LEROY

Love this story and thank you OffBeat! Leroy and Katja are some of the best and continue to make New Orleans music the world over.

—Michelle Minyard, New Orleans, LA

 

Eloquently written and delightfully informative! I love Leroy Jones and Katja Toivola! We never visit New Orleans without making it a point to see them perform.

—Allison E.B. Chukiert, Utica, NY

 

DEEPER INTO THE CULTURE

I am from Richmond, Kentucky, and although I’ve only been to New Orleans three times now, it feels like a second home to me. A little history: I’m 44 years old and have a huge passion for cooking all types of food. About 20 or so years ago, I really started getting into Cajun cooking. Everything I love about food is exemplified in Cajun cooking for me. I’m proud to say that my jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee, sauce piquant, Creole maque choux and grits and grillades are some of the best you’ll find this side of Louisiana. I even smoke my own andouille.

After all those years of honing my craft, I finally made the pilgrimage to the motherland and it was everything I expected and then some. We go down for long four-day weekends and I feel I will have to keep coming for years to experience all that I want to experience. After the initial experience of Bourbon Street and the tourist crap, I started to get deeper into the culture every trip. We’ve been to Frenchmen Street a few times now; I got to see the [Mardi Gras] Indians on Super Sunday, which almost brought me to tears; I’ve had barbecue shrimp and po-boys from several places; went to some St. Patrick’s Day parades; had ya-ka-mein from Miss Linda; and have seen some great music. I would stack my Cajun cooking against some of the great food I’ve had down there. I made the mistake of thinking all the cooking in New Orleans would be great and found that wasn’t the case. As I write this, I’m waiting for Fed Ex to bring me Leidenheimer’s French bread and muffuletta bread. I can’t wait! I’m listening to Anders Osborne, whom I find is one of the city’s finest, bar none!!

Well, that leads me to why I’m writing. I listen to WWOZ via the Internet and while we were there the first year (oh shit … the FedEx man just dropped off my Leidenheimer’s) I got my first copy of OffBeat. What a great magazine! It has turned me on to so much of the NOLA culture and turned me on to so much new music I hadn’t heard. I look forward to reading Jan’s [Ramsey] articles, the record reviews and everything enclosed. Thank you so much for a wonderful magazine.

Now, I have to go open my Leidenheimer’s.

—Scott Lambert, Richmond, KY

 

FIX THE LAW

Just got back home after having spent a great week in New Orleans with my daughter and a (boy) friend. We stayed around the corner from Frenchmen Street so we spent plenty of time soaking up the atmosphere and hearing superb music. And as always, the food was fantastic wherever we ate.

I have one complaint, however: the law you have down there you have to be 21 to enter a bar. In New Jersey, any child, accompanied by an adult, can be seated and served non-alcoholic fare in a bar. In addition, any 17 year old can go to a bar, unaccompanied by an adult, if the bar is offering entertainment. The bars know how to police themselves and not serve minors. Great here, but we only have Bruce Springsteen and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and Bruce is never home.

Because my younger daughter is 18, we missed (among others) the Brass-A-Holics, Hot 8 Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band, Walter “Wolfman” Washington, Kermit Ruffins and John Boutté this past week.

C’mon, Louisiana, fix your law! You have the greatest music and musicians in the world, for 21-year-olds and older.

—Michael Paduano, Toms River, NJ

 

CORRECTIONS

In our August issue, we made a change in the Leroy Jones article from “the Old Men” to “the Mens.” Although some people refer to this older generation of musicians as “the Mens,” Leroy Jones did not. He refers to those who mentored him and from whom he learned the culture and traditions of brass-band music as “the old men.”

Also, Jones indicates that he wanted to play with the Blue Jays; this should be the Purple Knights.—Ed.

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