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Destination: Song of New Orleans
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Notes on the best places to hear music in the Crescent City
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BY IAN MCNULTY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER FRANK EDWARDS
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Jackson Square after dark; lamb chop lollipops at Mimi's in the Marigny; Johnaye Kendrick onstage at Irvin Mayfield's Jazz Playhouse.
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Dixieland combos and brass bands are the sound of recovery in Hurricane Katrina–ravished New Orleans. They play at ribbon-cuttings for rebuilding projects and at block parties for resurgent neighborhoods. They are found at the head of street parades, in clubs across the city and at the festivals where people gather to celebrate the Big Easy remade. Everywhere, there’s ringing evidence that jazz is alive and well in the city of its birth.
Wonderful as they are, these traditional sounds are only the beginning of the story for music lovers heading to New Orleans. Today, the city is a trove of eclectic music, from bayou-infused rock to rappers backed by sousaphones. Musicians draw deep on local traditions even as the rhythms of modern life keep things moving forward. The result? The superb sound of a singular American city.
SPRING MUSIC FESTIVALS
New
Orleans’s musical energy is on glorious display during two annual
springtime festivals: the renowned New Orleans Jazz & Heritage
Festival (aka Jazz Fest), which runs for 10 days over two weekends
(this year, April 23–May 2), and the lesser-known French Quarter
Festival, a free three-day fest (April 9–11) held in the streets and
parks of the city’s historic core.
But in many ways, the city’s
slew of more than 100 music clubs offers a year-round festival of
sorts. Most clubs in the French Quarter and on Frenchmen Street are
within easy walking distance of downtown hotels. Take a cab to other
clubs or whenever you’re in doubt for your safety.
MUSICAL MARIGNY
When locals set out for a night of New Orleans music, many head straight to Frenchmen Street. Located in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood, just downriver from the French Quarter, this popular strip of bars and restaurants remains blessedly free of T-shirt shops and daiquiri joints.
The darkly handsome bar d.b.a. is the current anchor of the Frenchmen music scene. Homegrown R&B crooners like John Boutte and freewheeling jazz combos like the Palmetto Bug Stompers play weekly gigs in its wood-lined music room. It’s also a regular stop for Cajun country bands like the Lost Bayou Ramblers. On weekends, you can usually catch a 6 p.m. show before your dinner reservation.
About five blocks away, across Elysian Fields Avenue, look for Mimi’s in the Marigny, a two-story clubhouse for this arty neighborhood. In the upstairs lounge you might hear honky-tonk tunes from Gal Holiday or swing from the New Orleans Moonshiners. There’s no mandatory last call in New Orleans, and the crowd at Mimi’s tends to hang on particularly late. Perhaps that’s because the bar’s kitchen keeps everyone well fed, serving tapas until 2 a.m. on weekdays (4 a.m. weekends).
OF SOUSAPHONES AND SYNCOPATION
New Orleans brass band music—a thumping, swaggering offshoot of mainline jazz—fuels the city’s many street parades and can be heard regularly in Uptown neighborhood clubs. For years, the Rebirth Brass Band, pioneers of the street-to-club brass band evolution, have held the Tuesday-night slot at the Maple Leaf Bar, an iconic music hall near Tulane and Loyola universities. George Porter Jr., famed bassist of the Meters, plays with a trio at the Maple Leaf on Thursdays.
Another Uptown club, Le Bon Temps Roule, looks like a laid-back neighborhood joint, but music fans pack the back room for late-night sets by the likes of the Soul Rebels Brass Band, which mixes hip-hop with brass band. During the Friday happy hour, Joe Krown’s barrelhouse piano competes with the sound of the shucker’s knife opening free oysters for the crowd. The infectious, syncopated rhythms of zydeco are actually scarce in New Orleans, but Louisiana performers like Keith Frank and Geno Delafose often play Thursday’s Zydeco Night at the Rock ’n’ Bowl, a music club/bowling alley. Rock ’n’ Bowl recently moved (it’s now at 3016 S. Carrollton Ave.), but the bowling pins still tumble and singers holler in Creole French about love and loss.
RINGING WITH TRADITION, ALL NIGHT LONG
In the French Quarter proper, there’s a new energy at Preservation Hall, the city’s most famous jazz spot. Bass player Ben Jaffe, son of the hall’s original founders, is now at the helm, and he’s broadened the range of performers—and audiences—who visit the hallowed hall. During festival times, look for prominent special guests and “Midnight Preserves,” a series of late-night performances. The ambience has remained essentially unchanged since the hall opened in 1961, with seating on hard benches or the floor. No drinks are served (and admission is open to all ages), but locals know to bring their own refreshments in “go-cups” from the many neighboring watering holes.
Meanwhile, Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, a new club in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, has brought some of New Orleans’s most respected jazz players back to Bourbon Street. The weekly roster of acts begins each Monday with bandleader and drummer Bob French, who spins yarns between tunes and often invites his many musician friends to sit in for impromptu numbers.
GUTS AND GLORY
Not all New Orleans music happens in bars and clubs. The longtime gospel tradition, so thunderously showcased during Jazz Fest in the Gospel Tent, still electrifies the city’s churches. One of the best ways to feel its power is to attend Sunday morning mass at the historic St. Augustine Catholic Church, in the Faubourg Tremé neighborhood adjacent to the French Quarter. The parish’s many local musicians often join the gospel choir during services.
Another daylight “must-hear” is blues at the Old Point Bar across the Mississippi River. Walk to Canal Street for the free five-minute ferry ride to Old Algiers Point. (It runs at quarter-to and quarter-past the hour until 11:45 p.m.)
