In Other News: New Orleans Music Five Years Later
New Orleans club Tipitina's, which reopened as a musician's community center and co-op in the days after Hurricane Katrina and is now a venue again. louisianatravel/flickr.com hide caption
New Orleans club Tipitina's, which reopened as a musician's community center and co-op in the days after Hurricane Katrina and is now a venue again.
louisianatravel/flickr.comThe fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans has been marked everywhere over the past week -- including here. But we wanted to mention a few stories you shouldn't miss:
--No suprise, the New Orleans Times Picayune leads the coverage. Highlights include a profile of the Rebirth Brass Band’s leader Phil Frazier, a timeline of the recovery (when Cabildo and Tipitina re-opened in the fall of 2005, the return of the Essence Music Festival in 2007 and the arrival of the Treme cameras in early 2010), and a look at which cultural institutions have come back, which disappeared forever, and what new landmarks have filled the gaps.
--One N.O. music landmark that couldn't stick it out is Donna's Bar and Grill, a mainly jazz venue that played host to many local musicians and closed its doors last week (here's a 2009 set at the venue by the Danza Quartet, webcast by NPR Music).
--Shadow Lines is a documentary film about musicians in N.O. who returned to the city after Katrina, and how they've fared since.
--The National, an English-language newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates, offers a guide to visiting New Orleans, with special emphasis on music and food (but no alcohol and no pork).
--The New York Daily News talks to former New Orleans residents who resettled in New York after Katrina. Tondrae Kemp, who lived in Mid-City but was in New York during Katrina, stayed and now hosts weekly Bounce parties at a bar on the Lower East Side.
--Paste magazine's List of the Day blog offers five albums that celebrate New Orleans culture.
--NPR's Mandalit del Barco talks to members of the Treme Brass Band about playing in the city (and on HBO) after Katrina.