Frenchmen Avenue musicians. Photograph Rebecca Todd/NewOrleans.com
In response to final week’s weblog on the unhappy state of Frenchmen Avenue, we obtained this letter from a neighborhood jazz musician, who requested us to not establish him, his colleagues or membership title. He has some fascinating factors that made me take into consideration the state of New Orleans music:
Your newest “rant” on Might 25 has impressed me. Let me inform you a narrative about an expertise I had just lately on Frenchmen Avenue.
My first gig in that space was when Jason [Patterson] was calling Cosy Harbor “The Faubourg” and it was the one membership on the road. (I vividly bear in mind enjoying James Black’s tune “Jasmine”, which tune was referenced in that newest OffBeat e mail, with James, Cassandra Wilson, Kent Jordan and Patrice Fisher! It should have been the late 70’s…) Within the years since, I, such as you and lots of others, have watched Frenchmen Avenue turn into a musical entity, for higher, and for worse.
I’ve retired from educating music at a neighborhood college after 30 years, (and after 17 years previous to that, 10 of which at Hank Mackie’s studio World of Strings), however I refuse to retire from enjoying bass on this magnificent metropolis. I can inform you, it will get tougher to seek out gigs as an older participant. You’d suppose that your life expertise would rely for one thing, however primarily, that’s simply not true. I play, gratefully and fortunately, with the Pfister Sisters, Bruce Daigrepont, the Dixie Cups, and some others, and I work each week enjoying trad jazz at Fritzel’s on Bourbon. However I actually miss enjoying fashionable jazz, particularly on electrical bass.
So, I used to be in search of a gig the place I might do this. The man who books [Frenchmen Street venue] was an acquaintance, so I used to be booked into two Wednesdays there, 12:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. I cajoled a drummer and pianist [names redacted] to play the gigs with me, by primarily enjoying the gig without cost myself, and giving them my share of the pay ($20 per set, per man, plus suggestions). We performed the gigs: Coltrane, Parker, Miles—not the standard 15 songs each different Frenchmen Avenue band performs. The reserving cat stated we sounded “f**king superb”. It was a lot enjoyable! The folks there actually responded to us, and we had paid for ourselves on the membership.
After I requested the reserving cat for some gigs the subsequent month, he stated the proprietor needed us to have a singer. Properly, the entire musical level was to NOT have one; the intent was to play mainstream jazz, (not “Avenue James Infirmary”, “Muskrat Ramble” and many others., and many others., and many others.) as an instrumental trio, with electrical bass and keyboard, bridging swing and funk. Musically, we nailed it. Now we have but to be rehired, and I don’t count on to get a return name from there. They’ve a industrial method which is paramount; musical high quality is irrelevant. I get it.
The purpose is that Frenchmen Avenue has devolved right into a crude imitation of what Bourbon Avenue was in its worst years. (I’ve seen Bourbon in that state; my first regular gig on Bourbon was in 1972. Immediately, some Frenchmen Avenue gamers are endeavoring to return to Bourbon Avenue golf equipment!) The music supplied on Frenchmen immediately is usually poorly-played industrial crap, extra carefully associated to DisneyWorld than to New Orleans, with repertoire sickeningly inbred by the bands taking part—they copy one another’s songs (as I stated, a complete of about 15 tunes in widespread, more often than not) and even copy one another’s patter between tunes! In all of my years enjoying on this metropolis, by no means has the musical high quality turn into so low. It’s extraordinarily disheartening. Lots of the gamers, some truly proficient on their devices, have completely NO data of New Orleans traditions, and no data of musicians of their devices of the previous, having come from elsewhere, and few have the need to analysis and study this very important New Orleans info. (I’ve heard older gamers use the derogatory time period “yankee jazz” to explain these musicians…not my time period, by the way in which.)
