The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival announced the full roster today for this year’s wingding at the Fairgrounds, and some major star power is juicing up the bill. Besides the previously announced return of the Neville Brothers, plus Tim McGraw and Frankie Beverly & Maze, this year we’ll also see a few A-list collaborations. Notably, Fats Domino fan Robert Plant will be performing with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss on the heels of their 2007 album together, Raising Sand; Allen Toussaint and Elvis Costello will also be reprising the live partnership that wowed crowds at the 2006 Fest.Other notables include Dr. John, the urban soul siren Keyshia Cole, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Sheryl Crow and Jack White’s garage-rock outfit the Raconteurs. Click here for a full day-by-day listing.

I have to say I was beyond doubtful that the Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters would be able to reach me here in Germany. They actually mailed my ballot for February 9th presidential primary within reasonable time to get it back to them by the election day deadline. Considering Louisiana bureaucracy lately, especially when its on a collaboration with the federal level, this is a minor miracle. I suppose my ballot still has to make it there and get counted, so it’s not over yet.

Leading up to this bright white envelope, the state parties successfully made me buck my independent status as a voter for this election, sending in a fax to register with the Democrats. Does anyone know if there’s a chance that they’d open things up to “independent” voters as other states do? I’ve always been so proudly an independent and plan on playing this little registration game as such. Read the rest of this entry »

Just a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a third installment to the Oscar Fuselier story that originally ran in the Gambit this past September. In that first story, I described how Fuselier, a 58-year-old disabled war veteran was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant from Jefferson Parish, placed in an un-air-conditioned jail cell in the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) with five other inmates and more than a day later was beaten unconscious by another inmate. He never regained consciousness and died two weeks later. Richard Jackson, an 18 year-old armed robbery suspect, was charged with second-degree battery for assaulting Fuselier.

In October, I found out that Jackson had been given a ‘701 release’ from the Orleans District Attorney’s Office on the battery charge . A ‘701 release’ refers to a suspect being released from jail after 60 days if a DA’s office hasn’t formally accepted charges against them. Jackson was released of that charge, but remained in jail on the armed robbery charge and for violating his parole on a previous conviction. The DA’s office said this occurred because they never received any of the files on the case from Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office (OPSCO). A spokesperson for OPCSO, Renee Lapeyrolerie , denied the DA’s, saying, “…I don’t know what report they’re talking about.” Read the rest of this entry »

This week is the catch twenty-two of all shopping weeks in the year. Along Magazine St, in the malls, online there are SALES everywhere…but at the same time most budgets are feeling the crunch (which is why I haven’t posted in Window Shopper recently, I cut myself off from the stores).

All weekend long I spotted 50%- 70% off sales everywhere. Some of my best sightings included Magazine Streets Pippen Lane’s 50% off rack, West Elm’s online sale, Pier Ones 75% off ornaments (if you can think about next Christmas), Gae-tana’s 20-75% off racks and World Markets center aisle. Read the rest of this entry »

In other parts of the country commuters and travelers have the option of train travel. And while we do have the physical lines in and out of Loyola Avenue to Chicago and San Antonio, the rates are never cheap and it never seems convenient verse air travel.

I always thought it would be nice if there was an affordable line to nearby locations. It costs $44 to get from Portland to Seattle and only $20 to travel from Charleston to Savannah.

And where the internet does contain many conflicting myths and facts regarding the safety, environmental and speed parameters of train travel, and I am not an expert or convinced of the truth on any of the issues- I would still like the choice. Read the rest of this entry »

The Faubourg Marigny boasts several great restaurants — Adolfo’s, Feelings Café and Wasabi, to name just three — but it’s possible that the best dishes to be had anywhere in the lower-lower-Quarter reside at a locale better known for its liquor.

At Mimi’s in the Marigny, the split-level Royal Street bar that’s home to DJ Soul Sister’s weekend spins as well as an enticing assortment of hot and cold tapas, a casual stop-off for drinks quickly can turn into a deconstructed six-course prix fixe. During one recent visit, the parade of small plates began with creamy goat cheese croquettes, hush puppy-sized, pan-fried to a light crust and drizzled with honey; a green salad dressed with a vinegary sherry emulsion and shavings of sharp Manchego cheese; and jumbo Louisiana shrimp, the heads left on, grilled with a crisp jacket of salty Serrano ham. Read the rest of this entry »

The time is upon us… not Mardi Gras, but tax season. Will you be groaning or whoop-whooping your way through your return this year? I’m sure we all hope for a ‘whoop-whoop,’ and Louisiana’s Department of Social Services knows it. Today it issued a press release that might ensure more taxpayers will finish their filing with an ecstatic whoop-whoop over a projected tax refund rather than taxes owed.

