Gambit's 40 Under 40 | 2024

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VOLUME 45

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NUMBER 30

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4

Cool Off

CONTENTS

JULY 22 — JULY 28, 2024 VOLUME 45 || NUMBER 30

NEWS Opening Gambit ............... 6

with

Seasonal Flavors!

Blake Pontchartrain........... 7 F E AT U R E S

Watermelon Ice

ONLINE ORDERING AVAIL ABLE • 214 N. CARROLLTON IN MID CITY ON

Arts & Entertainment ........ 5

A NGEL OBROCAT OICECR E A M.COM • 504.486.1465 TUE-SAT 10A M - 10PM • SUN 10A M - 9PM

Eat & Drink.................... 25

SUMMER BREAK!

Music listings................. 33 Music............................ 34

We will be closed July 18th and reopening August 5th!

8

See You Soon!

837-6400

40 under 40

815 FOCIS STREET [OFF VETERANS]

CURRENT HOURS: MON-FRI 7AM-1PM

Puzzles ......................... 35 C OV E R P H O TO BY K AT H R I N E K I M B A L L C OV E R D E S I G N BY D O R A S I S O N

@The_Gambit @gambitneworleans

SAT 7AM-NOON

S TA F F EDITORIAL (504) 483-3105 // response@gambitweekly.com Editor | JOHN STANTON Political Editor | ClANCy DuBOS Arts & Entertainment Editor |

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Staff Writers | JAKE ClAPP,

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5

Guitar solo

Mahmoud Chouki

Saturday Night Live veteran Luke Null performs at Sports Drink | by Will Coviello NEW ORLEANIANS MAY RECOGNIZE LUKE NULL FROM PLAYING “PONTOON”

on the “Saturday Night live” sketch “Floribama Shore,” a parody of “Jersey Shore” and other reality TV shows full of loud, drunk and horny roommates.

They also might recognize the comedian from local streets, since Null spends a month here every fall. He returns this weekend for for two shows at Sports Drink on Saturday, July 27.

Null is best known as a guitar comic.

He almost always performs with guitar in hand, singing humorous songs that sometimes channel emo and ’90s indie rock, or seem to mock bands like Third Eye Blind. He also strums through stand-up material and banter with the audience.

A native of Cincinnati, he was doing sketch, improv and his musical standup in Chicago when he was invited to audition for SNl. A song about Clay Aiken helped get him cast on the show. But there was a bit of a misunderstanding, Null says.

“When they took me, every time they saw me I was always doing some little chunk of a song,” he says. “They saw me a few times. When they hired me, I was like, ‘Oh, they hired me to do this.’

It took me until I was halfway out the door to realize, no, they really weren’t that interested in that. They liked the characters and sketch stuff. I tried so many times to get a song on the show, and it was a hard pass every time.”

It wasn’t for lack of trying. He pitched songs to many of the weekly guests.

One song on his album “Guitar Comic” was pitched as a rap that would feature guest host Charles Barkley. Null and Barkley were to appear in white tuxedos and fellow cast member Chris Redd was supposed to handle some of the rapping parts in “That Soft Cheese life,” an absurd rap combining bling-y NBA and rapper lifestyles and fontina, camembert and brie. (“Talk about the creamy blues, baby / We’re eating Gorgonzola in a Mercedes.”) But the pitch came up short.

“The night before, Barkley was like, ‘This is awesome,’” Null says with a laugh. “He liked it, but you have to realize, they read 30 to 35 sketches backto-back. you read each one maybe one time. I am asking him to do a tight rap song at a table read-through. Man, he was not able to do it. He is not musical.”

Some other songs were too risque for the show’s standards and practices monitors. And even “Floribama Shore” was cut.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY LUKE NULL

“It’s random and up to one person what gets in and what gets cut,” Null says. “There was one joke in ‘Floribama’ — me telling this girl, ‘Hey, I am all normal sized down there. But it’s all tip!’ Standards and practices was like, ‘Absolutely not.’”

Null got other notable screen time, like a scene as a beatboxing airplane passenger for flight attendants to rap the safety message. But the 2017-2018 season was his first and last.

“Now I can look back and see it with rose colored glasses and say, ‘Oh wasn’t that fun,’” he says. “But at the time, it wasn’t going well for me.”

The time also wasn’t wasted. Some of the material he wrote during that year appeared on “Guitar Comic” in 2019, including “you Are What you Eat,” a raunchy tune that didn’t get past a guest host.

Null notes that he may be better off solo, as he speeds up and slows down his songs as he goes, and sometimes interrupts with his own commentary.

A version of his song “Accents White People Shouldn’t Do” posted on youTube is a good example, as he cites his father’s role in the song.

After leaving SNl and New york, Null relocated to los Angeles, where he’s found a place in the comedy scene.

He recently finished shooting and post-production on a new special, tentatively titled “Pretty Songs, Dirty Words.” He is shopping it to broadcast outlets for release.

Besides new solo songs, it includes an improv with Wayne Brady. There’s also a guest on a mock romantic song he does mimicking the hologram Tupac performance. And he managed to record one song with a full band.

Null has also been working on a feature-length script, and he appears in a film called “Stealing Jokes,” which will be released in September. He plays a jerky comic who steals jokes and posts them on TikTok, he says.

He travels often to perform, and he says he’s ready for New Orleans in summer.

He also concedes that he uses an improper pronunciation of New Orleans on “Guitar Comic.”

“Any time you pronounce it New Or-lEANS, you’re just trying to fit a rhyme,” he says.

“Don’t kill me. lots of jazz guys are guilty of that too.”

Luke Null performs at Sports Drink at 7 & 9 p.m. Saturday, July 27. Tickets $25 via eventbrite.com.

Multi-instrumentalist Mahmoud Chouki is a master of guitar, oud and other stringed instruments, and his compositions span the globe, wrapping in styles from his native Morocco, North Africa, latin America and New Orleans, his new home. Chouki writes a love letter to New Orleans on his new album, “Caravan: From Marrakech to New Orleans,” which was produced by Jamison Ross and features musicians Herlin Riley, John Boutte, Jason Marsalis, Oscar Rossignoli and more.

Chouki celebrates the album with two shows on Thursday, July 25, at Snug Harbor. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 via snugjazz.com.

PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Sarah Squirm

Sarah Sherman, aka Sarah Squirm, is known for a slew of absurd characters and Weekend update segments on “Saturday Night live.” She also starred in Adam Sandler’s movie “you Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.” She performs at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Joy Theater. Tickets $35 and up via thejoytheater.com.

The HIRS Collective

The HIRS Collective, a largely anonymous, fluid group of leftist punks, smashes together a range of punk and heavy music styles in short blasts of furious music. But the music plays hand-in-hand with the collective’s goals for radical liberation and visibility for the queer and trans community. HIRS’ latest album, “We’re Still Here,” features a host of guest artists, including Garbage’s Shirley Manson, Screaming Females’ Marissa Paternoster and Thou.

The HIRS Collective performs with TWEAKHONEy and Guts Club at 9 p.m. Thursday, July 25, at Siberia.

Tickets are $18.61 via siberianola.com.

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OPENING GAMBIT

NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS Welcome back, Tales of the Cocktail attendees! Remember to tip our bartenders well! They’re working so you don’t have to!

# TC OH EU N T

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

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THE NUMBER OF NOPD OFFICERS UNDER INTERNAL REVIEW AFTER A LOCAL RESIDENT’S CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION WAS GIVEN TO MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL.

Steve Gleason, the former New Orleans Saints safety and a relentless advocate for those living with AlS like himself, recently received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at ESPN’s ESPy Awards. Gleason’s former teammate Drew Brees presented the award to Gleason, who was accompanied by his son, Rivers. The Arthur Ashe Award recognizes athletes “possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril” — an apt description for Gleason and his “No White Flags” mantra.

The investigation stems from Cantrell’s now-dismissed petition for a protective order against Anne Breaud, who took photos earlier this year of Cantrell dining out with NOPD officer Jeffrey Vappie, who is now retired.

Cantrell’s petition included information about Breaud that is confidential to anyone other than law enforcement.

PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Street flooding in Treme

Louisiana continues to have poor literacy rates among children in second and third grades, a recent statewide literacy assessment found. About 51% of second graders and 47% of third graders are not reading at grade level following the end of the 2024 school year.

Researchers point to the pandemic, which interrupted education for young readers, as a contributing factor to poor test scores.

LSU senior leadership has lost the confidence of the majority of the university’s faculty, a new report shows. The lSu Employee Engagement Report, which surveyed full-time faculty and staff last September and October, found that just 48% of employees trusted senior leadership “to make the right decisions for lSu.”

Sewerage & Water Board claims Turbine 4 is fixed, for now THE NEW ORLEANS SEWERAGE & WATER BOARD JULY 17 SAID IT HAS

finally gotten Turbine 4 up and running, only six weeks after the start of hurricane season and several flooding events around town!

The turbine, which helps power the city’s floodwater pumps particularly during major events like hurricanes — or Mothers Day rain event and other random heavy rain situations on days ending in “y” — has been offline since February.

The pump is more than 100 years old, so problems are to be expected. Still, six months is a long time for S&WB to be without it.

Given its age, it’s unclear how long it will be until the need for repairs take it off line again, a reality the board Executive Director Ghassan Korban acknowledged when, as the Times-Picayune noted, Korban “cautioned” S&WB’s equipment is “very fragile and susceptible to breakdowns.”

Meanwhile, Korban and Mayor laToya Cantrell last week also warned that the state’s decision to welch on its agreement to give S&WB $25 million to fund a new power substation will likely mean there won’t be enough money to also upgrade power for drinking water in the city. like the city’s floodwater management system, New Orleans’ drinking water system relies on improbably ancient infrastructure to supply the city, which is also vulnerable to breakdowns.

The new substation will allegedly come online next year, though given the history of infrastructure projects in New Orleans, it’s unclear whether that is a realistic timeline.

What does seem certain, however, is that the plan to use it to supply both flood pumps and drinking water pumps won’t happen now, thanks to the state legislature.

— John Stanton

C’EST W H AT

?

Along with the Shrek Uber, what other kinds of transportation should New Orleans have?

45.4%

JUST TAKE ME HOME, PLEASE

13.7%

ET-THEMED BLUE BIKES

38.6% A HAUNTED TAXI

2.3%

THE MINIONS LYFT

Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com

7

BLAKEVIEW

@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake,

WITH THIS WEEK’S TALES OF THE COCKTAIL EVENTS CELEBRATING THE PAST, present and

I came across an old 1960s magazine ad for Brennan’s which lists other locations in Dallas and Houston. When did they open and what is their history?

Dear reader,

THE BRENNANS HAVE RIGHTLY BEEN CALLED THE FIRST FAMILY OF NEW ORLEANS CUISINE, with more than a dozen

restaurants here and across the country owned and operated by members of the family.

Owen Brennan Sr. opened the first in 1946. Three of his five siblings, Adelaide, Ella and John, helped run the business, known as Owen Brennan’s Vieux Carre and located on Bourbon Street. In 1956, following Owen Brennan’s death, the family opened Brennan’s at 417 Royal St. In the 1960s, as the French Quarter restaurant’s reputation grew, the family launched an ambitious expansion, which began with a Brennan’s location in Houston. “In Texas, where they do things big – and in Houston, where they strive to do even bigger … the Brennans have now established a posh restaurant that exceeds their home base in the French Quarter for lavishness in décor,” wrote StatesItem columnist Tommy Griffin in March 1967.

In 1969, the Brennans unveiled a restaurant in Dallas’ One Main Place, the 34-story office tower which opened the previous year. “Ella (Brennan) says the new Brennan’s is packing ’em in,” Griffin wrote in a January 1969 column, adding

Jimmy Brennan (left) and Owen Brennan Jr. (right) with David Wilson at Anything Goes.

PHOTO BY BRYAN S. BERTEAUX / THE TIMES PICAYUNE

that the family had received “raves about (noted artist and designer) Charlie Gresham’s décor.” Despite early success, both the Dallas location and another Brennan’s outpost in Atlanta (also opened in the 1970s) closed within a decade.

By then, the Brennans had also purchased Commander’s Palace, shortly before an infamous family dispute in 1974 over control of the business’ future. It led to Owen Brennan’s widow Maude and their three sons — Owen Jr. (known as Pip), Jimmy and Ted — taking over Brennan’s on Royal Street. Ella Brennan and her brothers, sisters and children assumed control of the other restaurants.

