[Dixielandjazz] New Orleans FQ FEST 2006

[Brian Towers]

Hi Judy,

Sorry we missed you in NOLA. We had a great time as usual, though with some sobering reflections about the destruction outside the quarter.  I was very interested to read your account.   I can relate to what you are saying.    Here's something I wrote in my club newsletter, upon returning to Toronto, parts of which you may find interesting.
Cheers,
Brian Towers

New Orleans French Quarter Festival - April 2006

How was it, after the disaster of Katrina?   Well, to be honest, the French Quarter was cleaner and less SMELLY than I have ever experienced it before and, with some twenty previous visits by me since 1970, I claim to speak with some authority!   The Crescent City has worked hard to present a good face for visitors this year and things seemed very close to normal on the surface.  It was fairly quiet when I arrived on Tuesday April 18th but by the weekend the place was full of visitors and it was as loud and bustling as ever, great food, wonderful jazz, hot sun, very warm temperatures, mind-numbing noise from the blues bands - just like old times!  Ear plugs would be a definite asset when walking down Bourbon Street!  The organisers seemed pleased with the turnout. The restaurants and musical attractions were as good and as varied as ever.  My wife and I truly had a great time. New Orleans is very dependent upon tourism for its success, and those "calling the shots" are clearly well aware of this.  
I was, however, shocked that the street cars were not working on Canal Street or anywhere else.  Also it was disappointing that Preservation Hall was not going to re-open until April 28th!  These were just some of the tell-tale signs to remind us that things were still far from normal.  The engineers are working day and night to rebuild and strengthen the levees - with the next hurricane season fast approaching, it will be touch and go to see if the defences can resist another hurricane on the scale of Katrina.  From the airport I took the shuttle bus and, as there were building contractors to be dropped off in the ravaged 9th Ward etc, I saw some of the appalling devastation wreaked by the wind and the flooding.   I understand some 80,000 traliers have been shipped in but these can only be sited where there is water and electricity - there is still much to be done in this area apparently. So a large chunk of the population cannot yet be re-housed.  Elections were taking place over the weekend and one hopes that the new administration will have the smarts enough to see that resources, funds and energy are directed where most needed.

Janet Shaw and myself (writes Brian Towers) appeared with the KBR* International Jazz Band for the fourth consecutive year, with seven events in a five day period, mostly at Fritzel's pub, plus a show on the Bourbon Street stage and an appearance at the famous Palm Court Restaurant on Decatur St, by invitation of Ralf Black, one of the festival organisers and the owners of Palm Court, Nina and George Buck.  This was a particularly significent gig for us.  The last time we played there I was leading the Hot Five Jazzmakers and the year was 1990!  That year was a landmark occasion for the band, as the late Cliff "Kid" Bastien had agreed to join us on trumpet for our tour dates.  Brian Graville, our regular trumpet at the time, could not make it.  Chuck Clarke also joined us on drums, so we were the "Hot Five Jazzmakers plus One".  During that 1990 concert at the Palm Court, we were joined by two of the Kid's old Brit' buddies - Sammy Rimmington on clarinet and John Richardson on piano.  It was a night to remember.  As we played there this year, with the KBR* International Jazz Band, I kept thinking of that trip sixteen years ago, when we had the joyful presence of Kid Bastien.  His shouting horn and unique, happy vocals sparkled in our front line for all our gigs at Fritzels and the "Inn on Bourbon", where our party of 60 Canadians was staying.  As a matter of interest, Kid Bastien recorded a CD with Chester Zardis, Sammy Rimmington etc by George Buck, during that tour.   On our last night in New Orleans Jan and I popped back to the Palm Court to thank Nina and were surprised and delighted to find Carol Leigh singing as a guest with the band.  She well remembers Toronto and that famous festival by the Classic Jazz Society in 1996 at the Park Plaza Hotel.
*KBR stands for "Kid Bastien Remembered"   When the untimely death of Kid Bastien took place in February 2003, it sank the plans he and I had made for an all-star International band for the 2003 festival , under his name and I tried to cancel.   However Ralf Black, who is a French Quarter Festival organiser, insisted that we should still come, in honour of the "Kid's" memory and Joe Van Rossem stepped in as replacement.  Ralf named us "Kid Bastien Remembered" and the title has stuck for the past four years.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Judy Eames" <jude at judyeames.co.uk>
To: "DJML" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 3:52 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Britons Back from our travels to New Orleans andChicago


> We missed most of the DJMLers at the French Qurtr Fest but it was good to 
> meet up with Pat Cooke who seemed remarkably cheerful despite his  Katrina 
> experience.
> 
> There's been a lot of criticism (some justified I'm sure) for poor official 
> support for flood and tornado victims but the energy and optimism of the 
> people who are getting their lives back together is astounding.  We were 
> shown  affected areas not just in the city but to the North where tornados 
> ripped up acres of trees and demolished buildings.  We just saw about 25 
> miles  of destroyed woodland  with some homes still waiting to be rebuilt 
> and the problem  seemed massive..... difficult to take in the fact that the 
> affected area stretches for about 800 miles. Anyway I do hope that the 
> publicity that comes from the festivals will put Louisiana back centre 
> stage.  For Tony Davis and me, it was a first visit but we certainly hope to 
> go again...............................
Jude
>