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<span class="vcard">John Shaw</span>
John Shaw

After the TBC Brass Band ended their performance at 10 PM, there was still time to make it to the Hi-Ho Lounge for the Stooges Brass Band’s weekly Thursday night set. The Hi-Ho is a tiny venue, and every inch of it was packed with fans, some dancing as best they could despite the limited space. Out in front, vendors were selling barbecue and drinks. There was no band battle during the break this year, but a man handed me a flyer about a Young Men Olympian second-line Uptown on Sunday, and I made up my mind to go if I could. 

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If you’ve ever read A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy O’Toole (which is considered by many to be the quintessential New Orleans novel), you’ll remember that the main character, Ignatius O’Reilly, took a job pushing a Lucky Dog cart in the French Quarter. I never see one without thinking of that book. 

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To Be Continued Brass Band, playing for the crowd at their long-standing gig on the street at Bourbon and Canal. For many tourists, the TBC Brass Band playing on that corner is their first exposure to authentic New Orleans brass band music. With no cover charge or drink minimum, it is also one of the best live music deals in the city, and all donations go straight to the young people providing the music.

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TBC Brass band Live at Canal and Bourbon, New Orleans, September 2011

When I checked into my room at the Holiday Inn on Royal at Canal in New Orleans, I could hear a brass band playing in the distance, so before driving out to the Hi-Ho Lounge, I walked up to Bourbon Street at Canal, where the music was coming from. The band proved to be the To Be Continued Brass Band, a famous young band that I had first encountered last year when they challenged the Stooges at the latter band’s regular weekly gig at the Hi-Ho Lounge. The resulting battle in the street corner was one of those serendipities that make me love New Orleans. On this particular night I met Edward Jackson, a trombonist who also handles the business affairs for TBC, and we arranged to have a business meeting about music distribution before I left the city. 

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Although it was only about 7 PM, the Frostop in LaPlace was already closed when I got there, so I ended up at another Frostop in Destrehan. They were explaining to me that they had moved from a traditional location in Harahan to the strip mall where they were now, and that the landlord wouldn’t let them display the root beer mug they had brought from the old location, but they did show it to me in storage. 

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PJ’s Coffee is a New Orleans tradition, but it can be found throughout the Gulf Coast area, including this one near Southeast Louisiana University in Hammond. 

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Jackson, Mississippi has a cool building called Banner Hall which houses Lemuria Books, one of the country’s best book stores. With large sections devoted to music, New Orleans, Mississippi, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, Lemuria has something for nearly everyone. Downstairs in the same building is the Broad Street Baking Company, an affiliate of the the Mangia Bene company which runs Bravo and Sal and Mookie’s Pizzaria. Broad Street is a wonderful place to grab breakfasts, pizzas, salads or sandwiches after that hour or so of book browsing. 

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#36 North Mississippi All-Stars.MOV (by jdoggtn7)

The North Mississippi All-Stars perform at the Jim Dickinson Folk Festival at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park, Memphis, September 19, 2011

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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#09 Son of Mudboy-Didn’t We Shake Sugaree.MOV (by jdoggtn7)

Sid Selvidge performs “Didn’t We Shake Sugaree” with Son of Mudboy at the Jim Dickinson Folk Festival at the Levitt Shell in Overton Park, Memphis, September 19, 2011

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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