Art and Photography Blog

Photo Highlights of 2014 Satchmo Fest

This summer I got to take in my first Satchmo Fest.  It was a rewarding experience with great live music and useful seminars. I took in some of both.  On Friday I was painting in Pirate’s Alley (see Painting in Pirate’s Alley #2 - Summer 2014) but managed to get away to see John Boutte do a fine set. John even played the trumpet. It is good for John that he has such a great voice.

    

On Saturday I went to several of the sessions starting with Gerald French and the Tuxedo Band followed by Kid Merv.

    

Next was Evan Christopher with Don Vappie and Kevin Lewis.

      

Walking to the event on Sunday I was escorted by a second line going down Esplanade. Nice start to the day.

    

The first group was Calvin Johnson. I saw him at Jazz fest where did excellent modern jazz. This time he delivered a strong trad jazz set with Kevin Lewis in respect to the event.  He was followed by the Ella & Louis Tribute Band. Playing many numbers from a great CD, Ella & Louis, that I listen to frequently.

    

Then Kermit closed the fest for me. He had some talented guests including the trombone player shown with him. She is making the rounds of many NOLA bands these days. I will be sure to be at the Satchmo every year going forward.

    

As I walked away from the event the sky was turning red providng a nice end to a good day.

  

Photos of Thursday Night Music in New Orleans

Thursday is always a great music night in New Orleans. Before we get to the music here is a little foodl at Katie’s. This award winning Mid-City place has been on our do-list for a while and did not disappoint. We had some NOLA classics: gumbo and chargrilled oysters, backed by a spinach salad and fried onion rings.

    

For this Thursday we choose three wonderful acts from the broad WWOZ menu.  First, we saw Colin Lake at Armstrong Park. I have been waiting to see him for some time as he frequently plays around town and here is Colin on YouTube. It was a last minute schedule change and I was pleased with the choice. Colin played some intense blues, including “I’ll Fly Away” and “Let’s Go Get Stoned.” I hope to see Trumpet Black and Nigel Hall soon. It was looking like rain so we headed over to Maison and missed Nigel Hill. Colin replaced Trumpet Black. There are so many great musicians here that there is always more to see.

    

Ducking out of the brief shower we saw the Shotgun Jazz Band at Maison led by Marla Dixon on vocals and trumpet with some excellent guests on trombone and clarinet. I had seen the band before at a Buffa’s Saturday brunch and bought two of her CDs that I listen to often. She provides earthy vocals to some trad jazz classics as well as newer numbers. Here is the Shotgun Jazz Band playing at Satchmo Fest. 

    

Then we saw my favorite NOLA blues guy, Ed Wills and his band, Blues4Sale at Vaso. He was bathed in the blue lights that Vaso employs as you can see below. This set was especially strong and included some songs I have not heard him perform before. Here are three of them on YouTube: Ed Wills at Vaso: Blue on Blues. We often go to his Wednesday 8PM session at BMC. Here are more YouTube videos Ed Wills BMC sets. I highly recommend taking in Ed at either place or wherever plays. I noticed he was at Chris Owens place this past weekend. He also has an excellent CD with his original songs, including my favorite post-Katrina song, “I’m Coming Home.”

  

As they say, only in New Orleans can you find this range of music, especially for free or with no cover, as was the case in each of the above. It is nice to be home. My good friend Paul Tamburello was visiting from Boston and joined us for the evening. Paul writes a well written travel blog, PT at Large. He has been covering New Orleans food (Lunch At Coops and The Clover Grill) and music (both past - Donna's Bar and Grill and present - Grandpa Elliot Small) as well as Lafayette and the surrounding area (Fred's Lounge: A Mamou Mardi Gras Tradition and Bonsoir Catin Rocks 'n Rages at Artmosphere).

Painting in Pirate's Alley: 2014 Summer Season

 described springtime painting in Pirate’s Alley in my last post. The summer season has it’s own character. First, there is the heat. Now the shade and breezes in Pirate’s Alley are welcomed. Some people still tackle the sun on Royal Street in hopes of higher sales, but I go for the shade. There seems to be plenty of foot traffic in the alley. Here is my summer set up at the beginning of the alley at Royal and further down towards Jackson Square.

    

Next, there is the rain. While there are rainy days in the spring, they are fewer and tend to last most of the day so you don’t even try to set up. The summer brings frequent, sudden, and heavy down pours that usually only last a few minutes. These almost daily occurrences need to be accommodated if you are to maintain a presence in the alley. My solution is the blue tarp made famous as roofing material after Katrina. Through much practice, I got it down so I can cover my paintings in a few minutes. The rain drill often gets several exercises on any day I am in the alley. 

