I Heart NOLa, Part II: Music

I know.

It's been almost two weeks since I've posted. I apologize. Not that I want to make excuses, but I've been completely swamped at work with a huge centerpiece story that I really did not enjoy assembling/writing/executing.

Anyway, it's been two weeks since my return from New Orleans. I still miss it badly.

The complexities I detailed concerning NOLa's food transcend its music as well. You can find good music anywhere in New Orleans. When I say anywhere, I mean anywhere.

Walk down Canal and into the Quarter you'll find talented street musicians playing brass instruments, guitars, drums, and myriad other devices, waiting for passers-by to drop a bill or two in their box. The kids who secure the metal tap-dancing contraptions to their tennis shoes do the same. I saw plenty of them on Decatur Street during my stay.

There are few groups you'll find that congregate at a particular area several days or nights in a row. I saw one group set up on the steps of the mini-amphitheater across the street from and facing Jackson Square. Trombones, trumpets, tubas, sometimes drums, always a few locals gyrating in front of the band to draw attention to themselves.

The best street band I hear has at least a dozen guys and always sets up on the corner of Bourbon and Canal along the big Foot Locker mural. They're incredible. Don't get the wrong idea: No sheet music, no singer, just a bunch of guys playing their horns by ear for whoever's walking by.

Like this ...



Yes, that's the same Foot Locker I'm talking about. And yes, that's the Foot Locker you saw on TV during Katrina aftermath that was being mercilessly looted.

As far as local establishments go, I desperately want to go to Vaughn's. Kermit Ruffins is the house performer. Most Thursday nights he serves up New Orleans jazz funk and free barbecue in the Bywater district establishment. I've never been, but I've seen Ruffins perform on TV and heard some of his music. The guy wails on the trumpet. He's unreal.

The place I always go while on Bourbon Street is Maison Bourbon, which has a sign haning out front that states "Dedicated to the Preserveration of Jazz." Jamil Sharif, a ridiculous trumpeteer, is the main attraction Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and stopping off to listen to him and house band is well worth it, especially when the humidity's running about 75 percent at 10 p.m.

My new discovery this go-around was the CoCo Club, a relatively new night spot on Bourbon Street. I hanged out at the CoCo three nights in a row, listening to Bryan Lee on Thursday and Friday nights and Marva Wright on Saturday night. Both have been signed on as house performers at the CoCo.

Lee is a blind blues man whose influences include Elmore James, Albert King, B.B. King, and Freddie King, blues legends. James wrote "The Sky is Crying," one of the best blues songs ever. Stevie Ray Vaughan does an awesome rendition of the song, too.

Lee was unbelievable. Being able to watch a blues guitarist as talented as Lee from a few feet away was something I'll never forget.

Wright is called "The Queen of New Orleans Blues." I normally don't hang around for female blues performers, but she far exceeded my expectations.

I met some great people at the CoCo Club, including the DJ, one of the bartenders, and a waitress.

A waitress that became my most memorable encounter of the entire trip.

But that story comes in Part III: People.

In the meantime, enjoy some Bryan Lee. The video's low quality, but you'll get the idea.