New Orleans Lesson in Music 5/21/16 and updated Nov 19 2016

5-21-2016
If New Orleans learned anything from Katrina, as over stated as that is, it is the lesson of keeping her head up and not drowning.  I had a great  time this past week with David, it was filled with watching re-runs of HOUSE MD, food, fellowship with his dorm buddies and MUSIC. Her hit from Mother Nature was a jolt indeed but sister New Orleans is filled with visitors (I noticed from the packed house at the Aquarium for the Americas and other places that we went, so visitors are coming back into the city. Mainly the MUSIC plays a great part again, because let's face it, that is what I focus on, Every place we went had music. EVERYWHERE.
On Saturday night I had the privilege of hearing Lars Edegran and Jamie Wight play together. The two curators of Jazzology that I had collaborating with in my blues and early jazz quest, were finally together in a band and I could hear the fruits of their labor. Incredible as the sound was and the great flawless band, my thought traveled back to that awful day when hurricane Katrina came into New Orleans and wiped out downtown. Now look, she has bounced back with her splendor, and music once again. I saw a half nude woman walking down the street while we waited for the Palm Court to open and yes she was almost nude and I thought to myself, I guess you have the take the bad with the good. So some of the filth is still in the streets but the unique people are coming back and so is the music.

here are some file photos of The Palm Court Cafe.  

below some art I captured 

portable recording studio to capture some archive

some more art captured

The BMC Lounge features great bands like Ovation and Got Blues ? The BMC (Balcony Music Club) is located at 1331 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116

a great trip to New Orleans and funny how fast time slips away when you are having a great time. Thank you David for a wonderful memory.

Nov 19th 2016 (Saturday Night in New Orleans).  There is a mis-nomer about New Orleans nightlife, that everything must be foul or vulgar. That is not true at all. Most of you know I do not drink and when I am in New Orleans I must stay focused on what I want to do in my leisure (when I am not with my son),  That is music. New Orleans is synonyms with the music that she presents in a wide vast area. David had plans already to go to a baseball game, that left me "with plenty to do".  I started  by driving downtown at night, Which driving in New Orleans at night might frighten some folks, I have gotten used to it AND if you drive like you are "supposed" to then the traffic will not intimidate you at all.  I started by going right back where my son and I went this morning (The French Market), By 6:30 everything was wrapping up and folks were going home SO that made for less traffic on the road EVEN THOUGH other folks took advantage of the night life scene and was coming into town. Nevertheless, I found a parking place fairly easily and head down Frenchman Street by way of Royal Street. I heard it. The sound pieced the air as the cold wind blowing into the surrounding park trees. It was almost freighting that the blowing trees were keeping time with the actual music that was being played down the street AND channeling right there to my ear. WOW. I was already in tears. I started by listening to the band posted in the video here.....

(((((((( place video here ))))))))

The sound quality is not very good BECAUSE if you are not tipping they are not playing. But I tipped these guys about 3 dollars in change and they allowed me to record them but across the street. It seems with a cel phone you are welcome to video tape BUT with a Sony Cam you are not, only across the street. So once I enjoyed the bluegrass sound of  this band I approached the other bars and pubs of Frenchman Street (oh by the way they don't like you using a camera either). They were not ugly just protective. I get that. On down the street I went from one smoke filled bar to the other, My lungs gasping for a breathe at every interval. It was however a sacrifice I would want to take to hear some of the finest music in New Orleans. I went into 12 bars or pubs listening to just a few segments of music that they were playing. One had a one man band "playing a guitar, drums, cymbals, harmonica and piano was close by in case the ambiance needed to be called for piano. LOL. He was good. With his little Jame Taylor thing going on but I needed to sample all the music and then come back to that one in particular I liked. Some of these places do not post whom plays there, because from hour to hour they do not know if they will show or not. Most hungry musicians will show up on time. Most homeless street performers will show up on time so that another one will not come along and get their spot. 