    

The summer tourists are different: more kids and fewer art buyers. While the spring has many events to attract people to New Orleans and the French Quarter, the summer has its share. For example, there is Satchmo Fest and Red Dress Run. I left painting in the alley to go over to Satchmo Fest for an hour at a time to hear a some favorites such as John Boutte and Kermit. The visitors during Satchmo time were good and purchased some of my work. Red Dress Run is more like Red Dress Stroll. The Quarter is full of men and women wearing skimpy red dresses with drinks in hand. The heavily muscular went topless. No one seems to actually run, even those wearing official entry numbers. This turns into Red Dress Crawl or worse. They are not an art buying crowd and got tiresome after a while.

    

This year there was a convergence of Red Dress Run, Naughty in New Orleans (the swinger’s convention), and Dirty Linen Night in one weekend. The latter is an event on Royal Street organized in response to White Linen Night by the high-end galleries on Julia Street. That evening red dresses gave way to gallery goers and some art was sold. Several expensive paintings changed hands next to me and I made a gallery connection for the fall. As night came on you could see the shadow of a Mary statue with raised hands reflected on the back of St. Louis Cathedral. Below is an example of the hundreds of similar pictures taken by people clustered with cameras at the entrance to the alley. This scene happens every night and is called the touchdown Mary.

  

I am looking forward to the fall season on Pirate’s Alley and will bring you the results in a few months. Meanwhile, I hope to see you in the Quarter.

 

 

Painting in Pirate's Alley: 2014 Spring Season

This spring I began painting in Pirate’s Alley and offering my paintings for sale.  You need a license from the city, obtained in February. There is a long tradition of painters in Pirate’s Alley from the 1920s, if not before. John Sheldon’s Dixie Bohemia documents the artists and writers in the French Quarter in the 1920s. There is an article on Sheldon’s work in Summer 2013 issue of Louisiana Cultural Vistas. Their living spaces centered at Jackson Square and Pirate’s Alley. William Faulkner came to the alley in 1925. Renting space at 625 Orleans Alley (the official name of the alley at the time), Faulkner wrote his first novel, Soldier’s Pay, there, a few feet from where we paint. The building now houses a good book store and I am frequently having to tell tourists how to find it.

As a child in the 1950s I remember coming down with my mother to see the artists lining Pirate’s Alley. Sheldon’s book also documents the evolution of the area from immigrant neighborhood to artist colony to expensive tourist area. Even though today’s Quarter primarily caters to the tourist economy, I still feel a connection to the past. Some days this takes more effort than others. Below you can see my paintings set up for sale on two different days on Royal Street. Your spot varies with how early you arrive and how many others before you decided it might be a good day.  

  

Your license reads that it allows you to paint on the street, but you can also exhibit your work for sale. Many of the earlier artists were portrait painters who did street commissions but not all, as the Louisiana Cultural Vistas article indicates. Today some artists only sit and sell, while others work on their paintings. I tend to paint most of the time, while still trying to figure out better ways to promote my paintings. I would get bored just sitting, hoping to sell a work. Most artists are very cooperative, exchanging sales ideas and generally helping each other. I did a video of some of us with permission and posted it on YouTube (see Pirate's Alley Artists on Royal Street).

You can set up to paint on Royal Street on the fence behind the St. Louis Cathedral or around the corner in Pirate’s Alley. In the cooler days of the spring it is best to be on sunny Royal Street because of greater foot traffic. Getting a spot is on a first come basis, so this usually requires getting up with the sun. I try to get there at daybreak. Then I wait for the sidewalk cleaners to finish their daily ritual of power spraying the leftover trash from last night before setting up. We always thank them for their efforts. Sleep in and you end up in Pirate’s Alley, colder, shaded and windy as shown below.

  

In summer the cooler qualities of Pirate’s Alley are desired since the afternoon sun makes Royal Street an oven on hot days as it comes around the rooftops. Each season has its entertainers on Royal Street. The spring brings Mardi Gras parades (see my 1 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Mardi Gras Parade 2014), Second Lines (see my 6 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Second Lines 2014) and other celebrations such as St. Patrick’s Day bar hoppers accompanied by trucks with loud speakers blaring 70s rock (see my 2 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Saint Patrick's Day Parade 2014) and antique auto parades: (see my 2 minute YouTube video: Royal Street Antique Auto Parade 2014). There are also street performers, escape artists, and many others parading to be seen. The entertainment continues all day and forms a backdrop to my painting.

      

During all seasons a great trad jazz band led by Doreen Ketchins sets up around noon only a block away in front of Rouses’s, in good hearing distance. The live music is great to paint by. Brass band music filters over from Jackson Square if you are on that end of the alley. Occasionally, a well-trained opera singer starts up in the late afternoon on Royal.

  

I began painting on old moving box but graduated to a more professional folding table with a larger surface.

