BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!

Subject: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 12:42 AM

What a city. I can't get over the music I heard. Heck, you don'te have to go into a club, some of the stuff we heard on the steets was as good as anything heard indoors.

I'm just listening to a CD I bought from a local band, The Kitchen Syncopators. Outstanding.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 02:58 AM

My son says the same thing about Nashville, although probably different kinds of music, though he does say there is a great variety.

We've got a friend whose brother moved to New Orleans years ago, to make music, and has always just loved it.

Tell us some more?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: C-flat
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 03:39 AM

New Orleans is on my list...

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Big Tim
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 04:34 AM

I just returned in November and to be honest was a bit disappointed. The general atmosphere was great but for the music maybe we didn't go to the right places. However my wife, much less cynical than I, came home raving about it. For her tho the hightlight was seeing Anne Rice's house out in the Garden District, oh and the streetcar rides, oh and the weather, oh and the trip on the "Natchez", oh and the cemeteries!!

Nashville tho was great, by sheer luck rather than design, on November 3, saw Bob Dylan there!

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Mr Red
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 06:32 AM

It's on my list - or more specifically Joy's and where she jumps - there jump I. Probably this year. As Cajun jumpers we will probably be looking for dances - any suggestions or should we be heading out to the bayou's?
I read a report by Rees Wesson for a cajun newsletter 10 years ago that there was a trailer park where musicians congregated most weekends near Laffyette? Any comments?
BTW FWIW Rees (Joe le TAXI) is appearing at Upton Cajun festival http://viki.org.uk

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: JedMarum
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 08:58 AM

I spent a month in New orleans, one night!

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 10:03 AM

Back in the eighties I spent 3 months in New Orleans reorganizing the company branch there and man it was a time!!! I'd like to take about 10 Grand and go stay at the Royal Orleans and eat and listen to music til the money runs out!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Amos
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 10:42 AM

I'm with you, Spat. I spent a few days there a couple of years ago and just walking by the river could have filled up a month for me!! The music was grand in town and we drovet out into the bayou country just East and danced all night at a big barn with a Cajun band who were nice enough to let me play bass for a couple of songs, which I enjoyed the hell out of. Plus some pretty Loozana gal taught me the two-step. I'd go back in a heartbeat!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Cappuccino
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 10:54 AM

I spent a couple of days there on my first trip to the States in 1984-ish. I clearly remember standing in a street square in the old quarter - there were four bars, one on each corner, and without moving, I could enjoy different music coming from each!

However, I hadn't realised that to find Cahun, I had to go farther south, and have still not made it to the bayous. - Ian B

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Cappuccino
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 10:55 AM

Would you believe me if I claimed that 'Cahun' is an original traditional spelling? It's my dyslexic keyboard again...!

- ian B

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 10:57 AM

Cahuns are a militia like splinter group of Cajuns who run through the bayous raping and pillaging (what I have no idea) and generally creating mayhem.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 11:02 AM

Boy oh boy....And do they ever have some sexy women down there!!! I mean really!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 11:03 AM

I loved it too Steve. Played at the Mystic Den in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, on Royal st. I almost re-located. THAT'S how much I loved it.

Mmmmmm, those crayfish!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: JedMarum
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 11:34 AM

I loved the crawfish too! I didn;t eat much else while I was there on my last couple of trips. BUT, I learned the hard way - after eatig crawfish you need to wash your hands before you pee!

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 11:38 AM

I was initially repulsed at the idea of suckin' them crawdad heads, but once you do it....Theyr\'re right!!! Good eatin'!!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Jeri
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 12:23 PM

I sucked one crawdad head...ONE. Not much point in it. I loved the other ends!

There are some advantages to being female...

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: reggie miles
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 12:29 PM

Just don't drink the tap water down there. I did and was so sick I could barely crawl to the bathroom and back to bed for about a week. Finally someone suggested I try eating some raw garlic. At the time I had not developed a taste for the stuff and detested the thought. I didn't have the $ visit a doctor or buy any of them fancy remedies. Playing on the street was what I was doing for survival back then. Since I had become sick I wasn't able to do anything but suffer in bed. So I chewed up and choked down about four raw cloves, with some filtered water, and in about an hour or two I was miraculously cured of the ailment that had plagued me. Since then I've sworn by it instead of at it.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 12:40 PM

KatLaughing - your son has been to New Orleans and Nashville and he prefers the later?

