French Quarter Fest – Thursday

French Quarter Fest is my favorite festival of the year. The 4-day free festival features local food booths and music on 23 stages throughout the Quarter. The weather was glorious, 77 and sunny with a breeze coming off the river. If the Thursday crowd was any indication of attendance, this year will be a record breaker. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit missing the days when many of the attendees were as  local as the festival itself. Seems the secret is out. I was no help – live Tweeting all day to share my wonderful time with the world.

Trombone Shorty and Second Harvest

September is Hunger Action Month and what better way to help those in need (1 in 6 households) than to eat, drink and celebrate great local music at Harvest the Music in Lafayette Park! All proceeds go to Second Harvest Food Bank. This week, New Breed Brass Band opened for Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. New Breed is a brand new brass band of young men born and raised in New Orleans who play originals and covers of traditional NOLA favorites. They may be new to performing onstage but they sounded like pros as they got the crowd moving and primed us for Trombone Shorty’s first stop on his Say That to Say This concert tour. Shorty’s latest album dropped last week and has dominated on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart.

Trombone Shorty Plays Wednesday at the Square

YLC’s Wednesday at the Square really outdid themselves with the one-two punch of Westbank Mike and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue. Lafayette Square was already packed when we arrived and Irene Sage was playing tambourine with the Westbank Mike boys. Even trumpeter Ian Smith joined in for the bluesy funky songs. For those not in the know, the “Westbank” is the part of New Orleans on the other side of the Mississippi, lead singer and guitarist Mike Doussan’s home.

Trombone Shorty Closes Jazz Fest and Living Colour’s 25th Anniversary

It was certainly the coldest Jazz Fest I’ve ever attended and mud was still a factor on closing Sunday. Turns out that there was not one single pair of of rubber boots left in town. Hotels were calling everywhere but many unprepared out-of-towners were left bootless and muddy. Cold wind whipped at scant tank tops and short skirts.

Super Bowl – NOLA Style

As the lights went out in the Superdome and our city’s slip was showing, I had a moment to think of the last time the Dome lost power and how far this city has come from the devastation it faced over 7 years ago. New Orleans is a small city with a big heart. Sometimes traffic is held up for a parade or our cell towers go down from overuse (not anymore – thank you NFL) or our power goes out. I can’t help but think if it had been the Who Dat nation in the Dome tonight, we would have used the time to do some rounds of “Who Dats!” or sing When the Saints Go Marching In. After all, we’re only taking a short break from the marathon party of Mardi Gras to hold this extraordinary event, our 10th time hosting the Super Bowl – not bad for a small city with a big heart.

Trombone Shorty plays the Square

I had a rare and well-timed day off from playing Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Having missed the entire season of Wednesday at the Square so far this year, I finally made it down to the concert series benefitting the Young Leadership Council. I missed most of Hot 8‘s opener after running into a coworker on the street while walking to the show, but I arrived in time to see some of my beloved Saints join some Saintsations on the stage for a rousing rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In. Who Dat!?!

Congo Square, Roadfood Fest, Mardi Gras Indians and Rebirth at d.b.a.

What a perfect weekend! March madness has begun and festival season is in full swing. Saturday was marked by perfect weather. It was warm and sunny with a constant balmy breeze. City Park hosted Hogs for the Cause, an all-day music fest benefitting children with brain cancer. We decided, instead, to stay in the French Quarter which was was hopping with activity. It was NOLA Pyrate Week  so, occasionally, you ended up waiting in line behind someone dressed as a pirate or seated next to a table full of them. We also crossed paths with a gathering group of hoop-skirted young ladies preparing for the Spring Fiesta parade.

L.A. Celebrity Sitings

This week, I traveled back to Los Angeles to attend to some things for my upcoming part in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. Though I was thrilled beyond compare to be embarking on that journey, it was bittersweet to be leaving NOLA in the middle of Mardi Gras.

Shorty and Stooges – Brass Dat!

The Harvest the Music concert series in Lafayette Square continues to delight while feeding the hungry. This week, Stooges Brass Band and Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue took the stage. To say I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks is an understatement. I last saw these two bands paired at the House of Blues during last Jazz Fest and they were amazing, high octane, super-energized bundles of talent.

French Quarter Fest – Day 3

Another perfect weather day with sunny skies and a breeze coming off the river. We passed by the International Stage and watched a band from France, the Traditional Cody Clan, play New Orleans standards. This city loves any excuse to dance but New Orleans is a place full of Jitterbuggers, Two-Steppers and Fox Trotters so you never know what you might see. There were a few young couples who’d obviously taken some lessons and 2 small girls trying to imitate them. What a treat.