Live Webcast: WWOZ My Darlin New Orleans

Tonite around 8pm EST, WWOZ, the best station in the nation, to broadcast live from the My Darlin New Orleans benefit in New Orleans. Tune in to hear Irma Thomas, Little Freddie King and Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns.

Live Webcast Tonight at Tipitinas.com

Tune in tonight around 10pm EST for the Soul and Blues review featuring Otis Clay and one of my favorites, Glen David Andrews. Should be a great show.

St. Joseph's Day...and Night

Today is St. Joseph's Day. It is a Sicilian holiday honoring St. Joseph who is believed to have provided relief to Sicily during severe famine and has been celebrated ever since. It is a holiday that is not very well known outside of the Sicilian American community, but because New Orleans has one of the largest Italian Sicilian populations in the US, it has continued to be celebrated to this day. One of the main features of the celebration is to build altars- in homes, churches, in public spaces- filled with foodstuffs, baked goods and featuring fava beans, the last of which is considered to be the "lucky" bean. In New Orleans there is typically a St. Joseph's Day parade on the weekend before the holiday (which is always on March 19th I believe) and of course the altars. Over the years there are not as many altars being built- especially in private homes- but they are still done by many communities and churches to celebrate the holiday. (See picture above of a St. Joseph's Altar I photographed a couple years ago in New Orleans; it was on Decatur Street-right across from the Central Grocery which is world famous for it's muffaletta sandwiches.) I was able to find "St. Joe Cakes" at the local Italian Deli right here in Willow Grove, PA- these are "zeppole" filled with either a sweet ricotta cheese filling or a cannolli type filling; sweet and delicious (see photos below). In an interesting cultural melange sort of way, St. Joseph's night has in New Orleans also become associated with- believe it or not- the Mardi Gras Indians. It is the only time all year that the Indians parade at night. Apparently, one explanation that I have come across (see video HERE) is that the early Sicilian immigrants to the city of New Orleans settled in neighborhoods along with the African Americans already living there and as the two groups became familiar with each others' cultures and celebrations there was a cross-pollination of these that occurred. Very unique indeed. I have not been out with the Mardi Gras Indians on St. Joseph's Night but someday would hope to be in the city for this holiday and it's related celebrations.

Uptown Super Sunday

Today in New Orleans is Mardi Gras Indian Uptown Super Sunday. This is an annual event and features all of the Uptown Mardi Gras Indian tribes in a festival and parade. I am a big fan of the Mardi Gras Indians- having discovered them initially at Jazzfest where they perform on the Jazz & Heritage Stage periodically throughout the festival. I had never seen them outside of the festival setting until a couple years ago when I had the opportunity to attend Super Sunday. It was fantastic- it was a combination of a parade, festival , second line and featured more Mardi Gras Indians in full costume than I had ever seen. If you ever get the chance you gotta get down to New Orleans for this event. Here are some photos I took of the event back a couple years ago.

St. Patrick's Day in New Orleans

The first parade with Mardi Gras size floats that I ever went to in New Orleans was on St. Patrick's Day a couple years ago. I rode my bike out St. Charles Avenue to the Garden District and joined the crowd along the parade route. In addition to the usual throws - beads, plush toys - riders on the float were also throwing some decidedly unique Irish items like little boxes of Lucky Charms cereal and bars of Irish Spring soap . For some reason there were also a lot of MoonPies being tossed but I'm thinking that was less about St. Patrick's Day and more about being in the South. The other unique items being tossed from the float were fresh vegetables including onions, potatoes ( of course) and carrots. There was also the Irish answer to the Zulu coconuts being handed off to folks from the floats: whole heads of cabbage! Apparently the idea was that you came to the parade,gathered your fresh produce, and then went home and used it to make maybe corned beef and cabbage or some other Irish delicacy (if there is such a thing in Irish cooking). Anyway I did get a couple of cabbages and other fresh food items that I handed off to folks around me who appeared to be local and collecting these particular items. After the parade went by it was pretty funny seeing the street littered with not only beads and other "regular" throws but also cabbage leaves, carrots , potatoes and such ..once again, only in New Orleans.