You need to take that boy to a doctor QUICK!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: JedMarum
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 03:16 PM

Nashville has a charm of its own. And it is very different from New Orleans in many ways - not the least of which is the music. New Orleans has several importants styles of its own, and a wide variety within those styles ... Nashville, it seems to me is much more parochial.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Mrs Cobble
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 05:43 PM

New Oleans WOW and WOW !!!

I was there four years ago, the music in the streets was wonderful. I shall always remember a guy who was in a small garden all alone, playing blues on a sax.... magic. Then theres the sea food.. crawfish, soft shelled crabs and gumbo... mmmm. The Alligator was also very good.

One day I hope to go again.. one day !!!!

Mrs C

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 05:55 PM

Nashville has changed a lot and there is far more music there now than there was 30 years ago. Even when I lived there in the mid-80's it had come a long way toward live music. Pretty much the only game in town for a lot of years was the Opry......Everything else was recording studios.

And Nashville has a certain charm of it's own..........It was truly a fine place to live!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 06:21 PM

Sorry for taking some time to get back. The music was incredible. Some of the best stuff that we heard was in the streets. The food was something too, but I must admit that I didn't have any Boiled Crawfish. That wasn't by design. We were so busy that we often just grabbed a Po' Boy or Pizza slice.

Preservation Hall was a real trip, but I wish we had got there a bit earlier as were jammed against the back wall and could barely see the band. We left there bound for Snug Harbor, another Jazz club. Just before entering Snug Harbor I caught the sound of something that sounded good coming from across the road. When we entered Snug Harbor the band was on break, but they were playing a video of their earlier set. It was a little to Bebop for me. Went back across the street and had a great time listening to group called the Jazz Vipers. They played more traditional New Orleans style jazz and they cooked. They had a female trombonist who it turns out is from Quebec. She visited New Orleans a few years ago and when she returned home she just couldn't find anything even close to the music she'd experienced in New Orleans so she moved there.

My favourite experiences were the sounds of Jackson Square & Royal Street. Bourbon St. was pretty good, but I think it would have been better when I was 22, not 42. A wild spot.

I guess the one thing that I was disappointed in was that with all the tours they offer, they didn't have a music tour. With all that history and with the number of people who go there for the music, I'd have thought they would have offered a tour.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Cappuccino
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 06:39 PM

The thing I will always remember about New Orleans is sitting out on the balcony of my hotel room, reading the newspaper, with the most torrential rainstorm going on outside, wondering that I was still in shirtsleeves because it was so darned hot.

And why is the local paper called the Picayune? What's a Picayune?

- Ian B

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: michaelr
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:20 PM

Spaw - I'm with you about the women! I've been to NOLA twice, and those milk-coffee-colored Creole babes are the most gorgeous I've ever seen! (Only Brazilian women could compare - but then they're Creole too>)
The only reason I was reluctant to go talk to one was the guy in the zoot suit sashaying about 20 feet behind her...

And yes, the Kitchen Syncopators are great!

Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Morticia
Date: 16 Mar 02 - 07:28 PM

It's on my list too, as well as visiting all you guys....so how much time do you reckon I need to take off?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 01:54 AM

I bought two CD's of locals when I was there, THe Kitchen Syncopators and and a Zydeco band. The Kitchen Syncopators CD is as good as what I heard them do live. The Zydeco isn't.

Do you have to have a buskers license in New Orleans?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 08:58 AM

A couple of years oughta' do it Mortie........Lots of us would like to have you around for exrended visits and it's a big country with some cool stuff to do and see...........Yeah, put in for a few years off.............

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 07:12 PM

Well Morticia, I've had two days to catch my breathe. I could go back tomorrow. We were there for a week and tried to get in as much as possible. I'll bet that we probably did about 10% of what I would have liked to have done.

Any answers on if Buskers require licenses?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Morticia
Date: 17 Mar 02 - 07:21 PM

Dear God, social services would sh*t itself if I asked for a couple of years...how would three months be? Really? Is that totally unrealistic?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 18 Mar 02 - 02:27 AM

Morticia, Get Three months if you can, that would be wonderful.

Buskers, license, anyone?

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 12:29 AM

Nashville better than Orleans?

Country Commercial better than Cajun Creole?

