbol for the rebirth of New Orleans’ music and culture. The film includes interviews with OffBeat publisher Jan Ramsey, Tipitina’s manager Adam Shipley, and interviews and performances with Charmaine Neville, Kermit Ruffins, Donald Harrison, Jr. and, of course, the members of Rebirth Brass Band. "A Song For New Orleans" will also be broadcast on Hearst-Argyle stations throughout the US in the coming weeks. Check your local listings for air times.Check out the links here for information on "A Song"... - http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=kka5txbab.0.kg6vuxbab.ks58lun6.3064&ts=S0198&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wdsu.com
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 17 August 2006 17:27 (seventeen years ago) link
www.katrinadinner2006.com
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Thursday, 17 August 2006 17:32 (seventeen years ago) link
Oh! HBO is showing Spike Lee's New Orleans/second-line documentary on Monday and Tuesday night. Some dudes from my band might be in it. I need to get friends with cable stat.
― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 August 2006 19:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Pete Scholtes (Pete Scholtes), Thursday, 17 August 2006 21:44 (seventeen years ago) link
New Orleans bands that rarely traveled before Katrina, continue to hit the road. The Treme Brass band are coming to DC in September to get a National Heritage Award, and will be playing at the award ceremony out in the Maryland burbs (Strathmore) and 2 shows at the Kennedy Center.
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Friday, 18 August 2006 18:29 (seventeen years ago) link
Not sure about other New Orleans brass bands--Stooges, Hot 8, Treme, etc. They all have been playing some gigs around the US over the summer it seems, but nothing too regular back home...
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 28 August 2006 15:25 (seventeen years ago) link
One New Orleans Procession Free One New Orleans Procession in the tradition of a Jazz Funeral from the Convention Center to the Superdome. Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré will be the Grand Marshall of the One New Orleans Procession. Also Honoring 1st Responders, the lives lost in Katrina, and the rebirth of New Orleans. Everyone is invited to participate.
And for those with money to spare:
Wynton Marsalis : Rebuilding the Soul of America Katrina Anniversary Events August 27, 2006 : August 30, 2006 Visit website for more info http://www.celebratejazz.org Various Locations More details to follow... Admission: $50.00 : $2500.00 Wynton Marsalis will return to New Orleans to produce a television special marking the hurricane’s anniversary. Wynton and his production partner Lisa Marie Hoggs will team with producers John Cossette and Don Mischer to helm “New Orleans: Rebuilding the Soul of America One Year Later,” a live television special taking place at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center. He is also planning a three:day tribute to New Orleans, from August 27 through the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, to include in the television special. The event will feature the Ambassador of Swing Talent Search at Harrah’s New Orleans Theater, including performances by Wynton Marsalis, jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson and some of the hottest local talent in Louisiana and Mississippi; and Cooking with Music, an event featuring Lagasse and Marsalis to welcome back New Orleans school children.
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 28 August 2006 15:34 (seventeen years ago) link
Branford Marsalis is the guest editor, so I guess it was up to him, although it is interesting that he (rightfully so, I think) downplays the Marsalis reputation as the "first family of New Orleans jazz".
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 28 August 2006 15:52 (seventeen years ago) link
― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 28 August 2006 15:54 (seventeen years ago) link
Part of a Reuters syndicated Billboard article
By Chris Walsh
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Before Hurricane Katrina hit, Tanio Hingle lived in a house in the Treme section of New Orleans with his wife and three kids, gigging around town with the New Birth Brass Band. The eight-piece played four or five times a week in places like Joe's Cozy Corner, Donna's Bar & Grill, Tipitina's and House of Blues.
Since Katrina, Hingle and his family have been living in an apartment in Houston; he drives back to New Orleans to repair the house when he's not playing shows. "We're still not back to normal. We're trying to get there," he says. "The insurance money wasn't enough to cover house repairs."
Today the band mostly plays shelters, schools and churches -- sometimes the airport. Hingle's been able to get one or two gigs a week, which come mostly as referrals from Bethany Bultman, co-founder and executive director of the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. Bultman set up the NOMC Emergency Fund last year, after Katrina.
"We're hoping to create opportunities for the musicians to play in shelters and schools," she says. "We want to keep the culture alive."
Support directly to NOMC includes approximately $80,000 from Bruce Springsteen, about $25,000-$30,000 from Bonnie Raitt, plus contributions from Huey Lewis, Pearl Jam and others. "Gig fees" from donors go directly to musicians. One goal: to save the traditional music of New Orleans.
NEW INSTRUMENTS
And NOMC's not alone in that mission. On Tuesday (August 29), the one-year anniversary of Katrina, the Tipitina's Foundation will host a ceremony at the legendary Tipitina's Uptown venue to hand over $500,000 in new instruments to 11 New Orleans school music programs. The ceremony will feature performances by Ivan Neville and the Original Uptown Allstars with the Dirty Dozen Horns, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, the Rebirth Brass Band and other locals [Soul Rebels] Terence Blanchard is a Blue Note recording artist who wrote the soundtrack music to Spike Lee's four-hour documentary, "When the Levees Broke," which premiered in two parts on HBO August 21-22. A New Orleans native, Blanchard moved back to the city in March.
"It's not alive and well -- it's alive," he says of the state of music in his hometown. "Many of the musicians are still not home. Many are in Dallas and Houston. They actually travel from Dallas and Houston to New Orleans to play.
"When Spike (Lee) came to my old neighborhood, I wanted to show it off. But there was nothing alive there. No insects, rodents, birds, nothing. It was all dead. There's my house and the street where I used to play football with my friends and the picture window that I used to look out from while practicing my piano lessons."
Reuters/Billboard
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 28 August 2006 15:54 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.neworleansnetwork.org/anniversary
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Monday, 28 August 2006 18:32 (seventeen years ago) link
― curmudgeon (DC Steve), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 11:54 (seventeen years ago) link
― Pete Scholtes (Pete Scholtes), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 22:00 (seventeen years ago) link
― Fetchboy (Felcher), Tuesday, 29 August 2006 23:41 (seventeen years ago) link