I helped Greg load Buttercup (our Mardi Gras float) from under Hugh’s house onto his truck. Just a little bit too long, but made it home safely.
The Tuesday highlight was another Bayou Boys win at Dat Dog trivia. Denny wasn’t able to make it – hmmm. The equally good news – kevbot (our nemesis team) wasn’t in the top three.
I watched a movie later that evening, “Becoming Katherine Graham”:
Graham was the editor of the Washington Post during the controversial period of the Watergate investigations and the ultimate ousting of Nixon. She stood up to Nixon and others who bullied her very effectively.
Movie matinee was my activity on Wednesday. I visited the downtown Canal Plaza Prytania theaters for the first time to see “Becoming Led Zeppelin.” Parking and getting to the theaters was much easier than anticipated. There were a lot of very fancy shops around the theaters – I was not aware they even existed.
This was about the early days of the band and the studio work that brought Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones together. I chuckled at a story about them playing on Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger.” Dad was a big Shirley Bassey fan. Highly recommended for fans of the band.
After the movie, I met Anne for lunch at the Columns – always a treat on a nice, sunny day. Denny had made a mistake with his flight and wasn’t coming home until later in the day.
Sitting on the porch in the afternoon, Britney asked “Want to feel old, Keith?” Then she showed me Augie’s “Class of 2039” banner. We’ll be 75 when he graduates from high school. Yes, Britney, you did make me feel old. Here’s Augie in the shirt we brought him from Scotland:
Such a poseur.
Kenny and I attended Danny Barker fest at the Jazz Museum on Thursday. This was a very pleasant festival – outside in the courtyard and not too busy. Would you like to know about Danny Barker? Okay – here’s an overview:
Danny Barker was born to a family of musicians in New Orleans in 1909, the grandson of bandleader Isidore Barbarin and nephew of drummers Paul Barbarin and Louis Barbarin. He took up clarinet and drums before switching to a ukulele that his aunt got him, and then a banjo from his uncle or a trumpeter named Lee Collins.
From 1939 to 1946, he frequently recorded with Cab Calloway, and started his own group featuring his wife Blue Lu Barker after leaving Calloway. On September 4, 1945, he recorded with Ohio‘s native jazz pianist, Sir Charles Thompson, and saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Charlie Parker.[1] In 1947, he was performing again with Lucky Millinder, and also with Bunk Johnson. He returned to working with Albert Nicholas in 1948 and in 1949 rejoined efforts with his wife in a group.
In 1965, Barker returned to New Orleans and took up a position as assistant to the curator of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. In 1970, he founded and led a church-sponsored brass band for young people—the Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band. Reverend Andrew Darby, Jr., the Pastor of Fairview Baptist Church commissioned ‘Brother’ Barker to form a Christian band, and Barker went throughout the neighborhood of the church enlisting young musicians. The Fairview band launched the careers of musicians who performed in brass band and mainstream jazz contexts, including Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Leroy Jones, Kirk Joseph, Nicholas Payton, Shannon Powell, Lucien Barbarin, and Dr. Michael White, among others. As Joe Torregano—another Fairview band alumnus—described it, “That group saved jazz for a generation in New Orleans.
Here’s a couple of videos of Greg Stafford performing in the afternoon:
Kermit was up after Stafford. I love this picture of Kermit and Danny Barker together years ago at French Quarter Fest:
Fete Francaise was on Saturday. I always enjoy this small festival put on by the French bilingual school on Magazine Street. They have food tents from local French restaurants and always very good music. Anne suggested lunch at La Petite Grocery (right next to the festival location) as the tents often run out of the most desired food and drinks. Lunch was great – I enjoyed the fusilli pasta with short rib and mushrooms. The portion was just right for lunch on a hot day.
The theme for this year was “From the heart of Paris to the soul of New Orleans.” I like it.
The Preservation Hall band provided the majority of the entertainment. Ben Jaffe, leader of the band and tuba player, has a daughter at the school.
Here are a couple of videos:
The older gentleman on the saxophone in the second video is Charlie Gabriel – still going strong at 92!
There was an unadvertised band after the Preservation Brass – describing themselves as “French cosmonauts” and quite entertaining:
I really appreciated this story on 60 minutes on Sunday night. What a great job by Scott Pelley and the team:
Here’s an article claiming New Orleans as the best food city in the world:
I think that’s quite a stretch – Paris, New York, Barcelona?
Spring is in bloom by the front porch:
I take these pictures so that Diana can enjoy the blossoms that she’s missing.
I read “The Futures” by Anna Pitoniak this week. This was a fast and easy read, not living up to the excellent reviews from several well respected sources. It seemed a bit light and fluffy as it covered the 2008 crash. Here’s the online review:
“In this dazzling debut novel about love and betrayal, a young couple moves to New York City in search of success-only to learn that the lives they dream of may come with dangerous strings attached.
Julia and Evan fall in love as undergraduates at Yale. For Evan, a scholarship student from a rural Canadian town, Yale is a whole new world, and Julia — blond, beautiful, and rich — fits perfectly into the future he’s envisioned for himself. After graduation, and on the eve of the great financial meltdown of 2008, they move together to New York City, where Evan lands a job at a hedge fund. But Julia, whose privileged upbringing grants her an easy but wholly unsatisfying job with a nonprofit, feels increasingly shut out of Evan’s secretive world.
With the market crashing and banks failing, Evan becomes involved in a high-stakes deal at work — a deal that, despite the assurances of his Machiavellian boss, begins to seem more than slightly suspicious. Meanwhile, Julia reconnects with someone from her past who offers a glimpse of a different kind of live. As the economy craters, and as Evan and Julia spin into their separate orbits, they each find that they are capable of much more — good and bad — than they’d ever imagined.”
I learned of a New Orleans based band, J & the Causeways, that I really enjoy:
Branford Marsalis has a new album out – a cover of Keith Jarrett’s original suite:
And David Lowery of Cracker also has a new album:
Coexist peacefully, with patience and kindness for all!
I didn’t read much this week, but did start a collection of short stories by Eudora Welty – I’m only a couple in.
I had arranged to go with Kenny to Tipitinas at 5am on Mardi Gras day. The Indians were coming out accompanied by a concert by Bill Iuso. Yes – things really do start that early on Fat Tuesday. Kenny texted and called that he was on the front porch – and I just couldn’t get out of bed. Sorry Kenny! It was kind of him to send evidence that he had been there before biking off to enjoy the show.
I finished the wonderful “James” by Percival Everett this week. I highly recommend this unique and creative read. You’ll remember it’s a reimagining of Huck Finn, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.