Looking back to defining musical developments in 2019 and the last decade

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

While New Orleans famously embraces its traditions, some changes actually enhance the cultural heritage of the city by bringing in new ideas and elements. Excellent examples of this is the greater prominence of the Mardi Gras Indian Queens during the last decade and the rejuvenation of clubs that might have otherwise been lost. New venues also offer enhanced opportunities for more musicians to perform and the expansion of musical “destinations” in the Crescent City to locales like St. Claude Avenue keeps things fresh.

Laurita “Big Queen Rita” Dollis of the Wild Magnolia Mardi Gras Indian tribe founded the Queens of the Nation Indian Council in 2010. She was inspired one Carnival day when she met a lot of Queens that knew her but she didn’t know them. “That worried me,” says Dollis, a strong Queen within her gang and throughout the community. “It was like they didn’t have a voice.” She spoke with her husband, Theodore “Big Chief Bo” Dollis and he encouraged her to act on her vision of bringing the Queens together. She remembers him saying, “This should have been happening.” “It mean everything to me,” Queen Rita says of her aim for the Queens’ organization to give back to the community. “The Queens of the Nation has really changed me. I can see that they’re proud now of what they do and who they are.”

It’s difficult to imagine what the original Ernie K-Doe’s Mother-In-Law Lounge might have become if, following its closure, trumpeter/vocalist Kermit Ruffins hadn’t succeeded in taking it over in 2014. A car wash? A burger joint? Almost anything. With New Orleanian Ruffins in control, the North Claiborne Avenue club, Kermit’s Treme Mother-In-Law Lounge, remains more than simply a music venue. It’s also a neighborhood – a “family” – gathering spot for Saints watching, Mardi Gras events and second line stops. It’s ours.

Another such rebirth was the return of Cafe Istanbul, which had long since vanished from Frenchmen Street and somewhat magically, or so it seemed, reappeared in 2011 within the Healing Center on St. Claude Avenue. It, like Kermit’s lounge, goes beyond being a music club as it hosts a number of community and culturally oriented events and parties.

“We were looking for a vacant property to breathe some life into and hoped that it would have some effect on the surrounding area,” says owner Chuck Perkins of selecting the St. Claude Avenue site. Many see Cafe Istanbul, which fought hard against the Faubourg Marigny Improvement Association to stay alive, as an anchor on St. Claude’s impressive music scene that has blossomed on the avenue. “I’m amazed at what’s happening all along St. Claude – it feels like Frenchmen Street used to feel.”

The SideBar Nola, just off of Tulane Avenue at 611 S. White Street, opened three years ago and has been a fine addition in providing greater musical expression for artists and experiences for its rapt audiences in the small music room just off the bar area. “The SideBar is just about the only space for musicians to play completely apart from tourist and party expectations,” says Benjamin Lyons, producer of Valid Records. Lyons says even the French Quarter is looking up for opportunities for jazz musicians with the opening of Cafe Beignet on Bourbon Street and The Starlight on St. Louis Street. He also cites the accessibility of the Old U.S. Mint’s performance room as a plus for musicians and listeners.

As the president of the local New Orleans Musicians Union, iconic guitarist/vocalist/bandleader Deacon John is super excited that the union now owns its own building after years of renting a locale on Esplanade Avenue. “It’s been renovated and has a state-of-the-art rehearsal hall called Tricentennial Hall,” he proudly exclaims. “That’s a big plus,” he adds saying that it includes all the “back line” equipment like a piano, drums, amplifiers and can facilitate recording and filming all for the convenience of the musicians. “It’s free for union musicians and we can rent it out to those who aren’t in the union.”

Deacon John performed at the recent grand opening of the Riverboat Louis Armstrong, a vessel that includes a concert area on the second deck. He calls the riverboat, “Just fantastic. It’s bigger than the (much beloved) Riverboat President – they spent like $250,000 on sound and lights alone.” (As was pointed out in a recent editorial in The Louisiana Weekly, there are some very justifiable concerns about where the riverboat will be docked. It was suggested that the pier at Spanish Plaza, where the President used to dock, would provide a fine home.)

A major musical event that was supposed to take place at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival’s 50th anniversary, which prospering for five decades is definitive in itself, was the scheduled appearance of the legendary Rolling Stones. Stones fanatics were ecstatic at the announcement and more than willing to pay the high price of tickets. Many Fest stalwarts and regulars were horrified that the festival’s decades-long format of multiple stages presenting acts simultaneously would be altered with all but the Acura Stage with the Stones onboard rockin’ for a majority of the afternoon. Alas, due to Mick Jagger’s health problems, it never happened.

The opening of North Rampart Street’s George & Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center in 2014 has been a bright spot with some great performances presented by the Jazz & Heritage Foundation. It has shown itself as a balanced venue showcasing primarily both New Orleans and national jazz artists and welcoming all by making the shows free. The Center houses a concert hall, a school and has hosted repasts and other events of local interest.

In looking back, we of course remember all of the great musicians we have lost in the last 10 years though their music lives on in our hearts, souls and dancing feet. We will love them forever.

This article originally published in the December 30, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.