In addition to Brennan’s on Royal Street (now owned

by Ralph Brennan), the Brennan’s in Houston remains open and carries the same name. Its proprietors are Alex Brennan-Martin, the son of Ella Brennan, and his cousin Brad Brennan, son of Ella’s sister Dottie Brennan.

messy For life’s moments, big and small. We’re here with the strength of the cross, the protection of the shield. The Right Card. The Right Care.

01MK7923 R4/24

future of mixology, we offer a toast to one of the city’s historic hotel bars: the Bayou Bar at the Pontchartrain Hotel.

In 1946, hotelier E. lysle Aschaffenburg opened the bar inside the Pontchartrain Hotel, whose history on St. Charles Avenue dates to 1927. The hotel’s VIP guests over the years have included presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, as well as Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote. Frank Sinatra, Cole Porter and Jimmy Buffett are among the musical luminaries who once frequented the Bayou Bar. In addition to libations, the bar (whose motif is enhanced by Charles Reinike murals) has long offered live music. It hosted jazz pianists Armand Hug and Charlie luckow for regular gigs in the 1950s, with luckow performing there for more than 25 years. Other notable performers included “Tuts” Washington, Blaine Butler, Mimi Guste and Philip Melancon, a regular for more than 20 years beginning in the 1990s. live music is still offered in the bar most nights.

No story about the Pontchartrain Hotel’s beverage offerings would be complete without a mention of the Hot Tin Roof Bar, the rooftop venue added during a 2016 hotel renovation.

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BL AKE PONTCHARTR AIN™

4040 un de r

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TWO THOUSAND TWENTY FOUR

JEREMY OATIS 34 DEAN OF STUDENTS, NEW ORLEANS CAREER CENTER;

BY ANDREA BLUMENSTEIN, JAKE CLAPP, WILL COVIELLO, MARIGNY LANAUX, SOFIA MONGILLO, LIAM PIERCE, KAYLEE POCHE, SARAH RAVITS, JOHN STANTON PH OTO S BY KAT H E R I N E K I M B A L L

WELCOME TO ANOTHER EDITION of Gambit’s 40 Under 40! Once again this year, we asked you, our readers, to nominate folks in our community who are doing something special. And once again, you delivered! This year’s list of honorees represent the very best of our city, and each in their own way is an integral part of what makes New Orleans the most unique and amazing city in the world. As Gambit staff, it is truly an honor to take a moment and recognize them and their achievements.

Whether they’re a teen overcoming extraordinary adversity to succeed academically, one of our city’s new generation of culture barers, a small business person smashing glass ceilings or an activist working for positive change, each of these 40 people inspires us, teaches us and helps us live better lives.

Congratulations to them all!

TRAIL CHIEF, ORIGINAL WILD TCHOUPITOULAS MARDI GRAS INDIANS; CEO AND FOUNDER OF PICKLE NOLA; ARTIST VOLUNTEER MENTOR, CONGO KIDS Jeremy Oatis’ mission in life is to help young people thrive.

In 2022, he joined the New Orleans Career Center after working as a behavioral interventionist, teacher and eventual dean of students at New Orleans Charter Science and Math High School.

Now, he works with kids from 24 local high schools.

As dean of students at NOCC, he helps train and mentor students in potential career paths, giving them the opportunity to earn a range of industry-based certifications, including in carpentry, electrical engineering, culinary arts and hospitality management.

Growing up in the Melpomene projects, he says he didn’t always have many role models to look up to outside of school. But he credits his mother and several of his high school teachers for helping him recognize his own potential as an educator, and now he wants to pay it forward.

“Those guys helped me realize what I could become,” he says.

Oatis also is dedicated to preserving the culture of New Orleans Black Masking Indians, as a member of the Original Wild Tchoupitoulas tribe.

He also started a homemade pickle venture, Pickled NOLA, with his wife Kimberly, turning locally grown cucumbers into pickles to sell at grocery stores and farmers markets.

On top of all that, Oatis volunteers with Congo Kids, a nonprofit that gives kids cultural and music training rooted in African and African-American traditions.

“Anything involving youth, I want to be involved in it,” he says.

“I’ve surrounded myself with good people. I have a duty to my city and the people that raised me.”

DIRECTOR OF CLIENT EXPERIENCE, RED CYPRESS CONSULTING Camille Roane is especially passionate about her work as a communications professional at Red Cypress Consulting because she gets to connect with people on the frontlines of social and reproductive justice issues.

Red Cypress Consulting, which she describes as a “small and scrappy” team of writers and strategists from different backgrounds, is a worker-owned agency that does communications for progressive nonprofits, causes and political campaigns in the South.

Roane’s main focus is on reproductive justice work, which she says is about much more than just standing up for abortion rights and bodily autonomy, extending to affordable housing issues, the climate crisis and mass incarceration.

“It’s a human rights framework,” she says. “Criminalization and control over bodies is inextricably linked.”

Roane says the work is especially important in Louisiana’s current political climate.

“Things are really bad, but I get to see and work with people who are fighting back,” she says. “There’s so much brilliance and creativity, and we have

weekend

getaway

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40 UNDER 40

CAMILLE ROANE, 36

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dress $86

always figured out ways to survive and organize.”

The Texas native is also on the board of the nonprofit Dancing Grounds, which blends performance art and fitness with advocacy.

“New Orleans is the cultural capital of America, particularly Black America,” she says. “It has always been a place of freedom for me. It’s created a lot of space for personal growth. It’s so Black, so queer, so culturally free. I’m so thankful for it.”

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MARY JACOBS 33 PLAYWRIGHT; COMEDIAN; PODCASTER; CO-OWNER OF VITALITY COMMUNITY FITNESS AND MARY’S RACK Just listening to Mary Jacobs describe the myriad and varied projects she’s got going is enough to exhaust most folks. “I always have been doing 40,000 things.

That’s kind of my thing,” the New Orleans native jokes.

Part of that energy and drive is rooted in old-fashioned civic pride, she says.

“When you’re a busybody, you don’t realize it’s a lot,” Jacobs says of the 60- to 80-hour work weeks. “But I really love what I do.”

Since 2013, she’s worked as a comedian and master of ceremonies, developing a local following to the point that she’s regularly hired to emcee galas and other events around town.

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40 UNDER 40

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GREAT WINES FROM

CAYMUS V I N E YA R D S

PAGE 9

After she returned home from college, she was struck at how different the city had become post-Katrina — so she wrote a play about it. In “Be in Touch,” Jacobs explored the challenges many locals experienced coming home to a city changed not only by the storm but by the influx of transplants.

In 2016, Jacobs and her wife Kristin Kavanaugh opened Vitality Community Fitness. The goal, Jacobs says, was to upturn the traditional testosterone-dominated gym model and create a woman-centered, queer-friendly space.

Four years later, Jacobs started a new business, Mary’s Rack. She works as a self-described “secondhand stylist,” through which she helps clients find a sense of style using sustainable shopping habits and centering body positivity. She initially operated a pop-up and turned it into a traditional brick-and-mortar shop on Oak Street.

She also hosts Planet Nola, a podcast featuring interviews with local artists, bartenders, musicians and people “who are cool or who are doing cool things.”

“I’m obsessed with New Orleans, and I love being from here. I want to open 20 more businesses here before I die ... I feel lucky to be from here,” Jacobs says.

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CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, PSYCHOLOGY SECTION HEAD, OCHSNER HEALTH; FOSTER RESPITE VOLUNTEER, CROSSROADS NOLA Ochsner Health’s Dr. Jacklyn Ruhl is not only changing the way the medical community approaches mental health but also how patients see the process.

When many people think of therapy, they might picture an open-ended, yearslong process with no real end point at which their mental health problems will be solved. But according to Ruhl, it doesn’t always have to be that way.

And while some types of mental health issues require lengthy treatment, there is a growing mountain of evidence that shows a targeted, short-term, evidence-based approach can be much more effective in many cases. Ruhl says this approach is “almost like if someone has a physical injury and signs up for rehab for several weeks.” But instead of rebuilding physical strength and learning new exercises to maintain it, patients are working on mental and emotional injuries.

It’s an innovative approach to mental health — and a successful one. Since Ochsner’s “Step Clinic” launched in March they’ve had a steady stream of patients, and Ruhl says several other health care providers have approached her to discuss creating similar programs of their own.

Serving those in crisis is a central part of Ruhl’s life. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Ruhl came to the United States at 11 months old, when she and her sister were adopted by her parents, who lived in Huntsville, Alabama.

That triggered an interest in foster care for Ruhl, who says she knew she wanted to be involved in the system in some way since she was in high school. Over the years Ruhl has fostered five children for varying lengths of time. Recently she’s taken a break from fostering, opting instead to focus her efforts on providing support to other foster parents through Crossroads Nola’s Foster Respite program. Providing foster parents, particularly single mothers, with a few hours each week to run errands or even just see a movie can be enormously beneficial to the child and parent alike, she says.

“The foster care system is very hard and challenging ... [the respite] means so much to a foster family,” she explains, adding “it’s very clear that if these kids are given stability and love they can be as successful as any other child.”

SINGER-SONGWRITER

MAXWELL COHEN 28 FOUNDER, BIG GAY BABY Every time they step onstage as their drag persona April May, Maxwell Cohen is living out their childhood dreams.

They’ve gone from performing in their bedroom to getting on stage in front of crowds as the host of Big Gay Baby, the monthly queer drag and variety show they created in March 2022. More than two years in, the shows have become a supportive space for newbie performers to dip their toes in the water in front of a tight-knit community of LGBTQ people and allies.

Currently on summer hiatus, the show starts up again in September, moving from Thursday to Friday nights — or “prime time” as Cohen puts it.

Through drag, Cohen has also become involved in activism. In 2023, they testified in drag at the Capitol against the anti-LGBTQ bills proposed by the Louisiana Legislature and connected with a lot of people in advocacy spaces in the state.

This year, with an anti-LGBTQ governor, Cohen decided to focus their attention to spaces for queer joy, performing at the New Orleans Pride Center’s grand opening, putting on a Big Gay Baby showcase at a Forum for Equality fundraiser and hosting a gala for women’s rights group Lift Louisiana.

“My queer identity and my desire to connect queer identities will never change,” Cohen says. “That’s unwavering, no matter how oppressive the world may feel right now.”

Joy Clark has had many milestone moments the last few years, like touring with Americana artist Allison Russell, signing to Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records and paying tribute to Tracy Chapman at the International Folk Awards. And the singer-songwriter is preparing to release her first full-length album, “Tell It To the Wind,” in October.

It’s been a real time of personal growth, she says.

This “period of transition is sort of coming to peace with the disparate parts of myself,” Clark says, “so my Christian upbringing, my queerness, and coming to peace with those things, bringing it together and presenting Joy Clark’s artistry.”

Born in Harvey and the daughter of a minister, Clark grew up with music at church. She learned to play guitar at an early age, finding influences in artists like Tracy Chapman and Lalah Hathaway, and started writing and performing at open mics while at the University of New Orleans. Over the years, she’s performed with Soulkestra, Cyril Neville, pianist Lilli Lewis and many others. She’s also led her own band at local venues, on tour and at French Quarter Fest and Jazz Fest.

Clark is among a growing number of Black musicians re-claiming the Americana genre, like Lewis, Russell, Lizzie No and Joy Oladokun.

“When I really got onto the scene, there were a lot of Black artists, women, who really took me in, because I was coming into my queerness, and there was a community there that allowed me to see what was possible,” Clark says. “I want to continue to be that for somebody that’s coming behind me, or somebody who isn’t out yet and is feeling like, ‘She’s integrating all these parts of her life, and the world has opened up.’”

ELIJAH HOGAN 19 STUDENT Elijah Hogan made local and national headlines when he graduated from Walter L. Cohen High School in May. He was named valedictorian with an impressive 3.93 GPA and gave a speech to his classmates and their loved ones.

“It’s your turn to choose and define what success means in your life,” he said.

It was a triumphant day, but the road to get there wasn’t easy.

He’d been living with his grandmother since he was 11, but during his junior year, he became unexpectedly homeless when his grandmother’s landlord decided to sell the property where they’d been living. They had a month to figure out what to do.

She ended up moving to a senior living home, while he went to Covenant House, a shelter for unhoused people ages 16-22.

Hogan kept in touch with his family living out of state, and teachers and Covenant House staff stepped up to support him and encourage him to complete his studies.

Hogan’s next stop is Xavier University, where he plans to study graphic design. An artist and Marvel fan, he hopes to one day publish his own comic book.

“Take pride in how far you have come,” Hogan told his classmates during his graduation speech. “Have faith in how far you can go. But don’t forget to enjoy your journey.”