No accounting for taste or talent.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 01:04 PM

I visited New Orleans last year and drank the tap water. No problems.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 02:01 PM

Just wondering about the Busking thing again. I have been raving about the street music scene to a couple of friends of mine who are musicians. They are considering going down and busking, but were wondering about whether a permit is required, if the other musicians would allow them space etc.

It all appeared pretty loose to me, but any info I could pass on to them would be appreciated.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: annamill
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 02:51 PM

On a good note.. my son, James, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, a very fine cooking school for those of you who are not familiar with it. His first job outta school was in a place called Mr. B's Bistro in Nawleens. His girlfriend also, graduated and is working at Gamay's Bistro on Bourbon St. They have a one bedroom in a fine complex right on the river. They are having a wonderful time. Ahh, youth!

They also have a python, yuch!

One of my favorite towns. Reminds me of the old village(NY)...and the music just goes on and on and on...

I have got to go!

Love, annamill

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Rolfyboy6
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 04:43 PM

Here's a discussion of permits (or the present lack of them) and other related items from Offbeat Magazine, New Orleans' generally fine music magazine. Plugged In I suspect if you e-mailed to the address on the page you'd get an answer.

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 05:09 PM

Thanks Rolfyboy, I'll check that out.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:23 PM

Steve Friggin' Latimer!

You're in N'Awleens and you go for a PIZZA SLICE!!?? That's as bad as heather's Folks travelling from Scotland to exotic locales in the Mediterranean and sticking with "The English Breakfast"!

By the way, Jed Marum speaks the truth about washing your hands BEFORE you pee. That hot sauce can be murder!

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: michaelr
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:32 PM

YES Rick - the thing to eat in NOLA is Oyster Po'Boys!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 19 Mar 02 - 10:45 PM

Rick,

It's Confession time. I have had boiled Crawfish before and really liked them. I just didn't seem to be in the right place at the right time for them. I did have Crawfish Etouffe at Mulates and I liked that, a Beignet & Chicory Coffee at The Cafe Dumonde, a wonderful meal at Arnaud's that was followed by Bananas Foster (given I'm more than a bit over my fightin' weight I wish I had never discovered that). So I think we did eat allright. Yes, I'm sorry that I didn't get around to Boiled Crawfish, heck I didn't even have an Oyster and I love them. But we we couldn't be everywhere that we wanted to be given that we were only there for a week and made a side trip to Mississippi to visit relatives. Did I mention the stuffed crab, blackened shrimp, broiled redfish in Missippi?

Hmm, no wonder I'm over my fightin' weight.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 11:04 AM

When I was down there for that 3 months, I ate like a horse. The whole seafood thing was a killer. I used to fly back home on weekends (Nashville) and in general because I flew a lot in the job, my routine was to show up in time to get on the plane and leave. But in New Orleans for those months, I'd arrive and hour early an pig-out at the Raw Bar before the flight. Unlike Rick, I never packed a load of shellfish in a case to take home, although I did think about it a few times.

Another thing I got hooked on was a traditional New Orleans sandwich, the Muffuletta, often referred to as a "Muffy". Man, I can't see how anyone can eat one of these without being completely hooked! I always considered it to be the "perfect" sandwich.   

One thing though about New Orleans food.........You can find any number of great and expensive places to eat but damn few generic joints to just get a bite to eat. I found a few places but Jim and I were constantly asking the locals where they ate and man alive, was that some AWFUL eating. A lot of people told us to go to a place called "Ralph and Cockoo's" and we eventually tried it, hoping for the best. I don't remember now what either of us ordered but whatever it was, my main memory is that it was awash in grease. I don't mean it was just greasy folks, I'm talking liquid lard flowing deep all over the platter......just disgusting! We tried to eat but neither of us could get through much of it.

We never really did find a good cheap place to eat and I ate a lot of Muffys instead. I haven't had one in years now although I used to make them at home. Maybe when I'm off this low residue diet we'll have a Muffuletta Night............

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: Steve Latimer
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 11:59 AM

'Spaw,

I didn't have one of those either. They look great.

I guess I have to go back.

Steve

Subject: RE: BS: Just returned from New Orleans, Wow!!
From: annamill
Date: 20 Mar 02 - 12:07 PM

'spaw, I won't touch that one... "a lot of Muffy's" ...right! You've gone too far now!

;-)

Love, annamill(whos ribs still feel crushed by that big spaw hug)