Nawlins, Part II

On the second day of our trip, we took a drive through the Ninth Ward and parts of St. Bernard's Parish. The Ninth Ward is snug up against the levee that burst in the floods that followed Katrina, and the devastation is evident everywhere. Houses were shoved on top of other houses. Cars flipped over. Trees were uprooted. Power lines lay strewn on the ground. The experience made me both uncomfortable (after all, I was there not to help but to watch) and angry. I am stunned that our government (and I am starting locally and working my way up to POTUS) allows this situation to stand. Although I am sure that there are people who work very hard to fix the situation - my hat is off to them - I saw little evidence that the government provides any assistance at all. Instead, the place is a monument to indifference and neglect.

When the Fest resumed I was not in a good mood. But the people and the music pulled me out of my funk (or perhaps put me in the funk, so to speak) soon enough. The Mandeville High School Jazz Ensemble started things off in the Jazz Tent. When I was in high school, I was pretty impressed by our jazz ensemble. Compared to these kids, we were losers with kazoos. Germaine Bazzle, an accomplished jazz vocalist, followed. We ran into more friends and followed them to the Acura stage, where Deacon John played the blues and Buckwheat Zydeco played, well, zydeco.

I am not a fan of the Acura stage. Unlike the Jazz Tent or the Fais Do-Do, it is a large space packed with people too close together to dance. It is the stage where the "big names" perform because it is the only place large enough to accompate the fans. Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello played there the weekend before. It takes up nearly a quarter of the total area of Jazz Fest but it is far removed from the experience. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed Mssrs. John and Zydeco. And I am sure that the big names draw in more money, which is what the town desperately needs. But the experience in that crowd leaves me cold.

Fortunately, I got the cure soon after. The Ohio Players performed on the Congo Square stage and it was fantastic experience. Ed Bradley (of 60 Minutes fame) introduced them as one of the top two funk bands ever, and he bobbed his head while they spent twenty minutes on "Love Rollercoaster" and another twenty minutes on "Fire". The crowd jumped up and down and wiggled and bobbed. The energy level at a funk show is always good and this act was a tonic. I was particularly impressed with the bass player's leopard-print pajamas. I have got to get me a pair of those!

I understand that Ray Nagin won the New Orleans mayoral race. As an outsider, I have no investment in this and I defer to others. A local friend is of the opinion that he is what the town needs: someone who is not a part of the local political machines and who won't get distracted by their demands. On the other hand, I understand that he has shown a lack of interest in negotiating with those machines, which can be a problem in itself. Whatever the case, he's got a herculean task ahead of him.

In Other News

We lost Clifford Antone yesterday. I did not know the man but I did love the music that played in his club. Another piece of Austin is gone.

On the other hand, our friend Edie received her Ph.D this weekend and won UT's Oustanding Dissertation Award to boot! Congratulations!