We play in the August heat, too.

Satchmo SummerFest celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Originally funded by the Louisiana Office of Tourism, Satchmo SummerFest is more than just a local festival; its intent was to inform and educate locals and visitors on the heritage and legacy of Louis Armstrong, and the importance of New Orleans jazz music to world culture. Every year, Yoshio Toyama, the “Louis Armstrong of Japan” brings his band and an entourage of Japanese visitors to the city to attend the festival, along with a plane-load of instruments to donate to New Orleans musicians and school kids who are in need (Toyama was given a shout-out in the last season of HBO’s Treme when he bought Antoine Batiste a new trombone).

There are New Orleans jazz fanatics all over the world. Satchmo SummerFest is one of the ways we can attract visitors—particularly Europeans and Japanese to the city to experience our musical culture. And guess what? They don’t give a damn about the heat! This is one festival that deserves a lot more support from the Louisiana Office of Tourism as well as the city’s CVB. Watch out, or I’ll start to get on my soapbox about rebranding New Orleans as a music city, instead of a “Come Out and Play” city. I’ve been harping on this subject for about 15 years now. Is someone in the Landrieu administration listening? The New Orleans Convention and Visitors’ Bureau?

If we’re going to refresh the city’s brand theme—which is long overdue—we need to make it music. I don’t mean just jazz or brass bands or even Cajun/zydeco (which some enterprising entrepreneurs co-opted from southwest Louisiana). I mean our vibrant underground rock scene, contemporary jazz, funk, R&B and so much more.

I promise it will pay off.

An important thing that Lieutenant-Governor (now Mayor) Mitch Landrieu did was to focus on our state’s cultural economy. As part of  his effort to promote the idea that culture is a job creation tool and an economic engine, Landrieu and his team, including Pam Breaux, and Scott Hutcheson (now the mayor’s cultural advisor) created the Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation, whose mission it was to “be a catalyst for the development and enhancement of the distinct cultural industries of Louisiana by promoting the economic health and quality of life of our cultural economy workforce.”

Originally, the LCEF was founded to provide relief and recovery funds for artists and cultural organizations, but it’s moving out of recovery mode now. Its charge is to establish a public/private partnership to create an infrastructure that will serve the cultural industries across the state.

The LCEF provides grant funding to artists and organizations (not only non-profits) whose focus is on our culture. Since 2005, LCEF has raised well over $1.1 million and has distributed about $650,000 to 300 artists, cultural organizations and businesses.

The proviso of qualifying for grant funding is unusual in that it requires the grantee to show and prove that the grant they receive will create earned income for the recipient. In other words, you don’t just get a handout. Funding has to be used to create jobs and revenue. It’s a brilliant idea, and I can tell you from personal experience that it works wonderfully. OffBeat has received grant funding to help us develop our digital capabilities, and if you’ve looked at our Web site you can see the results of their help in our endeavors.

The LCEF needs funding itself to continue its work, and on August 25, there will be a combination five-year anniversary and fundraising event, La Fête Cultural (A Celebration of Culture) at the Contemporary Arts Center. There will be music from Tab Benoit’s Swampland Jam (Tab Benoit, Cyril Neville, Anders Osborne, Jumpin’ Johnny Sansone and Big Chief Monk Boudreaux); Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, the Stooges Brass Band with Big Chief Little Charles Taylor. There’s also a patron party with the Shannon Powell Trio, David Torkanowsky, Roland Guerin and Carol Fran. Plus lots of delicious food and drink. Tickets are available by calling (504) 528-3800 or visit CulturalEconomy.org.