Gambit: January 19, 2021

January 19-25 2021 Volume 42 Number 3

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CONTENTS

JAN. 19 – 25, 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 3

Send them

NEWS

OPENING GAMBIT

6

COMMENTARY 8 CLANCY DUBOS

9

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN 11 FEATURES

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 5 EAT + DRINK

MUSIC 25

FILM 26

PUZZLES 27

EXCHANGE 27

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Check out our

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Ti It’s

13

The faster y’all get vaccinted the faster we can fest again

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Origin stories Ladee Hubbard’s new novel delves into hot sauce and hidden pasts

BY WILL COVIELLO LADEE HUBBARD’S NEW NOVEL, “THE RIB KING,” DELVES INTO FOOD FADS,

and while the story is set a century ago, it seems that in many ways, little has changed.

Though he is a groundskeeper, Mr. Sitwell collaborates with Miss Mamie, the cook, on a sauce that excites the palates and pocketbooks of Mr. Barclay, the wealthy white businessman who employs them. His guests love the flavor as well, and it is more interesting than another of Barclay’s prospective business associates and guest, Mr. Pound, who has devised a “cookless breakfast.”

What is that, Mamie asks?

“Delicious wafers of whole meal flour, molasses, and dried fruit. All baked and pressed under a patented process, introduced right here in the city, at the World’s Fair,” Barclay cheerily declares.

“Basically, it’s Grape-Nuts,” says Hubbard with a laugh. Devising health and beauty products drive much of the story in “The Rib King,” and Hubbard’s novel reflects the way things that became household staples were invented, introduced and became part of culture. In the case of Sitwell’s sauce, it is more ominous, as Barclay pockets the profits, and a stark image of Sitwell’s face is made famous on the label.

“He invented the sauce and he doesn’t get credit for it,” Hubbard says. “Instead, you get this caricature of this African American who’s grinning at you. There are from that period a lot of images of African Americans that came out of minstrelsy. That was really the origin of the image of Aunt Jemima and Rastus (on Cream of Wheat).

These are stereotypes that circulate throughout culture and become primary reference points for history — cultural artifacts.”

Sitwell has a gift for sniffing out the ingredients in a dish or food item. In this way, he’s like the characters in Hubbard’s debut novel, “The Talented Ribkins,” which won the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence

in 2017. In fact, Sitwell also is related to them. All of the family members in that book have a special talent, and they’re descendants of Sitwell, who via his sauce comes to be known as the Rib King — and which in turn became the surname Ribkins.

“The Rib King” is a sort of prequel, but different in tone and focus. And it is often humorous as well.

As the story begins in 1914, Sitwell is in his 30s.

He has worked for Barclay since he was in his midteens, when he was taken in as an orphan. Every year, Barclay takes in several orphaned Black boys with the mission to train or prepare them for some sort of trade or profession to support themselves.

Not having families or yet being adults highlights their vulnerability in the world, and that also reflects on the rest of the house’s domestic laborers, all of whom are Black and dependent on their job.

While Sitwell has become well placed in Barclay’s household, he’s also becoming unnerved by a personal crisis.

Though he can barely read, a book has him questioning his past. He pays a man to read the book and tell him what happens in it, as he retraces the demise of his small hometown in in Florida. “’The Rib King’ began as part of a reflection on how people see the past and their relationship to the past and tradition,” Hubbard says.

The novel is set in two periods, 10 years apart. But it works toward the past and the future, as Sitwell tries to understand the stories about where he came from, and he and others he meets in Barclay’s house try to build their own future and contemplate their fortunes.

The story is not set in the South, but references to New Orleans sneak in, like when Sitwell seeks out mirlitons.

Hubbard has lived in New Orleans since moving here in 2003 to teach at Tulane University.

Hubbard studied fiction writing with Toni Morrison as an undergraduate at Princeton University. She also earned a PhD in folklore and mythology from UCLA. There she studied the dawn of mass tourism, which is associated with the Chicago world’s fair of 1893.

The innovations at that event, such

Courtyard funk TROMBONIST COREY HENRY leads his Treme Funktet in a live show in the courtyard of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at 5 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 19. The show will be live-streamed via facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum/live.

Renaissance man

P H OTO B Y L E X I L E W I S

P H OTO B Y Z AC K S M I T H

Ladee Hubbard’s second novel, “The Rib King,” will be released Jan. 19.

as the introduction of new products, cast a shadow over “The Rib King.”

The book also is influenced by more recent events, including the supposed retirement of the commercial images of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben, and the vulnerability of Black youth, including Trayvon Martin, who was killed by George Zimmerman in 2012.

“A lot of it has to do with how people respond to trauma and the imagination and strength of will that’s required,” Hubbard says. “When I wrote it, I was thinking a lot of the issues the characters face and that a lot of people still do face today, maybe in a different form.”

“The Rib King” will be released by HarperCollins on Jan. 19. Hubbard will discuss her book with local author Jami Attenberg at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, via Zoom. Register on eventbrite.com or octaviabooks.com.

Hubbard will discuss the book with food historian Jessica B. Harris at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26 via Zoom. Find the link at astudiointhewoods.org.

STOGIE KENYATTA’S ONE-MAN SHOW “The World is my Home: The Life of Paul Robeson” celebrates the bass baritone singer from the Harlem Renaissance.

Robeson excelled at just about everything he did — he was an all-American college football player and an accomplished singer and actor for stage and film.

The work highlights his musical talents and friendships with figures including Langston Hughes, Cab Calloway, W.E.B. Du Bois and Albert Einstein. Jefferson Performing Arts Society presents the show at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24, at the Jefferson Performing Arts Center. Find tickets at jpas.org.

On the money GUITARIST AND SAXOPHONIST TED HEFKO LEADS HIS BAND THE THOUSANDAIRES IN A MIX OF FOLK, early jazz and roots styles. The band performs a live show at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at Broadside. Find tickets at broadsidenola.com.

Sam’s club TROMBONIST BIG SAM WILLIAMS LEADS HIS FUNKY NATION in a free show at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Broadside. Visit broadsidenola.com for tickets.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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OPENING GAMBIT N E W

O R L E A N S

N E W S

+

V I E W S

At this rate, we’ll all be vaccinated just in time for Jazz Fest 2024

# The Count

Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down

170,389

Mia X, the hip-hop legend and

The number of Louisianans, as of Jan. 14, who are on their way to immunity of COVID-19 after receiving the first of two doses of either the Moderna or the Pfizer vaccine.

chef, continued her birthday tradition of feeding New Orleans’ hungry last week when she donated “a truckload” of food to Ozanam Inn, according to WDSU-TV. Every year, Mia X celebrates her birthday by cooking and feeding the community. The tradition has grown to serve 500 people. Due to the pandemic, she had to tweak her plans this year by delivering items to the long-running homeless shelter on Camp Street. Top Box Foods also matched her donation.

S C R E E N S H OT TA K E N F R O M G O O G L E M A P S S T R E E T V I E W

The Louisiana Center for the Blind in Ruston, Louisiana

New Orleans Jazz Museum

is partnering with the New Orleans Jazz Historical Park to develop a series of virtual field trips that will be available to teachers and students across the country. Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana State Museum last week announced a $30,000 grant from the National Park Foundation to fund the program. Those digital field trips, called “New Orleans Cultural & Musical Connections,” will be available in the spring for grades 4-8.

Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry declined to join 46

other states’ attorneys general in signing a letter denouncing the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Instead, Landry wrote a letter tepidly condemning the violence — and criticizing Democrats for what he feels wasn’t a proper reaction to property damage during 2020’s protests against white supremacy and police brutality.

Meanwhile, 30,988 in the state have received both doses, meaning that 201,3778 doses have been administered overall, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. The state is in Phase 1B, Tier 1 of its vaccination plan, which encompasses health care workers, EMS and fire department workers, longterm care facility residents and staff, schools of health and those over 70. The next phase, which includes school workers, should begin in the next few weeks.

THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND is launching a major

restructuring of its internal policies and programming for blind children and adults in response to allegations of sexual assault against multiple male employees at its Louisiana affiliate, the Louisiana Center for the Blind.

In separate letters, officials at both the national organization and the Louisiana training center in Ruston acknowledged what one official described as not having “done enough within our movement and systemically within our community” in addressing complaints of sexual misconduct and abuse over the years.

In a statement Pamela Allen, the executive director of the Louisiana center, acknowledged the accusations. “I’m deeply sorry that members of our community have caused the harm,” said Allen, who is also the first vice president and board chair of NFB. “Our hearts break for the survivors of abuse and sexual misconduct who have bravely shared incidents that have happened within our organization over the decades,” NFB President Mark Riccobono wrote in a Dec. 16 letter addressing the alleged misconduct. “During the past couple of weeks, a number of courageous individuals have shared painful stories about their experiences on social media and in individual conversations.”

