Category Archives: music

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A Closer Walk

See what happens when good people get together over music? They come up with something like this, a site dedicated to listing the musical history of our city, place by place.

Jazz, big band, gospel, soul, brass bands, funk, blues, second-lines, hip-hop, bounce, r&b, pop, zydeco, rock, classical all have substantial roots here in the Crescent City. This site will do more than just set tourists to a wandering around; as a visual map, it can help save some of these places and to connect the dots about the development of some of America’s greatest art forms.

The A Closer Walk (ACW) project and site is presented by WWOZ New Orleans and produced by five partners: Bent Media, e/Prime Media, the Ponderosa Stomp Foundation, Randy Fertel and WWOZ.

https://acloserwalknola.com/

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Bayou Maharajah

I saw Bayou Maharajah when it came out: I enjoyed it, was moved by it at moments and remain pleased to have been a Kickstarter backer of this project. Back when I was a teenager in the French Quarter, I had the great luck of making friends with smart and wise older people who said to me, “you gotta hear Booker” and “you gotta hear Lil Queenie” and “you gotta hear the Nevilles” and so on…and took me to places to hear it all, see it all, to explode my Midwestern head apart. Booker in particular personified and played the song of New Orleans to me, which was sophisticated and street at the same time, with every melody and rhythm ever played by man inserted and some nutty talk before and after for good measure. GO see this movie when it comes to your town, buy it online if possible and know why we say he was the “the best black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans has ever produced”. Actually, you could just say the best piano genius New Orleans has ever produced, and that’s saying something. As our own Leigh Harris sings it beautifully on the tribute album on “Providence Provides”: “Ray Charles in his left hand, Beethoven in his right…”
https://itunes.apple.com/…/patchwork-tribute-to-…/id41748853

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Norwegian Seamen’s Church becomes Jazz Church

Finally some good news in the city! Their annual Scandinavian Festival is a delight; I’m certainly going to try to get to more events here to support this idea.

(The coming year will be an important test of the new concept. If, by mid-2018, it becomes clear that the newly configured church and cultural center isn’t viable, the local board will be released from its commitment and the Church of Norway will put the church up for sale.)

This past summer, it looked like the Norwegian Seamen’s Church would be shuttered for good. If all goes as planned, the New Orleans church will officially become the Scandinavian Jazz Church on Feb. 1.

According to the plan, the church complex will serve as a home base for people of Scandinavian heritage. But it also will reach out to New Orleanians of all heritages by hosting concerts and expanding upon the church’s rich history with the city’s jazz community.

Jazz Church

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2016 French Quarter & Treme Holiday Concerts and Jackson Square Caroling deets

Caroling Sunday, December 18 Jackson Square
Sponsored by Patio Planters since 1946

Candles and song sheets provided. Gates open at 6:30 pm and Caroling begins promptly at 7pm. Free and open to the public.

St. Louis Cathedral Concerts
The St. Louis Cathedral concerts, produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc. as part of Christmas New Orleans Style, generally run for an hour, from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. The concerts are open to the public and donations are welcome to help fund the cost of the series.
November 17, 2016 (6:30PM) The Jones Sisters (Gospel)
November 20, 2016 Jean-Baptiste Monnot (Classical)
December 1, 2016 Joe Lastie’s Family Gospel (Gospel)
December 4, 2016 Charmaine Neville (Jazz/R & B)
December 5, 2016 Rachel Van Voorhees (Harp/Classical)
December 6, 2016 Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots (Zydeco)
December 8, 2016 Greater St. Stephen Mass (Choir Gospel)
December 11, 2016 Tim Laughlin (Jazz)
December 12, 2016 Alexis & the Samurai w/ Guests (Pop/Folk)
December 13, 2016 Irma Thomas Sings Gospel (Gospel)
December 14, 2016 Tony Green and Gypsy Jazz (Gypsy Jazz)
December 15, 2016 Christmas Organ Spectacular w/ Emmanuel Arakélian (Classical)
December 18, 2016 (5:30) St. Louis Cathedral Annual Concert

St. Augustine Catholic Church Concerts
St Augustine is the oldest African-American Catholic church in the United States and is located at 1210 Gov. Nicholls Street in the historic Treme neighborhood. Free secure parking is available in the church’s parking lot – enter from Henriette Delille Street.

The St. Augustine Church holiday concerts, produced by French Quarter Festivals, Inc. as part of Christmas New Orleans Style, run for an hour, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. The concerts are free and open to the public and donations are welcome to help fund the cost of the series.
December 3, 2016 James Andrews(Jazz)
December 10, 2016 Shades of Praise (Gospel)
December 17, 2016 Original Tuxedo Jazz Band

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Armstrong Park: 2016 Jazz in the Park schedule

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