| Page 1 2 GLOBETROTTING: A NEW ORLEANS COLLAGE by Adam D. Miller, Zayne Reeves, and Russell Bartholo New Orleans is so pivotal to the worlds of music and film, that ignoring the natural and manmade destruction that followed Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would be foolish on our part. Every month, in our Being There’s City Guide, we offer concert and event listings for some major North American cities, and New Orleans always seemed so vibrant in its offerings. Last month we had to wipe the listings away, knowing that none would happen. Once again, New Orleans seems to be absent from concert scheduling in October, and will sadly probably continue to be in the coming months. But we at Being There hope and pray that New Orleans will be alive and well soon.In the meantime, we revisit New Orleans in Globetrotting. Shel Desormeaux covered New Orleans for Globetrotting in our very first issue in August 2004, when none of us had any idea that any kind of disaster could have this kind of impact. It would be senseless to repeat things that have already been said in Shel’s column, but it’s definitely worth revisiting. Instead of doing what we usually do in Globetrotting, the three of us have collaborated on a list of some of our favorite pieces of New Orleans, in no particular order: 1. “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans” by Louis Armstrong This jazz standard has been recorded hundreds of times by countless artists, but nobody ever sang or played it any better than Pops. It’s sung from the point of view of one who has had to leave the city he loves and longs to return to, counting the days until he’ll see “moonlight on the bayou” and hear “Creole tunes fill the air.” Since the hurricane, the last line has more poignancy than ever: “And there’s one thing more/I miss the one I care for more than I miss New Orleans.” (RB) 2. Chronicles, Volume One by Bob Dylan. “Chapter 4: Oh Mercy” "Everything in New Orleans is a good idea." The first time I read that, I was sitting in a waiting room at some doctor's office, drinking coffee so dishwater-y that it hardly deserved the name and worrying about a loved one's health. Dylan's seductive, mystical travelogue for that incomparable city was my escape from the purgatory of waiting to hear what the test results were, all the while desperately yearning to escape from the fluorescent lights and putrid-looking carpet and breathe a little fresh air on my way to a decent cup of coffee. The New Orleans that Dylan writes about is the world's last great carnival, one that is both a salve and a distraction for the soul. If you have lost your way, this is the place where you can find inspiration again. When you need to clear your head and regain perspective on just how insignificant your struggles really are, walk among the dead in the city's cemeteries. As Dylan sees it, New Orleans is still wild and dangerous and, regardless of its popularity as a tourist industry, no minivan can crush that spirit. If there is anything I can offer as a blessing to the city and its people, it is another line from Dylan's book that I've taken comfort in these past few weeks; "New Orleans, unlike a lot of those places you go back to and that don't have the magic anymore, still has got it." (ZR) 3. “City Beneath The Sea” by Harry Connick, Jr In 1996, Harry Connick, Jr. released Star Turtle, a concept album that celebrates the rich variety of New Orleans music. Aside from four interludes that carry the ludicrous narrative of an interstellar turtle coming to Earth to take music back to its dying planet (!), the record’s dozen original compositions stand as a beautiful tribute to the music of the Crescent City, including jazz, Meters-style funk, and soulful spirituals. The last song, “City beneath the Sea,” could easily be the city’s official anthem (if it didn’t already have “When the Saints Go Marching In” and about a dozen other classic contenders), as it celebrates the very things that make New Orleans such a vital unique place. “You can hear the taps of soda caps and smell the etouffee.” (RB) 4. “Take Me To The Mardi Gras” by Paul Simon This track appeared on 1973’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, the nostalgic album that also featured “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like A Rock.” The track is a simple ballad about visiting New Orleans, attending Mardi Gras, and forgetting all your worries and sorrows: “And I will lay my burden down / Rest my head upon that shore / And when I wear that starry crown / I won't be wanting anymore.” The track culminates with (what else?) a Dixieland band wailing away as the song fades. It’s Paul Simon with sentiment but not sappiness, singing about one of the many places he treasures. (ADM) 5. “Walking To New Orleans” by Fats Domino Fats Domino might just have recorded the first rock ‘n’ roll tune. Certainly his distinctive boogie woogie piano, with that amazing left hand stride, is as responsible for the genre as the contributions of Little Richard, Chuck Berry, or Bill Haley. “Walking to New Orleans” alone would qualify the man for his place in the pages of music history. Every element is perfect, from the plaintive melody and the call and response of the vocals and strings, to the urgency of Fats’ voice to get back to the home he loves. (RB) 6. The Meters, The Meters The debut record by New Orleans native sons The Meters is one of the prime movers of 70s funk and early hip hop. Later records by The Neville Brothers may have sold more copies, but the instrumental grooves of The Meters are part of our musical DNA, as indelible as James Brown, Fats Domino, or Louis Armstrong. Every modern jazz/funk fusion group (I’m looking at you, Galactic) owes its existence to the rhythms of this record, not to mention just about every crime/heist film of the last ten years (I’m looking at you, Out of Sight). Essential listening. (RB) Page 1 2 |
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