[Terra Nola documents the long-distance love affair between a New Yorker and New Orleans.]
As you may or may not (and most likely it's the latter) have noticed I have been out of touch lately and posted little on our dear city. Unlike Chris Rose, whom we hunted down enthusiastically when he took a brief hiatus not so long ago, I am sure that my absence went under the radar screen.
I sort of feel like Nola in general is gliding under that radar screen with me lately. I remember when the Big K hit and how all the major newspapers and online sites like New York Times and Yahoo, to name a few, had gobs and gobs and GOBS of stories about the city. most of them were negative, of course, centering around the brutal, violent and deadly aftermath of the hurricane when the levees broke. Then I watched as the information, and sensationalizing, dwindled until there was nary a drop of info on Nola to be found anywhere, save the usual suspects like nola.com and the New Orleans section of Craigslist.
The lack of interest was noted on bloggingneworleans as well. We'd receive fewer and fewer hits and comments on our blogs and features until our numbers made me wonder why we were bothering to blog in the first place. When major annual events like Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras hit we of course received record visits to the site and innumerable comments. After those events, though, the visits would return to a trickle.
[Terra Nola documents the long-distance love affair between a New Yorker and New Orleans.]
For more than a year now I've been documenting my love for New Orleans, generally one week at a time. It's been a long year in some ways as we all slowly continue to try to move out from under the shadow of Hurricane Katrina and back into the pale moonlight--perhaps the kind Nola's old pal Anne Rice would've imagined. Despite Katrina and the unfortunate calamities of late, I love the city of New Orleans perhaps more than ever.
The question of 'why?' is one I'll probably never be able to answer fully; the question of 'why now?' I certainly won't be able to answer, and I shouldn't have to. Not at this point, not after all we've been through together.
My courtship with New Orleans has always been a rocky one. Our geographic distance has certainly contributed to the emotional one between us. An excellent case in point is in the days after Katrina. I was nowhere to be found, grieving from afar, watching the atrocities unfold and, sadly, I admit, glad I wasn't there.
[Terra Nola documents the long-distance love affair between a New Yorker and New Orleans.]
Yes, you read that correctly--the famous Neville Brothers will be performing live June 14th, the opening night of summer fest at Prospect Park's Bandshell, located in my home borough of Brooklyn, New York. The concert marks the start of the annual Celebrate Brooklyn series of events.
Perhaps this is coincidence and nothing more, but to me it's a simple twist of fate--or perhaps karma--that while I missed out on all the fun at this year's Jazz Fest due to the arrival of my bouncing baby boy, I now have the opportunity to see what may be one of the top acts to ever come out of New Orleans. Sweet!
Oh--did I mention it's FREE???
Ok, ok. I know many folks have a bee in their proverbial bonnets over the ongoing 'thing' between the Neville Brothers not performing at Jazz Fest since Hurricane Katrina, but I am still excited to see this act in my hometown. (According to my sources, the Neville Brothers didn't play last year due to Aaron's asthma and this year because, as Art Neville said, "...it's got to be right.")
[Recovery Pen is a column about New Orleans festivals, and the other life events sprinkled in-between.]
At the risk of coming across like one of those weak sitcom episodes where they rerun clips under the guise of the characters reminiscing over old times, I've decided to join those who feel they must process Jazzfest by picking out the highlights. I know it's been a few days since Fest closed its gates, but the music is still playing in my head.
Read through my picks, and feel free to add your favorite moments in the "Comments" section at the bottom.
Best Crowd Singalong: Bonerama's version of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter." I belted out those lyrics at my loudest, and I still couldn't hear myself over the crowd. Something about having four trombones blasting in your face makes you want to scream.
Best Food Risk: The Alligator Pie. I got it in a combo with crabmeat-stuffed shrimp and fried green tomatoes, but the pie was so good it startled me. The gator tastes like ground beef, blended perfectly with just enough onion and tomato. It's rare to find such peppery stuffing in such perfect flakiness, at least when it comes to food.
Most Fun Quasi-Celebrity Encounter: I caught Times-Picayune reporter Gwen Filosa in the Media Tent on her day off, and let me tell you, that gal is a hoot! A little beered-up, Ms. Filosa had just returned from the Allen Toussaint show, where she got some pretty hot photos of the crowd as reflected in the tuba player's bell. When she saw my shot of Dwayne Dopsie, she asked me if I was a photographer. Of course I told her that I was.