St. Patricks Day Weekend in New Orleans

I have never been a big fan of St. Patricks Day but a couple  years ago I happened to be in New Orleans for St. Patrick's Day weekend and attended and took some pictures at a couple events. One of these was the annual St. Paddy's Day parade sponsored by Molly's at the Market in the French Quarter held on the Friday before St. Patrick's day. The parade commemorates Jim Monghan who was a long time businessman,bar owner and entrepreneur in the Quarter. Its a walking parade that start's at Molly's and winds its way through the Quarter and back to the bar. The parade features a number of brass bands-including the infamous Storyville Stompers- and several walking groups. It was a great little parade (I ended up in the parade marching along with one of the brass bands and the Camel Toe Lady Steppers- what fun!). Anyway, here's a few pix- parade happens again tomorrow down in New Orleans.

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Krewe of St. Anne's and the French Quarter

Some photos from Mardi Gras day in the French Quarter.

All On A Mardi Gras Day..Part 2

After leaving the Zulu parade we headed for the French Quarter to see if we could hook up with the Krewe Of St. Anne's walking krewe. I was hoping we would bump into them as the they made their way across Royal St towards Canal where they traditionally greet Rex King of carnival. Unlike the crowds at the Zulu parade once we entered the French Quarter pretty much everyone we saw was in costume (Note: I had read that on Mardi Gras day you would feel silly if u were NOT in costume- it is very much a participatory event). We made our way thru the crowds to Royal and as luck would have it we met up with the St. Anne's marchng krewe featuring the Storyville Stompers Brass Band. We marched with the crowd across Royal Street and ended up at Canal Street just in time to see the King of the Rex parade coming across Canal- talk about timing! Now it was time to go back across the Quarter to Frenchmen Street. As we walked people were in costume everywhere you looked. Every so often a brass band leading a secondline would come by with a different marching group -what a blast! As we approached Frenchmen St. another marching group with a band was coming towards us. As the band got closer it turned out to be the Preservation Hall Jazz Band! They passed by as fast as they had appeared-altho I did have time to shake Charlie Gabriel's hand and wish him a Happy Mardi Gras- this was really some kind of day. We kept on walking, checked out folks on Frenchmen Street hanging out in costume -now it was time to hear some music- destination: HiHo Lounge to see the Mardi Gras Indian Orchestra. As we waited for the music to start,unfortunately the  early hour, long day, walking, excitement- and the adult beverages-  started to take its toll. I managed to rally once the music started and the band was great. At one point a group of drummers came in off the street and joined in with the musicians on the stage-the place was really hopping. The band featured Sunpie Barnes who is also the chief of the Northside Skull and Bones gang- so I had started the day walking the streets with him before dawn and now  here I was late in the afternoon ending my day watching him up on stage. Pretty cool. Soon we were in a cab and on our way back to my sister's house. Unfortunately, traffic was a nitemare and the cab ride back to Mid-City took forever- altho, on the plus side, it did give me an opportunity to close my eyes and rest on the way . It was the end to a very long and exciting day.

Bone Gang and Zulu Slideshow

Here are some photos from beginning of Mardi Gras day- Northside Skull and Bone gang and the Zulu parade. Enjoy!