    

On cold days the early morning chill can be addressed by a hot coffee and roll from Royal Blend. Lunch has known to be gumbo from the Gumbo Shop around the corner. There is a Rouse’s for snacks and a guy comes around every day selling bananas, two for a dollar. I am a regular customer. Accessible bathrooms are a trade secret. Come down to the street and I can share this insider’s knowledge.

     

The summer season takes a different turn as described in my next post.

 

Photos of Great Meals in South Louisiana

As my last post indicated I recently went to west to take in some Zydeco and Cajun music and dancing. A delicious part of this trip was the wonderful food of the region. Every meal was worthy of a repeat. 

It began with lunch at Victor’s Cafeteria in New Iberia that included gumbo, fried shrimp, crawfish ettouffe, frogs leg, and fried fish. There were some inviting deserts. While I was full from the meal I could not resist taking pictures of some of the treats. That night we ate at Miller’s Zydeco Hall of Fame in Lawtel LA as we saw the Zydeco bands. The food included one of the best gumbos I have had, well as some great fried chicken.

         

The next morning we stopped at Ray’s Bakery in Eunice for two dozen fresh doughnuts to take to the Cajun jam session at the Savoy Music center where we had some wonderful boudin. We each had a doughnut on the way and the rest were consumed quickly once we got there. Lunch was at Don’s Seafood in Lafayette and consisted of BBQ oysters, gumbo, along with crawfish five ways: bisque, cocktail, ettouffe, au gratin, and fried. Dinner was at the Mayor’s Gala in Opelousas and included some wonderful gumbo in the same homemade style we found at Miller’s.

               

On Sunday morning we stopped at the Donut Queen in Mamou for two small sausage kolatch and a boudin kolatch. Both were sausage wrapped in bread. Later we ate at McGee’s Landing in Henderson. Our meal included: grilled catfish, crawfish, alligator, stuffed shrimp, hush puppies, stuffed potato, and syrup cake for desert. Most of the seafood came from the nearby Atchafalya Basin. 

               

Photos of Zydeco and Cajun Musicians in South Louisiana

The weekend before New Years I went out west to take in some Zydeco and Cajun music and dancing. I saw Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys doing a mix of Cajun and Zydeco at Miller's Zydeco Hall of Fame in Lawtel, LA. I also saw several Zydeco bands: Corey Ledet abnd his Zydeco band and Lil Pookie and the Zydeco Senasation at Miller's on Friday at the same event as Steve Riley, Keith Frank and the Soileau Zydeco Band at the Opelousas Mayor's Gala on Sauturday, and Geno Delafose and French Rockin' Boogie at Whiskey Landing in Henderson, LA on Sunday. I also went to the Cajun music jam at the Savoy Music Center which happens every Saturday morning in in Savoy LA and on Sunday saw Forest Huval and Al Berard at MeGee's Landing in Henerseon, LA. They are shown in order of mention except for Geno where it was too crowded and dark to take pictures but here is an earlier photo of him at a festival in New Orleans. 

 

Here is what I found around this time in 2011: Taking in Zydeco Music in Opelousas Louisiana and More and Taking in Cajun Music in the Lafayette Louisiana Area. It is a great area for music anytime. Here are the 2012 pictueres.

                                 

Photos of Chicot Sate Park, Louisiana

Southern Louisiana is a beautifual place. with several state parks for camping, canoing, and walking. Here are pcitures of Chicot State Park which has woodss for walking and swamps for canoeing and fishing, including a long fishing pier. there are cabions for rent an dwe plan to return.  

                                 










 

Photos of the Atchafalya Basin in Louisiana

The Atchafalya Basin is a huge swamp in Louisiana that might become the future home of the Mississippi River according to some. It is a beautifual place. with several state parks for camping, canoing, and walking inlcuding Lake Fausse Pointe. Here are pictures of the swamp and several music venues alongside it including McGeee's Landing where we also had some seafood harvested from the swamp including basin catfish. 

                                      

Photos of Homes in the New Iberia Louisiana Area.

On the way to to going west to take in some Zydeco and Cajun music and dancing, we took the slow route from New Orleans on Route 90 to see some of the pleasant towns and countryside along the way. There were many lovely homes in the New Iberia area, starting with Franklin and continuing through New Iberia to St. Martinville. Franklin had a wide road with white lamp posts and Chtistmas decorations, along with many large homes. Here are some of what we saw, along with a few other local views. The past five posts have covered other parts of our trip. 

                                                 

Photos of the Cajun/Zydeco Prairie

Another benefit to going west to take in some Zydeco and Cajun music and dancing is the roadside scenery. There is a Zydeco Cajun Prairie Scenic Byway that we followed a good bit. Here are some highlights.