“Residency Week 6 – Live Music Week”
Monday started with Anne going with Diana over to Metairie (where the big box stores are nearest to New Orleans) to shop for a new oven for her Mom’s house. Everything was on a long back order and so she didn’t have a successful trip. But she did learn where all the huge stores like Best Buy and Home Depot are located – they don’t have them within the normal New Orleans city limits – which I think is a nice feature.
We walked to Dos Jefes for the regular Monday night Jon Fohl show, and were pleasantly surprised to find Papa Mali subbing for him. Mali had a nicely varied set, playing a number of songs he had written with Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead lyricist), and telling some great stories. Here he is playing “Deal.”
I also enjoyed his version of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
We had a nice chat with Papa during his break. Diana asked him about the song below that he had written about his wife (married for 40 years with 6 kids and 2 grandkids). The struggling musician actually offered to buy us drinks – silly man – but such a sweet guy. He noticed a friend at the bar – Dale Spalding, harmonica player for Canned Heat, and went off to coax him into playing in the second set.
Here’s the song for his wife, “Not so hard to understand.”
And then a real treat, Dale Spalding playing the Boz Scaggs classic, “Lend me a Dime.”
An excellent start to “Live Music Week.”
Diana met Debra and Anne for a ladies lunch at Shaya on Tuesday. They did bring me some leftovers and hung out at the condo for a while after lunch.
“Pogeutry” provided our music on Wednesday at Tipitinas. This is a band made up of the Lost Bayou Ramblers with Spider Stacy and Cait O’Riordan of the original Pogues from the 1980s. I loved this show – so much energy and a good lead in to St. Patrick’s celebrations. Here’s “Dirty Old Town.” Kenny and Kara were able to join us and both enjoyed the show very much.
Spider Stacy is quite the tin whistle expert:
We enjoyed Happy Hour on the Columns porch again on Friday afternoon. The beet salad may be the best that I’ve ever had – the food has really come a long way under the new ownership. We laughed at Tim’s patron saint on our walk home:
And the number of beads still in the trees:
It was back to Tipitinas (thankfully a 5 minute walk around the corner) on Friday for a free show by the Soul Brass Band. Another excellent evening, that ended with McD getting a big hug from the surly bouncer that she befriended over the course of the evening. Here’s the band performing the Rolling Stones “All Over Now”:
Saturday brought…another parade! This time the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s parade. Not nearly as crowded as the Mardi Gras parades, but just as much fun. I wasn’t expecting cabbages, leeks, and carrots to be typical throws from the floats – you really needed to pay attention. We all had fun collecting “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” stuff for Anne’s dad, Grandpa Jack.
The krewe came back to the condo to relax after all the fun of the parade. We ordered Theo’s pizza and the boys enjoyed a cigar on the front balcony.
And then…Diana convinced me to walk around to another free show at Tipitinas – this time Papa Mali, the guy we enjoyed so much at Dos Jefes on Monday night. Unfortunately, this one was not our favourite – too much noodling around on the guitar and keyboards and not enough song structure. Oh well – we had an amazing week of music overall.
Sunday was a mostly lazy day and then we joined Denny and Anne for dinner at Jamila’s. This is a Tunisian restaurant with excellent lamb tagine. I had been talking to my mum about the place, and she encouraged me to get the tagine and report back about it. It was thoroughly delicious – so tender and so much flavour. The place is run by a husband and wife – he manages the front and she runs the kitchen. So welcoming and funny – we will be back for sure.
We had a drink at Chaise Delachaise before Jamilas. I didn’t recognize the name, but realized on arrival that we had enjoyed a lovely New Year’s Eve dinner there a few years ago. So many great places close by in this town.
Enough music already, so I’ll dive right into the book section.
My first book this week was “The Violin Conspiracy” by Brendan Slocumb. The plot revolves around a Stradivarius violin that is stolen from a black violinist. It turns out it was given to his great great grandfather by his slave owner. The story of the violin theft is interesting, but less so than the story of Ray and his journey through racism to become runner up at the Tchaikovsky competition. I found the first 70 or 80 pages a bit superficial, but really got sucked in when the story flipped back in time to Ray initially being obsessed with playing.
Slocumb holds a degree in music education (with concentrations in violin and viola) from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. For more than twenty years he has been a public and private school music teacher and has performed with many orchestras in the region. All of this makes for some detailed descriptions of violin technique and repertoire that I enjoyed a lot. I learned what double and triple stops are all about.
I recommend this book to anyone with even a passing interest in classical music.
Having run out of books on hand – time for a visit to Octavia books down the street – I read one of Diana’s stack. “One Italian Summer” was a very quick and easy read. Pretty girly but set in Positano with pleasant descriptions of the food and the area.
Here’s the Amazon summary:
“When Katy’s mother dies, she is left reeling. Carol wasn’t just Katy’s mom, but her best friend and first phone call. She had all the answers, and now, when Katy needs her the most, she is gone. To make matters worse, their planned mother-daughter trip of a lifetime looms: to Positano, the magical town where Carol spent the summer right before she met Katy’s father. Katy has been waiting years for Carol to take her, and now she is faced with embarking on the adventure alone.
But as soon as she steps foot on the Amalfi Coast, Katy begins to feel her mother’s spirit. Buoyed by the stunning waters, beautiful cliffsides, delightful residents, and, of course, delectable food, Katy feels herself coming back to life. “
I liked the way that Katy discovers her mom as a real person in Positano. The construct of time travel seems a bit hokey, but actually works out well in the end.
Stay safe and kind to everyone!