Bonerama plays Wednesday at the Square

Wednesday at the Square is back and I was thrilled to get there this week for Bonerama, founded in 1998 by trombonists Mark Mullins and Craig Klein (former members of Harry Connick Jr.’s band 1990-2006). Guitarist Bert Cotton, a cool-dude type who can break out a major solo, has been with the band since the start. Sousaphonist/bass player Matt Perrine and A.J. Hall are newer additions but Greg Hicks is the trombonist who really completes the band musically and conceptually. Bonerama plays great New Orleans standards and originals but they are beloved for their trombone-trio versions of 70’s rock.

Molly’s (Jim Monaghan’s) Irish parade

Whichever name you call it by, this was its 32nd year. Molly’s at the Market is an Irish pub with game nights, neon cluttered walls and a jukebox full of rock and local favorites. It’s also where the parade was born, begins and ends. A friend of mine from college had just arrived in New Orleans for her first visit to the city. After lunch at K. Paul’s, a visit to Jackson Square, Photoworks Gallery and Maskarade mask shop (all from my list of Fav Things), we headed over for her first parade – ever. The parade is short on floats but big on fun and she loved it.

Bonerama At Harvest the Music

Another Wednesday, another great free concert in Lafayette Square. The Harvest the Music concert started with a set from Alvin Youngblood Hart’s Muscle Theory. Known as a “musician’s musician,” Alvin Youngblood Hart was nominated for a Grammy in 2003 before winning one in 2004 for his work on Beautiful Dreamer: The songs of Stephen Foster. In 2006,  he tutored  Samuel L. Jackson for his part in Black Snake Moan and recorded a soundtrack duet with Christina Ricci.