“We deeply regret that over our eighty years we have not handled each situation appropriately or been able to heal the pain that such incidents create,” he added, saying he personally made “mistakes” in dealing with past “inappropriate behavior.”

The extent of the allegations is unclear at this time, but women have made accusations — ranging from rape, abuse and harassment — against at least three men affiliated with the Louisiana center. Others have made accusations of incidents happening at another NFB training center, the Colorado Center for the Blind.

Accusations involving the Louisiana center first gained significant attention in December, when one woman detailed her alleged sexual abuse at the Ruston training center in a public Facebook post. After that, many more women came forward publicly with

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Additionally, they noted they would not deem click-through electronic training modules on preventing sexual harassment and mandatory reporting requirements sufficient in addressing the issue.

When asked if the organization was considering changing how it structures its training programs in terms of how much one-onone access instructors have to students, the official replied, “I think everything’s on the table at this point.”

On Jan. 4, the organization announced it would be partnering with the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), a large anti-sexual assault nonprofit which runs a 24/7 support hotline, to revise its code of conduct and create a mandatory training program on sexual violence for its staff and volunteers that will begin in March.

The organization also introduced a “Survivor Task Force,” a team of six blind women who have experienced sexual misconduct or abuse that will advise federation leaders, members and partners immediately “until a long-term solution is identified.”

According to NFB, the role of the task force is to gather information from other survivors of abuse in the organization, recommend ways the organization can support victims of sexual abuse and develop recommendations for leadership “on creating a meaningful organizational culture shift.”

The Louisiana center has also laid out on its website several steps it plans to take including improved, comprehensive training, consulting with outside mental health professionals and a revision of its existing policies that is more “comprehensive and survivor-centered.”

The NFB official said it does not plan to discuss specific allegations due to “the privacy and respect for the survivors telling their own stories” and that its focus is on “what we’re doing going forward.”

To that end, the organization said it plans to make regular public updates on its progress.

“The National Federation of the Blind, and all of our centers are committed to a safe environment that is free of sexual abuse,” the official said, “and our efforts going forward are going to be focused on making sure that that is the case in our organization and at our centers.”

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stories of their own, tagging the posts with #MarchingTogether.

Though many described abuse occurring in the last five years, NFB, the largest blind persons advocacy group in the country, acknowledges the problem is not new.

“For several years now, Federation leadership has endeavored to understand how to appropriately handle the difficult topics of sexual misconduct and other forms of abuse within our organizational structure,” NFB said in a Dec. 11 statement.

The Louisiana center, where several instances of alleged abuse took place, appears to have left much of the public response to the national federation. The center is one of three NFB affiliated training centers, which hold months-long programs where blind people can practice reading Braille, traveling with a cane and cooking and cleaning independently.

After Gambit left Allen, the Louisiana executive director, a voicemail, an NFB official called back and said the organization is considering a number of options to put an end to the history of sexual misconduct in its organization, including recommendations a group of sexual abuse survivors outlined in an open letter to NFB and the National Blindness Professional Certification Board last month.

“Although NFB and NBPCB both have codes of conduct and official mechanisms for handling such abuses, they are inadequate and not equitably implemented,” the letter reads. “Those who have come forward have faced retaliation for their efforts … Victims are often questioned and even when proof is provided, encouraged to remain silent in order to maintain the image of the above listed organizations and their affiliated agencies and programs.”

In that letter, survivors recommended both organizations implement clear policies on reporting and investigating sexual abuse that protects victims from retaliation by Aug. 31 and that an independent third-party agency handle such investigations. They also asked NFB to permanently ban anyone found guilty of sexual misconduct from leadership roles in the organization and from volunteering or working with young people or students, and to inform directors of both organizations and leaders the individual has been found guilty within 10 work days.

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often opine on national affairs. However, with the end of Donald Trump’s four-year reign of error and Joe Biden’s inauguration as our nation’s 46th president, we find ourselves in a unique moment.

Like so many of our readers, we cannot let this moment pass without stating unequivocally where we stand.

After the shocking — if altogether predictable — violent and seditious final weeks of Trump’s presidency, the impulses for “unity” and a “return to normalcy” run deep across America. These impulses are understandable, but they ring hollow — and they will never take hold — if America does not first undergo the equally necessary processes of accounting and reckoning. By that we mean a thorough investigation and vigorous prosecutions of all persons, in and out of government, who encouraged, incited, enabled and supported Trump’s Jan. 6 putsch.

There can be no healing without those two predicates. Pope Paul VI famously said, “If you want peace, work for justice.” If we want America to heal, to unite, to return to “normal,” we must first restore our national norms — especially that of holding wrongdoers accountable. It’s not about revenge or retribution; it’s about justice and restoring faith in our democratic institutions. It’s about healing.

The chaos of the last four years has taken an enormous toll on us all.

Ironically, as leaders of Donald Trump’s Republican Party abandoned their principles and violated their oaths of office in the reckless pursuit of gaining and holding on to power, they inflicted the greatest harm on the GOP itself.

In just four years, Republicans have lost not only the White House but also both houses of Congress. Worse, the GOP has become infested with violent white supremacists, wacko conspiracy theorists and fanatic theocrats.

U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney put it best when he admonished Republican charlatans in Congress who sought to overturn the Electoral College vote — literally as the Jan. 6 insurrection

P H OTO B Y M AT T S LO C U M / A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S

President-elect Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 pandemic during an event at The Queen theater, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, in Wilmington, Delaware.

unfolded — telling them, “The best way we can show respect for the voters who were upset is by telling them the truth.” The truth that Romney referenced is that Joe Biden won the election, period. Here’s another truth: For the Republican Party to recover, it must purge itself of its most unhinged and irresponsible members, top to bottom, including — especially — those elected to serve in the U.S. House and Senate. Mere denunciations won’t suffice.

We need a healing process at the local level as well. It’s well past time that we all come to terms with what Black, trans and poor New Orleanians have known for some time: The old “normal” wasn’t so great for everybody. Rather than yearning for a “return” to a time when only some of us felt safe in our homes and welcome on our streets, we should instead use this moment to begin the hard but necessary process of accounting and reckoning how we as a city have treated those who have been marginalized in the past.

A more equitable, just society in which all citizens feel at ease isn’t a radical notion. In a city and nation that cherish liberty and justice, accounting and reckoning — as preludes to peace and unity — should be defining traits.

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CLANCY DUBOS

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2021 WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A BUSY YEAR , but it’s turning out

to be more eventful than anyone anticipated. In addition to the New Orleans citywide elections on tap for the fall, the spring special election calendar has suddenly filled with important local races — and another tax referendum.

The March 20 primary will feature two special congressional races and a special election for a state House seat representing Old Jefferson and parts of Metairie.

Runoffs, if needed, will be April 24. The New Orleans City Council also has set April 24 as the date for a reconstituted referendum on a quarter-penny sales tax for additional police protection in the French Quarter.

Qualifying for special elections in Congressional Districts 2 and 5 is Jan. 20-22. Qualifying for the special election in state House District 82 is Jan. 25-27.

The back stories on the March and April ballots are interesting, and in one case tragic.

The death of U.S. Rep.-elect Luke Letlow days before he was to become a freshman in Congress has triggered the contest in the 5th Congressional District, which winds from northeast Louisiana to Bogalusa. Letlow, who served as a top aide for recently retired Congressman Ralph Abraham, succeeded his old boss but weeks later died of Covid complications. His widow, Julia Letlow, has announced she will run for the seat.

In and around New Orleans — and snaking up the West Bank to Baton Rouge — the 2nd District race will feature no clear front runner. This special election will decide who succeeds Cedric Richmond, who gave up his seat to become

P H OTO B Y S E V E N T Y F O UR / G E T T Y I M AG E S

a top aide to incoming President Joe Biden. So far the candidates are state Sens. Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson, both of New Orleans, and Baton Rouge activist Gary Chambers.

Also in March, candidates in Jefferson will vie to succeed freshman state Rep. Charles Henry in state House District 82. The district birthed the political career of U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, and his acolytes have held the seat ever since. Henry, until recently a top aide to Scalise, won the seat only a year ago. He reportedly will join the lobbying section of the Adams and Reese law firm in New Orleans, though he won’t be able to lobby lawmakers (or Congress) personally for another year or two.

