On Thursday April 12, 2012 I drove to Clarksdale, Mississippi for the first night of the annual Juke Joint Festival, and a lot has changed since last year. A new coffee bar called Yazoo Pass has opened downtown, the Blues Source CD shop has closed, sadly, and new lofts and condos have appeared. I ate dinner at Rust, grabbed a latte from Yazoo Pass and headed over to the Delta Theater to catch Jimbo Mathus, but I got there a little too late.
#083 Madison High School (Tallulah) Band.MOV (by jdoggtn7)
The Madison High School Band from Tallulah, LA marches in the Grambling Homecoming Parade, October 22, 2011
#076 Tulsa Douglass High School Band.MOV (by jdoggtn7)
The Douglass High School band from Tulsa, OK marches in the Grambling Homecoming Parade, October 22, 2011
#067 Lancaster TX High School Band.MOV (by jdoggtn7)
The Lancaster High School band from Lancaster, TX marches in the Grambling Homecoming Parade, October 22, 2011
The Grambling Homecoming Parade ended near Eddie Robinson Stadium and the new Conrad Hutchinson Performing Arts Center, and the high school bands gathered there and had a sort of informal battle between the parade and the football game.
At the Grambling State University Homecoming Parade, Saturday October 22, 2011
#28 UAPB Band Entrance.MOV (by jdoggtn7)
The UAPB Marching Musical Machine of the Mid-South marches into the stadium at Pine Bluff, October 15, 2011
#12 Whitehaven Band.MOV (by jdoggtn7)
The Whitehaven Band marches into Melrose Stadium in Orange Mound, Memphis at Melrose Homecoming, October 14, 2011
When I got to Pine Bluff, the UAPB Marching Musical Machine of the Midsouth was marching into the stadium. The weather was great, and I thought I was in for a great game and a great band battle. Unfortunately, I soon learned that Southern University didn’t bring their band, so there was no battle. I left after the third quarter and grabbed a dinner in donwtown Pine Bluff, and just at the right time, evidently, because later I learned that the football game had ended in a series of brawls that led to tear gas being sprayed and people having to be hospitalized.
Many of the uptown projects in New Orleans have been torn down and replaced by modern-looking townhomes, but the residents still poured out onto front porches and lawns to see the second-line as it passed down LaSalle Avenue. Over to my left I spied the legendary Dew Drop Inn, an African-American nightclub and hotel that launched the careers of many great musicians and singers. Although closed since Katrina, the sturdy building survived the monster storm, and there is talk of renovation and reopening. Turning onto Louisiana Avenue, we came to Big Man Lounge, apparently a known gathering spot for brass bands and second-liners. Here the bands actually came to a stop, and the members of the Young Men Olympian disappeared inside the lounge for a rest and a refreshment. Hearing my name called, I turned around to see Edward Jackson, the trombonist with To Be Continued who was marching today with the Hot 8, who gathered out in the neutral ground of Louisiana Avenue near the lounge.