A short levee-top walk brings you right to the Old Point Bar, a beautifully refurbished neighborhood club on the riverfront that holds a blues show every Sunday afternoon. If you time your return trip right, the ferry ride can double as a scenic river cruise at sunset. But don’t get too relaxed: The sinking sun just means the curtain is rising on another night of New Orleans music.
CAJUN CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
New Orleans is a Creole city, but a two-hour drive west on I-10 puts you in Lafayette, the unofficial capital of Cajun country. Feast on game and gator at Prejean’s (3480 Evangeline Trwy.; 337-896-3247; dinner for two, $80*) or soft-shell crab with étouffée at Randol’s (2320 Kaliste Saloom Rd.; 337-981-7080; dinner for two, $60), both with Cajun bands and big dance floors. To catch up on the next generation of Cajun musicians, visit the Blue Moon Saloon (215 E. Convent St.; 877-766-2583; bluemoonpresents.com), where bands play on a covered deck crammed with young dancers.
For a more rural Cajun experience, head to Henderson, a tiny town hard by the Atchafalaya Basin, home to the country’s largest swamp. McGee’s Landing offers narrated boat tours (1337 Henderson Levee Rd.; 337-228-2384; $20). Expect plenty of alligator sightings in warmer months. Henderson has its own lively nightlife scene, in a string of dance halls just over the levee. Angelle’s Whiskey River Landing (1365 Henderson Levee Rd.; 337-228-2277; whiskeyriverlanding.net; cover $8-$10) holds Sunday-afternoon zydeco shows with a view of the swamp.
*Prices cover a meal for two, without drinks, tax or tip.
WHERE THE MUSIC IS
d.b.a.
618 Frenchmen St.; 504-942-
3731; drinkgoodstuff.com
IRVIN MAYFIELD'S
JAZZ PLAYHOUSE
300 Bourbon St.; 504-586-0300;
sonesta.com/RoyalNewOrleans
LE BON TEMPS ROULE
4801 Magazine St.;
504-897-3448
MAPLE LEAF BAR
8316 Oak St.; 504-866-9359;
mapleleafbar.com
ROCK 'N' BOWL
3016 S. Carrollton Ave.;
504-861-1700;
rockandbowl.com
MIMI'S IN THE MARIGNY
2601 Royal St.; 504-872-9868;
mimisinthemarigny.com
OLD POINT BAR
545 Patterson Dr.; 504-364-0950;
oldpointbar.com
PRESERVATION HALL
726 Saint Peter St.; 504-522-2841;
preservationhall.com
ST. AUGUSTINE CATHOLIC CHURCH
1210 Governor Nicholls St.;
504-525-5934;
staugustinecatholicchurch-church-neworleans.org
STAY
RCI-AFFILIATED RESORTS IN NEW ORLEANS INCLUDE:
WYNDHAM AVENUE PLAZA
This 254-unit Garden District
resort is on the St. Charles Avenue
streetcar line, so the lively French
Quarter isn’t far away. 2111 St.
Charles Ave.
Member Reviews:
“We purchased a three-day streetcar
pass from a nearby convenience store
for $12; it was worth it.”
“The rooftop is very romantic at night.”
“There’s a small market down the
street with the best gumbo ever!”
WYNDHAM LA BELLE MAISON
Housed in the restored Frank-
lin Printing Co. landmark, this
spacious 130-room Warehouse
District resort opens onto an
eight-story skylit atrium. 515
Gravier St.
Member Reviews:
“Nearby Acme Oyster Co. is our
favorite.”
“Within walking distance of
everything!”
“You’re close to all the wonderful
restaurants and have a full-size
refrigerator and microwave for
leftovers.”
PLAZA SUITE HOTEL RESORT
This historically preserved,
38-room resort is in a refurbished
firehouse in the Warehouse
district. The French Quarter and
Riverwalk Marketplace are within
blocks. 620 S. Peters St.
Member Reviews:
"The streetcar is close."
"Great restaurants nearby, particularly
Mulate's and Emeril's."
MAISON PIERRE LAFITTE
Just a block from the French
Quarter, this charming 19-room
resort is within walking distance
of Bourbon Street, the riverfront,
nightclubs and restaurants. 108
University Place
Member Reviews:
“The Superdome is very near this resort,
for all you football fans!”
“Has a lovely loft at the top of the
spiral staircase.”
“The streetcar to the Garden District
ends at this exact location.”
For more information, including more
member reviews, visit RCI.com
or call 800-338-7777 (Weeks) or
877-968-7476 (Points).
Club Members, please call your specific
Club or RCI telephone number.
NON-RCI-AFFILIATED HOTELS:
THE COLUMNS
An Uptown mansion dripping with
tarnished Victorian opulence.
Each of the 19 rooms is different.
3811 St. Charles Ave.; 504-899-
9308; thecolumns.com; doubles
from $128 per night
CLAIBORNE MANSION
Low-key luxury is the calling
card of this Creole B&B near
the Frenchmen Street scene.
2111 Dauphine St.; 504-949-
7327; claibornemansion.com;
suites from $150 per night
ROOSEVELT HOTEL
The name is new after a recent
$145-million restoration, but the
Old World grandeur of the former
Fairmont Hotel endures. 123
Baronne St.; 504-648-1200;
therooseveltneworleans.com;
doubles from $280 per night
SONIAT HOUSE HOTEL
A favorite of visiting celebrities,
with antiques-filled rooms and
Southern elegance in two restored
buildings in the French Quarter.
1133 Chartres St.; 504-522-0570;
soniathouse.com; doubles
from $195 per night
NOTE: Information may have changed since publication. Please confirm key details before planning your trip.
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Published: Spring 2010 Issue
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