[Dixielandjazz] Dixieland in Miami Florida area

[Steve Barbone]

El Gatto, Francesco Salomoni, a new list mate from Miami was asking about
Dixieland Bands in the Miami Area. Check out this article from the Miami
Herald. The Mardi Gras is in Hollywood (FL), right up the road. And they
list two Dixieland Bands; CB Pope's Dixieland All Stars and Hot Java
Dixieland Band. Plus 40,000 strands of beads and a bunch of other bands.

Better yet, Whether those bands are from out of town or not, go get the gig
next year as a local band. Sounds like a GREAT PARTY. Contact names are in
the article.

Check out the action, El Gatto. It starts Friday and runs through Tuesday.

Cheers,
Steve

A fleet of wild and wacky floats ready to roll

It's time once again for the annual Mardi Gras Fiesta Tropicale, with its
food, music and glitzy costumes

BY EILEEN SOLER - Special to The Miami Herald

The song that blares on the website for South Florida's biggest New
Orleans-style festival says it best: You gotta see that Mardi Gras.

Not only see, but hear and taste, too. Witness hundreds of costumed revelers
marching in bead-tossing bands called krewes and dozens of floats festooned
in wild, wacky, glittering themes. Tap a toe to Big Easy zydeco, jazz, blues
and Allen Toussaint. Savor crawfish, jambalaya, Louisiana crab cakes and
alligator.

On this side of the swamp, Bourbon Street is downtown Hollywood, the bayou
is on the beach and G-rated debauchery defines the 10th annual free Mardi
Gras Fiesta Tropicale. This year's theme is Feel the Rhythm.

''We're creating an explosion of music. Why? Just because it's fun,'' said
Kay Spitzer, grandmother of the notoriously fun and family friendly Gold
Krewe.

Spitzer and her group of 36 Hollywood friends and relatives are among the
many krewes secretly preparing elaborate floats and ornate costumes for the
five-day celebration that starts Friday and runs through Fat Tuesday -- the
last day to party hearty before the start of the pious Lenten season when
Christians prepare for Easter.

The Poseidon Krewe, made up of Hollywood craftsmen, including a plumber,
electrician, elevator engineer and motion picture prop builder, joke that
they joined for the beer.

''We're fun-loving people. Mardi Gras gives us an excuse to drink beer and
get creative,'' said Webb Rowe of Hollywood, laughing.

David Erickson, director of the event, said the New Orleans-style
celebration also borrows from carnivale of Latin and Caribbean cultures as
well as a local Hollywood tradition started in 1935 called Festival of
Nations.

''All of the social clubs of the time would come together, parade and
celebrate like Mardi Gras,'' Erickson said. ``It's traditional, cultural and
historical.''

The original Hollywood bash had its last march in 1966, just a year before
founder Ella Jo Stollberg-Wilcox died. Erickson and his wife, Judy, who
works for the Hollywood Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, revived and
renamed the party in 1997.

David Erickson said this year's event is a gumbo of entertainment straight
from Cajun country. Things start cooking at 5:30 p.m. Friday with CB Pope's
Dixieland All Stars on Hollywood Boulevard west of Young Circle. A spirited
parade of bead-tossing krewes and other masqueraders begins at 8:30 p.m.,
followed by the cooking music sensation Bill ''The Sauce Boss'' Wharton, who
performs music while serving up jambalaya.

Marcel Anton, who moved here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, caps
the night and rings in the morning with a show starting 11 p.m.

Head back to Hollywood Boulevard on Saturday when highlights of the
noon-to-midnight bash include the Charmaine Neville Band, Zydefunk and Dave
Camp Blues Band.

Be in place for the 20-float parade that begins at 6 p.m. along Harrison
Street, Tyler Street and the west side of Young Circle. Scream, ''Show me
something, mister'' (no nudity, please) for thousands of beads and doubloons
from the krewes and 40 strutting, dancing and musical units.

''We couldn't believe how many people turn out for beads and baubles. It's
one of the craziest parades ever,'' said Tina Kusick of the Poseidon Krewe.
Last year, Poseidon ran out of beads. This year, they have 40,000 strands.

Sunday's events start at noon with Hot Java Dixieland on the main stage on
Hollywood Boulevard, The Amp Band on the Blue Bayou stage and Papillion
Cajun and Zydeco for Kids in the Kids Quarter. Stick around for headliners
Brian Stoltz and J.J. Caillier and the Zydeco Knockouts at 7 p.m. on
different stages.

Lundi Gras, on Monday, kicks off at noon at the Johnson Street band shell on
Hollywood beach. Brian Stoltz plays at 5 p.m., followed by Hot Java Band at
7 p.m.

Fat Tuesday wraps up Mardi Gras at the beach with nonstop music starting at
noon at the band shell and simultaneously on another stage at Indiana
Street, where Stoltz plays at 5 p.m. and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band at 7
p.m. That all leads up to Grammy-nominated Allen Toussaint at 9 p.m.

Deb Gronvold of the Hollywood Jaycees' Pegasus Krewe and the vendor
organizer for the festival, said anyone who misses Mardi Gras Fiesta
Tropicale misses the best fun of the year. ''Everyone gets a wonderful taste
of New Orleans, nonstop live entertainment, masquerade parades and free
participation in a real tradition,'' she said.