All on a Mardi Gras Day ..Part 1

Mardi Gras started real early- for me anyway. I was on my bicycle heading down Orleans Ave by 5:30am- I literally heard roosters as I rode along. I was headed for the Treme to the Backstreet Cultural Museum to hopefully see the Northside Skull and Bone Gang come out of the museum and walk the neighborhood banging on doors and waking folks up on Mardi Gras morning. Got to the museum and there was already a small group of folks- many already in costume for the day sitting or standing around. My krewe buddy Arthur showed up around 6am just as you could start to hear singing and chanting coming out of the museum building. Soon, the gang members in their skeleton costomes came out the door onto the front porch chanting and playing their tambourines. One of the members of the group was on stilts and he walked menacingly among the small crowd of onlookers who had started to crowd up to the porch to see the goings on and take pictures. The group moved off the porch and into the street and began moving up the street- calling out for folks to wake up- it was Mardi Gras morning, time to get up. The small crowd of onlookers, including Arthur and I fell in behind and walked with the gang as they moved thru the neigborhood chanting, singing and banging on doors to wake folks up. Pretty special to be seeing this- what a great start to the day. After a while, said goodbye to Arthur-he and his family would be leaving later today and would likely not be seeing him again til we both got back East. Got on my bike and started my ride back up to my sister's house. Next up on today's agenda was the Zulu parade which started later this am. Ride back up Orleans Ave took me right by the Zulu club house. There was a lot of activity as the krewe members were already gathering together to get to the beginning of their parade.I noticed a couple of folks in costume out on the sidewalk taking pictues of each other. I pulled up and offered to take their pictures together- in return they let me snap a photo of them in costume. I wished them a good ride and hoppped back on my bike-I quickly came across a woman in full Mardi Gras indian dress who was calling out a challenge to any other tribe that might be in earshot- pretty cool. I made it back to sis's house- she and my wife were now awake and we went aboout getting into costume for the day. The plan was to walk over to the streetcar and head back into town to get a spot along the Zulu parade route. We made it to the streetcar stop and after a short wait hopped the streetcar into town. We took the streecar as far as it ran( today it was not going all the way down Canal St due to the parades)and walk down and then across Basin Street heading over to a spot near Louis Armstrong Park that I thought might be a good spot to watch the parade. There were alot of folks who were alreadyy setting up their spots along the route. The crowds in this area were predominantly African American and we soon realized that we were somewhat of a curisoity as we walked along in costume on the way to set up our own spot. More than a few folks stopped us along the way asking to take our pictures- it seems as tho the whole costume thing was more of an in the French Quarter kind of thing since 99% of the folks in this area were in their regular clothes. It was not something any of us had expected but it was kind of fun to be noticed. We made it to an open spot on the curb over near the park. The crowd was mostly families with kids and there was a real good vibe- everybody was there for a good time. We ended up meeting some of the families who were waiting along with us for the parade. Almost everyone we talked to seemed to have a friend or family member in the parade and were waiting to see them on a float or marching in the parade. We enjoyed the party atmosphere (along with our adult beverages- yes it was only 9am but it was Mardi Gras day and this was New Orleans- so go with the flow). Speaking of flow, it wasnt long until we were in need of a comfort station. I noticed that there was a bar a little ways up the route so I went to scout it out to see if there was a public restroom. I think it was called Bertha's Place and there was a real party going on! Folks were out on the street waiting for the parade and inside the music was blasting, folks were dancing and the drinks were flowing. This was the place..After using the facilities, hit the bar for some "supplies"- the lady behind the bar offered- along w my beers- a bucket of ice to carry them out in- now we were really set. I returned to our spot, gave my scouting report and then my wife and sister took their own walk to Bertha's. After a bit more of a wait , the parade started. It was a lot of fun and the crowd was really into it. Everybody was hoping to get one of the prized throws of Mardi Gras- the Zulu coconut. It wasn't too far into the parade and my wife Eileen managed to talk one of the Zulu members into giving her a coconut- holy cow! Mission accomplished and the parade had just started. We watched the brass bands, the floats and marching bands . We got our share of other Zulu throws and then started helping folks- especially the kids- collect stuff. We had a great time. As the parade started to come to an end we made our move. Next up- heading into the French Quarter to hopefully hook up with the Krewe of St. Anne's Marching Krewe.

