Post-Katrina Music (NOLA/GULF BLOGATHON)

"Music gets into your DNA down there." That's how I described it to a friend who asked about the abundance of New Orleans flavored music that you'll find on my iPod, my stereo at home, in my car... For me, New Orleans isn't Mardi Gras or a great restaurant just a stone's throw from where ever you happen to be standing at the moment, or streetcar rattling down St. Charles under the arching branches of live oaks or any of the other images that typically come to mind. Make no mistake, New Orleans is all of those things and more, but when I think of New Orleans the first thing that comes to mind is music.

In the weeks immediately after Hurricane Katrina, there began to appear an assortment of concert and benefit CDs aimed at funding relief efforts. These discs featured a great assortment of New Orleans musicians and guests from across the country performing standards, celebrating the city and hoping to quickly repair the damage. Examples are Our New Orleans: A Benefit Album for the Gulf Coast and Higher Ground Hurricane Benefit Relief Concert.

But as the weeks dragged on and progress seemed farther and farther away, a different type of music began to appear. This music wasn't pre-storm music - it was music born of the storm itself. Here are just a few of the examples that I've found...

Sing Me Back Home

In December 2006 I went back to New Orleans to visit relatives after nearly a year away. As I stood in the re-opened Barnes and Noble's on Vets I noticed this disc prominently displayed. The title hooked me at once: Sing Me Back Home - what a perfect summation of what so many displaced New Orleans residents must wish for. From the album's web site:

Six weeks after Hurricane Katrina, a group of legendary musicians from New Orleans gathered in Austin, TX, to record SING ME BACK HOME. Over seven magical days and nights, THE NEW ORLEANS SOCIAL CLUB was born. The collection features performances by members of The Neville Brothers (Ivan, Cyril and Charles), The Meters (Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr.), Raymond Weber & Henry Butler. They are joined by their friends and neighbors Irma Thomas, Marcia Ball, Dr. John, Willie Tee, Troy (Trombone Shorty) Andrews, the subdudes, the Mighty Chariots of Fire, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and John Boutté.

The web site isn't exaggerating when it says "magical". The album opens with Cyril Neville singing This is My Country and is immediately followed by Ivan Neville's version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's Fortunate Son. It's a one-two punch of an opening that sums up all the frustrations of New Orleans residents - frustrations that continue today. Other standout tracks are Henry Butler's moving rendition of Somewhere and Mighty Chariots of Fire's take on 99 1/2 Won't Do.

More info here.

Feeder Bands On the Run

Last year I published a diary titled New Orleans Bands On The Run where I reviewed this album. I won't repeat myself here, instead let me tell you a different story. About a month before Katrina hit I saw Carole King at the Sanger Theater in New Orleans. Between a couple of songs she mentioned that she and the band had gotten into town early the previous day and they went down to Frenchman Street where they heard, as she described it, a kick ass blues band. That's the essence of New Orleans music - it's not the big names, it's the guys you've barely heard of if you're not from New Orleans, the ones who play night after night in a collection of small venues throughout the city. Feeder Bands On the Run features the music of those sorts of guys, all regular players at Carrollton Station.

My favorite tracks on this disc are Mark Adam Miller's Foundation Remains, Marc Belloni's The Suitcase I Left Behind, Beth Patterson's Hell Or Highwater and Gary Hirstius' Rise Up!

Sippiana Hericane

Since the 60's Dr. John has been synonymous with New Orleans. A few months after Katrina he released this benefit CD which features the Hurricane Suite (subtitled Wade) and Sweet Home New Orleans. Sweet indeed.

A Tale Of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina)

If you've seen Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke then you've heard parts of Terrence Blanchard's moving A Tale Of God's Will. I'm not an expert on jazz but this is what I imagine jazz at its finest must be. Blanchard's trumpet is like an artist's brush, painting a powerful picture of a drowned city. Levees, Wading Through, and The Water are just a few of the wonderful tracks on this disc.

Undoubtedly there are other albums born of Katrina, but what I'm finding more and more of are individual tracks that appear on albums released by NOLA focused musicians. Some of the latest:

Where Do You Go and Ride It Out by Marcia Ball on her new album Peace, Love & BBQ. I saw her a couple of months ago here in Seattle and I could feel those old Katrina memories stirring as she sang "now it’s too late to run away/we're going to have to ride it out".

Thorn In Her Side by The Subdudes on Street Symphony

I hear words coming from the Rose Garden
Little white lies are easy to pardon
...
Money and blood spillin' in the sand
Plantin' our flag on someone else's land
What about the people for which it stands
How about takin' care of our own
Like the people down South
Drownin' in their homes
I guess my God and your God don't see eye to eye

Blue Tarp Blues by Sonny Landreth on From The Reach.  Sonny Landreth backed by Mark Knopfler - what's not to like? Especially when they're trading licks on a sizzling song like Blue Tarp Blues.

Air Force One had a heck of a view
Air Force One had a heck of a view
Looking down on the patchwork
Of the Blue Tarp Blues
...
No it wasn't the weather that sank me and you
It was a bad mix of politics, greed and fools
That the levee of lies couldn't hold back the truth
We are in it deep but not out of reach
Throw me somethin' mister

Dance Back From The Grave by Marc Cohn on Join The Parade. See my earlier diary Gotta Be New Orleans for the story behind this incredible track.

If there's one thing that New Orleanians know how to do, it's how to laugh in the face of adversity. For a perfect example, I point you to Benny Grunch and the Bunch (and Ya' Mama's Gutted Out Lakeview Horn Section). After Katrina, Benny re-released his classic The Twelve Yats of Christmas (see YatPundit's series from last year) expanded to two discs (called "Side K" and "Side B", naturally). "Side B" was new material, including his own take on post-Katrina New Orleans. You gotta love songs like I Think I Just Saw Elvis In The Mildew on My Walls, Temporarily Ain't Dere No More and I'm Dreaming of a White Trailer.

NOLA/GULF BLOGATHON--ALL TIMES PACIFIC

Thurs., May 22

7AM chigh

9AM Mike Stagg

11AM Louisiana 1976

1PM blueintheface

3PM YatPundit

5PM Patriot Daily

Fri., May 23
7AM

9AM Mike Stagg

11AM Louisiana 1976

1PM mlharges

3PM Crashing Vor

5PM