{"id":315,"date":"2010-04-29T21:36:18","date_gmt":"2010-04-30T01:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2010\/04\/treme_the_musical\/"},"modified":"2011-04-28T16:33:19","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T20:33:19","slug":"treme_the_musical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/04\/treme_the_musical.html","title":{"rendered":"Trem\u00c3\u00a9, the musical"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lovers of jazz, jazz beyond jazz, jazz before jazz are all watching <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hbo.com\/treme\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Treme<\/i><\/a>, right? The HBO series about New Orleans three months after Katrina sets a new standard for celebrating America&#8217;s roots music where this should happen &#8212; on tv.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\nIt makes no sense to pay for cable (I thought content wants to be free!) but I do it to feed my insatiable appetite for quality narrative.&nbsp;<i>Trem\u00c3\u00a9<\/i> depicts the foundations and outgrowths of popular music in the U.S. &#8212; jazz, blues, funeral brass bands with a second line, Mardi Gras Indian chants, soundtracks for French Quarter strippers, rap with a Crescent City beat. In the first three episodes of this dramatic series produced by the great <a href=\"http:\/\/www.viceland.com\/int\/v16n12\/htdocs\/david-simon-280.php\" target=\"_blank\">David Simon<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/latimesblogs.latimes.com\/showtracker\/2010\/04\/treme-creators-david-simon-and-eric-overmyer-talk-about-the-late-david-mills-and-the-upcoming-serie.html\" target=\"_blank\">Eric Overmyer<\/a>, we&#8217;ve already been:<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>&nbsp;in a street parade following <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Feel-Like-Funkin-Rebirth-Brass\/dp\/B0000002YE\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Rebirth Brass Band<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;in a recording studio with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/The-Bright-Mississippi\/dp\/B0026E9IDS\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Allen Toussaint<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gris\/dp\/B00122S688\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Dr. John<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;in a bar (alongside <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/My-Aim-Is-True\/dp\/B000V6Q7LO\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Elvis Costello<\/a>) hearing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Livin-A-Trem%C3%A9-Life\/dp\/B001UBT5H2\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">trumpeter Kermit Ruffins<\/a>,&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>in Greenwich Village&#8217;s Blue Note for a solo by alto saxophonist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Indian-Blues\/dp\/B000QQWUOW\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Donald Harrison<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>at WWOZ&#8217;s radio studios with Cajun <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Spiritland\/dp\/B003FEO2PC\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Coco Robicheaux<\/a>,<\/li>\n<li>bumping into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Orleans-Claiborne\/dp\/B000Z9PZ7E\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Trombone Shorty<\/a> on Bourbon Street,<\/li>\n<li>in Jackson Square with buskers,<\/li>\n<li>at a private party where pianist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/New-Orleans-Duets\/dp\/B0026LWJM8\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Tom McDermott<\/a> duets with sweet young violinist Lucia Micarelli on Jelly Roll Morton&#8217;s &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/King-Porter-Stomp\/dp\/B003HV0YQE\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">King Porter Stomp<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<li>&nbsp;and at a piano lesson where actor Steve Zahn, insufferable as a local fanboy, announces to his teenage student, &#8220;Forget all you&#8217;ve been told about Jesus, Buddha, Zeus, there is one God &#8212; and his name is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/New-Orleans-Piano-Blues-Originals\/dp\/B00122396W\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Professor Longhair<\/a>.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>He proceeds to teach her the basic F major bass line of &#8220;Tipitina,&#8221; explaining the song&#8217;s mambo beat.<br \/>&nbsp;<br \/>Each <i>Treme<\/i> episode&#8217;s soundtrack is available for&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hbo.com\/treme\/index.html#\/treme\/episodes\/1\/03-03-right-place-wrong-time\/music\" target=\"_blank\">purchase<\/a>&nbsp;<br \/>\n&#8212; a smart and generous marketing move, because this music is catchy. And as someone wrote before I could there was more music presented whole &#8212; without anyone pontificating about its historical context or social value &#8212; in the 80-minute introductory episode (I cheer the series has been extended into a second season) than in the entire 10 hours of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Jazz-Film-Ken-Burns\/dp\/B000BITUEI\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Ken Burns&#8217; Jazz<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Also, the music is held to a high standard, not dumbed down &#8212; it&#8217;s one of the Zahn character&#8217;s irritating rants that a tiresome handful of New Orleans&#8217; classics are over-promoted, obscuring the depth of its musical resources &#8212; so the show&#8217;s determined to dip into that treasure trove. So doing, the stylistic array is totally satisfying to the fierce cognescenti as well as those who&#8217;ve ever known what it means to miss New Orleans. Dig:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>Louis Prima sings &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Buona-Sera-2002-Digital-Remaster\/dp\/B000TE6U74\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Buona Sera<\/a>&#8221; lustily while the camera tours the riverfront.