That's what they say about New Orleans -- it gets all up in ya. And it does, in ways that can't be anticipated. I'm back here to conduct a few final interviews, pack up, and return the keys to this wonderful apartment I've been renting in the Marigny, just a block or so from the strip of Frenchmen Street that has become an essential music thoroughfare -- hosting everything from … [Read more...] about all up in ya.
if it’s magic.
then why can't it be everlasting? Among the things I'll miss most about New Orleans are regular weekly opportunities to hear John Boutté sing anything from Stevie Wonder's "If It's Magic" to Randy Newman's "Louisiana, 1927." Lucky for me and my N.Y. friends (hint, hint) he'll perform at Joe's Pub on June 6th. Here's a brief appreciation I wrote for this week's Village Voice. … [Read more...] about if it’s magic.
jonathan demme’s new orleans home movies
Last fall, while working on a story about jazz saxophonist and Mardi Gras Indian Chief Donald Harrison, I ran into filmmaker Jonathan Demme -- almost literally, as he was working his way around the home of Donald's mom, Herreast Harrison, with a small handheld camera and I was looking the other way. A month or so later, at the Margaret Mead Film Festival in Manhattan, I watched … [Read more...] about jonathan demme’s new orleans home movies
back on the block
I am back on my block -- President Street, in Brooklyn. But just for a few days. Then it's back to New Orleans, where I spent most of the past three months, to pack up and give up the sublet. And the rush of images, quotes, and information, I've been gathering -- some of which has filtered into reporting in the Wall Street Journal, Village Voice, Jazziz, and elsewhere, and all … [Read more...] about back on the block
they called him “mr. bat”
Tearful hugs filled the trailers that served as dressing rooms at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. It was near time for what would have been a celebratory double-bill concert on the event's closing day: Clarinetist Alvin Batiste and drummer Bob French, beloved local heroes, each with a new CD on saxophonist Branford Marsalis's label. But 13 hours earlier, Batiste's … [Read more...] about they called him “mr. bat”