Vaughan’s has the look of an old neighborhood bar, but legendary jazz trumpeter Kermit Ruffins has made it famous. Every Thursday night, tourists flock to the usually-quiet neighborhood to see Ruffins at his regular weekly gig, and occasionally to eat his famous barbecue from a truck out front. The crowds have grown even larger since the television series Treme has made Kermit Ruffins even more well-known. 7/5/12
jazz
Every Wednesday, the TBC Brass Band performs at the Hot East Daiquiri Shop on Downman Road in New Orleans East. It’s not a large venue, but it’s a lot of fun. 7/4/12
Every Wednesday, the TBC Brass Band performs at the Hot East Daiquiri Shop on Downman Road in New Orleans East. It’s not a large venue, but it’s a lot of fun. 7/4/12
Every Wednesday, the TBC Brass Band performs at the Hot East Daiquiri Shop on Downman Road in New Orleans East. It’s not a large venue, but it’s a lot of fun. 7/4/12
Every Wednesday, the TBC Brass Band performs at the Hot East Daiquiri Shop on Downman Road in New Orleans East. It’s not a large venue, but it’s a lot of fun. 7/4/12
The New Orleans All-Stars Brass Band performs at the corner of Bourbon and Canal, a location that seems to recreate some of the spirit of the old Congo Square. Here the division between performers and spectators that is so much a part of Western culture is blurred, as dancers and second-liners become performers themselves, or as they occasionally borrow a drumstick from a band member and add a layer of percussion on an empty bottle. 7/4/12
An All-Star Brass Band at Canal and Bourbon, 2012
After the TBC Brass Band performed, an all-star band made up of members from various young New Orleans brass bands performed at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets, 7/4/12
One of the best places to catch authentic brass band music is the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets beside the Foot Locker. Despite being in the French Quarter, this corner is close to the Iberville Projects, and here the brass bands play as much for their friends and relatives as they do for the tourists. There’s always a friendly vibe, good crowd interaction and some amazing dancing and/or second-lining. It’s also free, although the bands will pass the box around for donations. This is also the ground where many young bands get their start, from the To Be Continued to the Young Pinstripes. 7/4/12
The bass drum is like the foundation of brass band music. If you see somebody with a bass drum in New Orleans, that’s a really good sign. Follow him and see where he’s going, because there’s probably about to be some really good music going on.
The Stooges Brass Band, Levitt Shell, Overton Park, Memphis TN, Thursday 5/17/12