Marigny Cars and Drain Covers

New Orleans, USA, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th,11th and 12th November 2014.

This something of a compound post thematically connected. There are two groups of subjects. One is views in the Marigny district near where I was staying. As we left or came back each day I might take a couple of shots though my main photographic focuses for the day might be quite different. The shots of the cars I took on different occasions on a number of days. And the characteristic New Orleans drain covers are from a number of different locations around town, and at different times.

This is a place we walked past every morning. Frenchmen St is the intersection you can see a bit further on. There is a closer look at the near car in the next image.

This is a car driven by someone who really knows how to attract the birds.

One morning there was a garage sale across the road from where we were staying,with some interesting ways of attracting attention.

Here is a house in the Marigny neighbourhood, maybe Marigny Street, I’m not sure.

I’m pretty sure this is round the corner in Royal St.

And definitely this one is, opposite where we used to take coffee every morning, along with Eric Kyte, an English architect who designs hotels.

Water covers, Algiers Point.

I guess this is what you call street art, whether the New Orleans Government intended it as that or not.

Sewer cover, Algiers Point.

Water cover, Arts District.

This is a Cadillac Superior Hearse, from about 1972. It was parked just a couple of houses from where we were staying and never moved in the ten days we were there. I came back and photographed it several times.

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G String Orchestra

Aug15

Mimi’s in the Marigny, Franklin Ave, New Orleans, USA, 10th November 2014.

We turned up at Mimi’s on the Marigny because as a cajun and creole local tapas restaurant it sounded worth checking out. Not knowing how crowded it might be we turned up early and out timing worked out to be perfect. We didn’t even know a band was playing and we got the table right in front. The food was great and the band was great.

This is G String Orchestra, especially the three players to the right, the bass accordion and violin. It can range from a two-piece to a ten-piece band, playing traditional and original eastern European folk and klezmer music or more specifically, pan-Balkan music ranging from romantic waltzes to driving coceks, pulsing horas to foot moving bulgars, heart wrenching greek rembetica ballads to the hungarian czardas!.

This is their website and here are six tracks on their MySpace site.

Bruce Salmon on Bulgarian Tambura.

Ian, Sarah Jacques in the background.

Ian.

Sarah Jacques.

David.

Sarah Jacques.

David.

(I will add more names when they are available).

Arts District

Aug14

New Orleans, USA, 10th November 2014.

New Orleans Streetcar.

We headed off on a streetcar intending to visit the aquarium. The streetcars are a delight in New Orleans though they are slow and can break down. The aquarium was closed so we set out to visit some galleries in the Arts District, which was probably a much better choice anyway.

Here are some people waiting as a freight train goes past, with probably hundreds of cars.

The building is being replaced but the facade, presumably heritage protected, is to stay.

What was once a grand old building is now dwarfed by glass towers.

Contemporary Arts Centre.

Not all places we visited allowed photography but this was one that did….

Contemporary Arts Centre.

Contemporary Arts Centre (a mixture of found objects and reflections).

Contemporary Arts Centre (looking out and back).

Confederate Memorial Hall. Here we see a cannon used by participants of the civil war who gave their lives in 1865 fighting for slavery. There are few memorials for the emancipation of the slaves in the South. When you consider who might raise the funds it’s easy to see why.

This looks like a bizarre art installation but it appears to be an even more bizarre commercial air conditioning installation.

Ogden museum, Basquiet Exhibition.

Ogden museum.

Algiers Point

Aug13

New Orleans, USA, 9th November 2014.

We decided to visit Algiers Point on the other side of the Mississippi River. This involved a ferry trip.

The river is what opened up the region and is still a major commercial thoroughfare. Lots of freighter and barges.

And this is the Natchez, that we took a voyage on one evening and listened to the Dukes of Dixieland.

A tug pushing several huge barges.

And a cruise liner on the other side of the river.

Once across on the ferry, we went for a walk.

There was even a blue Police Box, though no sign of the occupant.

It was a Sunday afternoon, perhaps not the best time to visit because very little was open.

The old and the new. The Natchez in front of the cruise ship. Guess which I’d prefer to be on.

Louisiana Music Museum (New Orleans Mint)

Aug11

New Orleans, USA, 9th November 2014.

This afternoon we visited the old US Mint, not far from we were staying. It operated as a mint from 1838 to 1861 and from 1879 to 1909, producing over 400 million gold and silver coins during those periods. This includes a brief period striking coins for the Confederacy in 1861. There are only four Confederate dollars from the New Orleans Mint surviving.

However, what I found more interesting was the Music Museum upstairs.

Fats Domino’s piano.

