NOT AN ACCORDION
Thank you for the review of my new CD On the Street. It captures what the band sounds like on the recording and what we are trying to achieve in general. I want to clear up a couple of mistakes. On “Louis Collins,” that is not an accordion—it’s Andy Forest’s soulful harmonica playing. On “Fire Once Again,” that was our former guitarist, Roberto Luti. We recorded the music in Italy in July 2010 and the lyrics in September here in New Orleans. Just want to make sure everybody gets their due and thanks for all the support you have given us over the years.
—Chaz Leary, New Orleans, LA
NORTH RAMPART STREET
This is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post, which reads, “My contention is that if North Rampart were designated as a cultural and music district, the city and the group who oversee the district would have more control over noise and architectural preservation in this area.”
As one who frequented the original Donna’s Bar & Grill many, many times, I must agree that it never got that loud outside, or even inside.
The secret world of these clubs is part of their charm, the feeling that you’ve entered some temporal heaven’s gate, and the experience that goes along with it.
Perhaps the new sense of entitlement, the need to blast taped music Razzoo-style out open doors, or amplify live music until it rattles neighborhood walls, is best left to those tinted window cars that roll through neighborhoods with deafening woofers, signaling the bad taste and worse hearing of those inside.
Surely, this is not the future of the New Orleans live jazz and brass band scene. Moreover, it gives a false credence to the city’s hard line on art, music, and let’s face it, everything good about New Orleans.
Were the new owners at this place as concerned about their neighborhood and the future of music on Rampart Street as they claim, rather than pushing their own agenda of decibel-driven club status, perhaps we’d find that middle ground where our culture can flourish as what it is—the heart and soul of the City of New Orleans.
—Lord David, New Orleans, LA
SHARED EXPERIENCES
Thank you for the monthly OffBeat. Just now Japan has many sad stories, but I’m very fine. We have so many friends, heroes and experiences from us in Japan and yours in New Orleans.
—Joe Toriyama, Tokyo, Japan
FIRST TRIP
Thanks so much for all you do to bring New Orleans to me up here in boring Massachusetts. I’ll be making my first trip down there in September. Through your magazine, I’ve learned so much about what to do down there that I’m sure I won’t be able to hear/see it all in one trip.
—John Farley, Pepperell, MA
POTLUCK TIME TRAVEL
I have been thumbing through the wealth of OffBeat issues that came in my “Super Potluck”. I have no other way, here in Upstate New York, to steep myself in the rich culture of the Crescent City—but time spent reading my OffBeat potluck is almost like a trip to New Orleans, and in some ways better because I can time travel, too.
—Susan Shaw, Big Indian, NY
THIRD AGE
OffBeat is my main connection to New Orleans and the music of Louisiana. I have visited the city on five occasions. My first visit was for Jazz Fest in 1980 and the last (and probably my final visit to my favorite U.S. city) was for Jazz Fest in 2007. The week I spent there in 2007 was absolutely wonderful, full of fantastic music and food and three days of glorious weather at Jazz Fest. For the past 10 years, I have been running music history and appreciation classes for seniors, under the banner of the University of the Third Age. Several of these, including the first two I ran, were devoted to Louisiana music, and I may return to Louisiana music next year.
—Graeme Flanagan, Gungahlin, Australia
