All things New Orleans…
4th June 2018 · 0 Comments
By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer
Chief of Chiefs — Robert Nathaniel Lee and the Mardi Gras Indians of New Orleans, 1915-2001
Al Kennedy
(Pelican Publishing Company)
One doesn’t necessarily need to be involved in or a follower of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians to appreciate Chief of Chiefs, a biography of Robert Nathaniel “Big Chief Robbe” Lee, who was awarded the title by the New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council. Chief Robbe, who sewed his first suit in 1929, was the first Black Indian to ever be honored with that esteemed position.
Born on May 21, 1915, Robbe’s story as told to his friend and author Al Kennedy stands as a slice of New Orleans history that, of course, is made unique by his life-long love and devotion to the Mardi Gras Indian culture. It’s a very personal tale relayed carefully from wonderful recollections that are full of details about little known and perhaps otherwise lost information about the evolution of the Black Indians. For instance, the introduction of the “falling crown,” a headdress on which the feathers move, came about when a man named Isidore Clark brought back from Oklahoma a crown made by Native Americans. Robbe’s mentor and his first chief, Big Chief Brother Tillman of the Creole Wild West, who we gratefully get to know in the book, and other Black Indians disassembled it to see how it was constructed and then reassembled it again. Since that time, falling crowns, which “open and close,” have been regularly created and worn by the Mardi Gras Indians.
What could almost be considered tricks of the trade, we learn how Robbe, who was skilled at working a needle and thread, got around what he considered his inadequacies as a drawer. He explains that using the money he saved from the many jobs he did in his uptown neighborhood, he would buy comic and coloring books to trace the images of Native Americans to use on his suits. Following in the footsteps of Tillman, Robbe remained a traditionalist reserving his respect for those Mardi Gras Indians who constructed their entire suits from crown to shoes.
Robbe masked with five different gangs starting with the Creole Wild West, moving after the retirement of Big Chief Brother Tillman to spend a year as chief of the Golden Blades and was instrumental in the formation of the now legendary Black Indian gang, the White Eagles. He went on to “pull” two other gangs, the Ninth Ward Hunters and the Golden Arrows before donning his last suit in 1962.
Kennedy, who is also the author of “Big Chief Harrison and the Mardi Gras Indians,” about the late Donald Harrison Sr. the chief of the Guardians of the Flame, included conversations with him and also Isaac “Mr. Ike” Edward both of whom were involved with Robbe and the Indians during this era.
“Chief of Chiefs” portrays a Black man of integrity fully engaged in the spiritual and community-oriented Mardi Gras Indian culture and the day-to-day struggle to hustle, often working back-breaking jobs, while dealing with racial antagonism and often hostile police.
Big Chief Robb began losing his sight at age 62, a condition his sister blamed on sewing in dim light. On St. Joseph’s night in 1962, he donned an Indian suit for the last time to lead an estimated four or five gangs from uptown to downtown – an unprecedented event. The Chief of Chiefs passed away on January 19, 2001.
Celebrating the Creole Tomato
Slice them up, sprinkle with a little salt and a drizzle of olive oil and maybe some feta cheese or cook them on the stove for some red sauce to top pasta, any way you like to prepare them, Creole tomatoes are juicy and delicious. For the 32nd year, New Orleans has been celebrating this wonderful Louisiana fruit – yes tomatoes are fruits – at the annual Creole Tomato Festival, to be held at the French Market area on Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10, 2018. The two main performance stages are located at either end of the Market, one in Dutch Alley, by the river at St. Philip Street and the other at the Jazz Museum at the Old U.S. Mint.
(An aside: That performance tent at Dutch Alley really deserves a name. Most people, even most locals, don’t know where Dutch Alley is. Years ago, it was suggested that it be called the Danny Barker Stage as the legendary musician was born and spent his youthful years nearby at 1027 Chartres Street. As a child he used to roam the neighborhood that he described as “smelling like spaghetti and meatballs.” When asked if it was dangerous for a young Black boy to be gallivanting around, the always sharp-witted and politically hip Barker quickly responded: “Oh, no, I just carried a watermelon and everybody thought I was tame.” One of the excuses for not naming that particular tent after the influential guitarist/banjoist/vocalist/composer was that they, those with the authority to make the change, wanted to do something bigger to honor Barker. That hasn’t happened. So why not do this now and, hopefully do the “bigger” thing down the road?
On a positive note, that performance tent is a nice spot and allows for a quick walk to the river to enjoy the mighty Mississippi and hopefully catch a bit of a breeze after doing some hot salsa steps to Fredy Omar con su Banda that performs there on Saturday beginning at 4:15 p.m. Food booths also habitat the vicinity including one offering fried green tomatoes and another, we assume primarily for the kids, French fries while their parents visit the Bloody Mary Market.
Nibble while you stroll from the upper part of the Market down to the Old U.S. Mint where there’s a kids’ area on the Barracks Street side of the building and another proscenium on the Esplanade Avenue side. The culinary offerings sound delicious such as Andrea’s restaurant with crabmeat ravioli with Creole tomato sauce.
A musical highlight of the festival is the arrival of Delfeayo Marsalis’ Uptown Jazz Orchestra that boasts an impressive 14 members. “Yeah, we’re coming on strong,” Marsalis declares. What makes the ensemble unique among big bands is that its repertoire is heavy on brass band numbers. “We have the brass!” the trombonist enthusiastically offers, adding that many of the members, including him, have played and or continue to play in brass bands. He mentions just a few like saxophonists Roger Lewis and Roderick Paulin — “they give it a mighty edge.” In the trombone section, Marsalis is teamed with Terrance Taplin and the trumpet section includes Andrew Baham among many others. Yes, this is an all-star band with the guys primarily showing up each week at the Orchestra’s regular Wednesday night sets at Snug Harbor out of the love of the music and the joy they get from performing with their fellow musicians from the New Orleans community. Having the Uptown Jazz Orchestra at the festival really allows folks who don’t necessarily go out to clubs or may not even think they like jazz the opportunity to experience not only some fine music but be introduced to the musicians who keep New Orleans music alive.
When most people think of big bands, they think swing like Duke Ellington or Count Basie. Sure, the Uptown Orchestra can swing but what sets it apart is its accent on brass and the New Orleans sound. “Swing is part of what we do,” Marsalis agrees, “though it’s more groove music. The majority of what we play is party music and Uptown funk.” Check it out at 4:15 p.m. on Sunday.
This article originally published in the June 04, 2018 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
