With the return of Mardi Gras marching bands, New Orleans' streets are full of magic
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Today is the culmination of Mardi Gras. The celebrations have been going on for some days. My brother turned up there, sent a picture. I had to squint. The clothes were so loud. But in any case, parades are stepping off again in New Orleans after a pandemic hiatus. Aubri Juhasz of member station WWNO reports on how dozens of high school bands are returning to the streets, even if their numbers may be a bit smaller than in the past.
AUBRI JUHASZ, BYLINE: The coronavirus had just arrived in the United States when parades rolled in 2020, and Carnival that year was one of the country's first superspreader events. Mardi Gras technically wasn't canceled last year, but it was a pretty sorry affair. There were no parades, and most people stayed home. This year, while a number of COVID restrictions are still in place, including mask and vaccine mandates, celebrations are largely back to normal.
(SOUNDBITE OF WHISTLE, DRUMMING)
JUHASZ: The marching band at Warren Easton Charter High School has a full parade schedule, and they've been practicing almost every day.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMLINE)
ASIA MUHAIMIN: As you can see, the marching wasn't the best (laughter). But they sound good.
JUHASZ: That's Asia Muhaimin. She's a graduate of Warren Easton and has been the band's director for 13 years. Like a lot of native New Orleanians, Muhaimin lives for Mardi Gras. And for her, it's all about the music.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMLINE)
JUHASZ: There's a particular moment during parades that she describes as pure magic.
MUHAIMIN: It's when a drum section isn't playing or just the snares are playing. It's like a street beat, that - (imitates drum sound).
(SOUNDBITE OF DRUMLINE)
MUHAIMIN: And then the taps of the majorettes and the flag twirlers, and all of a sudden, the drum major comes and breaks the silence with the whistle, tell the drummers to play, and the drummers roll off the song - boom - and the band starts playing.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND)
MUHAIMIN: It happens constantly in the parade. But every time it happens, it seems like it's the first time it happens for me.
JUHASZ: The promise of moments like this has made the return of Mardi Gras all the more exciting. But the interruption also had consequences. Most bands are 25% smaller this year because they missed a year of recruitment and had members who dropped out during the height of the pandemic.
The band at Frederick A. Douglass High School had no members when Jordan Harper took it over at the start of the school year. Since then, he's recruited 50 students, many of them first-time musicians.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND)
JORDAN HARPER: If everybody holds their weight, plays your part in the best that you can play it, we're going to sound good. And we've actually been achieving a great beginner-band sound, in my opinion.
JUHASZ: Drew Crosby, the drum major over at Warren Easton, says when the crowd is feeling good, so is he.
DREW CROSBY: And it's just like, you know, they start dancing, all of them, the music. March higher, march higher. Come on. Come on. Play again, again, again. I don't know. A lot of negative energy in New Orleans going on right now - I just feel like that really makes us feel safe and makes us feel like a place we really want to be.
JUHASZ: Violent crime has been high in recent months, and multiple teenagers and children in New Orleans have died from gun violence. Crosby says, over the years, band has kept him focused on school, and he takes his role as a leader seriously.
DREW: Like, I just tell everybody I love them 'cause, I mean, I do. And band changed all our lives, honestly.
JUHASZ: At Warren Easton's first parade of the season, the crowd enthusiastically welcomes the band back.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: We missed you.
JUHASZ: And the band makes themselves known.
(SOUNDBITE OF MARCHING BAND)
JUHASZ: Crosby leads with a silver scepter in hand, raising his knees almost to his chest, as his whistle conjures band director Asia Muhaimin's magic moment over and over again.
For NPR News, I'm Aubri Juhasz in New Orleans.
(SOUNDBITE OF WARREN EASTON MARCHING BAND'S "BLINDING LIGHTS")
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