Lastly, the New Orleans City Council’s decision to call a special sales tax election in the French Quarter is the latest twist in the ongoing political tug-o-war between Mayor LaToya Cantrell and the council. Heronner failed in December to secure renewal of the quarter-penny French Quarter sales tax after Vieux Carre businesses and residents fell out with the mayor over how the proceeds would be spent.

The April 24 referendum is the product of discussions between the council and the French Quarter Management District, which wants direct control over the money and more of the money spent on hiring off-duty city cops. The mayor had proposed using at least half the money on code enforcement and “quality of life” issues.

Politically, things will be heating up well before the official arrival of spring.

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11

BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ Hey Blake, Reading about Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe and its new owners in the Baquet family, I remembered the Baquets also running the lunch counter at the old Krauss department store. D.H. Holmes and Maison Blanche had good restaurants, too.

What were their names?

Dear reader,

Food is such a treasured part of life in New Orleans, why wouldn’t we expect good restaurants in some of our department stores?

D.H. Holmes department store operated in the 800 block of Canal Street from 1849 until 1989. Its restaurant was called Potpourri. In 1970, Underground Gourmet restaurant critic Richard Collin wrote that it was “one of the better department store restaurants in the country and certainly the best in New Orleans.”

He singled out its turtle soup, oysters and trout dishes.

Collin had less good to say about the Rendezvous restaurant in Maison Blanche, open a block away on Canal Street from 1897 until 1998.

T I M E S - P I C AYUN E F I L E P H OTO B Y A L E X A N D E R B A R KO F F

Bill Taylor, New Orleans, has a cup of coffee at the Potpourri Restaurant Holmes Department store on Canal Street on what would be the last day of business for the restaurant and the Deli.

He wrote that Rendezvous was “not designed as anything more than a convenience” for “tired and hurried shoppers.” He did praise its shrimp remoulade, which featured a wellspiced white sauce.

From 1991 until 1995, Wayne Baquet Sr. and his family — best known for their father’s restaurant, Eddie’s, and since 2005 for Li’l Dizzy’s — operated the lunch counter at Krauss, the department store at Canal and Basin streets open from 1903 to 1997. The restaurant was called Eddie’s at Krauss.

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Louisiana natives will officially join his administration. Congressman Cedric Richmond will serve as senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a native of Baker, will be the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. They are two in a long list of locals to serve in modern presidential administrations.

Two former New Orleans mayors, deLesseps “Chep” Morrison and Moon Landrieu, held White House appointments. Morrison was President John F. Kennedy’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States. Landrieu served for a little more than a year as President Jimmy Carter’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

New Orleans native Anne Armstrong became the first woman to serve as Counselor to the President when she was appointed by President Richard Nixon. She continued in that role under President Gerald Ford, who also named her the first female U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

New Orleans lawyer John “Jack” Weinmann was named U.S. Ambassador to Finland by President George H.W. Bush. Bush later chose Weinmann as Chief of Protocol of the White House.

President George W. Bush named New Orleans native Donald Ensenat (his former roommate and fraternity brother at Yale) Chief of Protocol at the State Department. Ensenat also served as U.S. Ambassador to Brunei in Bush 41’s administration.

After serving 18 years in Congress (the first Louisiana woman elected to do so), Lindy Boggs was appointed by President Bill Clinton as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. She represented the U.S. at the Vatican from 1997 to 2001.

Three New Orleanians served in President Barack Obama’s administration.

Lisa Jackson, the EPA administrator, grew up in Pontchartrain Park and graduated from Tulane University. Desiree Glapion Rogers, daughter of former City Councilman Roy Glapion Jr., was the first Black woman to serve as White House Social Secretary. Another Obama appointee and New Orleans native, Rear Admiral Stephen Rochon, was the first Black White House Chief Usher.

An Assumption Parish native, Danny Brouillette, has been Secretary of Energy in President Donald Trump’s administration since 2019.

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2021’s festival lineup is anything but certain

BY WILL COVIELLO

P H OTO B Y DAV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue perform at Jazz Fest.

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SAVE THE DATE

P H OTO B Y D I N A H L . R O G E R S / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

NORMALLY IN MID-JANUARY NEW ORLEANIANS are happily

stuffing their faces with King Cake, building up a protective layer of sugary goodness for Carnival as they peruse the freshly released lineup for that year’s Jazz Fest.

Like that undersized nutria eyeing its shadow for folks up north, the annual release of the Jazz Fest and French Quarter Fest lineups give us a glimpse of the coming spring even before the first Carnival parades start. Even too-cool-for-school hipsters who scoff at the idea of rubbing elbows with Jazz Fest Dads at the track look forward to these releases.

But COVID-19 has thrown even these small traditions into chaos. City officials have put New Orleans back into a near lockdown as a major spike in cases hits the United States.

Barrooms are closed, live music is essentially banned and there will be no parades this year. Rather than looking for festival lineups, we’re reading tea leaves, trying to divine whether there will even be a festival season.

It all has locals wondering when or if they’ll socialize at

outdoor events again.

There is some good news.

While French Quarter Fest hasn’t announced a lineup, it’s staked out dates from Sept.

30 to Oct. 3, and organizers say they hope they’ll be able to put on a full-on festival. They hope improvements in the coronavirus situation will allow attendees to spread out and enjoy live music on the event’s normal array of more than 20 stages and vendors throughout the quarter.

“Vaccinations were giving us a lot of hope and optimism,” CEO Emily Madero says. “For the last six months, we’ve been going along a dual planning track so we could be ready to produce events as soon as it was possible. We hadn’t ruled out April, and at this point, I think we know April isn’t going to be possible, so we’re shifting to our fall dates. Based on conversations with public health officials and the city and peer organizations nationally, no one knows exactly what the future holds, but there’s a lot of confidence that we’ll be in a safer environment.”

While Jazz Fest has not officially announced plans,

The Bucktown All-Stars perform at French Quarter Festival in April 2019.

several news organizations reported last week that it will be postponed from April and May to October. Meanwhile, its owner, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, is making plans for some of its free festivals. The Louisiana Cajun-Zydeco Festival will not happen again until March 2022.

The fate of the Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival, normally slated for October, is not yet determined, says Kia Robinson, the foundation’s director of programming and communications. But she does expect its combined Treme Creole Gumbo Festival and Congo Square Rhythms Festival to be in Louis Armstrong Park in November, possibly with a larger footprint in the park and with other safety precautions, such as staggering entrance times.

The lack of steady progress controlling the coronavirus has made planning difficult.

“It feels like we’re starting over every month,” Robinson says.

PAGE 14

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From there, things get murkier.

Other major music festivals have previously announced dates but declined to discuss planning. BUKU Music + Art Project won’t return until 2022, but it has announced a smaller event for October. In April 2020, Voodoo Music + Art Experience announced its next festival would be in October but has offered no update since.

New Orleans Film Festival organizers say it will be back in November, and they’re dealing more with format changes. To hold a 2020 event, it switched to a hybrid of online and outdoor screenings. More than 3,000 attendees watched movies at the Broadside and two temporary screening sites on the Lafitte Greenway. Though overall viewership was down, feedback was good on both fronts, says New Orleans Film Society Executive Director Fallon Young. People watched slates of short films at all hours online, and there was a lot of enthusiasm for outdoor screenings.

But the costs of setting up outdoor screenings, including an LED lit screen for daytime movies, was expensive and may not be easy to reproduce once pandemic concerns abate, she says.

Planning on working on a tighter budget has Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo working on a smaller event on its normal dates, the third weekend in May. Normally it presents a mix of local bands on three stages along Bayou St. John, but it may move to an established venue, such as the Broadside or Tuck’s Funky Uncle, to save on costs. Festival founder Jared Zeller says he’s fortunate to have grant support from the Jazz & Heritage Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, but he must use the NEA funds by June 1, or lose them.

Like a lot of the smaller festival organizers, Zeller isn’t sure he can afford another lost season. “Last

year, we lost four to five months of planning, staff salaries and expenses when the event was cancelled,” he says. “We don’t have the capacity to reinvent ourselves every year.”

Missing another spring is a huge challenge to Hogs for the Cause, the barbecue festival that raises funds for families with children being treated for pediatric brain cancer. The festival was two weeks from its March 2020 event when it decided to pull the plug.

It was already loading in equipment on the grounds of the UNO Lakefront Arena for 90 barbecue teams and three music stages, but organizers realized the pandemic would likely intervene before the March 27 opening day.

Festival co-founder Becker Hall says they’ve ruled out holding an event in the first half of 2021, and it’s unclear whether they’ll be able to do so even in the second half of the year. There’s competition for available weekend dates later in the year, and organizers want to be careful about the risk of an event being disrupted by a hurricane or other unforeseen event. While a full-scale Hogs might not be possible, a smaller-scale event might be easier to organize in a shorter time frame.