It's time for the eighteenth Blogging New Orleans podcast. Each week I record a podcast about all things New Orleans on Tuesday evening and upload it for all of you to listen to on Wednesday afternoon. Comments, questions, concerns? Comment on this post or contact us via the tips link on the site. This week I'll talk about the Jazz Fest content Blogging New Orleans put up during the last two weeks and a great idea for Mother's Day.
This podcast is almost a 'betacast' and should be treated as such. We don't have theme music yet, but in the future we hope to have that and interviews with movers and shakers from around our fair city. If you would like to be interviewed on the podcast feel free to contact us via the tips page or the comments below.
SUBSCRIBE to the Blogging New Orleans podcast in iTunes LISTEN to the podcast now ADD the Blogging New Orleans podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
I read in today's paper about the amazing send-off for Alvin Batiste, the jazzman who had passed away about 12 hours before he was scheduled to appear at Sunday's Fest. Instead, Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis, slated to take part in the tribute to Mr. Batiste, led his jazz funeral. I hear the energy in there was so powerful that Harry stuck around long past the time he should have been making his way to his own stage to perform.
Sure wish I could have been there. The event had a two-hour time slot, so I figured I could get something to eat and then mosey that way. But I got distracted, as I so often do, and found myself in the gospel tent instead. The band was slammin -- electric -- and I am not one to pass up some good gospel.
Dottie Peoples (pictured above) was the hour's diva, resplendent in a glittery indigo dress and a fancy chignon that held up through hollerin and stompin and the kind of singin that makes your insides go watery. Each time she dabbed her sweat with her lacy black kerchief, the folks around me lined up with their cameras.
A true gospel queen, Dottie commanded that tent, every last soul in there. The fast ones were super-hot, but even the slow ones worked on me. She sang "He Has the Last Word," reminding us to be strong despite life's trials. And when a lady like Dottie Peoples tells you to be strong, you're gonna be strong. I mean, what else are you gonna do? Say no?
My favorite part was when Dottie told us to get up and start dancing in the aisles. As I mentioned previously, this year's Gospel Tent has been pretty reserved, with staff reprimanding anyone who's not at a seat. But at Dottie's word, those aisles were full of black folks, white folks, churchgoers and freaks, everyone shaking and sweating together. Afterwards, she told us all to give a neighbor a hug. Let me tell you, that Gospel Tent's got the warmest hugs around.
So I didn't get to see the historic jazz funeral for Mr. Batiste. But we helped send him off the best we could.
For his entire life Harry Connick Jr. has dreamed of one thing. Being a well-known musician, actor and humanitarian as well as one of the world wide faces of New Orleans weren't in that dream. They have been only bonuses on the way to achieving it. On Sunday afternoon, only when he began to tickle the keys of a Steinway grand piano on the Acura Stage at 6:00 pm CST at the end of the 2007 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival did he finally get to do what he had wanted to do since he was a kid. He closed out Jazz Fest as a featured performer and the act that people were willing to brave high heat and humidity to see.
I have to be honest with you I almost didn't make it to the end of day 6. It was just way to hot for me. At around 5:15 I started to trudge over to the Grandstand to sit in the best air conditioning available at teh Fairgrounds because all the water in the world wasn't enough to stop my approaching heat exhaustion. I sat down on the concrete floor took some pictures and called my wife to decide what to do. I got together what strength I could splashed some water on my face and walked over to see the begining of the Harry Connick Jr set (which I'll post on later) then I walked out of the Fairgrounds at the end of my last day of Jazz Fest 2007. As you see above, I wasn't the only one heading out onto Mystery St for a walk home and a nice cool shower.
Although they ran out of Crawfish Monica, I did get to try the mysterious "Indian Taco" by the Folk Life exhibits. I had meant to try one last week but I was too stuffed. For some reason when I read, "Indian" I thought of Asia so I expected a curry concoction. Once it occurred to me that the vendors where in the "Folk Life" exhibit and from Houma, I realized that I had the wrong kind of Indian. Nevertheless, the "Indian Taco" ($4) was fried dough topped with chili, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. It was rather good and I was not at all disappointed.
