MUSIC UPTOWN
The following is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog “Music Uptown and Downtown” wherein she suggests that it seems that the music scene uptown is shriveling away.
Good article; saying what needs to be said and providing options rather than just complaining. I am a blues fan. Thirty years ago, I use to marvel at the weekly listing of blues venues in my hometown; two pages long. Now that same list has dwindled to about a half-dozen. I pray that day never comes to New Orleans.
—Frank Cammarata, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The current zoning system of locking music away in Arts and Culture Overlays is to blame. The Overlays themselves create large concentrations of music that are then marketed as tourist destinations. By eliminating the overlay zoning and making the rules more liberal citywide, we can spread that economic prosperity to places that really need it.
The zoning code makes it extremely difficult to open a music venue, and the dysfunctional NIMBY neighborhood associations wield more power than their numbers suggest they should. There are groups that exist to counter some of that misrepresentation, but the best way to solve it is to continue to communicate your own wishes to city government and reminding them that these niche groups do not speak for all. The whole system needs an overhaul.
—Heidi Diekelman, New Orleans, Louisiana
Amen. I agree that the neighborhood associations for the most part don’t take into account the culture of the city, especially in regards to music. And you are 100 percent correct that the power them seem to wield with city officials doesn’t correlate with the population as a whole. The real thing is that the neighborhood associations are organized, funded and have the resources to be very vocal, consistently. I’ve always said that toughening up the requirements for sound amelioration and sticking to it would really make a big difference. Also, there probably shouldn’t be any “grandfathering in” of existing clubs. Let’s get it all done at once. If offending clubs have to beef up their sound buffers, well then why can’t the city provide some sort of tax credit for that expense so that they can all be in compliance. If the “noise” is an issue, then let’s fix that and let the music flow.
—Jan Ramsey
NO SOUL
In London, where I gig, there has been a tendency for corporate suit types to move into an area where live music has been prevalent and use their money and power to get said venues closed down. These are areas where venues were established. People are fighting back as these corporate suits are destroying the unique qualities of certain areas and making them become very soulless.
—Jeffrey Williams, London, United Kingdom
TRUMPET BLACK
Travis “Trumpet Black” Hill is a fine musician, a charming entertainer, and a warm and thoroughly decent human being, but if you are going to tell us [April 2015, Serious as a Heart Attack by Geraldine Wyckoff] that he served nearly nine years of his relatively short life in prison, it is only fair to him and to us that you also tell us what the charge was. It was armed robbery. That’s not the lightest of charges, but it’s not as frightening as others if one is just left to one’s imagination. Congratulations to him and to his many loyal friends and fans for his speedy recovery. I’m sure we’ll be hearing great things of Travis Hill from now on.
—Steve Steinberg, New Orleans, Louisiana
CONNICK PROPOSAL
Thanks for getting my previous order to me so quickly [purchase of the August 1994 OffBeat Magazine.] I was looking for the review of Harry’s [Connick] “She Tour” concert at Lakefront Arena in 1994 and have now found it with this order. I proposed to my wife between the opening act and Harry’s performance and wanted to give her the magazine for our 20th wedding anniversary. This will be perfect!
—Shawn Storey, Carrollton, Texas
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