Valparaiso, Chile, was the first major port reached after rounding the Horn from east to west, and thus is featured in a number of sea shanties (none of which, ironically enough, are included in the VMC repertoire).

I videoed an evening of maritime music last week, celebrating the arrival of an international contingent of Tall Ships at the Port of New Orleans. Featured performers were the Valparaiso Chorus, the N.O. Quarter Shanty Krewe, and superstar shantyman Geoff Kaufman, who traveled all the way from Mystic/New London CT on the Coast Guard tall ship US Eagle. I am currently editing the footage down to individual songs and will be posting them on YouTube within a couple of days.

Better video of the group will be seen on HBO in a month or two, in the episode of "Treme" depicting Mardi Gras 2008. More on that later. The director of the episode, shot about 6 weeks ago, was acgtor/director Tim Robbins, who is now the VMC's biggest fan...