All On A Mardi-Gras Day: Breakfast and Zulu Parade Uptown
I was awakened by children’s laughter. My friend Darren Towns’ four daughters were as excited by Mardi Gras morning as kids usually are on Christmas …
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The Orpheus Parade on Lundi Gras in New Orleans
Lundi Gras is really a holiday in New Orleans, with schools and some businesses closed, and a lot of people off work. My friend Darren …
The Final Approach to Mardi Gras with TBC Brass Band at Kermit’s Mother-in-Law Lounge
After a long drive across Mississippi through drizzly, wet weather, I was late getting into New Orleans, and thought I might actually miss the start …
A Hot Drum Shed on a Cold Night in South Memphis
Drum practice can be noisy, and in the early days of young people learning to play, whether snare drum or the set, parents demanded that …
Breakfast in New Orleans, Lunch in Jackson, and a Christmas Parade in Como
The actual day of my birthday was much colder than the day before, but my friend Darren Towns of TBC Brass Band and I headed …
A Day With the TBC Brass Band in New Orleans
With my birthday falling on Monday December 2, I decided to celebrate a day early by going to New Orleans for the Dumaine Street Gang …
A Delta Journey: A Chilly Homecoming in Grambling
When I woke up in West Monroe, the first thing I noticed was how extremely chilly it was, and that didn’t improve all that much …
Commemorating a Holy Site of the Bentonia Blues
2019 was the 71st anniversary of a community institution in the town of Bentonia, one of the last Mississippi juke joints. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes’ family …
The Human Jukebox and the Mighty Sound of the South Fight It Out in Memphis
The historically-Black college band tradition of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and the corps-style tradition of the University of Memphis are vastly different, and while …
Celebrating The Legacy of R. L. Boyce at Como, Mississippi
What Sherena Boyce, daughter of Hill Country bluesman R. L. Boyce, started as a birthday party for her dad in August of 2017 has now …