DSS and the State of Louisiana are urging working families to find out if they’re eligible for federal Earned Income Tax Credits, and in conjunction with the departments of Revenue and Labor, announced the opening of almost 160 free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites across the state. These VITA sites will provide free tax preparation to low to moderate - income filers and will be open through April 16. Read the rest of this entry »

If you missed last year’s underground theatre event: The Palanquin Diaries, Confessions of a Mardi Gras Queen, you have one more weekend to catch the encore. Assuming of course that you like nudity, snakes, rock music, and can find the venue. But where the heck is the Backyard Ballroom?

Like most things bohemian, the Backyard Ballroom is located in the Bywater. On St Claude and Gallier, next to an empty lot, the large, strately house and its backyard are owned by the playwright, Otter, who co-produced Palanquin Diaries with her partner, Chris Rudge, owner of the Bywater’s Bacchanal wine store. He personally ran back and forth between the backyard and his wine store to “deliver beer”, since he is only licensed to sell alcohol out of the one location.

I brought blankets, assuming the backyard would be cold. Turns out, there’s an indoor theatre space back there. The Bywater is host to a number of new gallery/performance venues these days, such as SideArm Gallery, Barrister’s Gallery, Hi Ho Lounge, and Bacchanal. The Backyard Ballroom offers a narrow stage, curtains, lights and lightboard, sound. And the electrical looked up to code. Even the exits were visibly marked. New Orleans needs more low-cost theatre options, and Backyard Ballroom is one of the better ones, if you can attract an audience that “far” into the Bywater. Read the rest of this entry »

By the time I saw the Times Picayune’s front page on January 11, 2006, I was already prepared for the worst. At the time, my family and I had become part of the New Orleans nomads — moving from Uptown to the French Quarter (we were lucky because so many didn’t have these kinds of options) — so my wife could keep her new business afloat and we could stay in the city. We had lived in Broadmoor and we had already started to rebuild our home.

The month before, the Urban Land Institute had made its recommendations to the city and they included a map, which had a green dot drawn around Broadmoor. This indicated that ULI suggested that Broadmoor become a possible future green space, a euphemism for a drainage park. My wife and I decided to continue rebuilding anyway, figuring the city would never agree to destroy our neighborhood. Then on January 11, the Times Picayune printed the Bring New Orleans Back report, which also included a map with a green dot around Broadmoor. Read the rest of this entry »

Each semester, after my students and I have written some rap songs (myspace.com/mrmichaelsclass), the second half of my ‘Music Writing’ class entails teaching them to write album reviews. Their writing is generally hilarious and mean — the kids mostly dismiss anything not fed to them via Clear Channel — but the reviews also boast some perfect snappy, laconic insights, descriptions and assertions that only kids could conjure. In a batch of reviews published by Gambit magazine in September of 2006, the kids critiqued a demo album by The BadOff, a modern yet almost imperceptibly retro, heavy guitar-rock band from New Orleans:

“They sound a hot mess to me. Their instrumentation sounds like biker boys driving down the road. I like the beat. Why? Because you can use it to make other songs. I don’t like that the beat is louder than the singer. Why? Because I would like to hear the singer’s words. The singer sounds like someone in a graveyard singing about a dead loved one. He sings like he knows how to sing, and he sings songs that you can dance to a lot. He sings like he’s been a singer for a while.”

Only now have The Bad Off finished the recordings my students mildly dogged. Their album Lady Day will be available for the first time this Sunday night, at One Eyed Jacks. Read the rest of this entry »

Once again this year, the local United Way will present a veritable parade of gumbos as part of one of its more popular fund-raisers.

On Friday, Jan. 18, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the United Way hosts its eighth annual “Got Gumbo Cook-Off” at the Chateau Sonesta Hotel, 800 Iberville St., in the D. H. Holmes Ballroom.

Restaurants participating in the event include Arnaud’s, the Bombay Club, Brennan’s, Chateau Sonesta, Desire Oyster Bar, Dickie Brennan’s Steak House, Palace Café, the Red Fish Grill, the Savvy Gourmet and others.

Chefs from each restaurant will prepare a pot of gumbo and/or a specialty dessert. A contribution to the United Way ($20 in advance, or $25 at the door) buys you the chance to try them all.

A panel of lucky locals selected to judge the various recipes will name a best in show gumbo.
- Ian McNulty

by Sam Winston

1) The various scenarios in which the Hornets will leave New Orleans and how it is likely to happen. What a shame considering how well Chris Paul and the crew have been playing.

2) The mainstream media’s new approach to covering New Orleans. The overriding theme is that New Orleans is officially out of the spotlight but there are of course still stories to be told

3) Matt Smith of the Real World New Orleans is expecting his first child with his wife Candyce. I’m not really sure why this is number 3 but I’m waiting for someone to bash my credibility for listing it or to chime in with D-level celebrity gossip about the Real World.