“In today’s world, you don’t need nine months (to plan),” Hall says. “You don’t have musicians travelling around as much. You don’t have vendors all over the place. You don’t have stages in different places that need to be hauled in. Putting something together quicker is easier.”

But Hall remains worried and says he doesn’t know if the nonprofit organization will survive if it misses another year. “Last year was devastating,” Hall says.

“Two years? I don’t know if we can overcome it, unfortunately.

It’s crippling.”

15

B Y S A R A H R AV I T S IF YOU WANNA SHAKE IT IN THE MUD AT THE FAIR GROUNDS, hug sweaty

strangers, dance your face off in a packed neighborhood dive bar or pass around that gallon of daiquiri with a bunch of strangers, you need the vaccine, ya HERD? Herd immunity is the key to beating the COVID-19 pandemic and getting our festivals and celebrations back — meaning that around 70% of the population either needs the vaccine or immunity in the form of antibodies.

But while that may sound simple, it’s far from it.

According to Charles Stoecker, an associate professor at Tulane University and a health economist who researches vaccine policy, “Herd immunity is a patchwork quilt. That 70% number refers to the community you’re in — even during different points of the day. You go to the grocery store, classrooms, a whole crowd of people to listen to music, you want to see 70% [immunized] there.”

And that also applies to tourists.

“New Orleans is built on the tourism economy,” Stoecker says. “We depend on our own protective measures, but also from those who come to visit.”

P H OTO B Y B I L L F E I G / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Ain’t got

that swing

BY JAKE CLAPP

FROM BUSKERS ON ROYAL STREET TO THE BIGGEST STAGES AT JAZZ FEST,

P H OTO B Y C H R I S GRANGER / THE T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | THE NEW ORLEANS A DVO C AT E

Members of the

New Orleans lives on music. It’s the Rebirth Brass Band, Saturday night sacrament you might from left to right, have to repent for the next morning. tuba player Clifton But it’s been an eerily quiet town for Smith, drummer almost a year. COVID-19 loves a crowd, Jenard Andrews, bass and so our sacred stages have been drummer Thaddeus empty and our secular prophets conRamsey, and trumpet fined to their homes, hanging on any player Glenn Hall, way they can and maybe writing their stand across the street next chapter and verse. from the Smoothie Any predictions for 2021 need to be King Center playing taken with a grain of salt, but many songs for the long are feeling the year will start rough line of early voters yet could end on a high note — if New standing outside the Orleans plays it right. sport complex.

Drummer Boyanna Trayanova has been keeping up a steady live-stream for most of the last 10 months, going live on Facebook about once a week for a solo performance she’s dubbed “Apocalypse Grooves.”

“You know, financially, the [live-streams] dropped off after like the first three weeks,” Trayanova says. “But I decided to keep doing it. Occasionally I might make a couple of dollars, but I decided to keep doing it because it just helps me maintain my sanity, just to have something to do every week.”

Trayanova also delivers meals each week for out of work musicians and takes part in organizing with the new Musicians Alliance. And there have been a small handful of rare gigs in front of a live audience in recent months, including with the Panorama Brass Band, which in December played at the Broadside outdoor venue as part of the Krewe of Red Beans’ concert series, and with her reggae-influenced One Love Brass Band. But like for many, many other New Orleans musicians, the past 10 months have been a struggle.

“I want to be positive” about 2021, Trayanova says. “But I’m not entirely optimistic because we have a very deep hole to dig ourselves out of. I would like to think we’re going to get vaccinated really soon and we’ll put this behind us and be able to go back to performing. But the realist in me says it’s going to be a while.”

New Orleans musicians have largely been sidelined since Mayor LaToya Cantrell instituted a mandatory stay-at-home order almost a year ago (let that phrase sink in). The city’s music venues were some of the first to be closed and those people who make their living performing in front of crowds of people were suddenly set adrift.

Many musicians pivoted to live-streaming performances as a way to still provide some much-needed entertainment to the PAGE 17

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Herd immunity is the key to getting festivals back

The phased vaccine roll-out has so far been much slower than state and local officials had hoped.

As of press time Jan. 15, Louisiana is in Phase 1B, Tier 1 of vaccine distribution, prioritizing those over 70, health care workers, first responders, and those working or living in long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

But leaders expect to move into Tier 2 possibly as soon as early February, which would encompass school workers; essential government and postal workers; shelter staff; grocery store employees; and military, security and correctional staff.

So far, the demand for the vaccine has outstripped the supply, but Stoecker, who has advised both the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization on previous vaccine policies, is optimistic that it will pick up for a few reasons.

For one, the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden has said vaccinations will be a top priority.

Biden has promised to get 100 million doses into the arms of Americans within the first 100 days of his term.

If he fulfills this, notes Stoecker, that would immunize roughly a third of the American populace. Combined with the millions of people who have already survived the virus and have the antibodies to ward off new infections, that could put us “well on the way,” toward herd immunity, he says.

On Jan. 13, Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the city’s health director, acknowledged at a virtual town hall that the logistics have been challenging, and Gov. John Bel Edwards has expressed a similar sentiment in recent weeks. Stoecker agrees but believes “things will ramp up as we work out kinks in distribution,” noting that local pharmacies and hospitals have just begun the process in recent weeks, and there’s a learning curve for figuring out efficient distribution.

Another important aspect that experts are working on is outreach to vulnerable or skeptical communities to reassure them the vaccine is safe and effective.

They are not only battling widespread disinformation campaigns from conspiracy theorists and politicians alike whose falsehoods have confused the public, but they are also working to assuage understandable mistrust based off previous atrocities.

“We have minority populations that have well-founded mistrust of the medical establishment,” says Stoecker. “Everyone talks about Tuskegee, and that needs to be acknowledged and worked around.”

Above all, Stoecker says, “my job is to figure out if a vaccine is worth it. I run the numbers, what the cost is, what the benefits are. [The Covid vaccine] is obviously worth it. This will allow us to get back to being a really vibrant city.”

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people stuck at a home and hopefully make a few dollars. At a time when the city crossed its fingers the pandemic would fade by the fall, some performers took the opportunity to catch their breath, work on new music and take stock of their craft and career. But the pandemic has stretched on and worsened in recent months, and New Orleans’ musicians are left holding on the best they can into 2021.

Many of those in the music community who spoke with Gambit expressed cautious optimism for this year. With the vaccine being rolled out, there is hope that small crowds could gather for live music again sometime in the fall. But besides the lesson of 2020 to not try to predict the future, there is a long, fragile road ahead between now and then — with many people still without regular incomes and struggling with past due rent and bills, food insecurity, evictions and mental health needs from an isolating year.

The Music and Culture Coalition of New Orleans during the pandemic has been facilitating low-barrier relief grants for culture bearers and artists, and “the same top three needs, more or less, that folks are hoping to subsidize with those grants are the same as they were at the end of March as they are now at the beginning of January,” says Renard Bridgewater, MaCCNO community engagement coordinator.

Some of the largest financial needs, MaCCNO Program Coordinator Hannah Kreiger-Benson adds, have been for bills, rent, groceries and healthcare. Folks also have used relief grant funding to invest in their art in some way.

This year will see its share of new music, including the first full-length album in seven years from Dumpstaphunk. The funk band will release the aptly named “Where Do We Go From Here” in April.

Like for many bands, a new album would have been accompanied by a tour and playing the material in front of a live audience, but Dumpstaphunk will have to consider new ways to promote it.

“We’re faced with a lot of unknowns right now because we’re anticipating a new normal and we’re not sure what that’s going to be yet,” says Ivan Neville, Dumpstaphunk founder, vocalist and keyboardist.

The majority of the band’s income comes from touring and selling merchandise. That will be difficult most of this year, although Dumpstaphunk does have a few gigs already on its calendar — if things hold steady — and the group plans to promote the new album as much as possible online and with new music videos.

Dumpstaphunk recorded “Where Do We Go From Here” over the course of a few years and began to finish it up in early 2020. The album’s title track was released in 2020 near the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the band released “Justice 2020” — a remade version of its 2017 song and featuring new material by Chali 2na and Trombone Shorty — in the fall in support of the national uprisings against white supremacy and police brutality.

“You had to learn a lot of patience” in 2020, Neville says. “We had to accept some changes that we didn’t see coming, man. This is

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y J E F F FA R S A I

Dumpstaphunk will release its new album, ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ in April.

a new existence to not be traveling and doing what we do.”

