July Columns
Jazz in the Heartland | Report from Britain | View from Canada |
Continued: New Orleans Notes
Silver Anniversary of New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity
On May 14 the NOAHH celebrated its 25th anniversary with a big evening at the Sugar Mill on Convention Center Blvd. attended by an estimated 800 people. Special guests at the event were former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, who were introduced to the crowd by Harry Connick Jr. Connick, who (along with Branford Marsalis) spearheaded the foundation of the Musicians' Village project, sat down at the piano and led the Carters and the crowd in the singing of "When The Saints Go Marching In." The Carters were in town for a week to lead hundreds of volunteers from all over the county in their Work Project of post-Katrina rebuilding.
The evening's music was provided by Bob French and his Original Tuxedo Jazz Band: Leon "Kid Chocolate" Brown, trumpet and vocals; Stephen Walker, trombone; Frederick Sanders, piano; David Pulphus, bass, and French, drums. Ellen Smith and Yolanda Windsay added more vocals, both together and individually. I believe Smith and French are residents of the Musicians' Village.
It proved to be a wonderful evening of music and food to recognize a most worthy cause. For more about NOAHH, see their website www.habitat-nola.org.
Et al.
The venerable New Orleans Jazz Club celebrated its 60th anniversary on April 29 with an afternoon program at the Palm Court Jazz Café featuring music by Tim Laughlin and his band. Veteran member Fred Hatfield, who emceed the program, has volunteered to take over the editorship of the club's dormant magazine, The Second Line. The magazine will be printed by Deanno Assunto, son of trumpeter Frank Assunto, who has a printing and publishing business in the city.
The official estimate of this year's French Quarter Festival's attendance is 435,000. According to Sandra Dartus (who came back this year to serve as temporary executive director), this is a conservative estimate and may well be a record. Marci Schramm, the new director, will be responsible for leading the FQF into its second quarter century.
I had occasion, while taking visitors around the city, to check out progress at the Musicians' Village in the Ninth Ward. Currently, 43 homes are complete (42 single family homes and one elder-friendly duplex) with an additional 25 homes under construction. Two streets --Bartholomew and No. Prieur -- have been extended in order to break up the property into city blocks. I never cease to be amazed at the good work being done there by NOAHH.
Pamela Arceneaux, rare books librarian at the Historic New Orleans Collection, gave a lecture at the HNOC on May 7 entitled "A Red Light Look at New Orleans." Part of the 2008 "Save Our Cemeteries" lecture series, the talk examined various dimensions of "bawdy old New Orleans," including the correctional girls, the casket girls, quadroom balls, Storyville and other red-light districts, the Blue Books as well as some local "personalities" of interest.
For another perspective on this year's Jazzfest, see the piece by jazz journalist Larry Blumenfeld, "Jazz Fest '08: Homecoming on Muddy Ground." It can be found at www.truthdig.com. Blumenfeld is working on a book about post-Katrina cultural recovery in New Orleans.
The long-delayed opening of Armstrong Park seems now to be delayed even further. Officials are talking about a "soft opening" in September with the goal of a true opening in January 2009. Among the many restoration projects needing attention is the huge metal arch at the entrance to the park. Visitors to the site may soon be able to purchase purple "Save Armstrong Park" wrist bands to help finance park improvements. Beyond that, the local organization Tourism Cares will soon be adding a link to its website (www.tourismcares.org) to accept donations for the arch project. Incidentally, thanks are due to the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation in New York for its help on that project.
Comings & Goings
Veteran tuba/sousaphone player Edgar J. Smith passed away in early May in Richmond, Texas. He was 58.
Known for his work with a variety of brass bands -- the Olympia, the Tuxedo, Doc Paulin's Brass Band, Gregg Stafford's Royal Brass Band and Barry Martyn's Eureka Brass Band -- Smith performed widely in this country as well as abroad. He played every Jazzfest from the first through 2005.
Smith is survived by his wife, Gwendolyn Tate-Smith, and a son, Edgar II. The funeral was held on May 6 at Mount Herman Baptist Church, followed by a traditional jazz procession and burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery.
It was good to see former resident musicians Chris Tyle and Trevor Richards back in town for Jazzfest. Tyle has been living in his hometown of Portland since leaving here, but he says he's been playing a lot in Seattle as well. Richards now lives in Germany, where he had previously spent portions of the year when he lived in New Orleans.
Holley Bendtsen of the Pfister Sisters reports that the popular vocal group, after performing at the Ascona Jazz Festival in Switzerland in late June, was to travel to Berlin July 8 for five weeks "playing our own cabaret show," before returning home in August.
Upcoming
One of the major musical events in the city during the summer is the three-day Essence Music Festival over the July 4th weekend (July 4-6). In addition to the many national pop acts and seminars headed by national figures, this year's program includes a host of top local musicians, including Terrence Blanchard, Irma Thomas, Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Christian Scott, Nicholas Payton, Kermit Ruffins and his tribute to Louis Armstrong, Marva Wright, the Rebirth Brass Band, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band's gospel revival. For more, check www.essencemusicfestival.com.
And then comes the annual Satchmo SummerFest, which begins on July 31 and continues through August 3. It promises to be another wonderful event. For details, see www.satchmosummerfest.com.
Until next time. twj@tulane.edu.
July 2008 issue | © 2008 The Mississippi Rag
P.O. Box 19068, Minneapolis, MN 55419.