NPR: Post-Katrina, Music Still Thrives In New Orleans

In Pictures: Scenes from New Orleans

By Dino Perrucci Photography New Orleans Bingo! Show - Voodoo Experience, New Orleans 10/30/09 New Orleans Bingo! Show - Voodoo Experience, New Orleans 10/30/09 Preservation Hall Stars - Voodoo Experience, New Orleans 10/30/09 Preservation Hall Stars - Voodoo Experience, New Orleans 10/30/09

Dr. John - House Of Blues, New Orleans 10/29/09 James Andrews - House Of Blues, New Orleans 10/29/09 Rebirth Brass Band - House Of Blues, New Orleans 10/29/09

Maple Leaf, New Orleans 10/28/09 101 Runners - Maple Leaf, New Orleans 10/28/09 101 Runners - Maple Leaf, New Orleans 10/28/09 101 Runners - Maple Leaf, New Orleans 10/28/09 Noisician Coalition Lil Brian & The Zydeco Travelers Little Freddie King

Mardi Gras Indians | Super Sunday | NOLA (c/o Jambase)

c/o Jambase

Words & Images by: Jeffrey Dupuis

Well, the prettiest thing that you ever did see
Is a Mardi Gras Indian, down in New Orleans
They sowed all night, and they sowed all day,
If you ain't ready, better get out da way
- Hey Pocky Way (traditional/alternate version not The Meters)

Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles

Like many traditions outside of the mainstream, the history of the Mardi Gras Indians is nebulous at best. Some accounts trace the origins back to the 1880s, while others reach back even farther. Pieced together from oral history, the Mardi Gras Indians story represents a bloodline in New Orleans that runs from slavery through the struggles for civil rights and into the current socio-economic disparities that make up New Orleans. Mainstream Mardi Gras organizations ("krewes"), historically and currently, have been the domain of the social elite of New Orleans. These once secret societies excluded the majority of the population from their celebrations, and the Mardi Gras Indians may have emerged as a response to this. Believed to have been inspired by Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show of the 1880s and as a tribute to the Native American Indian tribes surrounding New Orleans who assisted and welcomed escaped slaves, the Mardi Gras Indians traditionally took to the streets in gangs (later called "tribes"). The tribes developed a hierarchy consisting of Big Chief, Wild Man, Flag Boy and Spy Boy.

"Meet the boys on the battle front, the Wild Tchopatoulis gonna stomp some rump." - traditional

Historically, the gangs would parade through their neighborhoods during Mardi Gras, chanting, singing and drumming. As his name implies, the Spy Boy would venture out first to look for rival gangs, signaling to the Flag Boy, who would then communicate to the Big Chief. When one gang would encounter another, they would often fight to determine which was superior. Many of the lyrics to traditional Mardi Gras Indian songs come from these encounters. Today, the violence of previous encounters has been replaced by a competition to determine whose suit is "prettiest." The beauty and splendor of the Indians today is a living and still evolving history of New Orleans. Women and children have joined in the proud tradition. The Indians parade on Mardi Gras Day, and also on "Super Sunday," traditionally the Sunday closest to St. Joseph's Day.

"[Mardi Gras Indian] culture permeates everything that's got anything to do with New Orleans music... It's like the air you breathe." - Cyril Neville as told to Nick Spitzer (American Roots)

Big Chief Al & Big Queen Wanda - Cheyenne Tribe

The rhythms of the Indians come directly from Congo Square, the historical gathering place of slaves, where African and Caribbean polyrhythms mixed and gave birth to a uniquely New Orleans music. The musical influence of the Mardi Gras Indians can be traced through Danny Barker, Huey "Piano" Smith, Earl King, The Dixie Cups and Dr. John. The first direct impact of the Indian's music was caused by the 1973 release by Bo Dollis and The Wild Magnolias, featuring Chief Monk Boudreaux of the Golden Eagles. In 1975, the Neville Brothers were gathered together for the first time, along with The Meters, to record an album with the Neville's uncle, Big Chief Jolly. These sessions produced the Wild Tchopatoulis, as well as solidified the Neville Brothers as a band.

Multiple albums from various tribes have followed ever since, and their influence is still heard today. "War Chief" Juan Pardo of the Golden Comanche Tribe carries on the tradition of making Indian music accessible through the band 101 Runners.

"Really it's nothing new. The Wild Magnolias and Wild Tchopatoulis took it global. My part is to bring a new energy to it – to rejuvenate the old spirit," Pardo says. "The Mardi Gras Indian tradition is in transition. It has never died, so it has never stopped evolving. It's the 'Wild Wild Creation.' When you listen to the old way, it's coming out of slavery and oppression. Today, our spirit is not oppressed. We've taken what they've given us. We stay in our communities, and we invite others to come into our community to experience it. But, if you're gonna come out, pick your tribe and cheer loud! Without the vocals of the people, it's a quiet day."

