All On A Mardi-Gras Day: “You Know How It Goes”: Closing Out The Holiday With The TBC Brass Band
The approaching end of any holiday can be depressing, but there is no better way to close out a Mardi Gras Day than with what …
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All On A Mardi-Gras Day: “I Run Through Water and Swim Through Mud”: Black Indians Uptown
The gangs of Black Indians (sometimes called Mardi Gras Indians) who appear in elaborate costumes on the streets of New Orleans on Mardi Gras, St. …
All On A Mardi-Gras Day: The Rex Parade
The end of Zulu is followed almost immediately by Rex, and although they follow different routes to a point, they end up coming right behind …
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 …
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 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 …
A Delta Journey: West Monroe’s Antique Alley, Bayou Brew House, Moon Lake and Trapp’s on the River
West Monroe’s Trenton Street is one of the best places in the country to shop for antiques and ephemera. There’s not a whole lot with …
A Fall Celebration on Mason’s Lower End
Every October, the town of Mason in Tipton County, Tennessee sponsors a Unity Fall Festival on the square, in front of what is left of …
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 …