New Orleans Blues and Jazz / Christmas 2015 NOLA

As I continue to travel to New Orleans to see my son, there is an ambiance to the air surrounding NOLA. The ora  to which I mean is the feeling you get once you step out of your vehicle and detect the vibrations of music playing around you. Images almost seem to settle in ones conscience when they hear the music playing in the background but whether or not music is playing at a bar around the corner or not, soon there will be some playing just within reach of your ears and heart.  I arrived Christmas morning and exchanged gifts with my son and drove downtown to NOLA Christmasfest 2015.  Everything was closed (that we could see but before arriving in NOLA) (I cheated and checked out some things that would be opened Christmas day and it so happened that the civic center was opened with Christmasfest 2015 in full operation.  We had a great time, it's a winter wonderland to say the least and music galore.  An ice-skating rink that I dare not try nor was David interested.  We made ourselves around to the far wall and Stephen Wagner (pictured below) was working on his mural of  beads.  He has a declaration from the Guinness World Records for placing the most beads on a mural,  see www.guinnessworldrecords.com.  I placed one bead just to say I helped with the project.  You can look below at the treble note, in which was my favorite part of the mural.  The whole evening was magical and yes it was Christmas, a new memory but a long lasting one.  Waffle House was opened Christmas night so that is where we ate dinner. 

Saturday Dec. 26 (up ate breakfast at Starbucks) and shopped a little.  (Crescent City Comics and Origami for lunch).   
We drove to the French Market for food and fun.  Heard some great music and met a few new people.  Stopped at the Balcony Music Club where I filed this report:

Lefty may be a drummer, but he’s still a blues bandleader, one who’s set up a residency of sorts on Decatur Street, usually holding it down for French Quarter blues at the Balcony Club. 
And if the live show is anything like this disc, it explains his steady gig, although these performances work better as a resume than as a portrait of where he’s at right now.

If you’ve heard Volume 1, you know that Keith sticks to the classics—that first batch contained solid if unremarkable versions of warhorses like “The Thrill Is Gone,” “The Things That I Used to Do,”
 “Everyday I Have the Blues” and “The Blues Is All Right.” Likewise, well-worn blues standards litter this volume, which was recorded live here, in Arkansas, and in Massachusetts between 1997–2011, 
but there are twists: the True Blues do “Lovey Dovey” like Roland Stone, not the Clovers, and their take on Muddy Waters’ “I’m Ready” is so Blasters-style uptempo it’s almost rockabilly.

Of the three eras, the best stuff happens in Jonesboro, during the band’s brief Burnside Records tenure, with Fred Sanders behind the mic. Their renditions of B. B. King’s “Outside Help,”
 Jimmy Reed’s “Baby, What You Want Me to Do” and T. Bone Walker’s deathless “Stormy Monday” sound the loosest, the most free-spirited, the most like a jam. Then again, lone original 
“You’re So Fine,” clichéd as it is, is so expressive in its Cape Cod performance it’s practically jazz.

Lefty can do shuffles, West Coast blues, Chicago electric, and New Orleans soul, but if you want to hear what he’s doing on Decatur—and what standards end up on Volume 3—you’re just 
gonna have to go down there.

Again, I heard them Saturday Dec. 26th, the day after Christmas when everything is supposed to be relaxed and The True Blues were in full sound.  I heard three songs, their SRV (Stevie Ray Vaughan) "Pride and Joy" was simply awesome. The Balcony Club has no smoking inside so it was wonderful inside the bar. The music was crisp and clear. Lefty and the True Blues are out of this world excellent.  The Balcony Music Club 1331 Decatur Street, houses some of the best blues bands of  New Orleans.

