Monday, January 30, 2012

Mardi Gras 101


All right. Time for a quick primer about Mardi Gras. What is Mardi Gras? Well, Mardi Gras is not the drunken mess on Bourbon street with the beads and the flashing; in fact, believe it or not, for most local folks Mardi Gras season is a time to get together with family and friends out in the neighborhoods where the parades roll. Yes that's right- it is very much a family activity with people gathering together year after year at the same spot on the parade route to eat and drink and watch the parades roll by in hopes of catching some extra special "throws" as they also catch up with each other on the events of the past year. Ok so Mardi Gras can be a family holiday. Mardi Gras is also about the parades -which not only roll in New Orleans proper but in the surrounding towns and suburbs. Mardi Gras is also all about the throws- beads and more beads of all different sizes lengths and shapes; trinkets, dubloons, "plush" toys, coconuts, shoes, plastic cups, sunglasses- you name it, and one of the many krewes probably throws it. Many krewes have a signature throw- some of the most famous: Zulu coconuts (which are handed to bystanders vs thrown for obvious reasons), the famous Rex metallic dubloon, the Krewe of Muses  decorated shoes and so on and so forth. As the floats roll by its tradition to yell "Throw me something mister" and hope that you catch a rider's eye who will single you out in the crowd and hopefully throw you that special something. Mardi Gras is the Mardi Gras Indians who work on their "pretty suits" all year and then make appearances on Mardi Gras morning  throughout the neighborhods and side streets of the city. Mardi Gras is history and tradition. There are lots of ways  to "do" Mardi Gras- this Frommer's article is a pretty good one in terms of providing different ways- nice, naughty or nasty- to spend that special day. And of course, Mardi Gras is king cake which at this point is available in an ever increasing number of different shapes, colors, and flavors that spark continuous debates about which is the best over the 3 week carnival season. King Cake season officially starts on Twelfth Night and lasts thru Mardi Gras Day altho over the past few years- much to the chagrin of traditionalists- they have started to appear and/or become available at other holidays or special occurences (think Saints Super Bowl a couple years ago) as well. Finally, let's not forget Mr. Mardi Gras- Arthur Hardy- who is the official historian on all things Mardi Gras. He publishes an annual "Mardi Gras Guide" which is widely available during Mardi Gras in and around the city and which quickly become collectibles. Go here for more info.....21 days and counting til Krewe Of Mid City Parade- Hail Mid City!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Yeah you ride...

21 days from today the Krewe Of Mid-City parade is going to roll. This year's theme is "Apocalypso: Party at the End of the World." A few facts about the Krewe. Based in the Mid City Neighborhood of New Orleans (see info here) this krewe is the 5th oldest continously parading organization of the New Orleans Mardi Gras season. This year's parade will be the 79th. It is a daytime parade and the krewe's signature floats are decorated in colored foil which I'm told on a sunny day are quite a sight to see (go here for pictures). At this point, I may be assigned to the band float (see picture belowfrom last year's parade) which is positioned early in the parade-coming right after the Royal Court- and features a brass band playing on the float for the duration of the parade. No other krewe uses this colored foil decorating technique which is a lost art save for the Mid City's float artist Ricardo Pustanio who learned his craft early in his career under a member of the world famous float-making family the Kerns. Another interesting fact is that this was the first krewe to feature animated floats -which at the time was accomplished by-believe it or not- having boy scout volunteers concealed within the floats pedaling stationary bicycles attached to cables and other mechanisms that moved various devices. All in all it is a krewe with a long, proud and unique parading history and I am honored to be taking part in this year's parade. Hail Mid-City! Pour la joie de vivre!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

NO Online Event Alert: Soul Rebels

Tune in online tonite @ Tipitinas.com to watch and listen to one of New Orleans' best brass bands the Soul Rebels webcast live from Tipitinas in New Orleans. Show is to celebrate the release of their new CD "Unlock Your Mind". Show has a scheduled start of 9pm CST/10 pm EST but in brass band time that probably translates to 10 or 11 CST meaning 11 or 12 midnite EST. Either way, put on your jammies, settle in and ck em out. Yeah you right!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Krewe Me?..Krewe You...

