Category Archives: music

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A Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter, Free Public Concerts…

…Concludes With
A Performance by Cynthia Cheri-Woolridge & Friends
At Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in the Vieux Carre

NEW ORLEANS, LA—On April 10, 2014 the sixth and final of Bishop Perry’s Center’s series of free, public concerts will take place at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1116 Chartres St. at 6 p.m. Stars of this concert will be Cynthia Cheri-Woolridge and Friends, a gifted group of gospel and spiritual singers and musicians. Among friends expected to join Cynthia in the performance on Thursday is Dr. Michael White, the renowned jazz musician, jazz historian, and teacher.
Others joining Ms. Cheri-Woolridge will be Desmian Barnes and Percy Williams on trumpet; Arthur Mitchell on Saxaphone; Robino Barnes on Bass; and Jarvis McCelos on drums. Singers will include Jerrydette Joseph, Sylvia Thomas, Anicia Cheri, Gary Foster, and William Wiloughby, along with the Bishop Perry Center “Heavenly Notes.”

The series—A Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter—features music ranging from classical favorites of the great gothic and baroque cathedrals of the world to Broadway to New Orleans jazz, spirituals, and gospel. The concerts take place in the architecturally and historically significant Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, part of the old Ursuline Convent Complex, located in the French Quarter.

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French Quarter Festival 2014

I remember the few little tents and one stage of the first years of this festival; I love how it has grown and that it is so well run. A good example of how to utilize our city center for our culture without taking the fun (or life!) out of it.

Dr. John’s first performance at French Quarter Festival since 1987

Dr. John embodies the best of New Orleans’ rich musical heritage, and in 2014, he returns to French Quarter Festival for the first time since 1987. This will be his ONLY appearance at a major spring festival in New Orleans in 2014. Dr. John and the Nite Trippers will perform on the riverfront Abita Stage Friday, April 11th at 4:30 p.m. In what promises to be an incredible musical evening, Dr. John will be followed by the Roots of Music with very special guests, and Grammy award-winning Rebirth Brass Band. Longtime Festival supporter, vendor, and friend – Tropical Isle – has generously provided the support to bring Dr. John back to French Quarter Festival. Enter to win the Dr. John VIP experience for a chance to join Tropical Isle for ring access to the show: https://apps.facebook.com/my-contests/aqesyl

Riverfront construction ends and brings the launch of a new music stage:
GE Capital/New Orleans Tech Big River Stage

Year after year, French Quarter Festival is voted ‘locals’ favorite’ while also attracting a tremendous out-of-town audience. A huge part of the appeal is that it provides a true and authentic New Orleans experience – a broad range of Louisiana artists and a diverse variety of musical styles and genres. Since 1984, French Quarter Festival has been committed to featuring New Orleans’ finest artists every day of the festival, on stages all over the French Quarter. The tradition continues in 2014, when FQFI unveils the Big River Stage with new partners GE Capital/New Orleans Tech. The stage has a diverse mix of talented artists that includes Davell Crawford, Paul Sanchez and the Minimum Rage, Glen David Andrews, Jeremy Davenport, New Birth Brass Band, Eric Lindell, Jon Cleary & the Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Flow Tribe, Diablo’s Horns, George Porter, Jr. and Runnin’ Pardners, Lynn Drury, Russell Batiste & Friends with The Wild Tchoupitoulas featuring Jason Neville, Egg Yolk Jubilee, Big Chief Bo Dollis & the Wild Magnolias, Casa Samba Extravaganza, The New Orleans Suspects, the Iguanas, and more. The Big River Stage will feature music daily, on April 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.

Brass bands are moving from the Riverside Legacy Stage (formerly located on the riverfront) to the new Popeyes Brass Band Jam with OffBeat at the Old U.S. Mint. Barracks Street will be closed to traffic, adding more to the ‘pedestrian playground’ and street party feel of the Festival. The stage will feature Leroy Jones’ Original Hurricane Brass Band, Hot 8 Brass Band, The Original Pinettes Brass Band, Treme Brass Band, Audacity Brass Band, Lagniappe Brass Band, Onward Brass Band, Corey Henry’s Treme Funktet, The Original Pinettes Brass Band, Andrew Hall’s Society Brass Band, Orleans Brass Band, and more. Popeyes Brass Band Jam with OffBeat will run April 11th, 12th, and 13th.

