It may be a little too early for you to think about New Year’s resolutions, but since this is my last Mojo Mouth column for the year 2015, I’m contemplating what I need to consider in 2016.

The events of the past two months, which included the deaths of so many music friends and acquaintances, came as a big shock to my system. In particular, the passing of Allen Toussaint was a definite alarm and an awakening to the absolute mortality of all of us. Allen was such a vital person. I suppose I thought he would be around forever, and when someone dies suddenly, it’s always a lot harder on the people who are left behind.

I’ve heard several people say the same thing, and that they never expected Allen to pass away. We tend to think of our contemporaries (Allen was only 12 years older than I am) as we do ourselves: We don’t think about the fact that one day we too will pass away. What’s probably harder to accept and to comprehend is that your family, your friends, and the world go on without you.

Our consciousness is so rooted in our egos that we just can’t believe that 1) we’re no longer going to be here at all, and 2) in time, and usually within a relatively short time, we’ll be forgotten. Because life goes on without you. Your job will be taken by someone else. Your family also grows older and moves on (and ultimately passes away). Your significant other may (or may not) find happiness with someone else. It’s a lot to think about, which is why most of us avoid the subject totally.

But you can’t, really.

How many of us have created a legacy that will be embraced by future generations? Certainly Allen Toussaint did, and the musicians who have passed away. I recently caught a showing of Michael Murphy’s film on cable television—Make It Funky!—that featured Toussaint, Cosimo Matassa, Earl Palmer, Ahmet Ertegun, Bob French and others who have passed, as well as a panoply of talented people who are still with us: Irma Thomas, Jon Cleary, Quint Davis, the Neville Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Sammie Williams, Donald Harrison, Irene Sage, Gregory Davis, Trombone Shorty, to name just a very few. I was so grateful that Murphy had preserved the words and music and feel of New Orleans music on film for others to see and appreciate. This is one of the best things about music and the business I’ve chosen to be in: Music endures. The spirit of the people who make the music persists throughout time. It’s a true gift.

But our soulful brothers and sisters, our musical treasures, our mentors, teachers and the people who have brought us so much pleasure and emotion, are, in fact, growing old and soon will no longer be with us. It’s heartening to see that there are new kids on the block who are taking up the torch to keep our music alive, nurtured, growing, and yes, changing.

And that’s sort of the subject of this column this month.

I’m committed to making sure that OffBeat honors our past musical achievements, but that it also nurtures and promotes the newer generations of musicians who are the city’s future. Jazz will never die, but it will most certainly change. Brass bands are springing up like wildflowers, but they’re not your daddy’s brass band sounds. Even the traditional musics of R&B, Cajun and zydeco are changing and evolving. And, well, rock. That’s nothing but change. Rap and hip-hop. It was new to me in my lifetime, and look how it’s evolved.

Life is about change. It’s constant, and you can always depend on it.

Recently, our web editor, Sam D’Arcangelo, wrote an online post regarding a petition to change the name of Lee Circle to Allen Toussaint Circle. Anyone who’s seen the news that describes the continuing issues we have in this country vis-à-vis race will know that there are people who want to preserve history by keeping it “Lee” Circle. I’m not for revising history, but I’m certainly open to considering the change of a landmark in the city to honor someone who’s arguably taken New Orleans music to the world: Allen Toussaint. After all, we renamed our airport after Louis Armstrong, didn’t we? Surely the history and musical legacy of Allen Toussaint is one we should honor on an ongoing basis? I’m not contending that Robert E. Lee wasn’t important to the city’s history, but we’ve moved on, so far, from the Confederacy. At least let’s hope we have. It’s time that we move on, and give props where they are long overdue.

My 2016 resolution is to recognize and honor the changes in our music and our musical history and legacy, and to change with the current of time, as needed. Times change, music changes, the city changes. It’s an inevitable part of life (and death) on this earth. Change is where it’s at, baby.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all of our readers. Peace out—may it reign in this ever-changing world.