The issue with the Frenchmen Avenue scene, and by extension, our complete music scene, is that discriminating audiences have gotten an increasing number of uncommon. (What’s it? Digital tech eroding our minds? Generational disinterest in music on the whole? A operate of the putrid polarization that pervades our complete social cloth? By no means have I seen such polarization in our metropolis between Black and White musicians. I don’t know what’s occurring anymore.) However as your “rant” acknowledges, constantly enjoying for drunks degrades each musical discernment and repertoire. In case your viewers is solely all in favour of getting s**t-faced, then the identical tunes, the identical solos, the identical patter that you just used yesterday will do exactly high quality, and also you would possibly as effectively be a part of them on the bar. That’s not artwork. It’s as much as musicians to current themselves as inventive professionals; in the event that they don’t, nobody will consider them as artists, both.
I can’t consider a single venue in our city to ebook a reliable electrical instrumental trio enjoying a contemporary tackle mainstream jazz, flavored by years of New Orleans musical expertise. I’m nonetheless wanting. Pay continues to be in the bathroom and simply as unhealthy, or worse, because it was in 2017, whenever you graciously revealed my visitor editorial within the journal addressing this very downside. However musicians themselves have a big half to play within the situations they endure and the pay they obtain. If we constantly current excellence, situations and pay will advance. However we’d like venues which might be all in favour of presenting musical excellence, not simply Disneyland industrial crap performed by yankee carpetbaggers masquerading as New Orleans artists. Additionally, we’d like listeners who can inform the distinction.
Thanks for letting me vent. Don’t get me fallacious, I’m grateful, extraordinarily grateful, to play each gig I’ve, musically rewarding or not. At my age I completely cherish having the ability to proceed “the gig hustle”, as Joe Ashlar just lately stated to me, on this completely extremely lovely musical city. I really like our metropolis, our scene, and our gamers. I really like enjoying New Orleans music. However typically, our wounds are self-inflicted.
My perfect needs, as at all times.
Studying this letter made me take into consideration how a lot we nonetheless take our music and musicians as a right. The very fact is that we will now not do this as a result of musicians have gotten extra exploited by native golf equipment and bars with none appreciation for the particular high quality of music itself. That occurred on Bourbon, and it’s occurred on Frenchmen. That’s in the end going to have an effect on tourism associated to music on this metropolis. Furthermore, nobody appears to have acknowledged that until we proceed to be vigilant about constructing a marketplace for native music by educating youthful audiences and exposing them to the distinctiveness of our tradition, we’re going to lose New Orleans’ declare of being a real music metropolis.
We’re at risk of dropping New Orleans music. I don’t imply tomorrow or subsequent yr, however inside 5 or 10 years, there’s gonna be hassle. There already is. It’s going to worsen.
For many years, New Orleans has been celebrated as a metropolis immersed in music. We’ve at all times been perceived as a “music metropolis.”
Now we have generations of musicians right here. Now we have tradition bearers, just like the Black Masking Indians, the Social Assist and Pleasure golf equipment, the New Orleans Child Dolls and Cranium & Bones gangs, the drum circles—all of which emanate from the neighborhoods of New Orleans—which have had a profound affect on the event and progress of the kinds of music which might be thought of to be “New Orleans-style.” This contains stuff like jazz, funk, rock, swamp pop, bounce and the burgeoning hip-hop scene, to a sure extent.
However right here’s the rub, and it’s an enormous one: younger folks, particularly those that didn’t develop up right here, aren’t being uncovered to our indigenous music, particularly jazz. They usually don’t care about it one little bit.
I’ve at all times beloved music, whilst a child, and I grew up listening to Irma Thomas, Artwork Neville, the Meters, and much more on mainstream radio. That doesn’t occur immediately. What number of younger persons are uncovered to jazz or brass bands or funk on an on a regular basis foundation, like we have been, rising up? Native youngsters? Nope. They might know who Drake is or Taylor Swift or Lil Nas X or Beyoncé, however I doubt critically if many know Professor Longhair, the Radiators, Buddy Bolden, (possibly) the Meters, Uncle Lionel, the Dejans, the Lasties, the Andrews, the Harrisons, Allen Toussaint, or any of the musicians that helped form the New Orleans scene.