The Chevron Cajun Zydeco Showcase launched in 2013 at the Bienville Triangle (North Peters near St. Louis Street). It was such a hit with festival fans, that it will return for 2014. One of the most popular stages at Festival, the 2014 lineup includes: Big Easy Playboys, Waylon Thibodeaux Band, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, Corey Ledet, Brandon Moreau & his Cajungrass, Bruce Daigrepoint Cajun Band, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Amada Shaw, Feufollet, Babineaux Sisters Band, Rusty Metoyer and the Zydeco Krush, Sean Ardoin-n-Zydekool, Les Freres Michot, Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots, the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and more.

New site for the Film Festival at French Quarter Festival: Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré

French Quarter Festivals, Inc. continues its partnership with Timecode:nola – a non-profit 501(c)3 organization made up of filmmakers who promote local filmmaking. Because of its incredible popularity at the 2013 French Quarter Festival, the 2014 Film Festival (free and open to the public) will move to Le Petit Théâtre, with more room for fans. Movies and shorts will focus on New Orleans music, neighborhoods and culture (click here for full schedule). Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré, originally organized in 1916 as the New Orleans Chapter of the Drama League of America and one year later as the Drawing Room Players, is one of the oldest community theatres in the country. Since moving into its current home in 1922, the “Little Theatre” has entertained thousands of audience members in a wide array of dramas, comedies, and musicals.

Exciting new additions to Festival food and beverages

The World’s Largest Jazz Brunch will include a new dining area. Over 60 food vendors make up ‘The World’s Largest Jazz Brunch’ at French Quarter Festival, featuring classic New Orleans dishes as well as cuisine from the best restaurants in the region. A number of restaurants have been with the festival since its beginning in 1984, and have been great partners for 30 years: Pat O’Brien’s, Ristorante Carmelo, Trey Yuen, Tujague’s, Vaucresson Sausage, Desire Oyster Bar, and Court of Two Sisters. Other festival favorites return for 2014, including Galatoire’s, Muriel’s, Antoine’s, Praline Connection, Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House, Restaurant R’evolution, Desire Oyster Bar, Bennachin, Love at First Bite, Crescent Pie and Sausage, Boucherie, GW Fins, House of Blues, Jacques-Imo’s, K-Paul’s, Mrs. Wheat’s, Lasyone’s Meat Pies, and more. New vendors include Café Reconcile, Loretta’s Pralines, Ninja Restaurant, Rib Room, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza.
Go online and check out their website and download their free app too:

FQFest

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Debbie Davis visits The Real World: New Orleans | My Spilt Milk

A well done interview with a talented working musician talking about the struggle to work as much as she wants and how she wants.
So much fascinating information:

Like many musicians who play on Frenchmen Street, Davis has performed with many musicians and a lot of bands, but after playing with The Mesmerizers for more than a year now, she’s reluctant to play with others any more than necessary. “They are now feeling what I want before I tell them, which is refreshing,” Davis said. “And frankly, the fewer people in the mix, the more I can pay them. And whatever I pay will never be enough.”

If I went some place else – I love New York, I’d love to work in New York, but I can’t afford to live in New York unless I”m one of five people who are making a grand and substantial living as musicians. The rest are working day jobs and playing in clubs for $70 a pop. I’m making twice as much here. And I don’t have to have a day job. In some ways, I’m better off. It would be great if I could get someone to fix the pot holes on my street, and the cops would show up when shit’s going on in my neighborhood …

The Advocate

My Spilt Milk

Calendar

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Concerts in the Courtyard returns at HNOC

Friday: Concerts in the Courtyard with Hot Club of New Orleans

Show: 6–8 p.m.; Doors: 5:30 p.m.
533 Royal Street
Admission is $10, free for THNOC members.

Now in its seventh year, Concerts in the Courtyard offers a fun, casual way to kick off the weekend with live outdoor performances by Louisiana musicians. The fall series opens Friday, March 14, with a performance by Hot Club of New Orleans.

Hot Club of New Orleans, whose performance at the November 2013 event was rained out, takes swing-era music and retains a classical groove, melding it with modern sensibilities. They count greats like Duke Ellington, Django Reinhardt, and Stephan Grappelli among their influences, and their tight but fun sound has led to performances at various festivals including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, French Quarter Festival, Fellini Jazz Festival, and Jazz Ascona Festival in Switzerland. Band members include Christopher Kohl (clarinet), Matt Rhody (violin/vocals), Nathan Lambertson (bass), Larry Scala (guitar), and John Rodli (guitar).

All concerts this season will feature white wine from Republic National Distributing Co. and beer from NOLA Brewing Co. Republic National Distributing Co. is the second-largest beverage alcohol distributor of premium wine and spirits in the U.S. NOLA Brewing Co. was launched in 2008 by local entrepreneur Kirk Coco and Peter Caddoo, a former brewmaster at Dixie Beer.