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PHOTO BY MULTIPOINT FOTOGRAFIA

AYYUB IBRAHIM 30 DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH FOR THE LOUISIANA LAW ENFORCEMENT ACCOUNTABILITY DATABASE, INNOCENCE PROJECT NEW ORLEANS When Ayyub Ibrahim graduated in 2016 from the University of Pennsylvania, he expected to spend his professional life fighting for human rights on the international stage — not in the Deep South fighting police violence.

But Ibrahim’s path hasn’t ever followed much of a straight, predictable line. Take, for example, his sport of choice: fencing.

After graduating, the Bronx native worked in New York on international human rights issues.

But within a few years, he realized he wanted to have a more local focus.

So in 2020 he moved to New Orleans to head the Innocence Project New Orleans’ Louisiana Law Enforcement Accountability Database (LLEAD) program. He has since become a leader in the effort to shed light on one of the criminal justice system’s darkest corners: police misconduct and violence.

The LLEAD database has catalogued more than 40,000 incidents in more than 500 law enforcement agencies across the state and has become an important resource for attorneys, the media and public in understanding — and combating — police brutality.

Ibrahm has recently turned his attention to Artificial Intelligence and how it can help civil rights attorneys fight for their clients. He’s become a national leader in developing AI tools for the civil rights sector.

At the Innocence Project, he’s currently building a “wrongful conviction officer index” which, when completed, will allow lawyers to search through hundreds of thousands of court filings, reports and other documents to determine if there is a pattern of misconduct involving a specific officer or within departments and other key areas. That will not only help attorneys but also policymakers, who’d have to spend years sorting through documents without AI’s help.

Ava Kreutziger describes herself as a “people person” whose life is defined by her relationships.

“That’s where I get the most joy from,” she says.

Last summer, Kreutziger, a volunteer with Grow Dat Youth Farm in City Park, witnessed an horrible

tragedy as her best friend, Belle Adelman-Cannon, was struck and killed by a bus in the parking lot.

To cope with her grief, Kreutziger helped build a memorial garden dedicated to Adelman-Cannon to honor the solace they found together there.

“It’s the place where I could grow with my identity and be confident in my leadership, learn how to grow food and how to help people,” she says. “It’s also the place where I tried to save my best friend.”

When she found out about City Park’s Master Plan to bulldoze the farm and build a road, it felt like a betrayal. She has since become a staunch advocate of the farm’s survival as city and park leaders grapple with its future.

Kreutziger is also an advocate for LGBTQ rights and helped secure a grant for the Q Center, a safe space for queer students, while attending Ben Franklin High School. She helped organize a theater piece students performed at the state Capitol, which aimed to humanize her peers as lawmakers were attacking their rights and identities.

“I’ve grown up with my parents telling me about how art can be a mechanism for social change,” she says.

As she sets off for college, she plans to continue her advocacy and aspires to become a social worker.

“The idea of working one on one against our systems and to help people overcome circumstances — I’m looking forward to it,” she says.

SCOTT TILTON 32

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NOUS FOUNDATION

AVA KREUTZIGER 17 STUDENT; LGBTQ RIGHTS ACTIVIST; ADVOCATE FOR GROW DAT YOUTH FARM

Scott Tilton, a New Orleans native, was living in Paris with his husband, Rudy Bazenet, when they came up with an idea that would ultimately lead to the Nous Foundation.

They wanted to launch a cultural institute in Louisiana, an organization that would bring people together and foster the kind of cultural innovation that keeps cities like Paris at the forefront of conversation.

“We had this clear vision of what we wanted to do in Louisiana,” Tilton says.

So they moved back home and in 2021 launched Nous Foundation, a nonprofit promoting Louisiana’s heritage cultures, particularly the French-speaking communities in the state.

This wasn’t Tilton’s first big undertaking. In 2017, while earning a master’s degree in international relations at Science Po Paris, he launched a campaign that led to Louisiana becoming the first U.S. state to join the International Organization of La Francophonie.

Tilton is passionate about raising awareness and exposure to minority cultures and languages that have been repressed and banned. He also is a filmmaker and has helped produce French- and Creole-language films from Louisiana, including a piece recently featured at the Cannes Film Festival.

Earlier this year, the Library of Congress awarded a Community Collections Grant to Nous Foundation to support “La Musique Nous Reunit,” a project documenting Louisiana French and Creole music and featuring artists like Louis Michot, Leyla McCalla and Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes.

FOUNDER/CO-OWNER, DYNAMO

SHONDRICKA “SHAY” CLAIBORNE 31

Images of Hope Kodman Von Starnes pop up on streetcars, billboards and go-cups all over town in ads for her part-time work at French Quarter Phantoms Ghost tours, but she most often gets recognized for her work doing informational videos for the sex-positive erotic boutique Dynamo.

“I grew up in western Kentucky and the only sex ed we got in school was an hour in homeroom,” Kodman Von Starnes says. “I don’t even remember getting a puberty talk. They just threw deodorant at us.”

Now via their Instagram account (@dynamonola), Kodman Von Starnes entertainingly informs people about ropework, flange-ended plugs, vibrators, paddles and leather harnesses, all with an emphasis on consent and safety. Kodman Von Starnes co-owns Dynamo with Nico Darling, and the shop turns 11 years old this summer.

Kodman Von Starnes first realized her penchant for talking about sex in college. “If I gave permission to talk about sex, people really wanted to,” she says.

Her degree in anthropology helped her process sex through the lens of history and her interest in theater provided enough fodder to keep the conversation going.

She now gives talks at Tulane’s undergrad Sex Week and bachelorette parties, runs occasional workshops, and has partnered with the Reproduc-

tive Justice Action Collective (REJAC) to provide emergency contraception, even hand delivering it during the pandemic.

Kodman Von Starnes also leads a history tour via French Quarter Phantoms called “Saints and Sinners” which focuses on Storyville and Victorian-era sex ed.

“New Orleans is such a sexy, open city,” Kodman Von Starnes says. “So I thought that we could do better than what we had.”

FOUNDER/CEO, MOMMYFLUENT TOYS Shondricka Claiborne has gone by “Shay” since she was in diapers. But she now also answers to “mom” after having her first child four years ago.

While on maternity leave from her career working with autistic children, Claiborne noticed a few things about the toy industry: There isn’t much African-American representation, and the toys did most of the playing.

So in 2021, after her daughter struggled with language skills, Claiborne launched Mommyfluent, a retail company specializing in open-ended toys for infants and toddlers.

“The innovation that I am making with my company is because of my daughter. I wanted her to have access to better toys,” Claiborne says. “I am my own best customer — early intervention, this stuff works.”

Claiborne also sits on the board of Black New Orleans Mom and is a certified play expert and program coordinator for TrainingGrounds’ We Play, a nonprofit facility dedicated to improving early childhood outcomes for local families.

We Play is a hub for family resources and early parenting education. It also helps connect families with professionals, like Claiborne, during the early years of childhood, when brain development is very important.

Through her work, Claiborne has worked with more than 200 families in just the last year, and she has helped 10 families navigate the long process to receive an early autism diagnosis.

Mommyfluent is working to build a technology channel to connect families to early intervention resources. And recently, the company was named a semifinalist in the Black Ambition Prize, founded by Pharrell Williams.

JAMES MAYES 37

FOUNDER, EMLINE

James Mayes tends to incorporate a particular flower into his designs for his luxury streetwear brand Emline. The magnolia — his nod to growing up in the Magnolia Projects — is a representation of personal growth, he says.

“A flower starts as a seed. A person starts as a seed. They both grow.

The flower grows through the dirt and the rain, which are like the trials and tribulations a person will learn from. And at the end, they both have the opportunity to blossom, even though they have been through so much,” Mayes says.

Mayes launched Emline in 2017 after going through some major life changes — a child, a new job, being laid off, relocating to Houston and back to New Orleans — and in the years since, the brand has blossomed.

Today, Emline sells a range of limited-release items, including shirts, pants, shorts, hats, socks and accessories, all designed by Mayes.

Young Jeezy, Russell Westbrook, Lil Baby and Missy Elliott have been spotted in Emline pieces, and BG has embraced the brand since returning home. Earlier this month, Emline collaborated with the Essence Festival of Culture on a limited-edition shirt.

In 2022, Mayes along with Kristin Meyers of Like Minds Dine Production also launched the Emline Ball, a Carnival-time ball that has also become increasingly popular. Each year, the ball celebrates legends in the New Orleans community, like Mia X, Juvenile and the late Soulja Slim. The 2024 Emline Ball celebrated Bryan “Birdman” Williams and the legacy of Cash Money Records with performances by Curren$y, Magnolia Chop, AK and Paasky.

“Right now, in the space that I’m in, I don’t know what will happen next, but I’m hoping it’s something big and exciting,” Mayes says.

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MACKENZIE 38 FILMMAKER In their debut feature documentary, “Carpet Cowboys,” Emily MacKenzie and Noah Collier went to the carpet production capital of the world Dalton, Georgia, and pulled at the threads of a story that took them around the world.

They met Roderick James, a Scottish immigrant and self-styled cowboy whose freelance career designing carpet patterns was drying up as globalization moved more of the industry to China. James struck out for the east, and again tried to reinvent himself.

MacKenzie got her own taste for travel, after growing up in Santa Barbara, California, and dropping out of school to move to Florence, Italy.

“I was like, ‘I just turned 18, I am leaving the country,’” she says. “I don’t need to finish high school.”

Bard College didn’t require a diploma, and she went to New York and got interested in documentary filmmaking. Then, after a year of graduate study at the New College (and more time in Italy), she got an internship with filmmaker Nina Davenport and eventually climbed her way to an editing position on the film “First Comes Love.”

Since 2010, MacKenzie has worked in TV and film production when not focused on her own projects, such as 2016’s widely viewed breast cancer survival short doc, “Scar Story.”

In 2015, MacKenzie moved to New Orleans, where she had friends and family, including her great-uncle Johnny North, who coached the New Orleans Saints in the 1970s.

Since “Carpet Cowboys” (available at memory.is/carpet-cowboys) was released, she started working on her own mockumentary project about New Orleans costuming group the Intergalactic Realtors Association Conference (IGRAC), in which the alien realtors try to sell Earth.

After the IGRAC movie, she sets her sights abroad, with a film project about the foodways that connect New Orleans and Honduras.

SECOND CHIEF, GOLDEN EAGLES BLACK MASKING INDIANS; VOCALIST, THE RUMBLE

PHOTO BY ASHLEY LORRAINE

PATRICK HERNANDEZ 35

Being the son of Big Chief Monk Boudreaux carries a certain weight of expectation in New Orleans.

It’s “kind of like being Michael Jordan’s son,” says Joseph Boudreaux Jr. “No matter how good you play basketball, you’re gonna always be compared to your dad in some way, shape or form.”

Joseph Boudreaux grew up immersed in Black Masking Indian traditions and is now the second chief of the Golden Eagles. He also gravitated toward music and is the frontman for the Mardi Gras Indian funk band The Rumble.

But Boudreaux has worked to distinguish himself, especially through his suits.

“I took the foundation and all the lessons he taught me on how to build, but I always wanted to look like me. I developed my own style, in a sense,” he says. “I approach music the same way … I felt like I will be setting myself up for failure if I was to try to mimic what [my father] did. So I just try to be original to myself.”

Boudreaux is part of a group of young culture bearers who are helping to guide those traditions into the future.

“It’s a responsibility of mine, to carry our culture on, to make sure our culture continues to thrive,” Boudreaux says. “Part of me doing that is through music. I want to be able to use my music to just bring this culture to the spotlight, get this culture the recognition it deserves, because there are so many talented people within the culture.”

The Rumble recently released a new studio single, “Now You Know,” and has new music on the way.

DIRECTOR OF CAPITAL ACCESS, PROPELLER Patrick Hernandez’s first brush with entrepreneurship came while growing up in Berrwick, Louisiana, near Morgan City.

“I had a few lemonade stands,” Hernandez says. “But it was never actually my calling.”

Ironically, after dreaming up his award-winning craft rum distillery Roulaison with an old college roommate in New York, he ended up in the beverage business anyway.

Nowadays, Hernandez has put his Roulaison work on the backburner to help others start their own businesses via his role at Propeller, an organization that helps small businesses — primarily those led by BIPOC entrepreneurs — and nonprofits close the equity gap in the fields of education, food, health and water.

Hernandez manages a network of more than 300 alumni at Propeller, helping anywhere from 10 to 15 clients at a time. He also launched a $3 million seed capital fund for BIPOC-owned businesses.