DJ and producer Raj Smoove has made the most of an absence of gigs during the pandemic to pivot to new projects. Early during the pandemic, Smoove hosted weekly live DJ sets streaming on Facebook and Instagram. But as 2020 progressed, the social media platforms started to crack down on DJs, flagging those performances for copyrighted music.

In recent months, Smoove has been involved in several endeavors, such as producing other artists, like emerging pop singer Caly Pearse, and events by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, launching a podcast series, and organizing a music education initiative with local schools. Those projects will continue into 2021.

“I think it happened sooner than later because of the pandemic,” Smoove says. “My typical schedule of gigs and events hasn’t been going on, so I’ve kind of had time to let other things fill in the calendar and also focus on some actual projects I’d like to work on. I’ve been able to sit in the studio and work on some beats with a clear mind. I haven’t been able to do that in forever.”

The downtime, Smoove says, has also given musicians he works with the opportunity to build momentum for when audiences are allowed to gather. Still, he adds, it’s going to be rough for a while for local performers.

“It’s going to be 2022 before all of that traffic starts to come back to the city,” he says. “Tourism and all of that isn’t going to happen until everybody gets the vaccine and there will have be time enough for people to be sure the vaccine takes effect.

“I think the smaller venues that have been able to survive through all of this will have an opportunity to flourish because there won’t be anything big, big going on,” he adds. “I think the hole in the walls will have an opportunity to make some money.”

New Orleans music venues have been hanging by a thread. Gasa Gasa, Circle Bar and Saturn Bar shuttered in 2020, and earlier this month, North Broad Street jazz venue Prime Example closed. Owner Julius Kimbrough Sr. said he made the decision to sell the club because there wasn’t an end to the pandemic in sight and he couldn’t maintain the building.

In December, Congress passed the Save Our Stages Act, which established the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant program. The Small Business Administration program will provide grants to eligible

P R OV I D E D P H OTO B Y HUNTER KING

New Orleans drummer Boyanna Trayanova

owners of closed music venues for up to 45% of losses. The SOS Act provided $15 billion in aid, but it may not be enough to save some venues, there are questions about who is eligible, and it could take time to get the money.

“We’re against the clock, and we don’t know when the clock’s going to end,” says Howie Kaplan, owner of The Howlin’ Wolf and the Louisiana precinct captain for the National Independent Venue Association, a group that lobbied hard for the Save Our Stages Act in 2020.

“And our concern, very much so, is for the musicians as well,” Kaplan says. “We manage Rebirth [Brass Band], Hot 8 [Brass Band] and Big Sam [Funky Nation], and we’re already working on ways to get them on the road as soon as the road is ready to go.”

Kaplan says Howlin’ Wolf, which has been working with the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic on a meal program for out-of-work musicians, is making plans to work with Mardi Gras krewes and marching clubs for small events and is looking to allow some pop-ups.

But, Kaplan says, it could be 2022 before people feel comfortable returning to music venues in a sustainable way and tourism is back to a level to support the city’s businesses. And that’s just a long time to hold on without more help.

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OPEN HOUSE TH

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GAMBIT’S 2021

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HDAY

Eunic e Mas on!

MAY GOD GIVE YOU A LONG, HEALTHY AND SATISFYING LIFE AHEAD!!

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WE LOVE YOU MAMA!!

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES • SHOPPING DEALS FOOD & DRINK SPECIALS

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LIVING SCHOOL NOLA

3101 Wall Blvd. • Gretna, LA • 504-392-0902 ardencahillacademy.com Now registering babies through high school for 2021-2022 admissions.

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6003 Bullard Ave. Ste. 16 • New Orleans, LA 504-218-4437 • livingschoolnola.org Two Virtual Open Houses (1/18 & 1/25 from 4:30pm - 6pm) hosted via zoom.

For more information email info@livingschoolnola.org.

In-person tours available by appointment only.

ECOLE BILINGUE DE LA NOUVELLE ORLEANS 821 General Pershing Street • New Orleans, LA 504-896-4500 • ebnola.net Now Enrolling.

DISCOVERY Health Science Academy • Interim campus location: 2012 Jefferson Hwy. • Jefferson, LA New location: 1108 Shrewsbury Rd., Jefferson, LA 503-233-4720 • discoveryhsf.org Now accepting applications for Grades K-6 for 2021-2022 school year.

All Jefferson Parish residents eligible to apply.

Application deadline: February 5 at 10:00 a.m.

Apply online at discoveryapplication.com

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION SCHOOL 4520 Sixth Street • Marrero, LA 504-347-4409 • icschargers.org OPEN HOUSE: Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday February 2, 3 & 4, 2021 Tours at 8:30am, 9:30am & 10:30am.

Registration required. Call or visit icschargers.org.

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Contact Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

5342 St Charles Ave • (504) 897-0143 • nojcc.org Virtual Meet-and-Greets are available now through April 27, 2021.

KEHOE-FRANCE SCHOOL Southshore • 720 Elise Avenue • Metairie, LA 504-733-0472 • kehoe-france.com 8 weeks to 7th Grade. Enroll Today.

KENNER DISCOVERY Health Science Academy • 3837 Loyola Drive • Kenner, LA 504-233-4720 • discoveryhsf.org Now accepting K-12 applications for the 2021-2022 school year.

All Jefferson Parish residents eligible to apply.

Application deadline: February 5 at 10:00 a.m.

Apply online at discoveryapplication.com

RAPHAEL ACADEMY 500 Soraparu Street • 504-524-5955 raphaelvillage.org/raphael-academy Upcoming Open Houses Jan. 27, Feb. 3 & 24 Rolling admissions grades K-12 To schedule a virtual or in-person tour email: enrollment@raphaelacademy.org

RIDGEWOOD PREPARATORY SCHOOL 201 Pasadena Avenue • Metairie, LA 504-835-2545 • ridgewoodprep.com Open House Daily.

Entrance Examinations for the 2021-2022 school year will be given on Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 8:00 a.m.

ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR SCHOOL 4901 West Metairie Avenue • Metairie, LA 504-888-6353 • steddyschool.com Virtual Open House and Tour at steddyschool.com

ST. RITA SCHOOL 194 Ravan Ave. • Harahan, LA 504-737-0744 • www.stritaharahan.com Now accepting applications for 2 years old - 7th Grade.

Call today to schedule a private tour.

UNIVERSITY MONTESSORI SCHOOL 7508 Burthe Street • New Orleans, LA • Umsnola.org Ages 2 – 6 years For private tours email info@umsnola.org

URSULINE ACADEMY 2635 State Street • New Orleans, LA • 504-861-9150 • go.uanola.org

Age 1 to 12th Grade.

To register, email admissions@uanola.org Private tours available in January.

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Market closes

Taste of Issan

AS THE PANDEMIC STRETCHES ON , the struggles restaurants face grow more severe. Now there’s a fresh reminder that these are not all financial.

Carrollton Market has closed for good after months of operating in a variety of modes for takeout and family meals.

Budsi’s Authentic Thai opened in the Marigny

BY W I L L C OV I E L LO DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT asking

chef Budsaba Mason for an egg roll.

The chef opened Budsi’s Authentic Thai with her husband Jared after a popular run as a pop-up at Pal’s Lounge. She admits to being inflexible when it comes to quality control and authenticity.

“I grew up cooking this food and I know what it’s supposed to taste like,” she says. “We don’t make egg rolls.”

Jared Mason agrees. “I remember one guy at Pal’s tried to get broccoli with waterfall pork,” he says. “She heard him and flew over there to say that wasn’t going to happen.”

The couple opened their brick-andmortar location at 1760 N. Rampart St. in the Marigny last month after nearly four years of running the pop-up at Pal’s.

“They were so nice to us,” she recalls. “I was able to add a day, then another day, then a third — and our customers kept coming.”

Budsaba hails from the Issan region of northern Thailand and has been cooking since she was a child.

“I grew up in a very poor village and was washing dishes when I was 4,” she says. “We learned how to take care of ourselves.”

She later owned a small cafe on the train line to Lopburi, a tourist spot known for its large population of macaques monkeys. She met Jared at the restaurant while he was in Thailand teaching English. They moved back to Jared’s home city of New Orleans while he pursued a degree, but it wasn’t long before Budsaba found her way back to the kitchen.

“Issan food is very different from food in Bangkok,” she says. Her region’s cuisine is known for its pungent sauces, especially fermented

P H OTO B Y M A X B E C H E R E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AYUN E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Chef Jason Goodenough

fish sauce, along with spicy chilies.

“Bangkok dishes all have coconut milk and sugar. That’s not our food.

We like more salty and sour flavors.”

