Yo, my guess is like Sean's -- if you listen to a lot of this Mardis Gras stuff you'll hear the phrase "Jockomo fee nah nay" or "Jockomo ah na fi na ne" over and over in different songs, and from context it always seems to mean what Sean described. If you judge just by the song "Brother John" the "John is dead" idea seems to make sense, but I think maybe that's just coincidence.

I hadn't heard the Wally Ingram stuff before your posts -- just listened to some clips at www.davidlindley.com, and it sounds like the New Orleans thing is still a big part of his style judging by "Cat Food Sandwiches". The archetype of that drumming style is Ziggy Modeliste of the Meters, so you'll probably find something to like in the Meters, Wild Tchoupitoulas, etc.