Lundi Gras re-cap

Lundi Gras- the Monday before Mardi Gras- started out as moving day for my wife and I. We checked out of our hotel and cabbed it back up to my sister's Mid-City apartment in the AM. After unpacking and getting re-organized we headed out for lunch. We had a nice walk along Bayou St. John over to one of our favorite po boy shops in New Orleans- The Parkway Bakery. Unfortunately, a lot of other folks seemed to have the same idea so there was quite a line for lunch. It was well worth the wait-the roast beef po' boy and sweet potato fries were real good. (Funny story- at the Parkway, you wait in line first to place your order, pay and then wait for your order to be called; as I listened to names being called for some of the orders-it appeared folks were using famous names as a joke- I heard Dean Martin, Bill Murray, etc. I thought it would be funny to give a New Orleans related musician name- Dr. John or Professor Longhair seemed to obvious so I thought I would use famous piano player James Booker’s name when it came time to order. When I got to front of line, I placed my order, paid and gave my name. I then went out to the bar to get an Abita Beer to go with lunch and I heard "Order 95 James Booger...Booger..James Booger"...I could hear laughter coming over the microphone as well. Anyway, when I went up to the window, all the staff in the back making the sandwiches were cracking up- they got the biggest kick out of the name. I let the guy know that it was supposed to be Booker not Booger- he said he figured as much but Booger was much funnier!). After lunch, we walked over to Canal St. to catch a streetcar into town. We were heading for WoldenbergPark on the Mississippi River to check out the Lundi Gras Festival put on by the ZuluSocial Aid and Pleasure Club featuring food, music and appearances by some of the main characters in the Zulu Parade which would be tomorrow Mardi Gras morning. The streetcar was almost full when we got on- lots of folks were heading into town most likely for the festival as well as for the parades that were going to be happening later on this afternoon and evening. As we moved down the line another stop, the streetcar got so full that it no longer stopped for folks waiting along the route- we had just made it on. We got off near end of line and walked over to the festival.  The park was pretty crowded- there were 2 or 3 large music stages, food vendors and crafts tents, etc. We walked around and almost immediately came upon a brass band and a secondline featuring members of the Zulu club (this one had “The Governor” in his blue feather suit and headdress-see slideshow below). Anyway, as I have learned to do in New Orleans, if you see a secondline, fall in behind to see where it takes you. In this case, however, it seemed to be leading us from the public area start to a VIP area that was being opened especially for the secondline members. My wife and I decided to stay the course and before we knew it we were marching in the parade behind the barricade along a route that appeared to be heading towards one of the music stages up ahead. We continued to march along until we were able to drop back out and move onto the other side of the barricade before getting to the stage- that was a close call! We walked around a bit more before heading over to St. Charles to catch today’s parades. Today’s plan was to see the Tucks parade only (there were 2 other parades scheduled after but my wife and I were feeling a bit paraded out – plus, I had read that it is a good idea to end Lundi Gras early so you can get up real early on Mardi Gras morning for what is typically a long day). So we met up with our friends Arthur and Ricki and their kids to see the Tucks parade from our sidewalk side spot (see slideshow below for Tucks pix - parade was a kick; apparently it was started some years ago by some Loyola University students and it continues to have a “college” feel with floats and themes that mostly involve bathroom humor, beer and girls). After Tucks, my wife and I walked a couple blocks over to catch a city bus back into town. We met my sister for dinner in the French Quarter- Coop’s Place, really good Cajun food- and then headed over to Frenchmen St to hear some music. Ended up at the Maison where we saw Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses who play traditional New Orleans jazz- nice. Ended up back at my sister’s house around 11pm and was to bed soon after. Mardi Gras morning was gonna start early.

Here dey come..MG Indians Online Saturday Night

On Saturdy March 10th around 11 PM EST  head over to Tipitinas.com to see and hear the Original Wild Magnolias New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians do their thing.

Description from Tip's website:

The Original Wild Magnolias

Featuring Big Chief Bo Dollis and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux

Part Latin, Part African-Caribbean, part Jazz and 100 percent soul, the Wild Magnolias, Mardi Gras Indians' sound is unmistakably New Orleans. Led by Big Chief Bo Dollis, whose Chieftain status continues a tradition of tribal Unity that dates back to the 1800's. These indian tribes were formed to pay homage to the Native-American Indians who befriended runaway slaves and afforded them a safe haven. The Wild Magnolias infused electric funk into this cultural traditions over the past 20 years in memorable songs like New Suit, Handa Wanda, Fire Water and the international hit, Smoke My Peace Pipe.