Fats Domino (born 1928) is a very influential Rhythm and Blues piano player, eminent since the late 1940s. He stayed in his house during Hurricane Katrina, partly because his wife was in poor health. His house was then destroyed by the floods. He was reported as dead in the media but had in fact been airlifted to safety with his family by a helicopter.

Louis Armstrong’s first cornet.

In the early hours of 1 January 1913, young Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was arrested for firing a pistol in the air during New Year’s celebrations and sentenced to the Coloured Waif’s Home. There band director Peter Davis began Louis’ formal musical education. Louis started with a tambourine and eventually graduated to the cornet. The home’s administrator, Captain Joseph Jones, purchased this cornet at a pawnshop for Armstrong’s use. As his fame grew, the Waif’s Home cherished the cornet Armstrong had played. In 1962, Jones’ widow, Manuella Jones, donated this horn to the New Orleans Jazz Club’s Jazz Museum. Three years later, Armstrong identified the cornet by the grooves he had cut into the mouthpiece.

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown’s fiddle.

The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed the home of Clarence Gatemouth Brown (1924-2005) in Slidell, Louisiana. His fiddle, still in a case, was found nearby. Brown had evacuated in advance of the storm but passed away in Orange, Texas just a couple of weeks later.

Clarence Gatemouth Brown. Digital inkjet print by Earl Perry, c. 2004.

“I refuse to be labelled as a blues player, jazz player, country player,” Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown once said. “I’m an American musician.” Born in Vinton, Louisiana and raised in Orange, Texas, he absorbed the music of the Gulf Coast as well as the swing of Duke Ellington and Count Basie, creating an eclectic style. His first hit “Okie Dokie Swamp” (1954), blended jazz and blues. In 1982 he won a grammy for his album Alright Again!. Over his long career, the prolific guitarist and fiddler recorded with Eric Clapton, Canned Heat, Leon Russell and Professor Longhair. Weakened by lung cancer and heart failure, Brown passed away in Orange about two weeks after he evacuated his longtime Slidell home in advance of Hurricane Katrina.

Photograph of Kid Ory (gelatin silver print by Yoshio Toyama 1971) and Kid Ory’s trombone.

Originally from LaPlace, trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory (1886-1973) led one of New Orlean’s most popular dance bands in the 1910s. He left for California in 1919, then headed for Chicago in 1923 to play with Joe “King” Oliver. During the next several years, he recorded there with Oliver, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five, and Jelly Roll Morton’s Hot Peppers. At the end of the 1920s, Ory moved back to California and quit performing until the 1940s, when the revival of interest in New Orleans-style jazz put him back on stage and in the studio.

Sydney Bechet’s soprano saxophone (manufactured 1897).

One of the first great jazz soloists, clarinetist and soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) was renowned for his emotional, powerful style. He began playing professionally as an adolescent, and by 1919 he was touring Europe. Bechet pioneered the technique of overdubbing in 1941, playing all the parts – soprano saxophone, clarinet, tenor saxophone, piano, drums, and bass – on “The Sheik of Araby”. Bechet settled in France in the early 1950s. There, he became a national hero, recording such hits as “Les Oignons” and “Petite Fleur”.

Cie Frazier’s tom-tom and drumsticks.

The tom-tom and drumsticks displayed here were part of a drum set that Josiah “Cie” Frazier (1904-1985) used when he travelled. The set suffered extensive damage from Hurrican Katrina floodwaters.

Cie Frazier, Gelatin silver print by Lee Friedlander, 1982.

Many consider Josiah “Cie” Frazier’s playing the epitome of New orleans-style jazz druming. In his early years, he performed in orchestras led by Armand J Piton, Sidney Desvigne, Oscar “Papa” Celestin and John Robichaux. Frazier played with a number of brass bands and performed regularly at Preservation Hall from its earliest days.

Emile “Stalebread” Lacoume’s banjo (manufactured c.1900).

Emile “Stalebread Lacoume (1885-1946) played this banjo. After leading a spasm band as a boy and performing in vaudeville shows, he played jazz in New Orleans through the 1920s and 1930s.

Emile “Stalebread” Lacoume’s Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band, Albumen print, 1899.

In the late 1800s, newspaper boy Emile Lacoume (second from left), performed on the streets of New Orleans. Homemade instruments and improvised music were the hallmarks of such groups. Stalebread, who once said he got his nickname from bread he hoarded from his band, went on to play jazz professionally as an adult, despite the onset of blindness shortly after this photograph was taken. He performed with the halfway house Orchestra in the early 1920s and later with the Charles Fishbien Orchestra.

Bourbon Street, Saturday Night

Aug9

Bourbon St, New Orleans, USA, 8th November 2014.

On Bourbon Street on Saturday night there was a great mass of people (and definitely no vehicles).

Some were having a good time and others were having a good time wandering up and down watching other people having a good time….

There were also many people surveying the scene from the balconies.