If younger persons are not uncovered to jazz, R&B, soul, funk and different New Orleans-centric music, they may by no means respect it, venerate it and nurture it. To them, it’s “outdated folks” music. It’s fascinating that in lots of European international locations, and in international locations like Japan, brass bands, jazz, neo soul, and the aforementioned musicians (together with a whole bunch of others) are commemorated and nonetheless celebrated by younger and outdated. However not right here. New Orleans music is particular. Whereas a number of brass bands have ventured into hip hop, and there are a slew of profitable bounce artists right here, the music of New Orleans can not, completely can not, be pigeonholed as “lifeless” music.
After I was in my 20’s and 30’s, we appreciated to celebration with our buddies, and there’s no distinction within the newer generations. However a whole lot of the time, we have been going out to native music bars and golf equipment to expertise music, and to drink and celebration; to satisfy others at these venues who have been probably “romantic companions,” in the event you get my drift. I can barely bear in mind going wherever with out reside music as a part of the image (getting wasted was not on the highest of my listing).
That’s not so immediately. Most faculty college students don’t exit to hearken to reside native music. They’d somewhat drink and celebration at a bar or a membership the place a deejay could also be spinning no matter is widespread within the mainstream, NOT a reside native band.
Why?
It’s cheaper to go to a bar with a deejay. There was a time that Tuesday nights on the Maple Leaf hosted an unlimited variety of faculty college students, as a result of Rebirth had a Tuesday night time slot there, and it drew faculty youngsters, big-time. No extra. I heard just lately that the Leaf was thought of to be an “over 40” venue…which after all signifies that younger folks wouldn’t be caught lifeless there, as a result of who needs to hang around with “outdated folks”? The very fact of the matter is that the marketplace for actual New Orleans music is in decline. And if we now not have faculty college students exploring the fantastic music of New Orleans (apart from possibly a neighborhood hip hop present or two), effectively, we’re positive not going to have the ability to construct a future marketplace for native music, notably jazz.
Until we will get not solely all these faculty youngsters who’re going to Tulane or Loyola or Xavier or UNO or Dillard to understand our musical tradition, then what’s it going to be like 5 or 10 years from now?
I’ve not heard anybody actually deal with this downside. Now we have an actual systemic points in creating an appreciation (and a future market) for native music and musicians, which signifies that down the road, New Orleans music and the town’s popularity as a singular music metropolis goes to noticeably decline.
I at all times hate to remark with out providing some form of answer to this downside. Exposing youngsters to native music and tradition clearly wants to start out in elementary faculty, and proceed by way of highschool. No less than they may have modicum of appreciation for a number of the biggest music on this planet. And their dad and mom want to reveal them to native music and tradition. Now we have some organizations which might be pursuing educating younger youngsters, and they need to be supported. I’m pondering Roots of Music, for one. I’m pondering Delfeayo Marsalis’ Uptown Orchestra, the Heritage College of Music and
the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp, and NOCCA. However we’d like extra. We want music and cultural curriculum in elementary and excessive faculties which might be required for all college students.
However this doesn’t clear up the issue of introducing native faculty youngsters to New Orleans music and tradition, since so a lot of them are not locals.
Perhaps venues who current jazz and extra “New Orleans-type” musical fare might sponsor faculty nights (with an affordable or free cowl) to get faculty college students into their venues to expertise native music. I’ve nothing towards pop music, however there’s stuff in New Orleans you could actually solely hear right here. You possibly can catch pop music, hip hop and rap in any city on this nation. You can’t catch a Johnny Vidacovich or a Meschiya Lake or a New Orleans Suspects or perhaps a Massive Freedia gig on any day of the week.
Developing with a strategic instructional effort (are you listening, New Orleans Cultural Tourism Fund?) to reveal New Orleans and Louisiana music to youngsters and youths is sorely wanted. I’d additionally wish to encourage the folks with deep pockets who’ve benefited essentially the most from our music scene—the liquor and beer corporations and distributors—to make use of their philanthropic arms to create an ongoing marketing campaign to get younger folks of consuming age to know and expertise extra New Orleans music apart from what they hear on Spotify or on YouTube.
Now we have to reveal that there’s extra to music than the highest Spotify performs of the week. Nevertheless it’s much more vital to know that we’ll be constructing a marketplace for our music for many years to return. New Orleans music is hanging within the stability.