[Dixielandjazz] Uncaring city councils

[John Farrell]

Tom Wiggins post reminded me of the time years ago when I spent a week in
New Orleans on one of my US trips expecting to find it festooned with
plaques identifying the buildings where all my jazz heroes used to play and
live. Instead I found - nothing! The French Quarter, Jackson Square etc. was
full of tee shirt shops, topless bars, stalls selling tourist tat and loud
bands playing Mickey Mouse music. The benches in Louis Armstrong Park were
full of sleeping winos, the trumpet on Satch's statue had been stolen (the
statue looked more like King Oliver than Armstrong!) - even the site of the
bulldozed Storyville district was not marked.

I was bitterly disappointed, the one saving grace was when my (great!)
pianist pal Steve Pistorius called for me at the hotel and took me to a
local jazz club where the real McCoy was being played. Despite that, I doubt
very much if I shall ever go to N.O. again.

What is wrong with these city councils? Why do they ignore the rich legacy
which has been left to them? Don't they realise the importance of New
Orleans in the development of jazz which has spread all over the world and
brought fulfilment into so many lives? Do they care at all about it?

John Farrell
http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm

----- Original Message -----
From: <TCASHWIGG at aol.com>
To: <mjl at ix.netcom.com>; <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 10, 2004 6:38 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Big Bear Tavern


> Heck Mike:
>
> you would be hard pressed to find anybody in the San Francisco City
> government who ever even heard of Lu Watters or Turk Murphy much less have
any idea
> where a landmark of the city was removed or still in place.
>
> They still have a hard time finding the monuments for George Moscone and
> Harvey Milk and they erected them not long ago.
>
> They have no clue that Yerba Buena had it's own Band, they think it is
just a
> support to hold up the Bay Bridge next to Treasure Island which they still
> think is a Navy Base.
>
> Oh that Yerba Buena, we thought you meant the community center we have
been
> funding for the past ten years is there another?
> >
> Same reason the city of Oakland has no Slim Jenkins or Clancey Hayes Hall
of
> fame.
> Cheers,
>
> Tom Wiggins