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/West-End-Blues\/dp\/B000QOJ44I\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Louis Armstrong blows his golden horn<\/a>&nbsp;on record behind a backyard barbeque.&nbsp;Zahn&#8217;s gay neighbors listen to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Banjo-Op-15-Fantasie-Grotesque\/dp\/B000S38HMC\" target=\"_blank\">Louis Gottschalk<\/a>.&nbsp;Everybody has music on in their homes <i>all the time<\/i>.&nbsp;To top it off, the third episode ended with one of the most remarkable and affecting musical scenes to grace a fiction film in a long, long time: a fervently heart-felt <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Wild-Tchoupitoulas\/dp\/B000003QKN\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Mardi Gras Indians&#8217;<\/a> performance of &#8220;Indian Red&#8221; in a memorial service for a fallen member of a 9th Ward tribe.&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>A loose circle of men and a couple of women gather on the curb in front of a hurricane ravaged house. There&#8217;s a cry, the beat and shake of a small drum, husky voices falling into chorus. The vocal calls date back some two hundred years, the percussion probably precedes that by an eon, and here&#8217;s true-life <a href=\"http:\/\/mgiartsintensive.blogspot.com\/2008\/05\/darryl-montana-big-chief-of-yellow.html\">Big Chief Darryl Montana<\/a> chanting alongside actor Clarke Peters, who portrays a grim returnee determined to pull his culture back together. Peters&#8217; character ended the series opener with an incandescent dance, wearing his orange- feathered, intricately beaded Carnival costume in the otherwise dark streets of his sodden neighborhood (electricity hasn&#8217;t yet been restored). That was a ghostly sequence, but one promising continuity and renewal, not fading grace.<\/p>\n<p>There are many things to like about Treme: the bumptious comedy of Wendell Pierce, knockabout trombonist; the view into New Orleans&#8217; food culture over the shoulder of beautiful Kim Dickens, who struggles to reopen her restaurant; the legacy of racial hierarchies riling hard-bitten saloon owner LaDonna Batiste-Williams, who was once Pierce&#8217;s wife; the tough position of the pro bono lawyers, here Melissa Leo trying to trace a missing man; the unvarnished telling of truth to power projected by John Goodman, whose size makes us worry he won&#8217;t be around forever.&nbsp;<\/p><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But what&#8217;s greatest overall about <i>Treme<\/i> is how it gives us a unique, rich culture from the inside.&nbsp;&#8220;Here&#8217;s New Orleans,&#8221; it says. &#8220;Get it now? The significance of 3\/4s of the place being washed away? Does it affect your image of what America is and could be?&#8221;<br \/>\nThat&#8217;s my take-away. Plus, it&#8217;s entertaiment.<\/p>\n<p>Since childhood I&#8217;ve been a sucker, I admit it, for music theater.&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/South-Pacific-Collectors-Rossano-Brazzi\/dp\/B000HT3PGK\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">South Pacific<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;everything <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Frank-Loesser\/e\/B000APVRS4\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Frank Loesser<\/a> (whose centenary arrives in June),&#8221;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Annie-Your-1946-Original-Broadway\/dp\/B00004VVZX\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Annie Get Your Gun<\/a>,&#8221;&nbsp;&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Show-Boat-VHS-Irene-Dunne\/dp\/630197624X\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Show Boat<\/a>&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/West-Side-Story-Full-Screen\/dp\/B0000AM6IY\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">West Side Stor<\/a>y&#8221;, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Kiss-Kate-VHS-Kathryn-Grayson\/dp\/0790744732\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Kiss Me Kate<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Lil-Abner-Peter-Palm%C3%A9r\/dp\/B0007TKGXK\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Li&#8217;l Abner<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Gypsy-Rosalind-Russell\/dp\/B00004RF86\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Gypsy<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pajama-Game-Doris-Day\/dp\/B0007QS306\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Pajama Game<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Damn-Yankees-Tab-Hunter\/dp\/B0002Y4TII\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Damn Yankees<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Oklahoma-50th-Anniversary-Gordon-MacRae\/dp\/B000AP04NI\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Oklahoma<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Bye-Birdie-Dick-Van-Dyke\/dp\/0767827651\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Bye Bye Birdie<\/a>,&nbsp; of course &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Porgy-Bess-Fitzgerald-Louis-Armstrong\/dp\/B000VT2NH8\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Porgy and Bess<\/a>.