Gambit: November 16, 2021 by Gambit New Orleans

November 16-22 2021 Volume 42 Number 45

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NOVEMBER 16 — 22, 2021 VOLUME 42 || NUMBER 45

CONTENTS

NEWS Opening Gambit ............................6 Commentary ..................................9 Clancy DuBos .............................. 10 Blake Pontchartrain ................... 11

FEATURES

ays w l a ! s T i R e r E e S S Th r E o f D m Roo

Arts & Entertainment..................5 Eat + Drink ....................................22 Music ..............................................26 P H O T O B Y D AV I D G R U N F E L D / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

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Back In the Streets

Music Calendar ............................27 Film ................................................ 30 Puzzles........................................... 31

After Two Years of Loss and Uncertainty, Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs Are Steppin’ Out Again

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Gambit (ISSN 1089-3520) is published weekly by Capital City Press, LLC, 840 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130. (504) 486-5900. We cannot be held responsible for the return of unsolicited manuscripts even if accompanied by a SASE. All material published in Gambit is copyrighted: Copyright 2021 Capital City Press, LLC. All rights reserved.

Making history Writer Fatima Shaik highlights Words & Music festival

Gary Clark Jr. BLUESMAN GARY CLARK JR. WON THREE GRAMMY AWARDS following

by Will Coviello

NEW ORLEANS’ SOCIETE D’ECONOMIE ET D’ASSISTANCE MUTUELLE, OR ECONOMY AND MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION, was

not a secret group. An organization founded by free people of color in the 1830s and which existed for more than a century, it long maintained its headquarters, Economy Hall, near St. Augustine Church in Treme. It was a welcoming place, open to free people of color, formerly enslaved people and whites, and it had German-Jewish and Italian members. The Louisiana Republican Party held its first convention there in 1865. Fatima Shaik’s history of the group, “Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood,” includes the word “hidden,” but for her, that has a personal meaning as well. Her book is primarily based on nearly a century’s worth of journals and records maintained by the society — documents her father rescued from the back of a truck when she was young. For years, the journals were stored away in her family home. “My dad picked up the books off a dump truck in the 1950s,” Shaik says. “When I was a child, I would go in the closet with a flashlight and try to figure out what was in these books. When I opened them in 1997, I started recognizing the names. They were probably the most influential and wealthy free Black community.” Shaik received the Louisiana Writer Award in July for the book, published by the Historic New Orleans Collection early this year. She is presenting a workshop on working with records hiding in plain sight at the Words & Music Festival, which runs Nov. 17-20, with its readings, performances and workshops available virtually. Shaik’s workshop focuses on publicly available records. “You can take a document from the notarial archives and go from that name to where they lived and look in history and see what was going on in that location and look at other property records,” she says. “You can construct these worlds from history.” Her book is rare in the way history is told by people who don’t usually get to write it. In this case, it’s the point of view of Black people before and after the Civil War and up through Jim Crow. At least two Economy members were killed at the Battle of Liberty Place, she says. And she notes that at the time,

there was no “Liberty Place.” That name was created by the city years after the white supremacist attack on Canal Street. In the book, Shaik focuses on Ludger Boguille, whose lineage goes back to Haiti and the revolution there. He was a longtime leader of the Economy group. He and others recorded the group’s regular meetings and concerns from antebellum New Orleans onward. Economy members were active in politics during Reconstruction, including voter registration efforts, and kept working for progress as the city and the South came under the rule of Jim Crow and segregation. In the minutes, Shaik found the group’s determination and efforts to effect change. “I loved that in 1836, at their second meeting, they were putting together a library,” Shaik says. “They had an atlas, books about democracy, books on mathematics, they might have had the writings of Thomas Jefferson. They put together this library as soon as they started — in a state where it was against the law (for enslaved people) to read.” Shaik also says it’s important to recognize that the Economy members and Black New Orleanians were acting on their own behalf and not merely reacting or subject to the decisions of white-led government or society. She notes that in New Orleans, Black people and people of color comprised the majority of the population when the city was founded. They did not control the city, though they built

the release of his 2019 album “The Land,” including Best Rock Song for the title track, a scorching anti-racist anthem. Blackillac also performs. Doors open at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, at The Fillmore. Find tickets at ticketmaster.com.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY F AT I M A S H A I K

most of the buildings, roads, levees and more, she adds. In his notes, Boguille would write when police entered the meetings — an act of intimidation. But the journals also record all of the community’s concerns, including holding dances and social events. Shaik is working on a second book based on another Economy society member, as well as a book about her search for her grandfather’s farm near Kolkata, India. That was the subject of the documentary “The Bengali,” which screened last week at the New Orleans Film Festival. Shaik’s grandfather was a fabric seller who came to New Orleans more than a century ago and started a family, though he intended to one day return to India, Shaik says. Shaik’s workshop leads off the Words & Music Festival at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17. The festival is organized by One Book One New Orleans. The keynote event features Clint Smith, author of “How the Word is Passed.” Featured writers include Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy and Maurice Carlos Ruffin, who’ll discuss his recently released short story collection, “The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You.” There also are sessions on graphic novels and prison writing projects. Programming also includes music by Johnny Vidacovich and Les Cenelles. Visit wordsandmusic.org for schedule and details.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY FR ANK MADDOCKS

Gary Clark Jr. performs Wednesday, Nov. 17, at The Fillmore.

