The Music of New Orleans

Well, I have been home now for a whole day.  Most of the laundry from the trip is done (thank goodness).  Now I am gearing up to send hubby off to Atlanta at the end of next week.  Since I didn't do a very good job of documenting the rest of our trip I will post some general stuff.  The first installment will be about the music of New Orleans which was probably my favorite thing about the city.

Upon the recommendation of William, the most awesome doorman in New Orleans, we headed out to Frenchman Street to Snug Harbor.  It is a little hole in the wall place, the dining area sat only around 60 people.  In the back was their performance area which was two stories, but there is a reason it is called Snug Harbor.  We were sitting shoulder to shoulder in the little performance area.  We got to see Ellis Marsalis, who is the father of Wynton and Branfort Marsalis.  He is a fabulous piano player and is really soft spoken.  There were times I really couldn't even hear what he was saying as he was introducing the pieces.  He has a great sense of humor though and it was a great evening.  It is very obvious where his sons get their talent and their charm from.

Also on Frenchman Street was The Blue Nile.  Being a Deadliest Catch junkie, I have been watching the episodes of After the Catch which were filmed at this club.  They have been featuring some great Zydeco musicians on After the Catch and I have been enjoying watching the episodes.  Just think, I could have stood where Sig or Captain Andy were!!!!!

We ate at Mulate's which also had a live Zydeco band performing and it is hard to walk down the street without hearing some sort of group or individual performing.  One of my favorites was a guy who wandered around the French Quarter playing his sousaphone.  We tried to get a picture of him but they all turned out kind of blurry.  We took a riverboat cruise the last evening we were there and they had the Emmy Award winning Dukes of Dixieland on board performing during the two hour cruise. 

My absolute favorite street performance was the New Orleans Navy Band that was performing between the Riverwalk and Andrew Jackson Park on July 4th.  They had a dixieland band that performed as well as a full concert band.  Both groups were stellar although I must admit the dixieland group was a lot of fun.  It was a great prelude to the Dueling Barges Fireworks display on the river for Independence Day.