&#8221; On tv, I&#8217;ve enjoyed <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pennies-Heaven-BBC-TV-Serial\/dp\/B000M38HC8\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Pennies from Heaven<\/i><\/a> and even <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0098772\/\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Cop Rock<\/i><\/a>. Nothing&#8217;s ever successfully integrated music with story as <i>Trem\u00c3\u00a9<\/i> does.<\/div>\n<div>It&#8217;s not perfect: plot lines aren&#8217;t in clear focus yet; sometimes the patois begs subtitles, and one might doubt there&#8217;s a nation out yonder; Baton Rouge is considered another country, and when the scene shifts to NYC it&#8217;s a shock. Forces of official law and order are so far all brutal and uncaring. I suspect politicians and exploiters will soon be showing their weasily faces. <i>Laissez les bon temps roulez!<\/i><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But as with Simon&#8217;s brilliant <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Wire-Complete-Dominic-West\/dp\/B001FA1P1W\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">The Wire<\/a><\/i>, and before that <i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Homicide-Life-Street-Complete-repackaged\/dp\/B002BLNGTS\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Homicide: Life on the Streets<\/a><\/i>, patience is rewarded with the complex interweavings and relationships, albeit in necessary artistic compression of life. The writers are struggling to balance accurate social observation with the emotions of personal struggle. It&#8217;s a tall order. Very nice any production company is seriously trying it.<\/p>\n<p>Always great to hear New Orleans music &#8212; and sit before the flatscreen, wondering if\/when Fats Domino will make an actual appearance, or the Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Dr. Michael White, Dave Torkanovsky, Rob Wagner, William A. Thompson, Little Queenie, Beausoliel, Walter &#8220;Wolfman&#8221; Washington, the Dirty Dozen, one of the gospel choirs. How will the revival of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nojazzfest.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival<\/a> be treated (the NOJHF is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wwoz.org\/programs\/streams\" target=\"_blank\">happening for real right now<\/a> &#8212; why aren&#8217;t we there)? Will we get inside Preservation Hall (we&#8217;ve already walked past it). Is Wynton Marsalis welcome on this show? His name has been brought up with bracing ambivalence. What about his brothers and father Ellis and brothers? Or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Palm-Soul-Kidd-Jordan\/dp\/B000FKO3IA\/?tag=howardmacom-20\" target=\"_blank\">Kidd Jordan<\/a> and his musical progeny? The Baptistes? The Thibodeaux? &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I can&#8217;t guess how the multiple threads will develop into the future (this <i>must<\/i> be why I&#8217;m not writing for it).<br \/>\nAre we all going to get as frustrated as N&#8217;Awlin&#8217;s actual residents with the tragic national neglect, the unrepaired damage, the surge of violent crime, our inability to wrap collective will around the project of renewal? <i>Is<\/i> there a future of New Orleans? These questions themselves hold suspense. <\/p>\n<p>However, this is appointment televison due to the music. If <i>Treme<\/i> had no plot, no sympathetic people and was shot on a cellphone, such sounds would plentifully reward an hour. As it is &#8212; HBO&#8217;s high production values are used to catalog a catastrophe. Simon&#8217;s brilliant cast and crew probe embarrassing wrinkles in the American psyche. Will Toussaint hire the Dixie Cups to spice up Dr. John&#8217;s album date? Will the storm have unearthed Buddy Bolden&#8217;s long-rumored recording? Can a backbeat foment social reformation?&nbsp; Turn in Sunday nights, 10 EDT &#8212; and remember, it&#8217;s five years since the storm.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.howardmandel.com\/\" target=\"blank\">howardmandel.com<\/a> <br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.feedburner.com\/fb\/a\/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1102712&amp;loc=en_US\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe by Email <\/a>  |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/JazzBeyondJazz\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe by  RSS<\/a> |<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\" target=\"_blank\">Follow on Twitter <\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/archives.html\" target=\"_blank\"> All JBJ posts <\/a> |<br \/>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/w.sharethis.com\/widget\/?tabs=web%2Cpost%2Cemail&amp;charset=utf-8&amp;style=default&amp;publisher=6ed88875-2235-4b29-aaa3-60183b0bcbcc\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lovers