His free time is filled with playing a lot of pickleball and community involvement, as the immediate past president of the Young Leadership Council and a board member for OnPath Federal Credit Union and Advocates for Arts-Based Education (via The Willow School).

Hernandez also helps fundraise for Boys Hope Girls Hope and the American Cancer Society, specifically for cancer research involving the LGBTQ community.

JEEZ LOUEEZ 39 BURLESQUE PERFORMER; PRODUCER Jeez Loueez has had a straightforward goal: “You’re gonna know who I am,” the New Orleans-based burlesque performer and producer says.

On and off stage, Jeez Loueez’s personality fills the space. She’s funny, dramatic and passionate. But it goes beyond her stage performance; Jeez Loueez wants to help Black burlesque performers be undeniable.

“I want to connect with more people, meet more people, let them know that not only does burlesque happen every day, all day in New Orleans, but that there’s Black people who are doing it,” she says.

A St. Louis native, Jeez Loueez moved to Chicago when she was 19 to study musical theater. She was dancing in a club to help pay for school, and a friend asked if she’d like to fill in during a burlesque show. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is just musical theater and stripping mixed together,” she says with a laugh.

More than 15 years later, Jeez Loueez has twice been named 21st Century Burlesque’s No. 1 most influential burlesque industry figure, first solo and then again with her close friend and collaborator Lola Van Ella (who also is based in New Orleans).

Jeez Loueez moved to New Orleans in 2019 and is a popular presence on local burlesque lineups, and each month, she hosts a late-night talk show-style event and a queer line dance night at the AllWays Lounge & Cabaret, in addition to teaching classes.

In 2011, Jeez Loueez launched the annual all-Black burlesque revue Jeezy’s Juke Joint. It has grown into a multi-night festival and traveling show, and she hopes to bring the revue to New Orleans in 2025.

“My focus has been on Black people being the ones writing the check and paying people,” says Jeez Loueez, “because there could be 100 Black performers in one city, but if everyone in charge and writing the checks and producing the events are white, then it’s not diversity, it’s not inclusion.”

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Khai Nguyen and Tap Bui have known each other since they were children growing up in the Versailles Arms Apartment complex in New Orleans East.

The area was home to many Vietnamese immigrants who came to New Orleans after the war in Vietnam. They formed a close-knit community, akin to a fishing village, anchored by the Catholic church, Mary Queen of Vietnam.

However, the community, isolated from the rest of the city, is often an afterthought in policymaking. Nguyen and Bui have spent their careers fighting to make sure folks there get the resources they deserve.

Both worked for the MQVN Community Development Corp. and helped Vietnamese fishers access relief after the Deepwater Horizon BP oil disaster in 2010. Nguyen also co-created the VEGGI Farmer’s Cooperative, three acres of community-owned land where out-of-work fishers could farm to earn money.

Nguyen and Bui co-founded Song Development Corp. in fall 2021 to continue investing in New Orleans East. As part of this work, they are exploring ways to manage stormwater, including rain gardens — shrubs and flowers planted in dips of land to hold and soak rain runoff.

Many young Vietnamese Americans are leaving the area, Nguyen says, and Song Development Corp. aims to make sure the aging population is taken care of and to adapt to the needs of the area as it changes, including the needs of the significant Black population and growing Latinx population.

Bui also is helping plan 50 events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon next April, both to remember the past and celebrate Vietnamese Americans’ contributions to New Orleans. They’ve had more than a dozen events so far.

The East is “full of people who are committed to investing in this area and working collaboratively to bring in additional resources to make this community better for our futures,” Bui says.

DEATH DOULA; JOURNALIST; CERAMICIST, BARRO Y LUNA Death doula Carolina Murriel ferries people from the world of living to the dead — and she doesn’t mind if you call her work metal.

TIF “TEDDY” LAMSON 36 DRUMMER; VOCALIST Growing up in Lafayette as the daughter of pastors, Tif Lamson got an early start in music playing in her family’s church band.

“I was recruited by the time I was born to be in the band, and that kind of just led me to continue playing music throughout my entire life,” says Lamson, who is now a drummer, singer, music director, producer and engineer.

Decades later, she’s in a different band: Shania Twain’s. For the last year, she’s been playing drums and singing backup vocals for Twain on her world tour, giving Lamson the opportunity to perform in front of the largest crowds of her career.

Her career first took off after she formed indie pop band Givers with Taylor Guarisco in 2008. They had been living in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit and had moved back to Lafayette following the storm, unsure what their next steps would be.

The band released two full-length albums, performing on the latenight circuit and at Jazz Fest, Coachella and Lollapalooza. They also played Carnegie Hall in New York City with Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

In 2017, Lamson was the music director for electro-musician Peaches’ show at Music Box Village. She played with her off and on for the next several years, including on her “Teaches of Peaches” 20-year anniversary tour.

Working with the boundary-pushing feminist artist made Lamson reflect on societal constructs of gender, sexuality and art, including “what are the lines and who’s drawing the lines,” she says.

Lamson will perform with Twain at Canadian festivals in August, followed by a second stint at her Las Vegas residency.

Though the route wasn’t always clear, “I couldn’t think of any other path that I could have walked on, really,” Lamson says.

PHOTO BY NOÉ CUGNY

THOMAS MCRAE 30 PROGRAM DIRECTOR, MY COMMUNITY CARES FOR BOYS TOWN LOUISIANA Even though Thomas McRae isn’t from New Orleans, the city made an impact on him as a child.

While growing up in Washington, D.C., McRae remembers watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina with a foster family. A year later, when he needed a sports jersey to wear to middle school, he picked a black and gold one with the number 25 and “Bush” on the back. He used computer class to look up the New Orleans Saints.

“I thought I’d find football pics,” McRae says, “But I found Katrina pics … I told myself I’d be a friend of New Orleans. And if this city could bounce back from the most devastating thing, it made me feel like I could bounce back.”

McRae was facing hardships of his own. He was just 11 when he entered the foster care system after a gunshot wound brought the authorities to his home.

“Statistics for foster kids going to college were so low, like 3%,” he says. “Growing up in a bad neighborhood, education wasn’t the focus.”

But now a doctorate of social work candidate at Tulane University, McRae has defied those odds and then some.

He’s the program director of My Community Cares for Boys Town Louisiana, a foster care service in New Orleans. MCC is a program supporting kids and families in high-need communities with resources like parenting classes, workshops and counseling sessions.

“Every day feels like survival mode because I’ve always had to fight for things,” McRae says. “Knowing that’s my mindset at 30, I’ve got to take that energy and invest it in the community and the kids.”

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“I have not died yet — that I know of,” Murriel says. “But I have always been drawn to the darker, harder aspects of our existence.”

Murriel was born in Peru, where she witnessed civil unrest between guerilla fighters and the government; her school was close to car bombs, blackouts and hostage situations. That experience eventually led to her work doing trauma-informed journalism, covering immigration, the 2016 election and criminal justice.

Her byline has appeared in The Miami Herald, WLRN and The World, to name a few, and Murriel co-founded the podcast network Pizza Shark to help build radical inclusivity in media.

During the pandemic, Murriel became more proactive about her own mental health, which led her to seek healing through art, specifically ceramics. She also tapped back into her college studies of birth practices, which eventually led to a focus on the death end of the life cycle.

Her practice, Barro y Luna (Clay and Moon), fuses death, storytelling and ceramics together with the hope to destigmatize death and dying.

And in partnership with the deathcare organization Wake, Murriel recently launched an oral history project, Legados de Luisiana, to record Latinx elders’ legacies.

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DANYEL NICOLE BLACK 39 FOUNDER, CROWN ME FOUNDATION After 17 years working in education, Danyel Nicole Black started the Crown Me Foundation to focus on different areas of personal development.

“I realized that as a first-generation college student in my family, I wanted to undo toxic patterns,” Black says. “We’re often educated academically but we’re not educated on how to socially engage and have healthy relationships; how to pick healthy partners. We’re very intentional about things like picking the right major, getting in the right network to grow our business or make connections, but no one is focused on healthy partnerships, healthy patterns, healthy boundaries, healthy family dynamics. Those are not taught in college. A lot of women may be highly successful but end up in toxic relationships.”

She established the foundation in August 2020 and launched an array of programs to support women and mentor girls. First there was a fundraiser for the New Orleans Women & Children’s Shelter. For Crown Me Closet, the foundation collected donations of new clothes and had a stylist meet with women to help coach them on how to look their best. Some recipients from the women’s shelter needed the clothes for job interviews and to go to work.

Other programs honor women for their achievements and pair them with young girls for mentorships, as well as supporting them with scholarships.

KYLE Black also is a fitness trainer and has become an emcee, hosting fundraisers and galas.

At Crown Me, she’s always a cheerleader and has gold and pink pompoms to symbolize the effort.

“The colors are pink and gold for femininity and power,” she says. “I try to help women embody their femininity more, because when we are wounded and unhealed, women are brash, defensive and shut off. When we heal, we can open up and become more open to the endless possibilities of life.”

KATIE EAST 39 V VP OF CREATIVE OPERATIONS, CAROLINE ROSA MARKETING; COMEDIAN Katie East has often used comedy to reframe a tough situation — although, she quickly admits she also likes the validation that comes from being on stage.

A stand-up comic, East several years ago began hosting burlesque shows.

She became close with Big Deal Burlesque and Trixie Minx, and the experience pushed her to reconsider her self-deprecating style of comedy, East says.

Surprisingly, she received pushback from local venues who preferred to see a man or one of the burlesque performers host the show. So East decided to try something different. She enrolled in the New Orleans Drag Workshop and created the fabulous drag persona Mammary Lane. It was a chance for her to be funny yet less self-deprecating and continue to emcee as part of the show.

“It was a super insane learning process, and I got exactly what I wanted out of it,” East says.

East grew up in Baton Rouge, graduated from LSU and moved to New York City for several years, where she performed stand-up and improv regularly and trained with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. After returning to Louisiana in 2012, she became a part of New Orleans’ comedy community, and in 2014 opened for Louis C.K. in front of a sold-out Joy Theater crowd.

Over the years, East has developed a one-woman show called “Sick Girl,” drawing from her experience having a rare case of melanoma while just 19 years old. She’s performed “Sick Girl” in New York, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

“And I had a lot of stand-up jokes about it,” East says. “If I can make someone laugh about it, I really love that.”

East still occasionally performs stand-up and drag but has slowed down a little since the pandemic. She focuses more now on using her humor and creativity to work with clients at digital marketing agency Caroline Rosa Marketing, where she’s vice president of creative operations.

DEVRIES 38 DIRECTOR, CATALYZE CONSULTING & PRODUCTIONS; BOARD PRESIDENT, NEW ORLEANS PRIDE CENTER Kyle DeVries was drawn to activism and organizing while in college at Florida State University. He left school after one year to get to work.

“I was pursuing communications and political science, and I realized I was learning so much more being on the ground,” DeVries says. “LGBTQ activism has always been my biggest passion, but I worked for the Sierra Club and the Florida League of Conservation and at the state capital as an assistant lobbyist.”

DeVries gained experience advocating for Florida public radio and later worked to create LGBTQ service organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2013, he founded and directed Groundswell, an LGBTQ retreat in Boonville, California.

In 2016, he switched back to community organizing and activism, and in early 2021 moved to New Orleans. “I have always been in love with New Orleans,” DeVries says. “This is where I found culture and community. It was an easy decision to come back.”

After the LGBT Community Center on Broad Street closed in 2022, he led efforts to open the New Orleans Pride Center in Bywater.

“We talked with groups to see what they wanted in a center,” he says. “We wanted to create a hub for LGTBQ organizations and individuals in the region where they can have access to space and resources.”

He is the center’s board president, but also is hands-on, directing volunteers and attending events. The center is being used

by Trans Queer Youth NOLA, Forum for Equality and other groups. It will add dropin hours when it gets full-time staff, and DeVries’ eventual plan is to buy a building to create a permanent space and support more groups and programs.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR, UNCOMMON CONSTRUCTION

KENNETH SPEARS 36

As the program director of unCommon Construction, Sydney Doyle works to create a space where young people can learn real-world skills through an unconventional classroom: a construction site.

At unCommon Construction, high school students join a team of peers to build a house throughout a semester. Not only do they learn craftsmanship, but they use math, science, reading, communication, critical thinking and more on a day-to-day basis. The teens also receive hourly pay, a matching equity award scholarship and school credit.