On Sunday Dec. 27, I met with Jamie Wight at Jazzology (1206 Decatur Street) NOLA. 70116 phone (504) 525-5000.  Jamie and I spoke about my novice approach to "the blues and jazz" and he helped me again with my ongoing research of learning about this unbelievable art form.  Jamie took time out of his Sunday to meet with me because the rest of my stay in NOLA was going to be limited because of spending the time with David so he didn't mind at all helping me and I appreciated him for doing so.  The feeling of complete warmth when you walk in this place (if you could understand what was happening), it would take over you (in gulf you) and you'd understand everything about blues and jazz.  So I walked up the stairs to my interview and Jamie (whom had just played at Preservation Hall (723 Saint Peter Street) just the night before, was receptive to every question that I had.  Again as I've said before he's forgot what I wished I'd learned about this art form. It'd take me all night to type everyone of the people he suggested me listen to in understanding whom was worthy of "keeping in mind about the blues"  Hundreds and even thousands of people that were instrumental in creating the art of "The Blues and Jazz."  Just to name a few of the artists that was from "old blues school" that I was taught about: Willie Brown, Teddy Darby, Ed Bell, Bobby Grant, George Thomas, Rube Lacy, George Carter, Dad Nelson, Freezone, Nehemeah Skip James, Jelly Roll Morton, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ida Cox, Blind Blake, Buddy Boy Hawkins, Charlie Spand, Blind Roosevelt Graves, Belle Street Sheiks, Papa Charlie Jackson, Will Ezell,  Johnnie Head, Tampa Red, The Hokum Boys and Banjo Joe, Alice Moore, Viola Bartlette, Elzadie Robinson, Lucille Bogan   Ivy Smith, Madlyn Davis, Mary Johnson, Leola Wilson, Art Hodes and the list continues......George Lewis, Scott Hamilton, Santo Percora, Frank Wess, Paul Barbarin, Helen Humes, Arnett Cobb, Wendell Eugene, Dave "fat man" Williams, Browne & Wight Jazz Band, Harold Ashby, Wooden Joe Nicholas, Creole George Guesnon, Nick LaRocca, Sonny Stritt, Sammy Price and if I keep on (listing names) I'll never make my point but there are so many more wonderful singers, artists that made our lives better by their beautiful music.  Just in this class Jamie told and taught me so much, almost to much to consume in one day, it'd take you months even years to learn about this style, the people whom wrote and whom played the blues and jazz.  I feel as if I'll learn forever about this style of music, I should have started years ago.  It is interesting and so wonderful to learn about.  Sometimes about the people whom played and sang it just as much as the music itself.    There is a feeling of relaxation and excitement about this sentimental music.  In just a few minutes I'll have a  video for your entertainment and learning pleasure.  In his early years George Buck's vision which is now JAZZOLOGY, was to do just that learn about and collect blues and jazz, he however dedicated his entire life to the art form where I chose to learn about classical, imagine what and where I'd be if I began so many years ago learning about the blues and jazz where I'd be now.  Great men like Walt Disney, Neil Armstrong, Lewis and Clark all had great visions of something they needed to do. Buck was a visionary that knew from a young age that music was what he had to do to make him whole.   

George Buck, who parlayed a youthful passion for classic jazz to a lifelong business which produced more than a thousand LPs and CDs on nine different labels.

Buck sold newspapers on the street during World War II and put his earnings into savings bonds. To his father’s dismay, he cashed them in, hired his favorite musicians, and put out a 78-rpm set of the sides, featuring cornetist Wild Bill Davison, his all-time favorite, with clarinetist Tony Parenti's band. The label grew slowly and steadily, though fifteen years later there were still only ten albums in the catalogue. 

George Buck went into the radio business and made a living buying and selling small stations – he'd find an under performing outlet, turn it around with a new format and more efficient management, and sell it at a profit.

 He used the profits from radio to subsidize the labels, and as small record producers gave up, he'd buy their catalogs and reissued them on one of his labels, each of which was devoted to a different genre. 

Buck's operations were originally centered in New Jersey, and he was later in Columbia SC and Atlanta GA before finally relocating to New Orleans in 1987. Jazzology/GHB shares quarters on Decatur Street with the Palm Court Jazz Café, which is run by his widow, Nina. The facility includes a recording studio and the firm’s massive collection of master recordings. 

The ownership of the firm was transferred to the George H. Buck Jazz Foundation, organized by Buck to insure that the catalog of music he assembled would remain in print eternally. Unlike most record companies, GHB/Jazzology never deletes records from the catalog – virtually every CD in the catalog is in stock and 

always will be. Unfortunately, most of the firm’s LPs were lost to Hurricane Katrina, which devastated the firm’s warehouse and remain unavailable. 

George Buck retained his boyish enthusiasm and zest for jazz throughout his life. He knew everyone in the jazz business, particularly his end of it - traditional jazz – and when he was younger he traveled all over the world to hear his favorites in festivals and jazz parties. Very few people get to spend their lives doing what most of us dream about – George Buck was able to make a living from a music most people eke out a living at – no one in his right mind would try to make a living from a music thought to be extinct about the time he started his label. He kept his firm running successfully for over sixty years and had a lot of fun doing it.   

