It’s the end of another year; it’s holiday time, so it’s time for a bit of reflection.

When I was a kid, I thought it so farfetched to think that I would live as long as I have. I thought that surely I would be dead by the turn of the century. Little did I know, huh?

Of course, they say that 50 is the new 30, so that means 60 must be the new 40. We lose a generation now in our aging. Does that also mean that 30-year-olds are only 10 mentally? (Sometimes I think so!). We all live longer and are much healthier than our parents and their parents. I can’t imagine not working and retiring—how boring would that be?

This has been an interesting year, and some things have transpired that I’ve been working towards and wishing for: Armstrong Park (finally) reopened. Hopefully, it will be the site of a lot more activity, both in the park and on North Rampart Street. We still haven’t managed to get music over there, but I’m convinced that, sooner or later, it will happen. There’s just too much potential and history on North Rampart and Congo Square across the street to allow that corridor to remain music-less.

The Louisiana State Museum has reopened an abbreviated music museum at the Old Mint, a retrospective of Preservation Hall, and has plans to open an expanded music museum some time in 2013. The expanded museum will contain the items and exhibits from the old jazz collection, as well as more from the state museum archives, and supposedly will cover the spectrum of Louisiana music. I’m still looking for a museum/visitors center on Canal Street that would focus on the city’s musical heritage and be the information centerpiece for anyone interested in either experiencing local music and/or an education experience for locals and visitors alike. That dream is partially fulfilled, and the Old Mint now has a world-class performance area and recording facility on its third floor that will be primarily dedicated to the work of the New Orleans Jazz Historical Park/National Park Service’s lectures, jazz performances and edutainment, oral history recordings and the like.

The Joy Theater at the corner of Canal and Basin streets is reopening at the end of December with shows booked for New Year’s Eve weekend (see page 11). Formerly a movie theater, the new Joy is now strictly a performance venue to host music and theater. I’m still waiting on something to happen at the old Saenger. What a waste of a great theater, but the Mahalia Jackson is filling the bill with ongoing music and Broadway touring shows, many more than last year.

City Park officials announced the long-planned opening of festival grounds in the park, bordering on Wisner Boulevard. In the past, we used to have festivals on a tract near Marconi and Interstate 610. The grounds contain 50 acres, soccer fields, and will be festival-friendly with a pavilion and electrical hookups. Remember the talk years ago about moving the Jazz Fest to City Park? Hmmm…

Frenchmen Street is getting more and more popular and more and more crowded. The Frenchmen Street Business Association was founded this year to try to control and steer growth in the right direction. There’s still a long way to go, and the major problem is enforcement of drug laws, illegal vendors and such, but it’s a start.

The French Quarter Festival has kicked up its reputation (among musicians, anyway) by instituting a program that will allow sponsors to pay local non-union bands. Up until now, non-union bands had to obtain their own sponsorships to be paid for playing at the festival. Festival officials have stepped up to the plate to solicit business and individual support for musicians to play the festival. It’s been a long time coming, but kudos to the festival for realizing that local music is the main draw of their festival, and trying to create a system that pays musicians for their services.

I’m fairly limited by space here, but these are just a few of the positive advancements in the music scene in the last year. There are also a bazillion new young entrepreneurial types who are working on a multitude of ideas for the music community: new promoters, interactive music maps, live music recording and dissemination. I love it all.

I would be remiss if I didn’t invite you all to our upcoming Best of the Beat Awards on January 27, 2012 at Generations Hall. This year we are honoring a true living legend: George Porter, Jr. George has probably influenced more musicians than anyone I can think of. His body of work continues to grow, as well as his influence. But there will be more on that next month!