A typical Issan dish is gaeng om soup, a clear chicken soup spiked with lemon grass, galangal (also known as Thai ginger), chiles, shallots and garlic. It is to the people of northern Thailand what pho is to Vietnamese people — and most commonly eaten for breakfast. Bamboo salad is another regional specialty, similar to fiery green papaya somtam, but made instead with bamboo and rich with fermented fish sauce flavor.

Waterfall pork is one of her menu’s most popular items. It’s a homey dish made with sliced grilled pork sautéed with red onions, cilantro, scallions, mint and lime juice over jasmine rice.

Budsi’s Authentic Thai is a family affair, with Jared’s siblings pitching in to help. His mother helped with the restaurant’s design and she bartends on weekends.

The new restaurant is in a former Baptist church space at the corner of North Rampart and St. Anthony streets. The dining room is spacious and there’s a full bar, but under

P H OTO B Y C H E RY L G E R B E R

Budsaba and Jared Mason serve pad thai and khao soi noodle soup at Budsi’s Authentic Thai.

current COVID-19 restrictions of 25% capacity, there’s only room for 10 diners at a time. A handful of tables are available outdoors, and Budsi’s does a brisk takeout business.

“My customers are very loyal,” Budsaba says. “From the moment I came here, I felt at home. People are so friendly.”

When making classic southern Thai dishes like pad thai and green curry, she likes to apply her own touches, like adding the kaffir lime leaves she gets from a local Thai grower and making sure there is tamarind in her pad thai. She uses local catfish in her fishcakes.

“I’m strict with the details, and I watch to make sure the food is consistent,” she says. “This is my style, my food and it’s up to me. It’s not up to my customers. They want the right flavors, and I want them to eat authentic food.”

?

WHAT

Budsi’s Authentic Thai

WHERE

1760 N. Rampart St., (504) 381-4636; budsisthai.com

WHEN

2 p.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday, 2 p.m.10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

HOW

Dine-in, outdoor seating and takeout

CHECK IT OUT Thai dishes from the Issan region

Chef/owner Jason Goodenough says the decision wasn’t based on the restaurant’s financial condition, but rather his own angst after trying to steer the business through a cascading crisis.

“It’s been so disheartening,” Goodenough says. “It just crushes a chef’s spirit.”

With a new round of federal stimulus relief to help support the restaurant’s staff, he decided it was the time to make the closure official.

Goodenough opened Carrollton Market in 2014 at 8132 Hampson St., the former home of One Restaurant.

It was a cottage-sized bistro with a dining bar overlooking its open kitchen. Carrollton Market served an original take on modern Southern cuisine, with dishes like oysters Goodenough (fried and served in the shell with bacon and creamed leeks), seared red snapper and Creole cream cheese cavatelli.

It was part of a next generation of upscale neighborhood bistros that helped refresh the ranks of New Orleans dining, holding the ground between the famous dining destinations, the old classics and the downhome joints.

Through the pandemic, the restaurant switched to field family meals for takeout, while keeping the dining room closed.

PAGE 21

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Eventually, though, Goodenough came to the conclusion that he could not bring Carrollton Market back under the terms dictated by the pandemic and he felt the passion he once put into the restaurant deteriorating.

In a social media post announcing his decision to close, Goodenough wrote that “I am walking away because my passion for the craft has turned to apathy and my love of serving people has turned in to disdain towards them.”

Just this month Goodenough wrote a piece for Food & Wine magazine about a painful interaction with a customer that led to a catharsis of sorts. A customer wrote to him objecting to the Black Lives Matter posters on display in Carrollton Market’s windows, saying he would no longer support the restaurant.

Goodenough responded by making a contribution in the customer’s name to Cafe Hope, a nonprofit restaurant and youth development program. He urged others to contribute in the offended customers’ name and soon raised $12,000 for Cafe Hope.

Goodenough owns the building that Carrollton Market called home, an old shotgun house along a strip of neighborhood businesses. He left open the possibility that he could start a different kind of restaurant there in the future, though he may also rent it or sell it.

The one thing he said is certain is that Carrollton Market won’t return.

In an interview, he urged people to show empathy and compassion for others in the hospitality field.

“The most important thing is be kind to restaurant workers and restaurant owners, they’re all suffering,” he says. — IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES PICAYUNE| THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

Matassa’s closes MATASSA’S MARKET HAS SOLD EVERYDAY STAPLES for generations.

In more recent years, the family-run French Quarter grocery also has served as a reminder of the past.

Matassa’s announced it would close on Jan. 14. Louis Matassa and Vincent Catalanotto Jr. say business has been too slow to stay open.

Asked about the possibility of selling the business, Catalanotto said he couldn’t comment. But he did say he hopes the store can return somehow.

Matassa’s has been in business at the intersection of Dauphine and St. Philip streets for almost a century. Louis Matassa and his brother, John Matassa, ran the grocery, which wended across a number of connected buildings

filled with narrow aisles and a small deli known for its plate lunches, breakfast biscuits and po-boys.

Matassa’s delivery bicycles were a common sight bouncing along French Quarter streets, taking sacks of groceries and cases of beer to customers’ doors.

Catalanotto said the downturn in business during the pandemic was “the last straw” for a grocery that struggled over the years as the French Quarter’s residential population declined and fulltime homes were converted to condominiums and short-term rentals.

“People say this is a great time for the grocery business and that’s true, but not in the French Quarter,” he says. “It’s a different market here.”

Shelves were largely bare and few customers came through on Jan. 12 as Louis Matassa stood behind a plastic shield built as a coronavirus safety measure. He had an eye on the door, ready to greet his regulars by name, and had his stash of MilkBones behind the register for the neighborhood dogs being walked by their owners.

The Matassa brothers grew up on the same block as their store.

For a time they lived upstairs.

Their grandfather, Giovanni “John” Matassa, opened his store in 1924, a time when this part of the French Quarter was home to so many Sicilian immigrants it was known as “Little Palermo.”

The senior Matassa opened many other businesses, including a bar called Johnny Matassa’s adjacent to the grocery. In the 1970s, that bar became the starting point for an annual Labor Day weekend party that grew into today’s Southern Decadence festival.

Another of his businesses was a record and appliance store three blocks away on North Rampart Street. This was where his son, the late Cosimo Matassa, started the J&M Recording Studio in the 1940s.

From here, Cosimo Matassa built a career that helped mold some of the timeless recordings made in New Orleans, including early hits by Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Allen Toussaint, Ernie K-Doe, Dave Bartholomew, Irma Thomas, Little Richard, Ray Charles, the Meters and many more. In 2010, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame named the former studio a historic rock ’n’ roll landmark, one of only a handful across the country.

By 2016, the grocery looked like its days were numbered. The Matassas had a deal in hand to sell the place, and regulars began lamenting its demise. So, the family brought on Catalanotto as a new partner. He’s part of the family that runs Vincent’s Italian Cuisine. The

market got some small upgrades, including a spruced-up delicatessen and a wider variety of grab-and-go and prepared foods, including some Vincent’s dishes.

Matassa’s stayed open throughout the pandemic. But even last spring, when it was one of the few French Quarter spots still open as an essential business, it saw only a trickle of customers. — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES PICAYUNE| THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

Lilly’s to expand LILLY’S CAFE, A TINY VIETNAMESE NOODLE HOUSE in the Lower

Garden District, is planning to open a second location sometime by summer. The new location will be at 3329 Magazine St., in an old house previously occupied by a salon, set in a row of neighborhood businesses near Louisiana Avenue. Lilly’s received a conditional use variance from the city on Jan. 12 to operate the location as a restaurant.

Initially, it will serve much the same menu as the original, which merges traditional Vietnamese flavors with distinctive house touches. There’s pho, bun noodle salads and banh mi, and also spring rolls filled with sliced strawberries and shrimp, soups packed with steamed vegetables and quail eggs, and a spicy shrimp pho with pork dumplings.

The first Lilly’s opened at 1813 Magazine St. in 2011, and from the small confines of this colorful storefront location it has built a following.

Lilly’s Cafe has always been a family restaurant. While Lilly Vuong runs the front of the house, her husband Kiet, her mother, and other family members run the kitchen. As the family has grown, and as more relatives emigrate from Vietnam, the business has expanded. Vuong hopes this second restaurant will eventually serve an expanded menu with different traditional dishes.

“When we have more hands, we’ll be able to have more on the menu,” she says.

Vuong says she inherited a passion for restaurants from her late father, who was a French-trained chef in Vietnam. In New Orleans, she and her family have built a restaurant with creative touches and a down-home feel.

“We cook with heart, that’s why we’re so excited now,” Vuong said.

