LONG LIVE NEW ORLEANS!!

LONG LIVE NEW ORLEANS!!
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In the face of so much incredibly depressing news, it is hard to find a bright side to any of this. However, as the majority of lifetime residents already know, there is no other place on earth that will ever take the place of this unique city. New Orleans is a one-of-a-kind kind of place, and I believe that the unique nature of the city is the very thing that will cause it to rise up like a soaked phoenix out of the floodwaters and (eventually) prosper. For nearly two decades, I have been visiting New Orleans with a continually growing group of friends. We come from all over the United States, and we descend on the city for almost every Jazz Fest. We don’t show up to gawk, hang out on Bourbon Street, or drink ourselves into oblivion (‘though it has been known to happen anyway). We come for the cul-cha, the food, the architecture, the food, the history, the food, and mostly, we come for the music (and the food).
There is no place else on the planet Earth where you can hear music the way you hear music in New Orleans. The mix of Cajun, zydeco, blues, jazz, brass bands, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and real country music provides a musical gumbo that is beyond measure, and beyond comparison. There is a culture of musicians living outside of the city who idolize the New Orleans musical culture, and there is a population of lifetime musician-residents who simply know no other way to live than that provided by their own city. As I type this, New Orleans is in some deep trouble, but mark my words; come hell (which has already come, in the form of Hurricane Katrina) or high water (which has also come), this city has too much to offer the rest of the world to fester and die. The people of New Orleans will return, and this city will once again thrive. I have faith in them, because it is the good people of New Orleans who made the city what it was, and these very same people will make it what it once again soon will be.
Heidy and I will visit the city as soon as we are allowed. We have plans to be married in New Orleans, on July 29, 2006, and those plans will NOT change. New Orleans is dead?? LONG LIVE NEW ORLEANS!!!!


This show is intended to celebrate those things that are unique to New Orleans that will never die; things that will reappear as soon as the emergency crews clear out and the mayor calls us all to come back home. Here are a few New Orleans-based songs to enliven your spirit while we all wait for the day when we can return to our beloved city;
1) TIPITINA – PROFESSOR LONGHAIR
2) IKO IKO – THE DIXIE CUPS
3) MAPLE LEAF RAG – JELLY ROLL MORTON
4) CAKE WALKING BABIES FROM HOME - THE RED ONION JAZZ BABIES
5) MARDI GRAS IN NEW ORLEANS – PROFESSOR LONGHAIR
6) MARDI GRAS IN NEW ORLEANS – THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND
7) BLUE MONDAY – FATS DOMINO
8) PARA DONDE VAS – THE IGUANAS
9) JOLIE LOUISE – DANIEL LANOIS
10) WEST END BLUES – LOUIS ARMSTRONG