FAMILY AFFAIR

Just want to write a quick note to thank you for your wonderful publication and ask a little favor. It’s been a great week for wife Connie and I up here in Michigan. Tuesday night ten of us went out to Sally’s, a club in Dearborn that does a super job of bringing Louisiana artists in to play, and had a ball listening and dancing to Zachary Richard. He hung out afterwards and signed autographs. And earlier in the week we got our March copy of OffBeat with the Jazz Fest lineup, etc., which heightened our excitement for coming down there again in April. We’re long-time Parrotheads too, so it was nice to see the articles on Jimmy Buffett, the Iguanas and Evangeline.

Anyway, in lieu of photocopying most of the issue, what I’d like is for you to send March ’93 to both my parents and my sister and her husband. I hope you won’t mind doing this for a faithful subscriber (for life most likely!). Thank you.

Steve Hale, Ypsilanti, MI

WHERE’S WILLIE?

Many of us have followed the rise of the Iguanas for four long years. We grew together with them, learning to appreciate a new kind of sound and developing a familial love and pride for a hometown success. Their unique sound and cohesive rhythms have attracted larger audiences with every performance. Therefore, most of their fans now do not know and cannot appreciate the foundation that was laid for this band’s success. But could OffBeat, New Orleans’ premier music publication, really be so misinformed? Your article on the Iguanas in last month’s issue [Iguanas of the Night, by Michael Tisserand], however well written, is distorted and lacking and perpetuates a grave injustice.

Willie Panker had been the drummer for the Iguanas since before their inception. Joe Cabral and Rod Hodges did not just “meet up” with him, as your article would have readers believe. The three began playing together several years earlier in Colorado. Willie had been playing in New Orleans two years before they arrived. It was Willie’s energy and presence, teamed with the creativity of these two old friends, that formed the nucleus of the band. And many of us well remember it was Willie’s reputation and influence in New Orleans that earned the Iguanas most of their initial opportunities. It is reprehensible that, with his dismissal, this founding member of the band is being cheated out of achieving their shared dream and the success he has worked so hard for.

By refusing to chronicle his history and experience in the article, you lost what would have been the most interesting part of the story. To portray him as just a hired hand with a trifling grudge is an outrageous insult to him, as well as to your readers.

Cabral was quoted as saying people think they have to choose sides. From the graffiti on bathroom walls to “Where’s Willie?” buttons, fans all over the city are making their choice obvious. Perhaps Willie’s musical contribution to this band can be replaced, but for many of us ex-Iguanas fans, it will never be the same again.

Liz DeLaughter, New Orleans

Tisserand responds: The article was intended to be a snapshot of a band in transition, and—regardless of what anyone thinks about it—Panker is no longer in that picture. But like DeLaughter, I respect Panker’s talents, and any insult or slight was unintended. And I did note that there is a rift in the band’s audience.

JAZZ VS. RAP—THE FINAL CHAPTER

Jazz music does not come from Africa…nor does rap [as Ken Adams implies in his March “Guest Commentary”—which was a response to a Delfeayo Marsalis essay in February—Ed]. The idea of the village griot teaching his tribal history over a drum beat is not only factually incorrect, it is merely a rhetorical cliche. Sadly, Ken Adams’ entire “art commentary” rests upon both aesthetic and generic references to African tradition, none of which are stated or substantiated. American music represents our 400-year history, not the 4,000-year history of Africa.

I hate to break the news, but rap is spoken in Western words, following the European tradition that Adams fears so much. Art forms are not “black” or “white,” “Asian” or “European”—even a rapper should know this. Negroes have always tried to escape slavery, not elevate the ghetto and lack of education as though one must understand it in order to comprehend the true essence of Negritude. Instead of trying to prostitute African genius without having studied it, we should strive to create solutions to our problems based upon our own great history—Cinque to Martin Luther King, Jr….

Though the “eloquent” language of rap mimics the common people, the negative messages that are overrepresented do not accurately depict the Negroid community in America. In the words of NWA’s founder, Eazy-E, “Sex sells, violence sells. Making money is the whole thing. We don’t do nothin’ really for free. Not unless we’re doing some shit for some worthy cause.” Yep, sure sounds like art to me!

Delfeayo Marsalis, New Orleans