Doyle, who moved to New Orleans from North Carolina nine years ago, shares that the most important part of her job is being able to create a space where young people can be hands-on and solve problems. “The excitement and pride that you can see on their face when they complete a task or project is indescribable,” she says.

So far, every student who has successfully completed the experience has graduated on time and is either enrolled in post-secondary education or was employed within three months. Doyle believes that this

intersection of education and workforce experience can spark change and build a brighter future for New Orleans youth.

“The young people in this city are so amazing, and I love being in a position to be able to uplift and highlight that and be a small part of their journey during and after high school,” Doyle says.

ANTARAH HASAN-SPEARS 35 FOUNDERS, ABSTRACT NOLA Faced with consolidating the guest list for their wedding in 2015, New Orleans natives Kenneth Spears and Antarah Hasan-Spears decided to throw a big afterparty. They enjoyed the process and, with love for the city’s culture, decided to organize events to highlight New Orleans artists.

Eight years in, Abstract Nola has held more than 150 arts-centered events and collaborated with more than 175 artists working in all mediums.

Their quarterly tentpole Art and Music Experience tends to bring in around 1,000 people to dance, meet artists and see their work.

Growing up around musicians, Kenneth’s developed a love for New Orleans’ cultural diversity. Today, he’s also French Quarter Festival Inc.’s food, beverage and hospitality director, curating menus showcasing the city’s culinary talent, including on French Quarter Fest’s new Culinary Stage, and helping implement environmental best practices at FQF and the Satchmo SummerFest.

Kenneth manages the business aspects of Abstract Nola along with the music and production side while Antarah oversees the creative direction of the events, such as curating artists, installations, galleries and aesthetic elements.

“Being in business together has added another layer to our relationship and communication,” Antarah says. “I’ve really been able to appreciate it so much more because of how our passions line up and how even our work styles come together.”

Antarah also is a curator, designer, and event producer and has worked with the Essence Festival of Culture, the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund Gala and the New Orleans African American Museum. She also works with Queen Tahj of the Golden Eagles.

“Abstract Nola is really a passion project,” Kenneth says. “At its core, it embodies the passion that Antarah and I have for the culture and our commitment to uplifting and sustaining it.”

NICOLE CARIDAD RALSTON 35 SENIOR DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND PROGRAMMING, BELOVED COMMUNITY Nicole Caridad Ralston remembers her first visit to New Orleans, despite being just 4 years old at the time. “I loved these New Orleans coloring books that we got,” she says.

Ralston found her way back to New Orleans in 2012, and today, she runs education and programming for Beloved Commu-

nity, a consulting firm helping businesses build diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

“As a mixed kid, you often feel stuck between two different cultures,” says Ralston, the daughter of a white father and Cuban mother. “How do I create spaces to make people feel big?”

Through Beloved Community, Ralston helped one restaurant build an all-Black women management staff and helped tweak dress codes to be more inclusive, removing inherently biased rules like nail length requirements. She also helped one organization serving the Black community transition from a white founder into a Black-run operation.

Ralston’s personal project, the foodie Instagram account “Off the Eaten Path” (@eatenpathnola), takes on a mission of celebrating New Orleans businesses owned by people of color, often detailing the cultural histories of food. The account now has more than 29,500 followers.

Ralston, a mother of adopted twins, also is an adjunct professor at UNO, teaching about multiculturalism in higher education, and she runs a birth doula practice, where she’s helped six mothers through the birthing process.

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GABRIELLE PERRY 31 EPIDEMIOLOGIST; FOUNDER OF THE THURMAN PERRY FOUNDATION Gabrielle Perry is dedicated to helping women and girls impacted by the incarceration system. The issue is personal for her.

A decade ago, her father died, and she was left to take care of her disabled mother while she was in college. Her father’s death meant a loss of primary income, and the family’s home was taken in foreclosure. She turned to what she calls crimes of survival, she says.

“I was in a desperate situation,” she says. “People are one adverse life event away from the jail house.”

A judge took mercy on her and dismissed her charges, allowing her to earn multiple degrees. But she still had difficulty finding work because of the arrest on her record, causing her to become homeless.

She fought to get her record expunged and now works as an epidemiologist. She founded the Thurman Perry Foundation, named for her father, to give women impacted by the prison and jail system new opportunities through scholarships, transitional housing funds and other resources.

One of the latest initiatives, Girl Code, has become a national program distributing organic, high-quality menstrual products to women in jail and prisons. In 30 states, Perry says women who are incarcerated do not receive menstrual products from the facilities.

“They are doing God knows what, without any dignity,” she says. “They are cutting open mattresses ... they are ripping their clothes, using socks instead of tampons.”

Since she started the program in 2021, she has orchestrated the delivery of more than 210,000 products to prisons.

“The majority of (incarcerated) women are sexual abuse survivors, domestic abuse survivors. These are battered and broken women who are being buried above ground,” she says.

“These women matter. Please remember them.”

After Alyson Curro got her political communication degree from LSU, she figured the next step was Capitol Hill.

Instead, the New Orleans area native surprised everyone by going to Turkey, where she worked as a reporter after a research internship. After getting her master’s at Princeton, she spent a year in Myanmar, where she created and self-published a children’s book, “Girl Power in Myanmar,” about 14 local women who broke barriers.

CLAIBORNE “CLAY” CHRISTIAN 35 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR COMMERCIALIZATION, TULANE UNIVERSITY INNOVATION INSTITUTE Claiborne “Clay” Christian grew up going to theater productions and studied the classics as an undergrad.

He likes to cook, collects art and is currently reading Rebecca Spang’s “The Invention of the Restaurant.”

He’s also an award-winning scientist.

A New Orleanian since 2012, Christian earned his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences at the Tulane University School of Medicine and later became a postdoctoral fellow at St. Jude’s Research Hospital. His work in 2020 on Tulane School of Medicine’s “The COVID-19 Digest” publication earned him the prestigious President’s Award for Excellence.

Christian in 2022 helped conceptualize and launch the Tulane University Innovation Institute, an initiative supporting startups and entrepreneurship in the Gulf South. In his role there, Christian works to grow technology-based startups and an entrepreneurial ecosystem across New Orleans.

As of May, he’s overseen programs that have given more than a half a million dollars in funds to early-stage locally developed technologies, ideas and teams.

Christian is a founding member of the equity, diversity and inclusion committee at AUTM, a global

professional organization promoting academic research. He also spent years fundraising for LGBTQ group Friday Night Before Mardi Gras and volunteers with Friends for All, which helps people living with HIV. “If you can help, you are obligated to,” he says.

“Through practice, accident or natural birth, if you are in a position to put your gifts, to put your talents to benefit society, you should.”

PHOTO BY GARY GOVERNALE

ALFRED BANKS 33 RAPPER In May, Alfred Banks became the first hip-hop artist to perform a full collaborative concert with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

It was a noteworthy achievement, but for Banks, the real honor was selling out a show in his hometown.

“That little week in May was just like a testament, I’m at another plateau now and the respect I get has been cool,” Banks says.

Ambition, hustle and gifted lyricism have continued to elevate Banks over the last 15 years, ever since he jumped on stage at Truth Universal’s Grassroots showcase in 2009. There have been performances with Mickey Factz, Mega Ran and Lupe Fiasco; slots at Voodoo Fest and Buku Fest; well-received albums; and a Volkswagen commercial.

Banks just pursued what felt good, he says.

“In that, I find that it’s different than the norm, and I leaned into it,” Banks adds. “I want to do what’s natural for me, and what’s natural for me is to be very enthusiastic about my bars, the punchlines, the metaphors and structures in my verses ... It was less about trying to be different and more about finding what felt good.”

Banks also has been reaching new audiences as part of the duo SaxKixAve with saxophonist and producer Albert Allenback. With two EPs under their belt, the duo has been touring widely in 2024.

Banks’ next show is Friday, July 26, at Siberia with Marcel P. Black, Kaye the Beast, Luke Julien and D. Horton. And he will open for Talib Kweli Oct. 5 at The Joy Theater.

“I want people to know hip-hop can be alternative,” Banks says. “It can be different.

It can be thought-provoking. It can be conscious. It could be humorous and just as potent.

Those are the types of things I want to bring to the table.”

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But perhaps the biggest shocker of her career came shortly after she began the role of communications director for the Louisiana Department of Health — in January 2020. Within her first weeks, the department started communicating about Covid-19.

“I was still learning where the bathroom was,” she says.

In her three and a half years there, Curro helped the department promote Covid-19 vaccinations, including through partnerships with community leaders, door knocking, phone banking, texting, billboards, and TV and radio PSAs. “It was, in short, the most challenging, meaningful and important work I’ve ever done to date, and probably among the most important work that I’ll ever do in my career,” she says.

The effort got Curro thinking about ways to reduce political polarization on critical health issues, especially during a crisis. She’s been exploring that in her new role as professional-in-residence at LSU. Curro’s working with Lift Louisiana on their abortion rights door knocking campaign, partnering with students to advocate for increased access to emergency contraception on campus, and conducting interviews with Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center staff about being on the frontlines of the pandemic.

She also helped with the New Orleans Health Department’s summer campaign promoting testing for syphilis and other STIs. “I really believe in the power of language and stories to connect, to find common ground, reduce stigma and build empathy,” Curro says.

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KELSEY FOSTER 36 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALGIERS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION

5928 W. Metairie Ave. Suite 11 | 504-655-0178 southerncharmhomeandgifts

Recently, Kelsey Foster bought a giant pair of scissors — the kind that it takes two hands to use. In the past year alone, she’s helped cut 12 ribbons on new businesses in Algiers through her work at the Algiers Economic Development Foundation (AEDF).

“Everybody here is a dreamer,” Foster says of Algiers.

“They’ve got three different side hustles that they’re working at all times.”

AEDF is a nonprofit nurturing small business owners in Algiers by providing them with resources and information to help their businesses grow. Say, if a business has an $8,000 Sewerage and Water Bill they need to contest, or they need to navigate permits to get a new sign, AEDF can help.

Foster says she picked up public finance from her previous career as a journalist, where she developed a knack for analyzing school board budgets. When she started at AEDF in 2020, the pandemic pushed the organization to reset their focus from hosting events in whiter neighborhoods to better serving communities of color. Since Foster has joined, AEDF’s budget and staff both tripled and their membership increased by 1,200%.

When Foster is not working full time for AEDF, she’s volunteering at various events and sits on the board of the University of Holy Cross and the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority, West. Foster also runs a program to better connect high schoolers with local employers.

“It’s a really small world here,” Foster says. “So it’s fun to be in the mix.”

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, UMC NEW ORLEANS Providing accessible healthcare and ending the opioid epidemic has driven Dr. BC Egan — the medical director of forensics at UMC New Orleans — to invent new ways to help those living with opioid use disorder.

When patients visit the emergency department due to an opioid overdose, it is usually a last resort. In the past, they were merely given a phone number to call for treatment after their visit. Now, Egan has started a program where they are also given Naloxone, a drug that can reverse the life-threatening symptoms of an opioid overdose, and Buprenorphine, a long-term treatment solution.

Egan says that by connecting patients with community providers once they are discharged to continue their treatment, a bridge is created that didn’t exist before.

“While a lot of my practice involves treating injuries and illness, it’s also problem solving how to navigate the social service network in New Orleans to help patients get access to transportation, housing, substance use treatment, and mental health services,” they said.

Besides providing medical care, Egan views the most important part of their job as making patients feel seen, heard, comfortable, and respected — this includes breaking down any negative stigmas around drug use.

“Part of my work and that of a network of many other motivated providers is to abolish that old way of thinking in medicine and treat our patients with opioid use disorder like we would any other patient: with kindness and empathy, offering them a variety of treatment and harm reduction options ey are,”” Egan says. for wherever the E

JOHN HUPPI 34 PROFESSOR, TULANE UNIVERSITY; ROWER John Huppi came to Tulane University as an undergraduate in 2007, largely as a response to Hurricane Katrina.

“I was like, that’s the place I want to go,” Huppi says.

“I wanted to learn from a city rebuilding. All of those mechanics were interesting to me.”

He got involved immediately by volunteering.

“It was me swinging a hammer on the job site,” he says.

“Then I started getting all these questions about who were doing all these projects and driving decisions.”

Huppi also went to grad school at Tulane and began a career looking at real estate development. He designed a real estate major within Tulane’s School of Architecture, and it has become the largest program within the school.

“The vast majority of our students want to be developers,” Huppi says. “But the field is really broad, so there are students who end up in banking, brokerage, construction, management, financing and on the policy and government side of things.”

