Irma Thomas, Khris Royal and DJ’ing on WWOZ

It’s impossible to attend all of the free music, festivals and cultural events in New Orleans, but I do what I can. This week, I got to D.J. at WWOZ, attend an Irma Thomas & the Professionals with Khris Royal & Dark Matter concert and watch a documentary on the Red Bull Street Kings battle-of-the-bands in 2010. Inspired by finally finding my pick for the new Saints touchdown theme song, Black and Gold, I called Jonny Ray of the New Orleans Movie Tours who has a regular time slot on WWOZ and asked if I could give the song it’s radio debut. I invited Phat Word, one of the masterminds behind Black and Gold and we spent the evening talking about everything from the definition of Jazz to behind-the-scenes stories of Django Unchained and Kill Bill.

Oyster Fest 2012

Thank you New Orleans Oyster Fest for moving from that aggressively hot blacktop parking lot to the breezy, grassy Woldenberg Park! The festival, including the artists booths and many wonderful food selections, was much more spread out this year and the crowd for the stage was manageable, like the very-local Thursday crowd at French Quarter rather than the jam-packed Saturdays and Sundays. It almost made me nostalgic for the times before the Saints Superbowl win and HBO’s Treme helped remake the city’s image.