of jazz, jazz beyond jazz, jazz before jazz are all watching Treme, right? The HBO series about New Orleans three months after Katrina sets a new standard for celebrating America&#8217;s roots music where this should happen &#8212; on tv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[807,803,804,800,802,809,806,801,808,805,799],"class_list":{"0":"post-315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"tag-big-chief-darryl-montana","8":"tag-david-simons","9":"tag-eric-overmyer","10":"tag-hbo","11":"tag-hurricane-katrina-aftermath","12":"tag-kidd-jordan","13":"tag-mardi-gras-indians","14":"tag-new-orleans","15":"tag-new-orleans-jazz-and-heritage-festival","16":"tag-professor-longhair","17":"tag-treme","18":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-55","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":407,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/07\/hurray_for_treme.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":0},"title":"Hurray for Treme","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Do Watcha Wanna,\" the season finale of Treme, had everything I watch the series for: Compelling characters embodied by terrific actors; plausible and suspenseful quick-cutting across and interweaving of plot strands; confident command of realities afflicting post-Katrina\/pre-Gulf oil spill New Orleans, and the extraordinary depiction of living, breathing, hugely enjoyable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"khandi alexander.jpeg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/khandi%20alexander.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1396,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/08\/new-orleans-post-modern-piano-professor-jon-batiste-and-his-harmoniboard.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":1},"title":"New Orleans&#8217; post-modern piano professor Jon Batiste and his &#8220;harmoniboard&#8221;","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"August 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Jon Batiste and his band Stay Human were among the emerging young charismatics vying to revitalize jazz at the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival, August 10th and 11th, and as a post-modern New Orleans piano professor \u00c2\u00a0of \"social music\" he approached his art from many directions. A scion of five-generation Louisianan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/eyejazzlogo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":408,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2011\/07\/urban_realism_and_treme.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":2},"title":"Urban Realism and Treme","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"July 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Life is glorious and vibrant and joyous at points, but it is essentially tragic. That's not a unique David Simon perspective.\" So sayeth David Simon, (pictured left; right is a Mardi Gras Indian portrayed by Clarke Peters), executive producer with Eric Overmyer of Treme, in\u00c2\u00a0a long interview on Salon\u00c2\u00a0conducted by\u00c2\u00a0Matt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/md_horiz.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2730,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2020\/02\/mardi-gras-lewd-krewe-marc-pokempners-photos.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":3},"title":"Mardi Gras&#8217; lewd Krewe, Marc Pokempner&#8217;s photos","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Satirical, scatalogical New Orleans parade floats by Krewe du Vieux Carr\u00c3\u00a9, via photojournalist Marc PoKempner","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jism-kids-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jism-kids-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jism-kids-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":64,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/02\/cultural_convergence_in_americ.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":4},"title":"Cultural convergence in America","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 5, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Primaries, Mardi Gras and Chinese New Year align -- look who's coming to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage fest! How often does the US citizenry go to the polls on the same day acolytes of Dionysis party and Asian-Americans prepare for the Lunar New Year (Feb. 7)? I dunno.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":291,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/01\/ashevilles_grassroots_musician.html","url_meta":{"origin":315,"position":5},"title":"Asheville&#8217;s grassroots musicians&#8217; benefit for Haiti","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"January 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Mark Guest, guitarist, has organized a grassroots \"Jazz and Blues for Haiti\" benefit for Doctors Without Borders on Monday Jan 26\u00a0Jan 25 at Curras Nuevo Cuisine\u00a0in Asheville, NC,\u00a0a town he says \"doesn't to my knowledge have an immediate Haitian connection.\" But Guest wanted to do something for people in crisis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;main&quot;","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}