Mark your calendars for the rest of the spring 2014 season:

Thursday, April 17: New Orleans Nightingales
presented in conjunction with the exhibition Shout, Sister, Shout! The Boswell Sisters of New Orleans

Friday, May 16: Viváz
presented in conjunction with the exhibition Creole World: Photographs of New Orleans and the Latin Caribbean Sphere

Friday, June 13: Africa Brass

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A Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church

A Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter:
A Series of Free Public Concerts to be Staged At
Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in the Vieux Carre

NEW ORLEANS, LA—On March 6, 2014, renowned tenor and opera performing artist Fernando del Valle and acclaimed organ recitalist Jarrett Follette will kick off a series of concerts at an important architectural and historic landmark, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the French Quarter.
The series—A Musical Prelude to the Celebration of Easter—will feature music ranging from classical favorites of the great gothic and baroque cathedrals of the world to New Orleans jazz, spirituals, and gospel and will take place on Thursdays at 6 p. m. Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, part of the old Ursuline Convent Complex, is located at 1116 Chartres Street.

Subsequent concerts in the series will feature more of the
talented performance artists of New Orleans.

—The March 13 Concert will star popular New Orleans vocalists Phillip Manuel, whose voice is big enough to fill a cathedral or capture the crowds at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Lucy Burnett, noted especially for her dramatic range, both of whom have
frequently sung in gospel chorales as well as jazz jams and solo gigs.
—The March 20 Concert will star Grammy and Billboard Award-winning Jazz trumpeter and bandleader Irvin Mayfield, whose Jazz Playhouse at the Royal Sonesta has been described as the best jazz club in New Orleans and who is founder and artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and New Orleans Jazz Institute, as well as Professor of Music at the University of New Orleans. At the University of New Orleans he initiated a program of musical composition, creating
new music based on the work of famous authors. Most recently, he composed a program of new music based on the work of Louisiana
literary master Ernest J. Gaines.
—The March 27 Concert will star Soprano Amy Pfrimmer, head of the Voice Faculty at Tulane University, who has performed across the United States, Germany, France, Canada, and England, including appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society, in collaboration with pianist and composer Dave Brubeck. Ms. Pfrimmer will appear with pianist Dreux Montegut, who has been Director of Music since 1966 at the Cathedral – Basilica of St. Louis King of France, where he conducts the Cathedral Choir and Concert Choir. Under his direction, the Cathedral Concert Choir has performed an excitingly diverse array of music ranging from Mozart’s Mass in C Minor to Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music.
—The April 3 Concert will star Lisa McDonald and Jacques Weaver in flute and harp performances. Ms. McDonald, who is a talented architect with McDonald Architects and staff architect at Tulane Univerisity Health Services Campus, plays flute with the New Orleans
Concert Band. Jacques Weaver, who has taught music in Plaquemines
Parish for many years is an accomplished pianist, organist, and harpist,
who plays organ and harp for Mass at St. Mary’s. A singer, too, he has
performed with the New Orleans Opera Chorus.
—The April 10 Concert will star Cynthia Cheri-Woolridge, who
leads a popular group of gospel and spirituals singers and musicians. Her degree in music is from Xavier University and Ms. Cheri-Woolridge, a soloist with the New Orleans Concert Band an the New Orleans Black
Chorale, has served as both choir director and organist for such churches as Peter Claver, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Jude.

The concerts are free and open to the general public and are sponsored by the Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Cathedral-Basiica of St. Louis King of France to benefit the new mission of the Archdiocese in downtown New Orleans, the Bishop Perry Center. Donations to support the Center will be accepted at the concerts. The Center, located at 1941 Dauphine, is under the direction of the Rev. William F. Maestri and has a multi-faceted mission of:
—Providing a spiritual ministry—daily mass at Noon Monday – Friday, ongoing spiritual counseling at the Center, boots on the street ministering to men, women, and children living on the street, and communicating with downtown residents to make them aware of services available at the Center.
—Meeting the material needs for food and clothing of the disadvantaged and assisting those in need of shelter find it.
—Providing a base for the delivery of free medical and psychological evaluation and treatment services, desperately needed in downtown New Orleans.
—Providing educational services, such as tutoring for G. E. D., teaching reading and writing, teaching computer skills, and mentoring men and women who have lost their jobs and are seeking employment.
—Cultural Outreach programs for the downtown neighborhoods, including heritage events, music events, literary events, visual arts events.

The program for the first concert will include some of the finest Baroque music written for the tenor voice and for the organ, as well as later spiritually oriented classical music.

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Beaten musician Doug Potter awakens, moves to Touro Infirmary for therapy

Beaten musician Doug Potter awakens, moves to Touro Infirmary for therapy | NOLA.com.