..So, as I mentioned in my previous post, I am all in for Mardi Gras and will be riding as a member of a New Orleans Mardi Gras Krewe. Anyway- a little bit of a back story is in order to explain how this came to be....Anybody that knows me knows I am a bit nuts about New Orleans and Louisiana- the food, music, culture-doesn’t matter. If it's New Orleans or Louisiana related, I'm gonna be there-NYC, Philly or even New Jersey (sorry, couldn't resist). That’s how I ended up in a krewe.  A few years ago, I started going to New Orleans music related events primarily up in NYC and on more than one occasion dragged my wife and kids to Central Park or Lincoln Center to see a brass band or, one year, the Mardi Gras Indians; I’ve secondlined with the Soul Rebels Brass Band and Glen David Andrews in Manhattan as well as going to numerous New Orleans/Louisiana music events here in Philly (including monthly Cajun dances at a local Polish club dance hall) . I have even-more than once- traveled across the Delaware to see New Orleans and Louisiana musicians perform in- of all places- Camden, NJ (which believe it or not has a very nice waterfront park set up across the Delaware River looking back at the city of Philadelphia)..Over time, I began to realize that there was a group of like minded people-especially at the NYC events- when it came to New Orleans and its music and culture. Two years ago, I participated in a secondline across the Brooklyn Bridge and I was really hooked. Then, last year, I read that the same group of folks who had put on the Brooklyn Bridge secondline were organizing a New Orleans style jazz funeral to celebrate the demise and-hopefully- the eventual re-birth of the Coney Island waterfront. Well, thats all I needed to know- I drove up to NYC, jumped the subway to Coney Island and there I was-hanging out and then marching with the NYC/New Orleans contingent. The event featured a NYC based brass band, Dancing Man 504 straight out of New Orleans and a mermaid in a coffin (see NY Times article and slideshow here or see my pix/slideshow over to the right of this post)…Anyway, after the event, I got to talking to one of the guys-Arthur- who was a pallbearer in the parade. He mentioned that altho he lived in New Jersey he was part of a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe and had been parading down there for the past few years. Huh?.. you mean you can live in NJ but also be a member of a New Orleans parade krewe?... I always thought that this was a “locals only” kind of thing...As we talked, tho, it started to make sense..it turns out that since the Federal Flood (aka Katrina) a lot of the New Orleans Krewes lost local membership and so they started to turn to out-of-towners as one way to fill out their ranks.. so as we continued to talk-and down a couple more Coney Island beers-I continued to quiz him on the details..at one point he suggested that I consider joining up-I was officially being recruited… The rest, as they say is history …so in a couple weeks- Sunday February 19th at around 11:45am CST to be exact- I will be on a float, in mask and costume rolling down the Uptown New Orleans parade route …stay tuned.....

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

28 Days...

...til Mardi Gras Day 2012 and this year I will -for the first time- be in New Orleans for the big day. I've been to New Orleans about a dozen times in past 5 years, but have never been there for Mardi Gras. Carnival season started Jan 6,2012 but the carnival parade season kicks into high gear when Krewe Du Vieux rolls on Saturday Feb. 4th (picture at left is of Dr. John who was King of Krewe du Vieux parade in 2010)..I have been to this parade the last 3 years- and will be there again this year- but that has been the extent of my carnival in New Orleans experience. This year I am ALL IN! I am actually going to be a dues paying rider and member of a Mardi Gras Krewe- the Krewe of Mid-City to be exact- and will be riding- and throwing- in a parade on Sunday 2.19.12. So stay tuned- over the next 28 days leading up to Fat Tuesday I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences. Later.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Live Tonite From New Orleans

Great nite for listening in to some great music from New Orleans tonite. Listening to live 'Oz broadcast of NO Jazz & Heritage Jazz Journey concert. Headliner Rene Marie finishing up the show and she is sounding real good. House band is terrific as well. Earlier on they had two other great NO Vocalists Betty Shirley & Germaine Bazzle...nice. Later on- about 11pm EST gonna move over to Tipitinas website for webcast of their 34th Anniversary Brass Band Blowout featuring Pinstripe Brass Band, Stooges Brass Band & the granddaddy of them all Rebirth Brass Band. Should be a good one. Peace.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Happy 50th PHJB!!

50th anniversary show for Preservation Hall Jazz band tonite at Carnegie Hall in NYC. Lots of special guests including 5 Bind Boys, My Morning Jacket, & Del McCoury Band. Should be quite an event.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Stooges Live From D.C.

Watching Stooges Brass Band now live online from the Kennedy Center in Washington. ,DC. Playing as part of Globalfest 2012. Took pic below from PC screen.