Also at Tulane, Huppi discovered competitive rowing.

He’s represented the U.S. and Switzerland in international competitions, since he holds dual citizenship.

“My wife and I were part of a team that won a bronze medal at the world championships, which we’re really proud of,” he says.

Huppi continues to coach the Tulane men’s and women’s rowing teams, but he and his wife also are focusing on a new challenge. Next summer, they’ll attempt to set a Guinness World Record for the fastest four-person team to cross the Arctic Ocean.

They’re joining with former New Orleans Saints player Jimmy Graham and former Navy SEAL Andrew Tropp in the 10- to 21-day, 1,000-kilometer journey from Tromso, Norway, to Svalbard in the Arctic Circle.

They hope to set the record and call attention to their charity beneficiaries, Laureus, which supports youth sports opportunities, and Covenant House New Orleans.

PHOTO BY AMELIA FATSI

BENNETT KIRSCHNER 32 FOUNDING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF INTRAMURAL THEATER; CO-SONGWRITER AT TV POLE SHINE Bennett Kirschner was raised in the theater and started acting in plays starting around age 4 while growing up in New Jersey.

He stuck with it, founding the Intramural Theater in 2015 while attending University of New Orleans for a master’s degree in playwriting.

Intramural puts on site-specific plays at venues around town, including unconventional spaces like a Frenchmen Street hotel room or a friend’s backyard. The group’s last play, “Bermuda Can Company,” was an offbeat comedy at the Music Box Village that incorporated start-up culture, nepotism and a visit beyond the grave, all in a uniquely dysfunctional New Orleans office.

The next play, scheduled for early next year, will be about politics.

Intramural puts on two types of productions a year, he says: a devised one that the group creates entirely from scratch, in addition to a regional or world premiere of a play by a contemporary artist. “In both, we prioritize doing new and original works,” he says.

When the Intramural group develops their own shows, they start from a writing prompt about a subject such as synesthesia or voyeurism.

Kirschner also is a songwriter with the group TV Pole Shine, which focuses more on live performances than studio recordings.

“In a time where we are dealing with political and cultural polarization – that I think is really fueled by our obsession with screens – there’s something inherently revolutionary about nurturing and sharing a space with other people to enjoy a moment in time that will never exist again,” he says.

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SUBTWEET SHAWN 25 ENTERTAINER

JEREL BRYANT 39

Shawn Taylor, better known as Subtweet Shawn, knew his “Get the Gat” challenge would go viral — but he never thought it’d reach the White House. During his winter break at LSU in 2019, Taylor created a dance to the Lil Elt ’92 bounce song, shot a video with his family and posted it to his social media as a prompt to get others to move to the song.

“To see how everybody was like, ‘I’m gonna join in,’ and watching it build up like that for the next two weeks, it was unbelievable,” he says.

Following their championship win, the LSU football team embraced “Get the Gat” and shot a video during their White House visit. It was a massive viral moment, but it wasn’t Taylor’s first and it hasn’t been his last.

The New Orleans-born rapper, actor, comedian and video creator has had a number of viral moments, going back to the 2016 song “Hit Da Dolphin” with Cozy With The Curls. Most recently, the track “Rock Yo Hips” with T99ZY led to a touchdown dance that took over college football last fall.

Taylor’s Subtweet Shawn moniker comes from a viral bounce parody he made in

2014, but in the last year, especially, he’s leaned into music, releasing two EPs and multiple singles blending rap, bounce elements, R&B, pop and an array of interesting samples. He’s racked up hundreds of thousands of streams across platforms.

“I’ve been able to reinvent myself every single year,” Taylor says, adding he’d like to soon turn his sights toward acting. “Every year, I’ve been able to come out with a new challenge or something that went viral … so to be able to do that for 10 years and keep my name in the room, I feel like that’s a goal in itself.”

CEO, COLLEGIATE ACADEMIES During the 2016-17 school year, Jerel Bryant had a vision to change the negative narrative around George Washington Carver High School and the experiences of its students. Then principal of the school, Bryant wanted to create an environment where children were eager to learn.

Bryant pushed the school to expand athletics and improve extracurriculars, and Carver introduced a program called “Las Sierras” to support students who are non-native English speakers. After Bryant’s adjustments, students regained school pride, and the percentage of teens staying enrolled at Carver went from less than 70% to nearly 90%. Within a year, the suspension rate dropped from over 60% to less than 15%.

“I especially love watching Black and Brown kids recognize what they’re capable of while even chasing more,” Bryant says. “As a Black male in this space, I want to model that enthusiasm for what’s possible; I feel especially convicted about that modeling.”

Bryant’s experience at Carver paved the way for him to now serve as the CEO of Collegiate Academies, a network of five local charter schools that includes Carver. With an increasing passion for teaching and learning, Bryant supports hundreds of educators and thousands of students around New Orleans. He believes in their potential to grow beyond expectations.

“At Carver, the road was never easy,” Bryant says. “But a clear vision, a committed team, and an unwavering belief in our kids led to seismic growth in Carver’s performance. I want more of that for even more kids.”

JEREMY FOGG 36 OWNER, MAE’S BAKESHOP Jeremy Fogg opened Mae’s Bakeshop as a home-based confectionery after the pandemic forced the city’s restaurants to close,

including Emeril’s, where Fogg had been pastry chef for six years.

The Mae’s brand and its following grew, first through pop-ups and then with custom cake orders and catering events. In January 2024, Fogg opened the brick-and-mortar Mae’s Bakeshop in Uptown, drawing from a mix of new recipes and family traditions.

Fogg was driven by good food as a boy growing up in Florida, doing things like “looking up recipes, making things on Boy Scout campouts, [watching] grandma in the kitchen when she made family dinner on weekends,” he says.

While at Emeril’s, Fogg developed his skills not only with sugar, flour, butter and eggs, but also with people. And during his time there, he was featured on “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Best Baker in America” and “Guy’s Dessert Games.” Fogg took the prize on an episode of “Chopped Sweets” in 2020.

“It surprises me still, when people recognize me from TV,” Fogg says.

Over the years, he’s seen the effect a sweet treat can have beyond just a sale.

“I go to work. I bake. I go home,” he says.

“I don’t look at myself as super important, but it is really nice that I can have an impact on people just by being myself.”

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FORK + CENTER

Hot Stuff elevates the ‘meat and three’ | by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

WHEN AN ONLINE REVIEWER CALLED OUT HOT STUFF CHEF NATE BARFIELD

for serving canned green beans, he was tickled pink. “yep, they’re canned,” says the chef, who grew up in rural Monroeville, Alabama.

“That’s the way a ‘meat and three’ does it in the South,” he says. “I wanted to make good canned green beans. The miso sauce is not traditional, but canned green beans offer a blank palate. you can make them taste like anything you want. I love soft green beans. I enjoy the texture.”

Barfield has spent close to half his cooking career at Turkey and the Wolf, working on the line since the widely acclaimed sandwich shop opened in 2016. A few years ago, he and his co-chef, Phil Cenec, came to a crossroads.

“They both reached a point in their career that they didn’t need to be cooking my food. They have their own unique culinary voice,” says Mason Hereford, founder of Turkey and the Wolf and co-owner of Hot Stuff.

“They individually let me know that they didn’t plan to stay at Turkey and the Wolf forever. It was time for their next move.”

Hereford and his wife and partner lauren Agudo saw two ways forward.

“If they wanted to plan their exit, we would support them at whatever level we could,” Hereford says. “Or maybe they’d want to partner on a project. We could leverage Turkey and the Wolf to get money from the bank and over time, and we could open the restaurants they imagined for themselves with us as partners. It would take some time to do two new projects, but it was doable.”

Both chefs jumped at the opportunity. It was a model that had worked with Hereford’s second restaurant, Molly’s Rise and Shine, which opened in 2018 with co-chefs Colleen Quarls and liz Hollinger, now partners in the business. In April 2023, Hereford, Agudo and Cenac opened the ’80s-themed Hungry Eyes. Hot Stuff opened in May with Barfield at the helm.

In high spirits

NEW ORLEANS HAS ALWAYS HAD A PLACE ON THE MAP for cocktail connoisseurs.

Chefs Nate Barfield (left) and Mason Hereford opened Hot Stuff.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

“I love what Marlon (Williams) does with Chicken’s Kitchen on the West Bank,” Barfield says. “But he’s from here and has a New Orleans point of view. My approach is more pan-Southern.”

Barfield first embraced the cafeteria-style “meat and three,” where customers pick one meat and three sides for a fixed price, when he went to college. It immediately became his favorite way to eat.

“My parents grew up in coastal Florida, Cape Canaveral,” he says.

“My mom never fried a single thing.

We had a garden. We ate baked chicken. But I was familiar with Southern ingredients.”

Situated in a nondescript brick building on Maple Street, Hot Stuff is designed in Hereford’s maximalist, tongue-in-cheek style. The decor is an ode to retro pop culture, with plastic toys, neon signs and old advertisements.

While the vibe might be a kissing cousin to Turkey and the Wolf, what’s on the plate is not.

“We were always trying to surprise our customers,” Barfield says. “They would expect one thing, but we’d do something different. We don’t do that here.”

Barfield follows tradition and elevates it at the same time. The hamburger steak has a rich au poivre sauce.

Fried chicken is brined in hot sauce and

buttermilk for two days, then dredged in flour cut with cayenne for subtle heat. There’s pickle cheese, similar to pimiento but made with pickles.

Creamy mac and cheese has a cap of melted cheese on top of the cavatappi pasta. Mini Mountain Dew cakes are glazed and zested with lemon and lime. And the banana pudding tastes like bananas Foster.

Diners grab a tray and make their way down the line, opting for a protein and as many sides as they want, or simply skip the meat altogether and stick with vegetable and vegan sides. lunch includes cornbread, a roll brushed with sage brown butter, or sometimes hush puppies. The daily menu is posted on the restaurant’s Instagram feed. Plates start at $11 (meat, one side, bread), and a meat and three is $18.

For cocktails, diners order a shot of booze and add mixers at the soda dispenser.

It’s not unusual to have a line out the door as folks queue up for fried pork chops and collards studded with bacon and ham hocks. There’s an expansive covered patio in back.

“I always cared about my job at Turkey and the Wolf,” Barfield says.

“But I’m surprised at the extra level I care about this. I wake up in the morning, get here at 7 and put in a long day, and it’s great. I even come in on days we’re closed to catch up on paperwork.

I just love this place.”

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Tales of the Cocktail gave this connection a spot on the calendar too, right when it’s needed most.

The annual bartending and spirits industry conference and celebration rolls again this week (July 21-26), with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel as its home base and ripples that are felt across the city. locals can see the impact as people from around the world soak in the scene and bolster local businesses in the teeth of summer.

This is the 22nd year for Tales of the Cocktail, which started small as a walking tour of local cocktail history. It’s grown to become an important place for people in the spirits and hospitality business to network with the movers and shakers in their field and major spirits companies.

Sponsors come to promote brands and launch products. Bartenders, bar owners, brand reps and distillers from around the world come to learn at seminars, and to party in between.

Sly Augustin, owner of Trailer Happiness in London, prepares martinis at a Ford’s Gin event at Tales of the Cocktail in 2023.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

Today, the event is run by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. The nonprofit makes grants to initiatives aimed at improving the health and well-being of bartenders.

While it’s an industry-focused event, there are plenty of ways for cocktail aficionados to get involved, even if that might mean ducking out of work for the day or staying out very late.

Tales of the Cocktail helps the New Orleans hospitality industry, and also burnishes the city’s credibility in the cocktail world year-round.

By drawing a crowd of hospitality pros and spirits brands to the city in the middle of summer, it provides a value that some in the industry say is hard to PAGE 27

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overstate, putting wind in the sails to make it through to fall. Brands often take over entire bars, restaurants or even hotels for a night; parties play out at venues across town; restaurants and bars not officially affiliated with the programs see full houses too.

The event’s economic impact totaled $24 million last year, according to the nonprofit’s annual report, which was a nearly 9% increase from 2022.

Through its history, the event also has helped move New Orleans to the forefront of an evolving drinks industry. The Tales of the Cocktail name and experiences in New Orleans racked up from it are common threads of conversation around the bar business.

The Tales of the Cocktail calendar includes hundreds of events, some by invitation only, some open to the public, often featuring guest brands and bartenders from across the globe. This year, Tales of the Cocktail has more access points for casual cocktail lovers to take part alongside the pros.

