Anniversaries of significance in New Orleans Cultural Heritage

28th October 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Bamboula 2000 and its leader percussionist Luther Gray are celebrating the rhythmic ensemble’s 25th anniversary and also the release of its album with the multi-talented Cuban artist David D. Omni, “Cuba to Congo Square.” The event takes place from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Cafe Istanbul on Sunday, November 3 Though certainly these are both significant achievements on their own – the band’s quarter century history and its sixth independently produced album – Bamboula 2000 and its founder have made a profound effect on New Orleans in ways that will, or definitely should, be eternally etched into historic records and communal memory.

“For 30 years we’ve been working to preserve and protect the sacred ground that is Congo Square,” declares Gray who hopes to activate all of Armstrong Park as a cultural center. “The sound and the vibration of the drum is all about healing and communication.”

When the Chicago native arrived in New Orleans he was already aware of “this place called Congo Square” through reading books like LeRoi Jones’ (Amiri Baraka) “Blues People” and Lerone Bennett’s “Before the Mayflower.” “So when I got here, that’s the first place I wanted to find out about. Being naive, I thought, nothing is going on here.”

In one sense, he was correct as there was little to suggest to the unaware that this rather overlooked area was very special – no plaque, few people. This very locale had been sacred ground to the indigenous Houma tribe and remains so for the Black community whose enslaved ancestors were allowed to play their drums, dance and trade and sell their goods there. Their drumming is the heartbeat of New Orleans music, the essence of the Mardi Gras Indians, brass bands, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll, rap, you name it.

Through Gray’s efforts and that of the members of Bamboula 2000 and the band’s sheer existence, Congo Square began to arise. In 2010, the Congo Square Preservation Society, which was founded by Gray, succeeded in getting the locale on the National Registry of Historic Places. In 2011, the rather slow to move City Council officially changed the name of the site from Beauregard Square, which regrettably once honored P.G.T. Beauregard, a confederate general, to Congo Square, a name and identity that had long been in use. On Sundays, the sounds of African drumming and the lively dancing again enliven the Square, its home in Armstrong Park and the neighborhood.

“The feelings that we have in our minds are transferring to our souls and through the drum that vibration is coming to the universe. It brings people together in unity,” Gray says with deep sincerity. “There’s a lot of spiritual energy because there’s an ancestor energy there. It’s the epicenter of our cultural.”

Bamboula 2000 will also be performing again later this month, on November 17, at the now combined Congo Square Rhythms Festival/Treme Creole Gumbo Festival in Armstrong Park. Material from the fine new album, “Cuba to Congo Square,” which will be fully reviewed soon, will certainly enliven the repertoire at both events.

The Backstreet Cultural Museum uniquely observes All Saints Day

The Backstreet Cultural Museum – “A Powerhouse of Knowledge” – a singular gallery, dedicated to New Orleans’ uniquely Black cultural traditions of jazz funerals, Mardi Gras Indians and social aid and pleasure club parades, added a new way to honor those who had passed when 20 years ago it established an All Saints Day second line. Held annually on November 1, they, like jazz funerals themselves, are both somber and joyous occasions that often begin with a respectful dirge like the spiritual “I’ll Fly Away,” and as time goes on kick in with a more upbeat flair on such numbers as “Didn’t He Ramble.” Folks then remember the lively spirit of the people who shared themselves with the community.

In the past, the Backstreet would pay tribute to those who had died in the previous year. In marking the 20th anniversary of the event it will honor a thoughtful, though admittedly limited, selection of those from the community – Mardi Gras Indians, second line members and followers and others – who have enriched the culture and thus New Orleans. They include Antoinette K-Doe, who helped put the Baby Doll Carnival tradition back on the streets as well as revive the career of her husband, the great Ernie K-Doe of “Mother-In-Law” fame. Many impressive and influential people have become “ancestors” in the two decades since the All Saints Day second line became core to the holiday’s observances. Previously, activities had primarily focused on visiting and tidying up the graves of family members and friends. Many people remember – and some still do – having picnics aside the gravestones as they pulled weeds and planted flowers.

Mardi Gras Indians, an exhibit of which occupies a room at the museum, will be represented by such giants as Gerald “Big Chief Jake” Millon, who began masking Indian in the early 1960s and led the highly esteemed White Eagles Mardi Gras Indian gang starting 1965. Others include Eugene Thomas, Big Chief Junior of the White Eagles Mardi Gras Indian tribe, who masked Indian for over 60 years, and Big Chief Thomas Sparks of the Yellowjacket Mardi Gras Indian gang, who donned his first Indian suit in 1947 and led the Yellowjackets tribe from 1955 until his death in 2018.

The museum will also honor Rev. Goat Carson, born David Lee Carson, who was a member of the Cherokee native American tribe. A medicine man, activist and musician, Rev. Goat was most notably affiliated with the Backstreet Museum through his White Buffalo Day celebrations. One doesn’t have to mask Indian or step out in a social aid and pleasure club parade to be recognized in the event or by the museum where curator Sylvester Francis keeps records of folks’ passings and place of burial even for vendors or loyal followers like Bob Girault, who will be recognized at the second line.

The All Saints parade, which will be led by Benny Jones’ Treme Brass Band and includes a horse-drawn wagon carrying memorabilia and photos of the deceased, will take place at 3 p.m. Friday, November 1 beginning at Rhodes Funeral Home (1716 North Claiborne Avenue). It heads down N. Claiborne, turns right on St. Anthony and right again on St. Bernard Avenue. It travels a short distance to jump back onto North Claiborne and turns left. It makes another left on St. Philip St. and stops at Charbonnet Family Services (1614 St. Philip). Soon it heads home to the Backstreet Cultural Museum (1116 Henriette Delille St.) where there will be presentations and refreshments.

This article originally published in the October 28, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.