ALL THINGS OF BEAUTY
I just wanted to say thank you for a great award show, both musically and for all the honorees that could be present.
My wife and I were down in New Orleans for a week. We were originally scheduled to leave last Friday, but the prediction of more good weather (60s and sunny may seem cool to you, but it is winter heat wave to us), and the fact that we never get everything done we hope (there is always something more to walk to, ride the bus or streetcars or ferry to) convinced us to stay a couple more days. As we were plotting out our last events, and driving out to order a king cake for friends, while listening to WWOZ we heard a promo interview with John Gros, and the $25 sounded like just too good an item to pass up. Mind you, I subscribe and have ever since I first read your magazine years ago, so I’d read about the event, looked at he pictures in the subsequent months, and always held it out as a wonderful event I’d never be in the right place at the right time for. But maybe it was Dr. John’s win that got me to the right place at the right time, and we went. And it was everything and more that I could have hoped for. The Bingo! Show, Los Po-Boy-Citos, the James Booker Tribute, Trombone Shorty, and especially the tribute to Bo Dollis were all things of beauty.
So again, you and your staff, the sponsors, and the musicians and honorees should all be commended for being a part of what makes New Orleans great, and a city to visit again and again. Though I’m not from your town, it’s on days like today, looking out at the snow, that someone really can say they know what it means to miss New Orleans.
—Paul Ogren, Waterford, WI
THE ART OF DRUMMING
All of us here at the Drum Center would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for receiving OffBeat’s Best of the Beat Best Instrument Store award this year. We’ve always seen our mission as being somewhat more than commercial and, as such, we’ve always tried to be a pro-active part of the drumming community. OffBeat has always had our highest respect for having followed a similar path in the entire music community, so to be honored by such a special entity as OffBeat is truly humbling.
Our gratitude to all of the many drummers who have supported us over the years. We intend to continue to contribute what we can to the furthering of the art of drumming and the rebuilding of our music community. Thanks again for rewarding us for doing what we feel is reward enough itself.
—Ray Fransen, Kenner, LA
PRIVILEGED
Thank you dearly for hosting a wonderful ceremony last Wednesday for the Best of the Beat Music Business Award recipients. I was and still am truly touched to be honored by OffBeat this year. I am sincerely grateful to all of you for your consideration.
I applaud OffBeat for remaining a pillar in artist advocacy, which is crucial to the New Orleans music community. I feel so privileged to live among all of us New Orleanians, and I will continue to play my part in helping to develop an environment for artists and musicians that is supportive, proactive and even lucrative!
Thanks so much again for your kindness and generosity.
—Ashlye Keaton, New Orleans, LA
CULTURAL LOSS
I was listening to NPR and the local segment had Jan Ramsey’s interview concerning the Best of the Beat. It made me realize that I hadn’t written you in quite a while.
So first, congrats on this latest Best of the Beat! I have always wanted to attend, but it seems I always have a gig. That’s the way it is when you do over 300 gigs per year. So be it.
In your radio interview, which I found very interesting, you portrayed the post-Katrina recovery of our musical community as upbeat and continuing, but I sensed an unspoken unwillingness to describe just how bad it really is. If I am correct in assuming that, it is for the best, as accentuating the positive in the media is more productive than focusing on the extensive downside. But, in reality, at least from my perspective as a sideman in the street, things still have a long way to go to get back to the pre-Katrina level of activity. I know you realize this too, as in your interview you were lamenting the lack of live music venues, and the difficulty in securing live music permits from the Nagin administration. You are absolutely correct in identifying these roadblocks.
But it is not only the lack of venues, although that is a major problem; it is the payment offered at venues that do exist. Consider a gig I did with my good friend Marc Adams at the Old Point Bar, Thursday, January 29. The lineup: Marc, on keys and vocals (Dixie Cups, Irma Thomas, 3 CDs as a leader), Cranston Clements, guitar (Dr. John, Nevilles, Twangorama, etc.) Eric Traub, tenor sax (Dr. John, Manyard Ferguson, etc.), Allyn Robinson, drums (Jaco Pastorius) and myself. Not a bunch of kids, seasoned veterans, with many, many years of experience. The band was smokin’. The few people who were there were groovin’. A killer gig, all in all. For almost four hours, not including transportation, we each made $18. This represented 20 percent of the bar take. (These serious players only took the gig because we love Adams.)
A good number of the remaining live music venues in the city have this same agreement, 20 percent of the bar, including the Banks Street Bar, the Circle Bar, the Spotted Cat, (the lease is up there and we may lose this one) and others. It’s easy to see why many bands working out there consist of musicians who are poseurs, incompetents, and beginning students. Professionals need to be paid something approaching a living wage. And indeed this is why a sizeable segment of the very best players left after Katrina and didn’t return; they were valued and paid well elsewhere. Cyril Neville’s “dis” to the city may have been crude, angry and self-absorbed, but the actual content of his screed was unfortunately factual.
We need more entrepreneurs like Jason Patterson and John Blancher. We need the national economic recovery plan to include the revitalization of Rampart Street into a high end entertainment district. We need more union gigs, and a stronger union presence. We need an ability to survive by playing gigs that pay well. We need community support. Without these things, in the oncoming economic depression, live music in New Orleans will become a shadow of its former self, and an irretrievable cultural loss will be sustained.
At least you understand this, and OffBeat continues to be a voice on our behalf.
—Jim Markway, New Orleans, LA
NO HEIR APPARENT
Thanks so much for the information regarding Snooks Eaglin. I just donated blood and will have to wait a couple of months to do so again, but I’ll do so in his name. I’ll also pass on this info to some other Snooks fans I know in hopes that they might be moved to donate as well.
In my world of R&B, Snooks is my favorite guitarist/singer, living or dead, and from what I’ve heard, there’s no heir apparent which is a shame. It’s a lot easier to copy B.B. King licks than it is to achieve the complete mastery of the guitar and voice that Snooks has. There is no other.
—Mike Bruns, St. Paul, MN
PROUD
Great day for the American people and the world. At last America has a president it can be proud of. The world feels a safer place already.
—Ed Ievers, Surrey, UK