The week gets off to a start with the national finals round of Speed Rack, a competition that pits female bartenders against each other in timed bouts for cocktail making, with ticket proceeds benefiting breast cancer research. Bartenders from across the country who have risen through the brackets of previous rounds face off on July 21 at Republic NOlA. Tickets are $25 via speed-rack.com.

One key facet of Tales are tasting rooms, and these are easier for the general pubic to access now. Spirits brands set up these rooms across the Ritz-Carlton each day, pouring samples of their flagship labels and latest releases. Tasting Room day passes are aimed at people who want to dip in for a taste, available for $45 per day.

These rooms are open during the daytime, Monday through Thursday.

Cocktail tours are another easy access point. This year’s tours, developed by New Orleans-based drinks expert Wayne Curtis, explore topics including “Brandy/Bourbon/Bitters/ Ice (or New Orleans drinking 101),” “The Big Gay Bar Tour,” “Bourbon Street & How it Got That Way,” and “Absinthe Tour.” These are small tours, capped at 18 people, with drink samples during the outing. Tickets are $65.

Some restaurants host Spirited Dinners, the booze equivalent to wine dinners. Palm & Pine, for instance, has one with Tequila Fortaleza pouring from its portfolio across four courses on Wednesday (July

Bartenders prepare specialty drinks with dry ice during an event at Tales of the Cocktail in 2023.

PHOTO BY IAN MCNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

24), while the Bower hosts a dinner with Italian spirits brand luxardo with guest bartenders from the San Francisco cocktail lounge True laurel.

The brasserie Justine hosts the Bay Area Botanical Soiree, a martini and caviar tasting with the Hotaling & Co. spirits brand, California-based caviar brand Tsar Nicoulai and seafood towers from the kitchen. Tickets are $50 and benefit the local bar-based nonprofit Turning Tables, which works to increase racial equity in the field.

Details on events are at talesofthecocktail.org/events (pick the event listing filters for “Spirited Dining” and “Spirited Drinking” to find events like these).

Another facet of Tales of the Cocktail is its Spirited Awards, which bestows industry honors to top bars, bartenders and brands. That’s a gala-style awards ceremony, held this year at the Fillmore inside Caesars (formerly Harrah’s) casino on July 25.

New Orleans has two bars up for awards: Jewel of the South is a finalist for best u.S. bar, and The Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt is a finalist for best u.S. hotel bar.

The Tales week ends with one of its most publicly visible events on July 26.

Pig & Punch is an annual benefit put on by the Bon Vivants, a group of bar pros in San Francisco, who raise money for charity and organize a program of volunteer service in the community. This year, the party moves to the Broadside from noon to 5 p.m.

There will be food from Hogs for the Cause teams, music by Rebirth Brass Band, and various drinks.

Tickets are $40.

For tickets and scheduling information, go to talesofthecocktail.org and under the TOTC2024 Agenda section use the search function to sort by day or type of event. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune

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Jonathan Pogash

We’re also doing a live recording of our podcast, also called the Cocktail Guru.

One of our guests is going to be Allen Katz, founder of the New york Distilling Company. He has some interesting spirits products.

Founder, The Cocktail Guru

by Will Coviello COCKTAIL CONSULTANT JONATHAN POGASH GOT INTO THE BAR BUSINESS

OF THE

WEEK

What cocktail world trends are you interested in?

in New york when the craft cocktail movement was taking off. He started The Cocktail Guru to produce events, consult for bars and more. He’s been a regular attendee at Tales of the Cocktail, and this year he’s leading a French-inspired Spirited Dinner at Cafe Amelie on Thursday, July 25, and hosting a happy hour. For information about Pogash, see thecocktailguru.com. Tickets for the French dinner are available on eventbrite.com.

How did you get interested in bartending?

JONATHAN POGASH: I grew up in the wine business. My dad used to represent wine producers from Alsace.

Before I was born, he wrote a book called “How to Read a Wine label.”

He was trained in Paris, and he worked at Fouquet’s restaurant in Paris. My mom was French Moroccan, so there was a lot of interesting food and flavors growing up.

But I wanted to be an actor. I went to college for theater and moved to New york for acting and obviously got a job in a bar.

I started right after college in 2001.

My first job was as a barback at the Russian Tea Room. That was a big deal, and I learned a lot. I just started getting creative behind the bar.

There was an interesting program at the Russian Tea Room. Steve Olson redid the bar and was using fresh juices and following the footsteps of Dale DeGroff at the Rainbow Room.

There were a few places (doing craft cocktails). Sasha Petraske was putting his programs together, and Julie Reiner and Audrey Saunders.

They were older than I was, but I was thrown into it.

I thought I’d do a little side hustle. I worked with Gary Regan, who was one of my mentors. He was big on following your dreams. I just created the Cocktail Guru to do events in New york and work with brands and consulting for bars, and it just blew up.

The timing was working out. I was coming in at a really good time. At that time, spirit brands were looking for talent behind the bar. They would come into my bar and be like, “Here’s a product. Can you mess around with

WINE

PROVIDED PHOTO BY CASEY MCMURRAY

it?” I would do it, and then I was like, maybe I should get paid for this kind of stuff. So I made it a business.

What are you doing at Tales of the Cocktail?

P: like I said, my mom is French Moroccan. I grew up speaking French.

The spirits in France are really interesting. I like the flavors and expressions.

Working with Star Hodgson in New Orleans was natural. We’ve worked together before. Her spot at Cafe Amelie is a quintessential French cafe.

We’re creating a menu and have spirits and wines as well. And we have a burlesque performance.

It’s four courses paired with drinks and an aperitif. We’ll be there going around telling stories and mingling.

I am doing an aperitif cocktail that is based off the French drink the batard.

It’s a variation on a picon biere. It’s like a beer-based aperitif. It’s kind of like a French boilermaker. It’s a liqueur from France’s Marie Brizard mixed with beer; we’re using Dale’s Pale Ale. We also have a cognac and tequila we’re using.

We’re also doing a happy hour at the AC Hotel. It’s an afternoon with the Gurus on Wednesday from 4-6 p.m. We’ll have three special cocktails. I am thinking we’ll do some tequila drinks and use some fresh fruit purees from Napa Valley and some Monin syrups.

P: I am all about excellent ingredients.

If I get a flavored product, I want to make sure it’s natural and true to the flavor.

When I am experimenting and coming up with cocktails, the first barometer is if the product tastes great on its own. like with tequila, I try to work with brands that are additive free and are sustainable.

Wine and beer cocktails are coming back. European spirits are pushing through. Italy, Spain, Portugal and France are pushing through, like with amaros, limoncellos, vermouths and sherries.

Non-alcoholic products are huge now, because we have a rise in NA spirits and cocktails. Quality runs the gamut on non-alcoholic spirits. The ones that are good really stand out.

There are not nearly as many nonalcoholic spirits as alcoholic spirits, and creating non-alcoholic cocktails can be challenging. I always try to include non-alcoholic drinks when I am working with a restaurant, but not necessarily with non-alcoholic spirits. I use a lot of tea infusions. That’s a lower cost way of mimicking a spirit.

A lot of these non-alcoholic spirits are just as expensive as spirits, but for a restaurant that can be prohibitive, because you’re not going to charge the same price as for an alcoholic drink. The consumer perception isn’t there yet. If I want to make a non-alcoholic old fashioned, I may brew some black tea, which mimics the flavor of whiskey.

I use ingredients that speak to me and watch what’s available at grocery stores and markets. We consult across the country. Smaller markets want to stay on top of it. Everyone wants a creative menu, but you can only do it when you do the training. That’s the most important part of it.

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Out to Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ices, cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and more. There also are coffee drinks. No reservations. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com — Gulf Drum yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. There also are seafood pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and more. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$ Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. Reservations accepted. lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$ The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served with rosemary garlic butter sauce over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. The menu includes po-poys, fried seafood platters, raw and char-grilled oysters, boiled seafood in season, and more.

Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lakeview: lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$ Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 5813866; broussards.com — Rainbow trout amandine is served with tasso and corn macque choux and Creole meuniere sauce.

Brunch includes Benedicts, chicken and waffles and more. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli.

Sandwiches include po-boys, a muffuletta on flatbread and a burger. No reservations.

Breakfast and lunch daily. $$ The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more.

No reservations. Outdoor seating available. lunch Tue.-Sat. $$ Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. There also are crab cakes, shrimp and grits, crawfish etouffee, po-boys and more. Reservations accepted. lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300;

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes char-grilled oysters topped with Parmesan and herbs.

The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse. com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. Reservations accepted. lunch and dinner daily. $$$ Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more.

A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended.

Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa. The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, salads and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, cheese and pickles. The eclectic menu also includes char-grilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The bar menu includes sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, including one topped with peach, prosciutto, stracciatella cheese, arugula and pecans. No reservations. Dinner Wed.-Sat. $$ Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and a NOlA Style Grits Bowl topped with bacon, cheddar and a poached egg. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 513-2606; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes filets mignons and bone-in rib-eyes, as well as burgers, salads and seafood dishes.

Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$

Luzianne Cafe — 481 Girod St., (504) 2651972; luziannecafe.com — Boudin Benedict features two poached eggs over boudin and an English muffin, served with green tomato chow chow and hollandaise. No reservations.

Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Sun. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. The menu also has noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. lunch Sun.Fri., dinner daily. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including chicken a la grande, shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and chicken cacciatore.

Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage and Creole favorites like jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day. Delivery available.

No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co. — 817 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 837-8580; 1005 S. Clearview Parkway, Jefferson, (504) 734-1122; 2515 B Manhattan Blvd., Harvey, (504) 684-6050; 4141 St. Charles Ave., (504) 247-9753; 6920 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 455-1272; nohsc.com — The menu ranges from burgers to Italian dishes, fried seafood platters, po-boys, salads and more. Thinfried Catfish lafitte is served over rice pilaf. Delivery available. lunch and dinner daily. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans and rice with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as shrimp Creole, seafood platters, po-boys, char-grilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro — 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$ Palace Cafe — 605 Canal St., (504) 523-1661; palacecafe.com — The contemporary Creole menu includes crabmeat cheesecake with mushrooms and Creole meuniere sauce.

Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill.com — The menu includes burgers, sandwiches, pizza and sauteed andouille with fig dip, blue cheese and toast points.

Reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$ Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.Mon., brunch Sun. $$ Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations.

Dinner daily. $$ Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 9343463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$ Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more.

Delivery available. lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 1433 St. Charles Ave., (504) 354-1342; 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes several types of ceviche, as well as steak and seafood dishes. Traditional lomo saltado features sauteed beef tenderloin tips, onions, tomatoes, soy sauce and pisco, served with potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating available on Magazine Street. Delivery available.

Reservations accepted. lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$ The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

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Cecilia Zabala

Argentine singer and guitarist Cecilia Zabala draws on Argentine folklore and tango, jazz, Brazilian music and more. She’s on a u.S. tour in July and is previewing music from her forthcoming album “Sagrado Rito.” At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 23, at Snug Harbor. Tickets $30 via snugjazz.com.

Desert Nudes

New Orleans improv troupe Big Couch hosts a summer comedy bash and vendor market on Saturday, July 27, at their home in Bywater. Along with Big Couch, there will be improv comedy performances by Anubis Improv, Fish Tahco, Party Crashers and you’re Invited. The arts market opens at 3 p.m. and performances start at 4 p.m.

Tickets are $20 via eventbrite.com.

New Orleans’ “Tumbleweed Troubadours” play country and folk music, though Andre Bohren and David Pomerleau are better known for their work in Johnny Sketch & the Dirty Notes. John Paul Carmody rounds out the trio. The band released the album “Keep A-Movin’, Dan” earlier this year. At 5-8 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at NOlA Brewing. Free admission. Find information at nolabrewing.com.

NOLA Reggae Fest

Erica Falls

Jamaican singer Lutan Fiyah has released more then 15 reggae records.

He’s on tour with Droop lion, the singer behind the hit “Freeway.”

They perform at 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, at Rabbit Hole. Tickets $20 via eventbrite.com.

Grrl Spot

New Orleans lesbian bar pop-up Grrl Spot hosts its next dance party at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at Siberia. DJ Shan li and Olivier will be spinning.

Tickets are $18.61 via @grrlspot on Instagram.

Amir K

Los Angeles-based comedian Amir K was on the cast of the short-lived reboot of “Madtv,” and his improvisational chops regularly make their way into his stand-up. He’s appeared on CBS’ “After Midnight,” Comedy Central and NBC’s “last Comic Standing.” He performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, July 27, at the Howlin’ Wolf. Tickets are $22 via laughlife.standuptix.com.

