Up relatively early morning and off to a great place called Betsy's Pancake House. It was about 30 mins from my hotel so I just walked down there. I passed the fallen building again - it's crazy seeing the damage it has done.
Betsy's was absolutely packed when we got there - obviously it is loved by locals and tourists alike! After a great breakfast of eggs and bacon and a gallon load of coffee we headed off for a wander through the city. We made our way back into the centre and then took a walk down a street (can't remember the name of it) and looked at all the beautiful houses along the way. The houses were looking great - all kitted out in Christmas decorations. If only I had a spare few hundred thousand to buy one!
We also came across the tram and decided to hop on it for the novelty factor.
We got off by the university beside a park and walked through there. As we were, it started to rain so we hot footed it to the nearest road to jump into an uber and off to a bar for a small refreshment! Ended up at the Bayou Beer Garden in Mid City and enjoyed a few pints in the warmth of the bar. And then, because we were so close to it, we just had to drop in by Parkway's Bakery and Tavern to get a Po' Boy. I didn't't have a clue what these were but they are traditional sandwiches from Louisiana - normally packed with meat or fish and served in-between French bread. It was absolutely massive but absolutely delicious! I think a small would have been more than enough but I just couldn't resist going for a large one! After that great lunch, we walked back into the city. As we were walking down, the polls had just shut in the UK General Election so we checked what the exit poll was saying and then decided that we needed some more booze.....!
Preservation Hall was on the list this evening. I had been looking forward to this. It's a completely intimate, acoustic venue in the French Quarter. When we arrived, the queue was already quite long and the lady said that we were in the "grey" area and wasn't sure if we would get in that hour. However, luck was on our side and we managed to get in. Absolutely no photography or video during the performance but I managed to grab a few pics to show you just how cosy the venue is.
The 45 mins was just great. It was Gregg Stafford and the Preservation Legacy Band who were playing tonight. He was sensational on the trumpet and the backers were all great in their own way. We left the venue on such a high. If I am back in New Orleans, I will most definitely hit up Preservation Hall again!
The apartments in the French Quarter look lovely at night!
Next music venue - Mother in law Lounge. This is somewhere that I absolutely would NOT have gone had I been visiting myself. It was in an area of town which looked a bit rough and pretty much under a motorway. It looked closed from the outside when we got there but I went up and tried the door and it was open. Wow - the people in here were SO friendly. It was clear that the places was packed with locals but also a few tourists like us. There was free food on offer for everyone and a few of the folk who ran the place told us that we had to just help ourselves.
If it was possible, the music just seemed to get better and better. Kermit Ruffins was playing tonight - well known in the music community. I had never heard of him before but my friend said we were in for a treat. How right he was. They started playing Christmas jazz music and 'Silent Night' in jazz on the trumpet was one of the best things I heard that week. I still get shivers thinking about it. The guy on the piano was out of this world too - all night he improvised. Did not use one sheet of music and had solos that would last for 5 minutes. We left here on an even bigger high. Music was definitely a drug we were enjoying tonight!
Next venue - Le Bon Temps Roulé where we saw Soul Rebels. We had about an hour and a bit to wait until they came on stage but we were having so much fun, we just chatted and drank until they came.
THIS WAS THE BEST NIGHT OF THE TRIP. The band were absolutely fantastic. There were 9 of them on the small stage (trumpets, trombones, tuba, drums and saxophone) and the dance floor was packed. Sweet Dreams by Erasure played by big brass band was something I didn't realise I needed in my life until tonight! We had a great time. At the end they decided that they were gonna record something for some DVD they were putting out. They had to record the same song numerous times until they got it right. After a while, it got tedious and it was late so I hopped in an Uber back to the hotel.
The Uber trip was great. A local Louisiana woman picked me up - early 30s - one of the chattiest people I have ever come across. The conversation went like this:
"Hell, I dunno why I came this way because I forgot I saw all those police corrrrrrrrrrs on the way..... I seen all those police corrrrrrrs, something musta' happened up here but I was bringin' a lady.....not to change the story but I was bringin' a lady......when I say we was comin' up Claiborne there was all these police corrrrrrrs and they was about to RUN OVER US! Something has happened. SOMEBODY GOTTA GET MURDERED because for them to have all those corrrrrrrrrs...... I can't even go this way...... somebody had to get murdered or something. This here is the Project. They tore them down and started all again...... Oh look at that, it's blocked off. Someone must have got murdered. It's the hood here. I can say that cause I grew up on the hood..... Anyway, back to when I was in New York...."
She barely stopped for breath but was an absolute hoot! Oh, and someone did get shot and murdered about 20 mins before I jumped in the Uber so she was right!
Next morning - another early start. We went on a tour of the city which was cultural but also about the jazz scene too. The lady taking us around, Denise, was into Voodoo so she was explaining that to us during the tour in amongst the slave history of the city. We also took a tour of the graveyards and heard some of the history behind some of the tombs. She was a great lady. The tour was supposed to last 2 hours but once she started chatting to us and found out that two of the guy absolutely loved the music scene here, she threw timing out of the window! We ended up being with her for nearly three and a half hours! Starting off from the aptly named "Congo Square" we learnt about the history and Denise had a boom blaster hooked up to her phone so would play some jazz music as we walked around. It was nice hearing about the culture too - we learnt all about how to second line, we learnt about what a funeral is like there, about the food and lots more. First stop - Louis Armstrong.
Denise seemed to know absolutely everyone - as we were walking around, folk would just say hi to her and ask how she was.
After we said our goodbyes to Denise (and gave her a very handsome tip for being such a star!), we headed to Captain Sal's for some lunch. From the outside, it looks nothing special but inside, the food was amazing. I had chicken gumbo and it was out of this world (and, at the same time, SO reasonable!). Again, after lunch, we walked back downtown and saw some nice art work on the way. I also law geeked out at the Plessey v Ferguson Supreme Court case sign!
After walking off some of lunch, we popped by Café du Monde for some beignets. Total tourist trap but my God, they were so good!
There was an open market close by so we had a look around that before we headed off to another music venue - Maison.
Stayed there for a while and then we headed to Snug Harbour where we had bought tickets for the Ellis Marsalis quintet.
Ellis Marsalis came in with his walking aid and made his way up to the piano. This 85 year old appeared frail but that did not show in his playing. He played an hour of music with no sheet music in front of him. The band were just brilliant. Yet another night of fantastic music!
We were a bit peckish so grabbed a slice of pizza.... Anyone....?
DAT DOG looking great from the outside!
This was the last night in New Orleans so I headed back to the hotel to pack up my stuff. I hope I managed to get across just how brilliant the music scene had been over the last few days....it was superb! I would thoroughly recommend the New Orleans music scene to anyone who is into jazz even a little bit!