Suggested Listening and Reading:
Wild Tchopatoulis, Wild Tchopatoulis (1978)
Wild Magnolias, Life is a Carnival (1999) & the recent re-issue They Call Us Wild (available below)
Smith, Michael P. and Alan Govenar (1994). "Mardi Gras Indians" Gretna: Pelican

War Chief Juan Pardo

Big Chief Bo Dollis

Big Chief Walter Cook

JamBase | Big Easy

NolaFunk Lagniappe

Home of the Groove's "Three To Get Ready For Mardi Gras"
(a little late, but still good listening)

Mardi Gras' coming and it won't be long. . .so let's get further in the mood right now with some more Mardi Gras Indian-related music. . . .

101 Runners ft Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Maple Leaf, 2/18/09

Indian Funk – a sound rooted in tribal rhythms, call-and-response chants, and New Orleans funk. Initially developed by The Wild Magnolias in the early 70s, today, the 101 Runners uphold and enrich this authentic and invigorating tradition. This night joined by another seminal pioneer of the Mardi Gras Indian sound (former member of The Wild Magnolias and current member of the Golden Eagles) Big Chief Monk Boudreax (who also played a significant role in The Wild Magnolias’ recordings), the 101 Runners kicked off the biggest celebration in the United States at the Maple Leaf.

George Porter Jr., Neil Young, Jazzfest, and What It Means to Miss New Orleans

Jazzfest 2005 was another tuning point for me… the moment I really understood what it meant to miss New Orleans: I found it in the music. The Meters Reunion really drove things home. Soon, I found myself venturing to New Orleans regularly to absorb myself in the scene. Local bands, touring bands – practically went out the window. At any random moment, without hesitation, I’d be up for heading down to the Big Easy. Johnny Vidacovich is playing at the Maple Leaf; Bloc Party is coming to One-Eyed Jacks; it’s Wednesday; I’m going to New Orleans. I had also figured out how I was going to see Neil Young: Farm Aid. So I bought tickets to the 20th Anniversary Farm Aid slated for September 18th in Chicago. Then Hurricane Katrina hit. removed myself from the medical field and revived my faith in music.

Groovescape's Slideshow of Walter "Wolfman" Washington & Roadmasters @ Maple Leaf



Trumpeter Leroy Jones adds strings to his lush, romantic jazz

Appropriately, Jones is releasing "Sweeter Than a Summer Breeze" with a Valentine's Day show Saturday, Feb. 14 at Donna's Bar & Grill. Among the musicians joining him onstage is his wife, Katja Toivola, a trombonist. A native of Finland, she met Jones while in New Orleans researching her ethnomusicology master's thesis on brass band jazz. They've been together for 12 years, and married for three.

Jones knows brass band history -- he's part of it. In the early 1970s, he cut his teeth as the 12-year-old leader of the Fairview Baptist Church Brass Band. The late banjoist and raconteur Danny Barker organized the ensemble to rekindle interest in traditional brass band music among young musicians. The Fairview unit evolved into the Hurricane Brass Band, with Jones out front.

The Meters — Jackson, MS (10/5/1975)

DOWNLOAD HERE.

01 7:35 Wildflower
02 11:51 Thank You Falettin Me Be Mice Elf
03 8:46 Lively Up Yourself
04 13:58 Middle Of The Road%
05 5:35 People Say
06 19:54 It Ain’t No Use
07 6:35 E: Hey Pocky Way

Doucet, BeauSoleil take home Grammy



MC Trachiotomy and His Creepy Abode

MC Trachiotomy is the king of New Orleans, sitting on a throne in a ramshackle palace full of huge mechanical puppets, 18th century antique instruments, a defunct (fully stocked) wallpaper store, a warehouse full of weird artifacts, and plus there’s a 24-hour taco truck in the backyard. It's called the Pearl Lounge, and it hosts a crazy live rock and hip-hop party every Sunday night from midnight to 6 AM in the upper Ninth Ward. He got his start in the screamo pyromaniac band Crash Worship, then in 1995 disappeared into the purple smoke of lo-fi percolation in a voice that sounds like the reason for which he named himself. He's toured the world repeatedly, loves the tropics and Greece, and played with the Butthole Surfers at their reunion shows last year. So hey, let's find out more about this guy.

His longtime buddy Quintron says he once "painted himself green and cradled an empty coke bottle like a baby as a stunt to ward off City clean up-crews. And he trained his dog Pablo to bark at smoke machines."

The Roots of New Orleans Funeral Music

Today’s YouTube masterpiece is a morbid bluesy number with a Spanish tinge that was published in 1857. I discovered it because Jelly Roll Morton quotes it in “Dead Man Blues.” This song is still around in the New Orleans funeral style that Jelly Roll was riffing on — you hear this tune as the gothic minor snippet before things get happy.