In October of 1994, for Jazz Awareness Month, a few folks who reveled in the old-time jazz got some money together and decided to have a concert. It was their own money and they knew that there would be no financial return whatsoever because the concert would be free. The idea was to hire a gang of musicians to play three long sets at the Cafe Brasil (who would provide the venue gratis). It would be on a Sunday and the doors to Cafe Brasil would be left wide open and the good music would waft out on to Frenchmen Street and people would hear it and wander in and have a drink and dance and be neighborly. That was the idea, simply, to use the power of good old New Orleans music to bring folks together.
So on October 2, 1994 Percy Humphrey and his Crescent City Joymakers took the stage at Cafe Brasil and they played the good old favorites and the music wafted out onto Frenchmen Street and the people came in and they saw old friends and they made new ones and they had a drink and they danced and there was a real sense of community, not the forcing of a catchword. They called it “Nickel-A-Dance,” although as I said it was free.
This simple idea, a harkening back to the music and camaraderie of the old neighborhood dance hall, had worked. So in October of 1995 they did it again, with a group of musicians culled from the ranks of the Palm Court Jazz Café Again people responded, so the next year they brought new donors into the fold which wasn’t as hard as one might think because it was less like backing a concert than throwing a really nice party. With these new donors on board they were able to expand “Nickel-A-Dance” so that on every Sunday afternoon in October the doors to Cafe Brasil would be left wide open and the good music would issue forth. In 1996 Blue Lu Barker served as honorary Grand Marshal of “Nickel-A-Dance” and the music was provided by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Chris Burke and his New Orleans Music, and Jack Maheu and the Fire In The Pet Shop Callathumpian Jazz Band and, on the final Sunday, Lionel Ferbos and the Palm Court Jazz Band (his performance on the final Sunday has become a tradition).
Over the ensuing years, along with the annual appearance of Lionel Ferbos, “Nickel-A-Dance” has featured Don Vappie and the Creole Serenaders, the Last Straws, the Doc Cheatham Memorial Jazz Band, Lucien Barbarin and the Sunday Night Swingsters, Clive Wilson’s Original Camelia Jazz Band, George French’s Storyville Jazz Band, the New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, Jaques Gauthe’s Creole Rice Yerba Buena Jazz Band, Player’s New Orleans Jazz Band, and Duke Heitger’s Steamboat Stompers.
That’s a pretty heady list, a roster of musicians who over the last number of years have provided a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon for many. For me, there is nothing quite like this “Nickel-A-Dance.” These concerts are special for many reasons, but perhaps chief among those reasons is the great diversity of people concerts attract and the friendly mood the music puts them in. You’ll find older fans of traditional jazz mingling with tattooed hipsters, little kids dancing wildly in front of the stage ( kids are welcome), and folks with their dogs standing at the threshold of the door. There is also the occasional guest, the most compelling of which being the former Ellington vocalist (and movie cowboy) Herb Jeffries who crooned a few numbers to the appreciative folks a couple of years back.
Save for some nominal assistance over the years from organizations such as the Louisiana Jazz Federation and the Jazz Centennial Celebration, as well as some financial help from Marigny businesses, this “Nickel-A-Dance” has been accomplished primarily through the diligent and tireless work of just a small coterie of individuals, the “Anonymous Jazz Supporters,” who love that which is best about New Orleans and its music. What is most wonderful about these people is that they are not the kind who want or need a large and flashing neon arrow pointing them out to everyone, they are not the type who say “This is our idea, and aren’t we great for doing this,” because they are better people than that, among the finest I know, and they realize that this “Nickel-A-Dance” is not about them, it’s about New Orleans and music, really nice music that can relax people and make them better.
This year beginning on October 7 you can spend your Sunday afternoons from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. down in the Marigny at Cafe Brasil listening to the nice music nicely played. On that day Jack Maheu and Tim Laughlin will offer “Clarinet Summit 2,” a reprise their recent and successful Snug Harbor date. On October 14 Gregg Stafford and the Jazz Hounds will take the stage, while the 21st will find Wanda Rouzan and a Taste of New Orleans commanding Frenchmen Street. Finally, that grand gentleman Lionel Ferbos and the Palm Court Jazz Band will close out this year’s series just a few days before Halloween on the 28th. Wear a costume.
Although they are averse to any publicity for themselves, the “Anonymous Jazz Supporters” have asked me to point out the the host of local businesses that have assisted in making this year’s “Nickel-A-Dance” happen: Mona’s Café and Deli on Frenchmen, Marisol, d.b.a., French Quarter Realty, Julian Mutter of Doerr Furniture, Civil Sheriff Paul Valteau Jr., Dorian Bennett, P.J.’s Coffee on Frenchmen, the Palm Court Cafe, Snug Harbor, Old Dog New Trick, and of course Ade and Café Brasil.