“It will be the same heart, more soup.” — IAN McNULTY/THE TIMES PICAYUNE| THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

RIDGEWOOD

PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Entrance Examinations for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year will be given on Saturday, March 20th at 8:00 a.m.

Please call 504.835.2545 or email rps@ridgewoodprep.com for more information.

OPEN HOUSE DAILY 201 Pasadena Avenue Metairie, LA 70001

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Contact Will Coviello wcoviello@gambitweekly.com 504-483-3106 | FAX: 504-483-3159 C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S AT W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M Out 2 Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are in New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

Notice: Due to COVID-19, dining at restaurants is impacted, with limited indoor seating and other recommended restrictions. All information is subject to change. Contact the restaurant to confirm service options.

BYWATER Luna Libre — 3600 St. Claude Ave., (504) 237-1284 — Roasted chicken enchiladas verde are filled with cheese and served with house-made cheese dip. The menu combines Tex-Mex and dishes from Louisiana and Arkansas. Curbside pickup is available. B Sat-Sun, D Wed-Sun. $

CARROLLTON Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Takeout and delivery available. L Sun-Fri, D daily. $$ Pyramids Cafe — 3151 Calhoun St., (504) 861-9602 — Diners will find Mediterranean cuisine featuring such favorites as shawarma prepared on a rotisserie. Takeout and delivery available. L, D daily. $$

CITYWIDE Breaux Mart — Citywide; breauxmart.com — The deli counter’s changing specials include dishes such as baked catfish and red beans and rice. L, D daily. $

FAUBOURG MARIGNY Carnaval — 2227 St. Claude Ave., (504) 265-8855; carnavallounge.com — The Cozinha de Carnaval kitchen serves Brazilian street food. Frango is chicken cooked with thyme, rosemary and cumin and served with rosemary-garlic aioli. No reservations. Takeout available. D Sat-Mon. $ Kebab — 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 3834328; kebabnola.com — The sandwich shop offers doner kebabs and Belgian fries. A falafel sandwich comes with pickled cucumbers, arugula, spinach, red onions, beets, hummus and Spanish garlic sauce. No reservations. Takeout and delivery available Thu-Mon. $

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 5860300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Char-grilled oysters are topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter. Reservations recommended. Takeout available.

B, L and D daily. $$

HARAHAN/JEFFERSON/ RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot

B — breakfast L — lunch D — dinner late — late 24H — 24 hours

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11 to $20 $$$ — $21 or more

offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; theospizza.com — There is a wide variety of specialty pies and toppings to build your own pizza. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D Tue-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads. Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. B, L daily. $ Lotus Bistro — 203 W. Harrison Ave., (504) 533-9879; lotusbistronola.com — A Mineko Iwasaki roll includes spicy snow crab, tuna, avocado and cucumber topped with salmon, chef’s sauce, masago, green onion and tempura crunchy flakes. The menu also includes bento box lunches, teriyaki dishes, fried rice and more. Takeout and delivery are available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$

METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce.

Curbside pickup and delivery available. L, D daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available. L Sun-Thu, D Mon-Thu. $ Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing — 2035 Metairie Road, Metairie, (504) 832-8032; marktwainpizza.com — Mark Twain’s serves salads, po-boys and pies like the Italian pizza with salami, tomato, artichoke, sausage and basil. Takeout and curbside pickup are available. L Tue-Sat, D Tue-Sun. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Window and curbside pickup. L, D Tue-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 609-

23 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > Ja n ua ry 1 9 - 2 5 > 2 0 2 1

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3871; brownbutterrestaurant. com — Sample items include smoked brisket served with smoked apple barbecue sauce, smoked heirloom beans and vinegar slaw. A Brunch burger features a brisket and short rib patty topped with bacon, brie, a fried egg, onion jam and arugula on a brioche bun. Dinein, takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Wed-Sat, brunch Sat-Sun. $$ Doson Noodle House — 135 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 309-7283; facebook.com/dosonnoodlehouse — Bun thit is Vietnamese-style grilled pork with cucumber, onions, lettuce, mint, cilantro and fish sauce served over rice or vermicelli. The menu includes pho, spring rolls and more. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. $$ Five Happiness — 3511 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 4823935; fivehappiness.com — The large menu of Chinese dishes includes wonton soup, sizzling seafood combinations served on a hot plate, sizzling Go-Ba and lo mein dishes. Takeout and delivery available. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — FavorP H O T O P R OV I D E D B Y B R O W N B U T T E R ites include the Cajun Cuban SO UTH E R N KITCH E N with roasted pork, grilled ham, Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar (231 N. cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux Carrollton Ave., 504-609-3871; brownpizza is topped with cochon de butterrestaurant.com) serves burgers and more. lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. L and D Tue-Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) WAREHOUSE DISTRICT 948-1717; nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer features chicken breast, Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., spinach in red pepper sauce and crostini.

(504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.

The menu includes salads, sandwiches, com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood pasta, pizza and more. Curbside pickup and in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes. delivery are available. Service daily. $$ Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal French bread. Reservations required. D St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza.com — See Thu-Sun. $$$ Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant Carmo — 527 Julia St., (504) 875-4132; description. $ cafecarmo.com — Carmo salad includes smoked ham, avocado, pineapple, alNORTHSHORE monds, cashews, raisins, cucumber, green pepper, rice, lettuce, cilantro and citrus Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 mango vinaigrette. The menu includes Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; dishes inspired by tropical cuisines. Taketheospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson out and delivery are available. Mon-Sat. $$ section for restaurant description. $ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 302-1302; nolacaye.com — The menu feaUPTOWN tures Caribbean-inspired dishes and Gulf seafood. Seared ahi tuna is served with Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 891mango, avocado, mixed greens, citrus 0997; joeyksrestaurant.com ­— The menu vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Takeout, includes fried seafood platters, salads, delivery and outdoor seating available. D sandwiches and red beans and rice. Saudaily, brunch Sat-Sun. $$$ teed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with Provisions Grab-n-Go Marketplace — shrimp and crabmeat and served with Higgins Hotel, 500 Andrew Higgins Blvd., vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and (504) 528-1941; higgingshotelnola.com — delivery available. $$ The coffeeshop serves salads, sandwichRed Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) es, pastries and more. Takeout available.

561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin Service daily. $ cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishWEST BANK es, sandwiches, baked goods and more.

Mosca’s — 4137 Hwy. 90 W., Westwego, Takeout available. $$ (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza.

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UNO now has an enrollment of more than 8,300 students.

The university has seen three consecutive years of enrollment growth.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

How enrollment gains, diversity and inclusion efforts and research help UNO thrive and grow despite challenges.

BY AMANDA MCELFRESH | amcelfresh@theadvocate.com

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS.

The University of New Orleans is heading into 2021 on a wave of positive momentum as it sees increasing enrollment, faculty conducting advanced research with real-world applications and continual efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion across campus.

“We have always been resilient. We continue to pivot and adjust with a determination to support students and help them succeed,” said UNO President Dr. John Nicklow. “Despite the pandemic, we have flourished in many ways. I think it comes from the nature of who we are.

Our outstanding faculty are focused on making sure meaningful learning continues despite everything that’s happening.”

Those faculty members are reaching more students than ever. UNO’s enrollment is 8,375

students, marking three consecutive years of enrollment growth, a milestone the university has not reached in more than 15 years. Nicklow attributed the growth to an increased effort to identify and support UNO students from the admissions process all the way through graduation. Most of the increases have been among freshmen, but there are also rising graduate student counts.

“It’s not by accident. We have a great enrollment team who have really focused on those strategic efforts,” Nicklow said. “I think we are doing a better job of conveying our message, and students and families are recognizing the value of UNO and that there is a high quality, nationally-recognized research university here in New Orleans that is very affordable.”

Julianne Romero is the UNO Student Government Association president.

John Nicklow serves as University President.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JULIANNE ROMERO

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

Mark Romig, a UNO alumnus and senior vice president/chief marketing officer for New Orleans & Company, noted that the university’s educational reputation has grown over the years.

“UNO is known internationally,” Romig said.

“They pull in students from all over the world.

There is that reputation of having challenging classwork, because it is not a breeze. You don’t go to UNO to just party. You go to the University of New Orleans for an education.”

UNO’s relatively low tuition and location in a vibrant city were two main reasons Julianne Romero decided to enroll. Romero, a senior and president of the UNO Student Government Association, said her experience has been more fulfilling than she ever imagined.

“I don’t think I ever saw myself in the role I’m in today. But with UNO being a medium-sized school, I was able to make a lot of connections,” Romero said. “It’s especially meaningful because I’m a first-generation college student.

I’ve been able to use my own experience of getting through college to help the larger student population.”