• American Music Records (founded 1944) — authentic New Orleans style jazz, acquired from founder and composer Bill Russell in 1990
• Black Swan Records (founded 1921) — re-issues of Paramount Records, acquired in the 1990s
• Solo Art Records — piano jazz
• Audiophile Records — classic American popular songs
• Circle Records (founded 1946) — big bands, acquired in the 1960s
• Southland Records (founded 1948) — authentic blues, acquired from its founder, Joesph P. Mares (1908–1991), in the 1960s
• Progressive Records (founded 1950) — modern music
• World Broadcasting System, Inc. (founded 1929) — entire library of radio transcription discs, acquired in 1971
• Langlois & Wentworth, Inc. (founded 1933) — entire library of radio transcription discs, acquired in 1982

George Buck passed away from a heart attack Dec 16th, 2013 his complete obit can be found on this website at the title

NEW ORLEANS (continued) Sassyfras, Blues, Jazzology, meeting new people in New Orleans (2015)

When George Buck passed away he could have not wanted better people to run and be curators of his legacy other than Jamie Wight and Larz Edegren.  Jamie has helped me more times than I can count and I am honored to call him my friend and teacher.
  

NEW ORLEANS (continued) Sassyfras, Blues, Jazzology, meeting new people in New Orleans (2015)

July 2nd, 2015

As a child I can not remember to many "July 4th" weekends that were so memorable that they stuck in my head BUT this past one with my son David was one I hope stays with me forever. His friendship, God, Music and Fun will last forever in my memory.  Arrived in New Orleans the morning of July 2nd. David would get off work later in the afternoon, meant I'd go hang out at the NOBTS music library. After the music library, I napped at Providence House across the street from NOBTS (New Orleans Theological Seminary).  I stayed in the Henry building room 9401 VERY NICE. Not gonna find it hard to rest in this bed. Anyway the first day was filled with going to NOMA (riding past it and getting our bearings for the next day). New Orleans Museum of Art is off the charts awesome. I understand moved from downtown to it's new location it is so worth going to see. There at the grounds of the NOMA is a parthenon of sorts and two gazebos.  The gazebos are huge, and the cool thing about having David go to college there is he KNOWS the area and what to see.   There is a place there called Cafe Ole (Morning Call) that I understand is older that Cafe' Du Monde, both have great coffee and beignets but the relaxed atmosphere at Cafe Ole with the Greek background is very very nice.    

JULY 3rd, 2015 (Friday)

Up early to shower, eat breakfast and head to the French Quarter to meet Jamie Wight (musician and band leader, plays at Preservation Hall, also was with the Dukes of Dixieland) with Jazzology and conduct my interview for Gamble Music and WSGQ Internet Radio.  George Buck a preservationist of old blues and early jazz will have his own write up soon, as he is one of the pieces of the puzzle that fits into the woven tapestry for the transition of the early African sounds at Congo Square, to the early classical sounds of music then to the blues and jazz. The transition continues....Jamie and I met for about a hour. His generosity and kindness made what I was there for seem very easy and no less like I was at Disney for Music Lovers.  He and Lars Edegran (Edegran b.1944 is a Dixieland musician and bandleader.  He was born in Stockholm, Sweden) are two curators of Jazzology, you can find them at www.jazzology.com  They like myself have several things going on with and for them.  The building located at 1206 Decatur Street in the French Market (504-525-5000) has it's own restaurant with stage for live music, run by Nina Buck (George's wife) it also is house for a recording studio and a book and music store. When I say music store, I mean early recordings of blues and jazz that date back to the early 1940's when George Buck started his own business collecting and recording albums. Sound familiar ? I am so proud to have met Jamie but I know how wonderful it would have been to have met George Buck, he and I would have been able to talk about a lot of things especially "the preservation of music".

George Herman Buck, Jr. (December 22, 1928 – December 11, 2013) was an American entrepreneur who devoted much of his life to recording jazz by producing albums and acquiring the rights to those produced by companies established by others. Buck had acquired record company labels and radio broadcast companies that held historic transcription discs. He also was a major record collector. Until his death at age 84, he ran his businesses and philanthropy. He began his radio career as a partner in radio station WJNO in West Palm Beach.

