Thank God it’s September, and we can see an end to the physical heat and a rising temperature in the music scene.
If you’re reading this as a visitor to New Orleans, a student who’s living in New Orleans for the first time, or a reader in the Lafayette area, welcome to our musical world. There’s a lot of local music out there for you to experience and savor, and we hope you’ll take advantage of enjoying the music coverage that only OffBeat can offer.
The New Orleans Music Office is kicking into high gear again in September, and reviving its Mo’ Tunes concert series, as well as workshops for the New Orleans entertainment community. Mayor Nagin will host a press conference on September 9 that will announce a half dozen or so music initiatives, including another Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 16, with a location yet to be determined. At press time, Scott Aiges, head of the Music Office, was considering either Generations Hall or the Scottish Rite Temple at 619 Carondelet Street.
The Mo’ Tunes series will be at the Howlin’ Wolf on Wednesdays in eight consecutive weeks from September 17 through November 5, with a cover that will be lowered from the last series’ $10 to $7. The schedule of bands is still being finalized.
Aiges also said “We’ll announce the new series of professional development workshops. They’ll move from the first Monday of the month to the first Tuesday of the month, starting in October. The location will change from the Library to the Scottish Rite Temple. The October 7 workshop will be on The Major Label Experience and will feature Dave Pirner, Shannon McNally and Tim Sommer. On November 4 the subject will be Booking Your Own Tour.”
The Mayor’s Music Office will also announce a new website—www.realneworleansmusic.com—that’s loaded with resources for music professionals; a Music Office co-op that’s a joint venture with Tipitina’s, to provide a space where musicians who can’t afford or don’t otherwise have access to computers, long distance phones and faxes or photocopy machines, will be able to work like a professional. There will also be tutorials for those who need help.
More news from the Music Office will include satellite radio partnerships, city-sponsored music events in Congo Square and the French Market, and possible solutions to access problems for musicians in the French Quarter.
LEGAL BRIEFS
Dan Storper, president ofPutumayo Records announced a settlement with Mardi Gras Records in a lawsuit filed in 2002 for infringement on “trade dress” or the brand recognition and ability to identify a product. Putumayo alleged that Mardi Gras Records infringed on its branding, based on copying the style, artwork and type of packaging used by Putumayo. Putumayo had established a consistent look and feel that defined their product line, based on packaging and the folk artwork on the cover. Putumayo charged that Mardi Gras Records was attempting to copy the Putumayo “look” so that they could confuse and dilute the market.
The suit was settled between the two parties by a $12,000 payment by Mardi Gras Records to Putumayo and an agreement that if the similar packaging is used, the package will clearly include the words “Mardi Gras Records” on the cover.
Warren Hildebrand, owner of Mardi Gras Records, says he’s glad the suit is over, and says that “after two years of expensive litigation in which [Putumayo] sought up to $2-million in remedies, they were unable to produce evidence of even one lost sale of one of Putumayo’s records to Mardi Gras Records.
“Local attorney Justin Zitler did a fabulous job of countering every argument that Putumayo’s attorney prepared. We were fully prepared to go to trial and win before this settlement. In my opinion, this was a bullying tactic—they couldn’t compete in the market.” Hildebrand also added that his insurance company picked up the tab for his defense. “I’m relieved it’s over—how would you like to be dragged through the courts for two years—for nothing?” he said.
BLUE NILE SOLD
The Blue Nile at 532 Frenchmen Street has been sold to J.D. Landrum and Lori Mitchell, owners of Johnny White’s Sports Bar on Bourbon Street, and MRB on St. Philip. Manager Whitney McWain says “Initially, we won’t make many changes, aesthetically. We’re keeping Fredy Omar on Friday nights, and looking to get some of the more local bands like Papa Grows Funk, Kermit and more on a regular basis. We’re going to bring the drink prices down to a more ‘local level’ because some people feel like they might have been gouged lately at the Blue Nile.” Within the next six to eight months the new owners plan on putting in a bar upstairs with seating, game areas, pool tables and more.
IRENE AT LOUNGE LIZARDS
Ever since her band Irene and the Mikes quit playing regularly, Irene Sage has been looking for a new home base, “a place where I can put down some new roots.” Irene went to Lounge Lizards recently, fell in love with the vibe there, and is beginning a new gig there on Tuesday nights beginning in September.
Sage starts at Lounge Lizards on Tuesday, September 2nd (also on the 16th and 30th) to try to recreate some of the “old magic thing that we used to generate at Checkpoint….I’ve talked to Coco [Robicheaux] and even Mike Darby [Sage’s old bandmate and former significant other] to do some of the old classic stuff. We’ll be showcasing a lot of the music from my new CD, Soul To Soul, that will be released within the next few months.”
DAVELL COMES OUT FOR HIS BIRTHDAY
It’s hard for me to believe but Davell Crawford has been making music for 20 years…and he’s only 28. “I started playing in public when I was just seven,” Davell told OffBeat. “I used to go down to the Quarter with my grandmother and there was a man who had a piano. One day I jumped to the piano and just started to play. Soon I was attracting enough people to make a pretty good tip jar.” Crawford was what you might call a “child prodigy”—he’s played piano since he was two years old. Those good genes of New Orleans (his grandfather is Sugar Boy Crawford)! Just another fine reason to let street musicians play in “da Quarters!”
Davell will celebrate his 20th anniversary in music (and his 28th birthday) on Saturday, September 20 at Tipitina’s with a huge party that will include many special guests: Charmaine Neville, Marva Wright, Wild Magnolias, Anders Osborne, Kermit Ruffins (who’ll also whip up a barbecue feast), the Revealers, Minister Craig Adams and Higher Dimensions of Praise, Nu-Beginnings, Kelly Love Jones, and very special guest, “Lady B.J.” Crosby, plus many more.
CONGO MOMBO
The “living legends of Gulf Coast Soul and Funk will throw it down live and in the flesh” with guest DJs between sets at the first in the monthly Congo Mombo concert series. The Bayou Soul Bowltakes place onSaturday, September 6th, at the Rock ‘n’ Bowl. The show will feature Barbara Lynn(see story in this issue),Li’l Bob, Ernie Vincent, Li’l Buck SinegalandRockie Charles. Tickets are $10 and the show starts at 9 p.m. For more information visit http://www.ponderosastomp.com/.