I ducked into a bar where there was perhaps a karaoke event, with one person singing to backing music…

… and lots of other people enjoying themselves.

Some of the pedestrians were more remarkable than others.

This is Kitty with Brownie and Bacon Bit, camped together on the pavement.

There was interaction between the people on the street and the people on the balconies.

The sign says it all…

Inside another pub…

A view of the street from a balcony.

These people were catching strings of brightly covered beads being thrown down from the balcony.

Inside a shop stuffed with curious objects.

Same shop.

A bridal party on the street.

And finally, a couple of guardians of the Law, considerately posing with their patient steeds.

St Louis Cemetery No. 1

Aug8

New Orleans, USA, 8th November 2014.

On this afternoon we went for a walk to St Louis Cemetery No 1 and later to Congo Square for a Gumbo Festival.

A noticeboard outside the cemetery describes it as follows:

When New Orleans was founded in 1718 burials were made on the river bank. The first cemetery, in 1721, was on St Peter Street. Burials were also made in the church.

The first cemetery was demolished when this cemetery, St Louis Cemetery No 1, was established by Spanish Royal decree of August 14, 1789….

Some of the oldest tombs lack the original surface and have no distinguishing marks. I found interesting patterns in the patina on the wall of this one.

A few months after we were there, the cemetery was closed to the general public. Ostensibly this was to prevent vandalism but more likely to extract money from tour companies who are still allowed to operate.

The Barbarins were an eminent family of Jazz musicians. Paul Barbarin was the more famous drummer but judging by the tomb, this person must have had local celebrity as well.

An old tomb. Perhaps an old wall plaque had fallen out.

F. Louis Marrec, born at Morlaise, Department of Finistere, France 27 November 1797, died 14 November 1853.

His spouse Mle Justine Grousol, born in New Orleans 5 April 1809, died 24 December 1876.

Jean P Marrec (their son?), born 26 June 1832; died 4 October 1894.

A voodoo tomb, I can’t tell you whose. Perhaps if we had had the patience to take a guided tour but that was always unlikely.

The triple crosses may originally have come from genuine Voodoo adherents but for the most part these are from Tour Groups pumping up their customers to try to capture a pretence of the mystique. These days it’s called vandalism (always was, really) and may not be happening any more.

The gris gris offerings are cute though.

In memory of Doctor Asahel Brunson
A native of Halifax County North Carolina. Moved with his father to Tennessee in the spring of 1803. Departed this life in the army at New Orleans February 15 1815 aged 26 years 7 months and nine days.

So this means he died in the Battle of New Orleans, where the British failed to capture the city. When they landed, New Orleans was at their mercy but they paused needlessly for several days, allowing the defenders to bring in cannon and raise defences. Neither side was aware at the time that a peace treaty had been signed. The battle became a major factor in Andrew Jackson’s later rise to the Presidency. Andrew Jackson was the first Democratic President and rated by some as among the worst Presidents. Bellicose, oppressor of Indians and a slave owner, he would have little in common with Obama.

This stone is erected by Susannah Slaughter in memory of her late husband Thomas Slaughter, Shipmaster, who was born in the town of Beeding in Sussex, England and was drowned in the Mississippi River, May 21 1811, aged 41 years.
The high roling waves & loud blowing tempest, I have left to the living, for here I am anchor’d in peace, waiting for the return of … tide of life.
On the 22nd of Sept 1817, John Gardner (of Salem Mass.) departed this life aged about 25 years.

The tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau (c. 1794-1881), or possibly her daughter, or possibly both, or possibly neither. Doesn’t matter really. The major voodoo shrine.

Marie Laveau was High Priestess of Voodoo in New Orleans. This was consistent with the matriarchal nature of the ancestral religion in West Africa. However, New Orleans Voodoo was a unique synthesis. Marie was also a devoted Catholic who went to church every day.

Here is a closer look at some of the voodoo objects at the top of Marie Laveau’s tomb. Objects and related actions are called gris-gris (grey-grey) because they represent a mixture of black and white magic.

There are lots of Voodoo references in the cemetery.

From the cemetery, we went to the nearby Gumbo Festival underway in Louis Armstrong Park.

Inside the park, this is also Congo Square. From a notice board there:

Congo Square is in the “vicinity” of a spot which Houmas Indians used before the arrival of the French for celebrating their annual corn harvest and was considered sacred ground. The gathering of enslaved African vendors in Congo Square originated as early as the late 1740s during Louisiana’s French colonial period and continued during the Spanish colonial era as one of the city’s public markets. By 1803, Congo Square had become famous for the gatherings of enslaved Africans who drummed, danced, sang and traded on Sunday afternoons. By 1819, these gatherings numbered as many as 500 to 600 people. Among the most famous dances were the Bamboula, the Calinda and the Congo. These African cultural expressions gradually developed into Mardi Gras Indian traditions, the Second line and eventually New Orleans jazz and rhythm and blues.