The brassy funk of Bonerama may seem like an odd complement to OK Go’s bouncy power-pop, but in the interests of Katrina relief for New Orleans musicians, they found a way to make it work. The two bands met when OK Go lead singer Damien Kulash played with the iconoclastic tromboners at one of Tipitina’s Musicians Bringing Musicians Home benefit shows, and decided to take their partnership off the stage and into the studio. On the music website melodic.net, the band commented, “Now the world can hear what we would sound like if we were the trombonic soul orchestra we’ve always dreamt of being.”

The EP includes cover versions of David Bowie’s “Rock n’Roll Suicide” and Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released,” with guest vocals from Al ‘Carnival Time’ Johnson. 100% of the proceeds, including, apparently, iTunes’ share, will be split between Sweet Home New Orleans and a fund dedicated to building Carnival Time a home in the Habitat for Humanity Musicians’ Village. The digital-only 5-song EP You’re Not Alone hits cyberspace on Mardi Gras Day as an iTunes exclusive. But the real question on fans’ minds, of course, is can you play a trombone on a treadmill?

For those who missed Disney’s press release in March (hey, we didn’t have a blog then), be aware that the Empire of the Mouse has set its all-powerful sights on New Orleans as the setting for its next feature animated film, slated for release in 2009. The Frog Princess, set in 1920’s-era New Orleans, tells the story of a teenaged Creole girl (whose official name is still in development) in a Jazz Age Crescent City populated by both good and evil voodoo practitioners, a jazz-singing alligator named Louis, spoiled Uptown debutantes and a very Tennessee Williams-sounding character by the name of Big Daddy LaBouff. Read the rest of this entry »

A good time is a good cause in my book, and in the pursuit of such I’ve racked up some pretty high bills at Galatoire’s Restaurant — but nothing even close to the money that was thrown around inside the landmark Creole restaurant this week in the name of truly worthy causes.

Monday marked the latest in a series of events Galatoire’s has hosted to auction off seats to its most coveted lunch dates, with the proceeds benefiting local nonprofits. In less than an hour, the restaurant raised $58,000 to benefit the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LA/SPCA) and the Citizens’ Organization for Police Support in the 8th District (COPS 8). In return, the winning bidders get the right to reserve their seats for lunch service on Feb. 1, the Friday before Mardi Gras.

Galatoire’s has held similar auctions for seats to its Friday lunches before both Christmas and Mardi Gras since 2006. It was a novel solution to what had become a real problem for the restaurant. These lunches before the big holidays are serious traditions for some people and are well-known as rollicking, rambunctious upper-class bacchanals. Galatoire’s does not accept reservations for the first floor dining room, where most people Read the rest of this entry »

On the morning of Bobby Jindal’s inauguration as governor, I was scoping things out at the state Capitol when a long-time wag asked me with a smile, “So, is it a new day?”

I hadn’t yet seen the Team Jindal talking points for the day, as she obviously had, but I gleaned from the question that “It’s a new day” (see, e.g., all of Treasurer John Kennedy’s sound bites from that day) was the administration’s official morning mantra.

I thought about her question for a second or two, recalling past inaugurations I had covered (back to at least Edwin Edwards’ “Third Coming” in 1984), and I answered, “It’s a MON-day.”

We both shared a laugh and a nod. Read the rest of this entry »

by Sam Winston

The latest New Orleans Index report is out.

“With unemployment at a three-year low, New Orleans continues to make economic strides. However, the first notable slowdown in population recovery in nearly two years threatens these gains, particularly due to a dearth of skilled workers for recovery-related jobs.”

Click here to see the full report (pdf).

Don’t miss the record release party for Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes at Tipitina’s Friday 1/18. The new record has the gonzo rock and funk that they have become known for. And they were on my radio show last week where they said that they had something special planned for this gig. Their last release party at Tips they dressed in tuxedos for the first song and then dropped their trousers and played the rest of the gig sans pants. That’s NOT happening this year, but who knows what might, ya heard me?

Knowing what’s good for you to eat is easy, but finding it in New Orleans can be difficult. Sure, people have plenty of misconceptions about food — potato chips really aren’t vegetables — but most folks know that fresh fruits and vegetables are healthy choices. The problem in New Orleans is access to fresh produce. According to Tulane University, nearly 60 percent of New Orleans residents must drive over three miles to reach a supermarket and there is only one supermarket per 18,500 residents; the national average is one per 8,800.

As we pointed out last October, programs like “Steps to a Healthier New Orleans” are now more focused on environmental and public-policy changes than public education. Last week, the Food Policy Advisory Committee — made up of numerous community partners including grocery store owners, city agencies, charity organizations and health organizations — brought a list of recommendations to the City Council. Although the committee introduced the list with a statement “that all our citizens deserve equal access to fresh and nutritious food,” the following recommended actions took on a decidedly economic tone such as providing grants and loans for new businesses, reducing regulatory barriers for those that sell fresh food and creating tax incentives to encourage the sale of fresh food. Read the rest of this entry »