Vegas Cola Band

Littlle Tropical Isle 435 BOUR RBON Tropical Isle Original 600 BOURBON Tropical Isle’s Bayou Club 610 BOURBON Tropical Isle 721 BOURBON Honky Tonk 727 Bourbon

summer, the Vegas Cola Band holds down a Sunday night residency at d.b.a. Catch them next at 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 28. Find more info at dbaneworleans.com.

Vocalist Vegas Cola has had dynamic career performing with Dave Bartholomew, Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr., James Andrews and Big Sam’s Funky Nation. And at the front of her own band, she energetically shakes up R&B, funk and jazz. This

Singer Erica Falls brings her vintage soul and funk sounds to Tipitina’s for a Free Fridays concert. local rock band Zita opens. At 9 p.m. Friday, July 27.

Free admission. Find information at tipitinas.com.

Lindsey Stirling

Electro-violinist and singer Lindsey Stirling recently released her seventh studio album, “Duality,” which is appropriately split into two parts. The album’s first half includes cinematic, world music-inspired tracks blending classical music and EDM. The back half of “Duality” also includes dance music but has a more pop focus. Stirling is now on tour and performs at 7 p.m.

Saturday, July 27, at the Saenger Theatre. Tickets start at $50.50 via saengernola.com.

Metronome Re-Mixer

New Orleans music business accelerator Metronome hosts a mixer, roundtable and performances on Saturday, July 27, at Chickie Wah Wah. Guitarist Joshua Starkman, who regularly plays with Preservation Hall and is the grinning face behind Have a Great Day, hosts and will be joined by four guest artists for musical performances and discussion. Re-Mixer starts at 8 p.m. and is free to attend. Find more info at chickiewahwah.com.

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To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com

MONDAY 22 BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Dick Deluxe and Friends, 9 pm BOURBON O BAR — Tiffany Hall, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Matinee All Star Band, 1 pm; Ragtag Ballyhoo, 5 pm; Richard "Piano" Scott and Friends, 8 pm

TUESDAY 23 BOURBON O BAR — Ingrid luccia, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 1 pm; Colin Myers Band, 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/ Jamil Sharif, 8 pm THE RABBIT HOLE — Rebirth Brass Band, 8 pm

WEDNESDAY 24 BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Joey's Backyard Movie Night (Nic Cage Bingo), 8 pm BLUE NILE — New Breed Brass Band, 9:30 pm BOURBON O BAR — Serabee, 8 pm CAFÉ ISTANBUL — Cole Williams, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 1 pm; Bourbon Street Stars , 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/Kevin Ray Clark, 8 pm

THURSDAY 25 30°/-90° — Audrey leCrone and the Craw-zaddies, 6 pm BLUENILE— Where y'at Brass Band, 9 pm BOURBON O BAR — Xcitement Band, 8 pm CAESARS SUPERDOME — Zach Bryan, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 1 pm; Doyle Cooper Band, 2:30 pm; John Saavedra Band, 6 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/ Kevin Ray Clark, 8 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da lovebirds with Robin Barnes and Pat Casey , 8 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Rusty Metoyer & the Zydeco Krush, 8 pm

BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers Funk Box, 8 pm; Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, 11 pm BOURBON O BAR — Ellen Smith & April Spain, 4 pm; Mem Shannon Trio, 8 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — Sean Riley, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Sam Friend, 2:30 pm; Sazarac Street w/John Royen, 6 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/ Kevin Ray Clark, 9 pm NOLA BREWING — Papa Mali Trio, 7 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — l'Eighties Night, 8:30 pm SANTOS — Killing Pixies, Hell Mary, F.I.T.H. and Donate your Friends, 9 pm TIPITINA'S — Erica Falls & Vintage Soul, Zita, 9 pm

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BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Cuba Heat, 9 pm BLUE NILE — George Brown Band, 8 pm; The Next level Band, 11 pm BOURBON O BAR — Brian Wingard, 4 pm; The Blues Masters, 8 pm DOUBLE DEALER BAR — Sean Riley, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Steve Detroy Band, 2:30 pm; Chuck Brackman Band, 6 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/ Jamil Sharif, 9 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — The Rouge Krewe, 8:30 pm SANTOS — Buckle Bunny with Just Kidding, 7 pm THE COURTYARD BREWERY — Sariyah Idan, 7 pm TIPITINA'S — Iceman Special, Diamond J & The Ruby Red Raindrops feat. Roddie Romero and The Quadroholics, 9 pm

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BLUE NILE — Street legends Brass Band, 10:30 pm BLUE NILE — The Baked Potatoes, 8 pm BOURBON O BAR — Marc Stone, 4 pm; Kenny Brown & the KB Express, 8 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Doyle Cooper Band, 12:30 pm; Matinee All Star Band w/Ross Hoppe, Dwayne Burns, 5 pm; Fritzels All Star Band w/ Mike Fulton, 8 pm JOHN CALVIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH — Sundays @ Six Concert Series, 6 pm

FRIDAY 26 30°/-90° — Perfect Date Night: The Spiciest Jazz Standards, 5 pm BJ'S LOUNGE BYWATER — Scully & the Whip Appeal + Morgan Orion + the Tangle, 9 pm

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SUDOKU

MUSIC

Voice work

by Jake Clapp

JULY IS INTERNATIONAL STOP RAPPING OVER VOCALS MONTH, and Marcel P. Black is

spending his summer on the road spreading the word: Real emcees don’t rap over vocals.

Hip-hop means everything to the Tulsa, Oklahoma, conscious emcee who for years was the stalwart backbone of Baton Rouge’s underground hip-hop community. His longstanding mantra has been “#CultureOverEverything,” a call to both listeners and practitioners to respect hip-hop as an art form, a lifestyle and a tool to uplift.

So he doesn’t look kindly on performers who think they can phone it in by rapping over music that also includes their vocal tracks.

“It really goes back to the history of Black music, period,” Black says. “The African oral tradition, the power in using your voice to amplify and express your emotions and feelings.”

This summer, Black, who is an educator in Tulsa schools, is on The REDROV (Real Emcees Don’t Rap Over Vocals) Tour, and this week embarks on the tour’s Southern leg, revisiting the region where he grew into his own as a rapper and music professional.

On Friday, July 26, Black headlines a show at Siberia with New Orleans’ luke Julien and Kaye the Beast and Atlanta’s D. Horton. Alfred Banks, who cut his teeth touring extensively with Black, will host the show.

Black grew up in Oklahoma as the son of a social worker and a gospel singer, and he fell in love with hip-hop at an early age. After moving to Baton Rouge to attend Southern university, he began performing, recording and promoting hip-hop there.

With a forceful flow delivered with his chest, Black — who has described himself as an emcee “kicking southern Pan African radical left conscious rap for gangbangers and backpackers” — uses his music as a radical cry for Black liberation. It’s also often a deeply felt love letter to the culture that’s shaped him, like on his most recent EP, “Moor ClTR,” released last year.

As far back as 2010, Black would occasionally post to Facebook about seeing a performer rap over their vocals, which he saw as a slight to the live performance craft. Fast forward to 2018, Black was in Oakland, and a woman who booked him referenced his stances.

Marcel P. Black headlines Siberia on July 26.

PHOTO BY BRIANNA PACIORKA / THE ADVOCATE

“The next week, I was in Ohio and for some reason I went on a rant, just kind of joking, making fun of people who rap over vocals, but the next day, this guy walks up to me and he was like, ‘Hey, you’re the guy who talks about rapping over vocals all the time,’” Black says.

He didn’t think people had been paying attention, but the interactions encouraged him to continue to advocate for better craftsmanship and push younger rappers to be serious about their work.

In the years since, “Real Emcees Dont Rap Over Vocals” (no apostrophe) has appeared on shirts and Black’s merch. He’s dedicated July 25 to the cause, and rappers from far-flung locations have also picked up the banner. A poster Black made in 2022 featuring Jadakiss, who also has called out rappers using pre-recorded tracks, went viral and was shared by DJ Premier and hip-hop news sites.

“In Tulsa, I am the boogie man,” Black says with a laugh. “People will legit not perform if I’m on the bill and they were gonna rap over vocals. It’s something I have fun with. I am serious about good performances and the African oral tradition, but I have fun with it as well … I’m gonna just do what I do. I won’t chastise nobody. I’ll just do my thing and show them how it’s done.”

Many people marked last year as the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and in most of that history, performers couldn’t easily use their recorded vocals on stage, Black says. Simply, there’s a long history of emcees doing the work, he says.

“The voice is powerful,” Black says. “The things you can do with it are powerful.”

Marcel P. Black performs at 9 p.m.

Friday, July 26, at Siberia. Tickets are $12.40 via siberianola.com.

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE TRAPPED WATER

By Frank A. Longo

with an arm extended straight out 35 Attacked boxer-style 41 Boise is its cap.

42 Canon camera line 43 French assent 44 Been shut down, as a theater 47 Dropped a bit 50 Actor Davis 53 Focal point 54 Pull back (in) 56 Disney lion 60 Insulated drink cup 63 Bovine captured by Hercules 66 Actor Erwin 67 Chou En- --

69 Railroad or bus terminus 70 Clean air org.

73 Loyalty program 78 Duet number 79 Rover’s rope 82 Hugs, in texts 83 “Carte” start 86 “Super work!”

89 1985 Kentucky Derby winner 95 Like some questions 96 Bug’s feeler 98 “-- found it!”

99 Japanese fish dish 100 Door fixture 103 Overindulges 106 Director’s cry 107 -- Fridays

DOWN 1 Photos 2 Hanker (for) 3 Yard eyesore 4 “Capeesh?”

5 Whelp’s yelp 6 She-horse 7 Petri dish gel 8 Part of mph 9 Plus 10 Implore 11 Latin “that is” 12 Nutlike Chinese fruit 13 The, in Tours 14 Tolerate 15 Tease 16 Detach by dissolving an adhesive 17 Cry to a rescuer 18 Eucharist-holding plates 24 Bistro’s kin 26 Gondola path 29 “The View” co-host Joy 32 Comic’s joke 33 Certain PC readout 34 Paid spots 35 Horn honk 36 “Be silent!”

37 Escalate 38 Sci-fi writer Frederik 39 “E pluribus --” 40 Cosmic cloud

45 Fun activities, in brief 46 White wine aperitif 48 Lacks being 49 “I call that as mine!”

51 Taxing gp.

52 Lifesaving pro 55 Carter of sitcomdom 57 Mongrel 58 Hard hit 59 Rival of Iams 61 Special glows 62 Needlefish 64 Sorority “T” 65 Just -- (equally undesirable) 68 Wedding vow 70 Nervous 71 Sweat source 72 Ripens 74 “C’-- la vie” 75 Pummel 76 Distress call 77 Xerox product 80 Gangly 81 Alma mater of Wills 84 “Deck the Halls” syllables 85 -- Dhabi 87 “Deck the Halls” syllables 88 Winter illness 90 Dastardly 91 Ensnares

ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS

92 Maritime rescue gp.

93 Drink quickly 94 Baby foxes 97 Makes ready, informally 101 Fictional belle Scarlett 102 Disallow 104 Pudgy 105 Educ. inst.

107 Coils 108 Biological subdivisions 109 Like live balls 111 Deity ruling the heavens 113 Brought up 114 Language of Islamabad 116 How clothes are tailored 117 Follower of “You’d think so ...”

118 1986 Indy 500 winner Bobby 119 Pick -- pace 123 BLT addition 124 Bit of news 125 “PDQ!” 127 Suffix with exist or differ 128 Final Four gp.

129 By way of, informally 131 Lead-in to cycle 132 Cochlea site 133 “See ya!”

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 34

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 Spot’s foot 4 Motorcycle maker 10 ATM output 14 Baffle 19 Driving hazard 20 Region in Spain 21 Actress Falco 22 Country singer Tucker 23 Kiting, e.g.

25 Is discovered doing a misdeed 27 Roomy auto 28 Bungle 29 Kind of pear 30 U.S. Shakers founder 31 Driving hazard 33 What a cyclist signals

110 Partakes of 112 Bluegrass banjo pioneer 115 Was ruined financially 120 That woman 121 Copious arrival 122 Talks shrilly 123 Hamm on a soccer field 126 Make -- in (do some work on) 130 Not educated by others 132 Downs an omelet, maybe 134 Subway unit 135 Ark builder 136 “Will do, cap’n!”

137 Subway unit 138 Direct at, as a remark 139 Be inactive 140 Frolicked 141 What remains if you remove all the consonants from 13 long answers in this puzzle

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