However, I was somewhat disappointed with the Gumbo Festival. Too many people, bands too far away, queues at the food vendors innumerable people long.

And here we have Louis himself, watching over three young women in Carnival masks.

There was even an Indian, as though Carnival was really happening.

We then walked down Decatur Street to the bottom of Frenchmen Street. This is near the Old US Mint, looking back up the street.

Looking down Frenchman St.

Marigny, near our accomodation.

Later in the evening we headed off for Bourbon St. This is probably on Bourbon St, but at the non-commercial Eastern end. Next image sequentially is Big Al Carson & the Blues Masters from the Further New Orleans Bands post, then Bourbon Street on Saturday night in the next post.

The Smoky Greenwell Band and the Pentones

Aug7

Funky Pirate Blues Club and Bamboula’s, New Orleans, USA, 7th to 8th November 2014.

In the evening we headed off for the Funky Pirate Club in Bourbon Street where the Pentones were playing. It was very crowded, so not many angles were available for photographs.

Thomas McDonald (bass), Eddie Christmas (drums), Mark Pentone (guitar).

The Pentones play smooth and lively blues, rhythm & blues and funk. You can find out more about them on their website, or even purchase their new CD, or listen to some tracks on ReverbNation.

This is Mark Pentone. We only caught the end of the gig but I had a talk to him and he told me he was playing later on Frenchman Street with the Smoky Greenwell Band so we headed off for there.

On the way, a view on Bourbon Street, left over from Halloween.

Smoky Greenwell.

Peter Bradish.

David Hyde.

Brief performance by Vaughn Mordenti, whom I took to be a poet, which may well be the case, though is actually the owner of Bamboula’s.

As you can see from the following images, it was a great night and the crowd were having fun. The band describes their genre on Facebook as Blues, Rock, Jazz & Funk. Mark Pentone on the left is standing in for regular guitarist Jack Kolb.

You can checkout their somewhat terse website or play this youtube video (with a larger chorus line than usual) or this one.

Smoky Greenwell.

Garden District

Aug5

New Orleans, USA, 7th November 2014.

The first three images are from the morning, probably walking around the Marigny area. Perhaps this was the day we went to the nursery over the back fence from where we were staying and these are some houses on the way.

The rest of the images are from the mid to late afternoon. We are wandering down Bourbon St and this is a fine-looking mule drawing a tourist wagon. The intersection at St Peter’s St is in the background.

A little further along Bourbon St, or more precisely just around the corner to Bienville St (or Calle de Bienville as in the historic sign), this is a Cadillac El Dorado from 1974. The sign on the far left is for Arnaud’s Restaurant, one of the most famous of New Orleans Restaurants (and probably not cheap). Perhaps the car belongs to a diner or the owner of the restaurant.

The rest of the images are from the Garden District, on the other side of Canal St.

Canal St is so-named because there used to be a canal where the street is now and it forms a boundary between the French Quarter and the Anglo-American zone. All along Canal St is highly commercial these days but further out we have the Garden District, part of what I have called the Anglo-American zone.

Halloween had just passed and signs of it remained on the front steps.

Interstellar Transmissions

Aug2

The Bus, Frenchmen St, New Orleans, USA, 7th November 2014 (am).

I was heading back along Frenchmen St around 1am after seeing Willie Lockett and the Blues Crewe. There was a bus parked in a side street with the engine running. Interesting sounds were coming from it and a young woman invited me in.

Inside the bus was a whole different musical experience. This is Interstellar Transmissions. The inside of the bus provides a different and intimate social setting and the bus with its rounded roof probably has inherently good acoustics as well.

At the far end of the bus is the band under stage lighting and with the visual effect enhanced by the reflections on the polished ceiling.

Gavin Robert McGowen on the left plays guitars, William Jerome “Coda” at the right is on keyboards and Nathan Wilson on drums & percussion.

Gavin later told me they used to turn up on the street at Frenchman Street and start playing. They would pull a big crowd, drawing lots of people out of the venues. Then the venues would complain and the Police turn up to move them on. They are based in Austin Texas and already had the bus so in a stroke of brilliance they decided to modify it to double as a venue.

They are an instrumental group and the closest associations I could think of were Rick Wakeman, Todd Rungren and Yes. The describe their genre on Facebook as “Carnivalesque Shamanic Tribal Rock Fusion”. You can listen to some of their music on Reverbnation.

After a while, I started to concentrate more on the reflections.

Gavin told me they were to return the next night and I was intending to return with a wider lens. However, either I missed them or they were diverted somewhere else.

Murray Foote

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