Nicklow said the UNO student body has become more racially and ethnically diverse as part of a “transformational approach” to create a campus where everyone feels welcome. The university’s strategic plan incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion goals. UNO has conducted campus climate surveys and hosts listening sessions for students and staff to discuss their experiences. The university also employs a senior chief diversity officer and a diversity officer focused on students.

“All of this started about three years ago, before the racial reckoning that has been spotlighted more recently across the country,” Nicklow said.

“We had a good foothold, which allowed us to accelerate our efforts and identify additional priorities. We really are an extremely diverse campus. I also recognize that we have a lot more work to do, and we are committed to that work.”

That mission is especially critical since UNO’s reach extends throughout the community. Clancy DuBos, a UNO alumnus and Gambit political

columnist, noted that UNO has a well-renowned jazz studies program, plus involvement with New Orleans institutions such as the National WWII Museum.

“By being so accessible, UNO has drawn generations of New Orleanians who might not have gone to college,” DuBos said. “That created the middle class in New Orleans. UNO created that because you could afford to go to the university.

You see that footprint all over the city.”

Another key part of UNO’s strategic plan is fostering a culture of research, mainly centered around the pillars of water and coastal resiliency, transportation, hazard mitigation, advanced manufacturing and materials, digital media, communities and energy.

Much of this research has real-world applications. A computer science professor is working on data analytics to preserve our coastal resources. Chemistry and computer science professors are part of a global consortium studying ways to inhibit COVID-19. Health care administration faculty studied hospital capacity and helped set up surge facilities in New Orleans.

“Our research does work to support communities,” Nicklow said. “As the only public, research university in New Orleans, we want this work to become useful to the state, the city and the region, while also providing hands-on training to students.”

Nicklow noted that UNO supporters have contributed dollars that play a major part in helping the university work toward its goals. Last year, UNO raised about $10 million, which is critical since UNO only receives about 25 percent of its budget from the state.

“I’m really proud that even through COVID, we increased our fundraising total by 40 percent,” Nicklow said. “The majority of our fundraising goes to scholarships and direct student support, so that was especially meaningful this year. I love seeing an alum or a supporter help reduce financial barriers for someone who is going to school to start a brand-new career. It’s so transformational.”

The UNO student body has become more diverse as part of an effort to ensure everyone feels welcome.

The university’s strategic plan also incorporated diversity, equity and inclusion goals.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS

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MUSIC

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Tour break

BY KEITH SPERA DURING 50-PLUS YEARS

as a New Orleans-based concert promoter, Don Fox of Beaver Productions has canceled shows for all sorts of disasters.

“I’ve had hurricanes, fires and floods,” Fox noted recently. But a pandemic? “I never thought this was gonna happen.”

The coronavirus pandemic has shuttered most of the global concert and festival industry since March.

New COVID-19 cases are surging, even as vaccinations have commenced.

Concerts will eventually return. But when?

The French Quarter Festival and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival are planning to move to fall. The only concert scheduled at the Smoothie King Center through July is a James Taylor show on May 14. It was originally scheduled for May 2020, and it is likely to be postponed again.

The other half-dozen concerts on the venue’s calendar through January 2022 — JoJo Siwa, the Doobie Brothers, Lauren Daigle, Luke Combs, Dan + Shay and Elton John — are all rescheduled shows from last year.

Fox believes there’s little chance of any major concerts happening this spring.

“I wish I could say we’d be ready to go in the spring,” he says. “I think everyone in the industry knows it’s going to be summer and fall.

Fox, who is in his 70s, takes COVID-19 seriously.

“I hope in the next three or four months that everyone gets the vaccine, so people feel safe about going out again.”

Chris Kansy, one of the concert industry’s top production managers, is a longtime New Orleans resident who has built and transported Roger Waters’ most recent productions, as well as tours by Tool, Motley Crue, Muse, Janet Jackson and many others.

He’s in frequent contact with booking agents, band managers and other touring professionals about the concert outlook.

“There’s one faction that is calling 2021 a wash and saying 2022,” Kansy says. “I’m more optimistic. I think, and hope, we can do shows in the fall.”

Alan Freeman, general manager of the Smoothie King Center and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, also closely monitors the concert forecast.

“Trying to determine a time when the touring business will be back to ‘normal’ is no different than determining when our economy will come back,” Freeman says.

P H OTO B Y C H R I S G R A N G E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AYUN E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E

Justin Timberlake performs at the Smoothie King Center in 2019.

“My perspective is we will not see any concert business before July.

Some believe it will be Labor Day before we are back up and running, while others are eyeing 2022.”

One concern is a potential hodgepodge of local regulations. Production costs for arena-size tours require venues to operate at full capacity for concerts to make money, Kansy says.

Being allowed to sell, say, only 60 percent of seats wouldn’t work.

And steering tours around cities or states with more stringent restrictions would not be feasible. “It’s too expensive for trucks and busses to drive 800 miles between shows,” Kansy says. “We need a comprehensive plan so we can go from city to city and make it viable.”

Beyond how many tickets a given concert can sell is the question of how many it will sell. Many potential ticket-buyers are facing financial hardships.

While there is pent-up demand for live entertainment, “we must not lose sight of the fact that a great swath of our country, and the world, has been financially impacted by the pandemic,” Freeman says. “How many shows will a fan be able to afford?

Progressive metal band Tool, which typically announces concerts only six weeks out, can wait longer to decide on whether or not to tour later this year. Acts that typically require six months to design, build, rehearse, advertise and sell tickets for tours will need to start laying the groundwork much further in advance.

“People are starting to grease the wheels and make plans now,” Kansy says.

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FILM

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BY WILL COVIELLO ALCATRAZ, THE FORMER FEDERAL PRISON and current

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national park, was a very timely site for an art installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei in 2014, when he was under house arrest following release from detention by the Chinese government. He was arrested following his activism on behalf of thousands of children killed in an earthquake in Sichuan province.

His @Large expo included a prison hall nearly filled by a massive bird sculpture, made with reflector panels referencing the plight of Tibetans under Chinese rule. Elaborate kites also invoked the freedom of flight and restraint. The expo also included portraits of 116 people imprisoned in 22 countries around the globe, including the U.S., largely for political reasons, from organizing the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt to journalists exposing corruption.

The documentary “Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly” takes its name from a portion of Ai’s Alcatraz expo and it details the artist and his father’s persecution by Chinese authorities.

It also highlights a handful of the 116 prisoners of conscience.

“Yours Truly” is directed and produced by Cheryl Haines, and she appears frequently on screen. She’s the director of the FOR-SITE Foundation, based in San Francisco, and she suggested the location to Ai when she helped organize the show. Alcatraz had been used to detain Native Americans resisting assimilation, and it was occupied in 1969 the by the American Indian Movement (AIM).

Ai’s father was Ai Qing, a wellknown Chinese poet who was accused of being anti-socialist and sent to a labor camp in a remote northeastern region of China. His family followed him there, and Ai grew up watching his father subjected to hard labor and being publicly shamed. He shares a story of his father’s delight at receiving a postcard from a friend commemorating publication of a particular poem, and that inspired “Yours Truly.”

At the Alcatraz exhibit, visitors were invited to send postcards to any of the 116 people whose plights were profiled in the show. More than 92,000 were sent, and some of the film recounts their reception by the imprisoned people or their families.

P H OTO B Y F I R S T RUN F E AT UR E S

The film doesn’t offer much other detail about Ai’s life. He actually lived in the Bay Area, New York, Berlin and elsewhere before he returned to China and was imprisoned. There is some attention to a handful of installations he created, including in Berlin, where he moved after being allowed out of China in 2015.

Many of the political prisoners in the film are not well known. Ai was an internationally recognized artist when he was detained, and such notoriety puts pressure on a government holding political prisoners. The film could have put more attention on other prisoners. A few of those mentioned are Reeyot Alemu, an Ethiopian teacher-turned-journalist jailed under anti-terrorism laws; Mohammed Habib al-Miqdad was jailed and tortured in Bahrain for advocating for changes to the constitution; Ivan Fernandez Depestre was jailed in Cuba for his political activism. Two of the Americans included are Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of espionage after giving military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, and John Kiriakou, who disclosed that the U.S. used torture in interrogations.

The film is framed as a success story — for the creation of the art exhibit and Ai’s release and emigration out of China. But that still costs him his native home and does not result in political reform. In interviews after their release, former prisoners talk of the loneliness of confinement (often in solitary), and what the jailers did to extinguish their senses of hope. Several acknowledge that they have to be careful to stay out of jail, and it’s an ominous notion that they’ve realized freedom without justice.

“Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly” runs at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge.

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