Career

Born December 22, 1928, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Buck rose to prominence as the leading figure in the preservation and advancement of authentic traditional jazz. He started out selling newspapers during World War II and converting the profits into war bonds. He took this money and recorded his first session with his favorite musicians, Wild Bill Davison and Tony Parenti on Jazzology Records. Soon after, he began recording New Orleans style jazz on GHB Records. He began yearly pilgrimages to New Orleans in 1961, cementing his relationship with the city by immersing himself in the culture and recording the important artists that lived here. George developed a passion for radio after hosting a radio show in college, which he dubbed, Jazzology. This early involvement in radio led him to buy many small, under performing radio stations beginning with WCOS in Columbia, South Carolina, and turn them around with new formats and improved management. All of his profits from this went to support his growing list of record labels. He started and bought many labels in order to make sure this music would survive and thrive. The nine labels he issued a wide range of jazz music on are Jazzology, GHB, Circle, Southland, American Music, Black Swan, Audiophile, Progressive, and Solo Art.

The largest collection of jazz music in the world is under this umbrella. According to his son, Buck's passion, love, and enthusiasm for jazz never diminished. He and his wife, Nina moved the operation to New Orleans in 1987 and in 1989 expanded yet again by opening the Palm Court Jazz Café, which became an important part of New Orleans jazz culture under the management of his wife. The GHB Jazz Foundation houses the record business and is located on the second floor of the same building in the French Quarter. With the transfer of all of his recordings to the foundation he assured that the music would continue to survive and his legacy will continue to influence the city and the world.

“	"My greatest pleasure is doing jazz." "I loved it from the first time I heard it. It spoke my language."	”
—George H. Buck

Buck companies

Companies founded by Buck

• Jazzology Records (founded 1949) — traditional Chicago style jazz
• G.H.B. Records — traditional New Orleans style jazz

Companies acquired by Buck

• American Music Records (founded 1944) — authentic New Orleans style jazz, acquired from founder and composer Bill Russell in 1990
• Black Swan Records (founded 1921) — re-issues of Paramount Records, acquired in the 1990s
• Solo Art Records — piano jazz
• Audiophile Records — classic American popular songs
• Circle Records (founded 1946) — big bands, acquired in the 1960s
• Southland Records (founded 1948) — authentic blues, acquired from its founder, Joseph P. Mares (1908–1991), in the 1960s
• Progressive Records (founded 1950) — modern music
• World Broadcasting System, Inc. (founded 1929) — entire library of radio transcription discs, acquired in 1971
• Langlois & Wentworth, Inc. (founded 1933) — entire library of radio transcription discs, acquired in 1982

Philanthropy founded by Buck

• The George H. Buck, Jr., Jazz Foundation, Inc. (founded 1987), a Louisiana non-profit entity.

  

Jamie and I had a blast talking about the blues; I do not know that much about the blues but I am learning all the time about it's rich history and there is no better place to learn it's history that right here in New Orleans.  David went downstairs as we interviewed and listened to WHAT ELSE, a live band playing dixieland jazz on Decatur Street, what more fitting than that to have playing in the background of a radio/video interview. WOW MAGIC !!!!

Then on the NOMA at NOLA.  New Orleans Museum of Art after a wonderful lunch at MONA's. I had the Sharma, it was one of the best lunches ever. I was with my friend David and New Orleans.

 July 3rd continued 
Once in a lifetime you can hear greats of music at one location, given that fortunately the artists are all still alive and not passed on.  I had heard from some friends about a place that you have to stand in line for what seems a long time, there is no beverages in this place and there is no bathroom nor seating for general admission. Preservation Hall is such a place. This is where my bashing stops and the true essence of the story takes place.   Located at 726 Saint Peter Street in downtown NOLA, (504) 522-2841, down the street from Pat O'Briens, lies this hall of history in the making. Tickets 20$ a piece and no bathrooms ? What kind of place is this ? and then the lights dimmed. David and I were not uncomfortable because David got us two seats (quick thinking on his part),  AND then the unthinkable happened, 7 men came to this cramped stage with the old blues piano I'd seen from prior pictures located on the right. AND THEN THEY PLAYED. It was over before I knew it, the best New Orleans sounding Blues and Jazz ever to have graced my ears.  Daniel "Weenie" Farrow played the best sounding tenor sax I'd ever heard. I almost cried with unbelief of how sweet this sound sounded.  Here is a brief bio borrowed from the Preservation Hall website about Daniel (Danny Farrow) 

