One of the great joys of going to New Orleans is all the wonderful live music in a wide variety of music styles, most of which originated here or in the country side to the southwest of the city. I already covered the Cajun and Zydeco musicians on their home turf that I saw on this trip (see Taking in Zydeco Music in Opelousas Louisiana and More and Taking in Cajun Music in the Lafayette Louisiana Area). Here is what I found in New Orleans. I went out every night but still missed a lot.
On my first night I went to Frenchman Street for a nice dinner and some music clubs. The best one was a high energy set by Trombone Shorty's brother David Glenn Andrews at d.b.a. It got off to lively start and he played most of the numbers from his new CD that I bought. Then he mentioned some actors from the HBO series Treme were in the audience as they did a benefit together over the weekend. First, the Big Chief's friend who did the hauling business, actor David Jay, came up on stage after being in the audience for a while. He was actually a good singer. See first photo below. He is on the right doing a bounce version of a 80s R&B number. Then the actor who plays the Big Chief, himself, Clark Peters showed up and came up on stage and joined in for a number. He is the far right in the second photo.
On the way to d.b.a I also saw Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses at The Masion and got one of their CDs. They play old style swing jazz. Earlier there was good blues by Lil Red and Big Bad at the Balcony Music Club (1331 Decatur Street – 504-599-7770).
On several afternoons I went to the Gazebo in the French Market where they have live music in an outdoor cafe. It is relaxed venue. There is another outdoor music cafe close by but I find the Gazebo more intimate. This time I heard Ellen Smith and her group and bought their excellent CD of covers, On Time: Gazebo Afternoon.
I ended up seeing the Treme Brass Band twice. First at d.b.a, on Tuesday and then at their home club, the Candlelight Lounge in Treme on Wednesday. The Candlelight Lounge is located at 925 North Robertson Street (504) 525-4748. The high energy trumpeter Kenny Terry leads the band, co founder Benny Jones, anchors with snare drums, co founder Lionel Batiste is on the bass drum, and a there is a cast of regulars and guys who come to sit in. The core of the band was the same at both clubs but a few extras joined at the Candlelight.
The crowd at the Candlelight was much younger so they were more active than the older folks at d.b.a. and danced more and were entertaining themselves and encouraged the band. The audience made the break entertaining as they continued to be active with some good background music playing loudly. I stayed for the second set as a result. The sets were essentially the same but I would recommend seeing them at the Candlelight as there is much more energy and it is their home club. The first photos are from d.b.a. and the second set from the Candlelight. Here is my friend Paul Tamburello’s post on them: New Orleans: The Treme Brass Band Lights Up The Candlelight Lounge.
Then I went to the Lafayette and Opelousas area for Cajun and zydeco. Returning on Sunday night I went to a fess festival to honor Professor Longhair at Tipitina’s (501 Napoleon Avenue). It was amazing with serious surprise guests and deserves it own post that appears tomorrow.
On my last night I saw Papa Grows Funk at the Maple Leaf 8316 Oak Street (504) 866-9359 in my old neighborhood. Their band leader, John Gros, had played at the Fess Festival the night before both in a number with Dr. John and with a group of his own but not Papa Grows Funk. I have several of their CDs and saw them at the French Quarter Festival. This set featured some new numbers and was very hard driving.
Here are my music explorations in January 2010, and New Orleans Lives Music Samples May 2011, the last two times I was there. The WWOZ music calendar provides a comprehensive list of live music in the city.
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