The Husband and The Baby arrived around three at which time we grabbed something to eat and headed over to the Jazz Tent. My intentions were to see Marsalis Music's tribute to Alvin Batiste and Bob French but there wasn't even standing room in the tent. In fact there wasn't even standing room outside of the tent. After hearing a few heartbreaking words from Alvin Batiste's son, we left and headed for the Economy Hall Tent where we were able to grab some chairs in the shade.
Sugar Boy Crawford's son stopped by (I didn't catch his first name D-?) to sing a tribute to Batiste along with the band. He has a beautiful voice. Other than that, Preservation Hall Band played classic New Orleans tunes will impromptu second lines made their way around the tent (so THAT'S what all the umbrellas are for!). The Baby enjoyed it for the most part until she ran out of Mango Freeze at which point I marched her over to the Kid's Tent where she could play with plastic groceries and puppets.
The longest line today at the food booths was easily for the Mango Freeze. This delightful, fruity, sugary concoction was the perfect anecdote to today's heat. There was an incredibly long line up by the main food section but I ventured back near the Fais Do Do stage where there were no lines at all. I bought two; one for me and one for The Baby.
Up top you see the culmination of a latin cheese making demonstration at the Cajun Cabin. The Dona Blanca House of Cheese of St. Rose, LA was making fresh Queso Fresco for those in attendance. OK, not fresh. The process takes a little longer than the demo allowed so the head cheeser just showed us all the parts and gave us a pre-finished product (see above).
According to everyone around me Joss Stone has changed. She has fresh dark red-pink dyed hair, but other than that the music is exactly what you would expect. With her soul music and raspy deep beautiful voice. In fact, while I'm posting this, she is singing at the Gentilly Stage right near the press tent. Her voice seems to surprise everyone who has never heard her sing before. I was surprized she was able to pull off those wonderous solos and call outs in this heavy heat. I mean jeez, she's from England, right? More pics after the jump.
A Cancer from the Lower 9, Lionel Milton is one of my favorite local artists. Pre-K, he used to have a studio in the Lower Garden District on Magazine Street -- remember that corner gallery with the graffiti-style art covering the outer walls? --but now, if you want to see his work, you've got to catch him at the Congo Square marketplace. Or check him out online at www.elleone.com.
Lionel studies the vibrant characters of our New Orleans, with crazy shapes and color that knows no bounds. He's standing here next to his piece "Give It Up For The Band," an ode to late, late nights at the Maple Leaf. It's dedicated to those two or three ladies who hang on until there's nothing left to do except "give it up for the band."
I told the artist that I had no idea what he was talking about.
I also really dug this piece below, called "Backyard Boogie," which speaks for itself. It's perfect for a Sunday afternoon, when most New Orleanians who ain't at the Fest are outside, playing dominos and drinking cold wine.
I had to share this photo of Dwayne "Dopsie" fronting his Zydeco Hellraisers at the Fais-Do-Do stage. Just got to the Fest and hauled butt over there to catch their act. This one was taken during their cover version of Hendrix's "Hey Joe." A woman next to me shared the fact that she was around when Hendrix was playing his tunes the first time. Can't say I've been to the Fest without hearing from a veteran child of the 60s.
Dwayne Dopsie -- pronounced Doop-sie -- is the son of the "King of Zydeco" Rockin' Dopsie, but a hell of an entertainer in his own right. Not to mention those biceps, which make me swoon!
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[Recovery Pen is a column about New Orleans festivals, and the other life events sprinkled in-between.]
It's time for the eighteenth Blogging New Orleans 
The longest line today at the food booths was easily for the Mango Freeze. This delightful, fruity, sugary concoction was the perfect anecdote to today's heat. There was an incredibly long line up by the main food section but I ventured back near the Fais Do Do stage where there were no lines at all. I bought two; one for me and one for The Baby.
A Cancer from the Lower 9, Lionel Milton is one of my favorite local artists. Pre-K, he used to have a studio in the Lower Garden District on Magazine Street -- remember that corner gallery with the graffiti-style art covering the outer walls? --but now, if you want to see his work, you've got to catch him at the Congo Square marketplace. Or check him out online at 
