LOUISIANA STATE OF MIND

HIGHLIGHTS FROM LAFAYETTE & NEW ORLEANS

For a state often blasted with extreme weather conditions, southern Louisiana is currently enjoying balmy weather - mid-20s temperatures, little humidity, long sunny days accompanied by a gentle breeze - so much so the locals are baffled by it. Things should be getting hot and humid and wet by now. No matter, Jazzfest - New Orleans’ largest and oldest festival - begins on April 24 and will, inevitably, be accompanied by torrential rain (I was once there on a Saturday and looking forward to seeing headliner Stevie Wonder - it rained so much they closed Jazzfest in the afternoon…).

Anyway, I’m loving my time back in Louisiana so here’s a selection of images of the City That Care Forgot and Cajun Country. Enjoy - I certainly am.

In Lafayette I was having lunch with pals in the Creole Lunch House and who should I bump into there but Steve Riley, King of Cajun accordion and leader of the Mamou Playboys! I’ve had the good fortune to see Steve in London with swamp pop supergroup Lil’ Band O’ Gold (check their album The Promised Land) and in Lafayette leading the Mamou Playboys. He’s a fine musician and top cat. He told me his kids are now talented musicians and leading great bands. Go Steve!

Lafayette and the surrounding region is known as “Cajun Country” - home to people Black and white who speak a French dialect that comes from the Acadian settlers who fled Canada for the then French colony of Louisiana in the 1760s. They play Cajun and zydeco music - zydeco being the blues flavoured accordion genre of the region’s Black Creoles. It’s a remarkable culture and beautiful music. Jeffrey Broussard (pictured on accordion above) & the Creole Cowboys were one of my highlights at French Quarter Festival. Broussard mixes zydeco with swamp pop - the Cajun take on New Orleans R&B - into his sound. So good! Lafayette is, like New Orleans, a cultural hotspot where the local people create great art from the street (and bayou).

The late Carol Fran was a great R&B singer from Lafayette region. I had the good fortune to see her sing one night in Crowley, a small town outside Lafayette where a lot of swamp blues (Slim Harpo, Lazy Lester etc) recordings were made. Painting by gifted local artist Marie Kimball.

Lafayette is also home to Dan Phillips, a music obsessive that I’m proud to call a friend. Dan’s the world’s leading authority on New Orleans soul/funk and his blog Home Of The Groove is a treasure chest: https://homeofthegroove.blogspot.com

Dan also presents Funkify Your Life on local public radio station KRVS. It airs at 2 pm Thursday and 9 pm Friday. Also streaming at krvs.org. Plays on the home page and on the station’s free mobile app (download at google play or apple store). There are some previous shows available at the home page, too, under the Programs header, and on the app under On Demand. You won’t be disappointed if you listen.

I’ve not been in Lafayette since 2018 so it was a real pleasure to catch up with Dan and Roger Kash (who also broadcasts on KRVS - an old time country show) and Philippe Billeaudeaux (a gifted bassist and member of Feufollet, the foremost young Cajun band whose gifted leader, Chris Stafford, was tragically killed in a car crash in 2024).

There were so many highlights at FQF, one of which was seeing Astral Project, the foremost modern jazz band in NO for the past 40+ years. The quartet played superbly and their drummer is Johnny Vidacovich, a legend in a city overflowing with great musicians. Watching Johnny in action was a treat!

Seeing Irma Thomas sing at FQF on Saturday night was truly uplifting. I’ve seen Irma many times over the past 30 years and she always delivers. On Saturday she was as soulful and dynamic as ever, singing with gospel fervour and asking the audience to pledge for NO public radio station WWOZ “now that those in power are cutting funding for community arts.” WWOZ is one of the world’s finest radio stations - do listen in, they broadcast so much great Louisiana music. If you can support WWOZ then please do so.

On Saturday afternoon I attended the Dew Drop Inn’s Legends Of The Dew Drop: Road To Rock & Roll. This is a brunch event with a live band who skilfully perform the history of a venue that was the hothouse for NO R&B (and where most every Black musician of note played from 1939 until the early 1970s). Having fallen into disrepair after Hurricane Katrina damaged the building in 2005, property developer Curtis Doucette Jr. salvaged and reopened the Dew Drop as hotel and live music venue in 2024. This is an extremely impressive show with top musicians and singers - anyone interested in NO music history should visit this historic space.

Here’s Irma again, featuring in Shake Your Hips: Louisiana Blues, an exhibition at NO’s wonderful Jazz Museum. New Orleans is a city that celebrates the rich music heritage of city and state and this was a treat. Speaking of shaking hips, Sunday night’s headliner on the big stage was Big Freedia, the city’s bounce (a local rap genre) superstar who is a gay, crossdressing man (“I'm gender nonconforming, fluid, nonbinary”). Freedia and band put on an epic performance - highlight being Iko Iko, where Freedia was joined by Robin Barnes, yes, the “songbird of New Orleans” I mentioned catching singing in a hotel bar last week. Such a wealth of music here!

The only low point of my stay was, as I was exiting FQF, a squadron of police cars with blue lights flashing came tearing down Iberville Street: a local man had started shooting at people, wounding four before he was disarmed. Memories of the NYE terrorist who killed many with his vehicle on Bourbon Street must have unnerved all attending FQF. Gun violence is a plague across America and NO suffers heavily from it - apparently the Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula (Irma’s birthplace) ended abruptly on Saturday night after three people were shot. Music brings people together in joy, guns tear people apart and create terror. A sad note but one I must mention in a state that has done more than most to increase the supply of human happiness.

Gumbo is one of Louisiana’s signature dishes. I ate this delicious bowl at Rachel’s Cafe in Lafayette. Very tasty, great value and unique. Just like Louisiana!