One of the more beautiful experiences of last week’s tour with PHJB and My Morning Jacket- In Charlie Gabriel’s absence, Preservation Hall’s treasured tenor sax player Daniel “Weenie” Farrow stepped in and joined the tour for a couple of dates. During a post-show hangout at an old mill turned bar in St. Augustine, MMJ frontman Jim James asked about Weenie, as they had met and played together during the Preservation Album sessions. After kind words exchanged about Mr. Farrow, we mentioned that Weenie often plays an unforgettable solo of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” at the Hall. No matter how many times you hear him play it you have to stop everything to listen. 

So the next day after soundcheck before the show in Charleston, Weenie and Jim re-introduce themselves, and Mr. Farrow plays a couple of choruses of the song. Jim smiles and asks him if he would be interested in playing it again before their encore at the end of the show. Mr. Farrow kindly agrees, and says “I’m gonna put it on ‘em tonight”. 

After an incredible opening set by PHJB and a stellar performance by MMJ all the stage lights go out and the crowd is roaring for an encore. The stage manager leads Weenie up the ramp and onto the stage with a flashlight. The crowd is still cheering, not knowing what is going to happen next. A spotlight opens up and focuses and the fog machines kick in and Weenie begins playing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. As soon as he gets through the first chorus much of crowd moves to relative silence. By the second chorus, you could hear people singing along. By the final flourish, you heard the applause and screams of two-thousand plus people cheering for Mr. Farrow and that HAWWWWW you can only hear at a rock concert. Weenie took a bow and stepped offstage. I say to Mr. Farrow “Weenie! You’re a rockstar!”. Weenie replies with a smile and asks if it sounded okay. All I could do is give him a hug.

About a half-hour later, Weenie walked to the tour bus carrying his sax and was approached by a couple of young female MMJ fans. They asked for a picture with him. After the photo, he steps on to the bus and stashes away his horn and says “I can’t wait to tell Steve(Pistorious, piano player at the Hall) I was a rockstar.”If you’ve ever met Daniel “Weenie” Farrow, you’ll know you won’t ever meet a kinder, sweeter, and enlightened individual. You can feel his joy for life whenever he plays his horn or whenever you shake his hand and ask him how everythings going. He always says “it’s good when the music makes people happy. And that makes you feel good too.” Well you put it on’ em that night Weenie. Just like you do every week at the Hall. 
http://preshall.blogspot.com/2010/05/daniel-weenie-farrow-rockstar.html


No seats, no bathrooms, no beverages, standing in line for a LONG TIME ? ABSOLUTELY WORTH IT !!!!!

JULY 4th 2015 (Saturday)

David took me to MORNING CALL at Cafe Ole in NO City Park early enough for coffee, as we approached, I heard it. It was melodic and beautiful but could not make out if it was recorded music or live. There I met one of the most wonderful ladies to ever grace any stage of blues or jazz. Enter one Valerie Sassyfras, a fancy dressed woman, I thought certainly was a comic but when I saw her play, comedy turned to serious and again unbelief.  She was playing the keyboard and accordion at the same time with a cymbal on her shoe for keeping time.  When I heard her play the mandolin and play other instruments at the same time, professionalism came to mind. Street entertainer ? Not hardly she is a one woman show with style and awesome ability. I tipped her jar and bought a cd, promised her shout out on GMP & A blog but it was me that was honored to have her on here not me on hers. Her ability to play the key board and accordion at the same time while singing beautifully New Orleans Woman, was stunning to say the least. Even several days ago, I can't believe what I saw.  She has her own web site http://valeriesassyfras.com/      

Please visit her page and watch her videos you will be floored to see what she can do. The "WHERE Y'AT" magazine for March 2015, said it best "Valerie Sassyfras" embodies the perfect blend of musical ability and eccentricity.  She is classically trained on piano BUT plays the other mentioned instruments including the "washboard", which live, that may have been my first.  I have the article and can make anyone a copy at your request. Valerie can be contacted at her website and I don't think she'd be upset if I made mention that she has a face book page as well. I loved your show Valerie and I am so very proud you are my friend. See you when I head back to NOMA at NOLA.