Festival of Lights HANUKKAH DOESN’T ACTUALLY BEGIN UNTIL NOV. 28, but Zony Mash Beer

Project is starting the celebration early with a beer release and live music. On Wednesday, Nov. 17, the brewery will release its seasonal milk chocolate gelt imperial stout, LIT AF, and host a set by the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars. The Latke Daddy pop-up will serve food. The Festival of Lights starts at 7 p.m. Find more information at zonymashbeer.com.

New Orleans Airlift’s Community Fundraiser ARTS ORGANIZATION NEW ORLEANS AIRLIFT will host “Monumental,”

a community benefit and fundraiser featuring music and more on Friday, Nov. 19. The music lineup includes the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 79rs Gang, Pell, HaSizzle, Spirit McIntyre, Congolese drummer Papa Titos Sompa, “Have a Great Day” host Joshua Starkman and Tif Lamson with Andrew Campanelli. DJ and PAGE 29

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OPENING GAMBIT NEW ORLEANS NEWS + VIEWS

It Ain’t Cool Bein’ No Jive Turkey so Close to Thanksgiving

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based investment firm that focuses on infrastructure, has pledged $1 million to New Orleans mentorship organization Son of a Saint. The local group will use the commitment, which will be distributed across four years, to expand its programming and reach in New Orleans.

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CFO Norman White wants to crackdown on pop up vendors, many of whom are still struggling to make ends meet as a result of the pandemic.

Despite Regulatory Nightmare, City Vows to Crack Down on Pop Ups Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration has dedicat-

ed $8 million toward efforts helping the unhoused in New Orleans. The city allocated $5 million to add close to 250 new beds to the Low Barrier Shelter, which is located at the old Veterans Affairs building, and $3 million to help Ozanam Inn with its new property on Poydras Street.

Event permitting fees were a major factor in music venue d.b.a.’s decision to stop hosting outdoor shows at its Palace Market space on Frenchmen Street. Each month the club was paying more than $5,000 in permitting fees alone, owner Tom Thayer told The Times-Picayune. Add the costs of paying bands, staffers and other expenses, and it was tough to make ends meet on the outdoor space. Outdoor venues for live music have been a relief for musicians and popular among concertgoers during the pandemic, but the city hasn’t made it easy for those spaces to exist.

MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL’S ADMINISTRATION WILL BEGIN an “aggressive”

enforcement push against pop ups and street vendors as part of an effort to generate more revenue for the city, The TimesPicayune reported last week. “We have to be more aggressive. We will get more aggressive,” Chief Financial Officer Norman White said during a City Council hearing on Cantrell’s 2022 budget proposal. Pop up markets have long been a fixture throughout much of the city. But when the COVID19 pandemic began, the ranks of the industry swelled significantly as more and more newly unemployed New Orleanians setup kitchen table businesses to generate some sort of income. Most are relatively small operations, ranging from vintage clothing businesses to ice cream makers and artists. Few of these businesses have permits or have paid other fees, as well as sales tax. Over the last 19 months, the city has largely turned a blind eye to the markets where these vendors sell their wares. But that appears to be changing, as the city begun cracking down on small businesses ranging from bars and other venues hosting outdoor music to non-traditional food industry businesses.

The city’s permitting process is extremely complicated, expensive and difficult to navigate and businesses typically need to hire consultants to effectively navigate it. Meanwhile, the city said it will also try to step up enforcement against illegal Short-Term Rentals, though White acknowledged that may be easier said than done. Because Airbnb and other STR platforms don’t report the “roster” of properties they rent when paying taxes to the city, it is impossible to know if they are actually getting all the taxes owed the city. As the Times-Pic reported, that revelation “surprised District B Council member Jay Banks, who said that Airbnb and other rental platforms could be free to cheat the city at will. ‘They could very well be beating us every time they send a check in,’ Banks said, prompting White to acknowledge that ‘it is a problem, no doubt about it.’ ” Of course, collecting taxes on illegal rentals and enforcing the rules barring them are separate issues, and Council Member Kristin Gisleson Palmer warned she’s concerned focusing on tax collection could essentially end up incentivizing illegal STRs for operators willing to pay the tax. “I do not want this administration to start using this as a way of

THE NUMBER OF DOLLARS THE NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC LIBRARY FOUNDATION IS SEEKING IN RESTITUTION FROM FORMER BOARD MEMBER IRVIN MAYFIELD, HIS COLLABORATOR RONALD MARKHAM AND THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA. That’s according to civil court lawsuit filed shortly after the criminal trial ended earlier this month. Mayfield and Markham were sentenced on Nov. 3 to 18 months in federal prison for funneling more than a million dollars away from the foundation, and they were each ordered to pay $500 a month back to it. But if a judge rules in favor of the foundation, it will get its stolen money back much more quickly than the 92 years it would currently take.

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incentivizing and just not worrying about these illegally operating STRs because they are a windfall,” Palmer said. — John Stanton

Jason Williams: Parity? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Parity WHEN NEW ORLEANS MAYOR LATOYA CANTRELL RELEASED her proposed 2022 budget last month, the Orleans Public Defenders office celebrated it because the proposal nearly doubled their city allocation from this year, from $3.4 million to nearly $6 million. It also provided, for the first time, “parity” between OPD funding and funding given to the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s office, with whom public defenders face off in court every day. But on Wednesday, the third day of budget hearings in front of the New Orleans City Council on Wednesday, a former councilmember — and sponsor of a 2020 ordinance designed to guarantee parity between the offices — lobbied to tilt the funding scales back in favor of prosecutors. The former councilmember is now the Orleans Parish District Attorney. DA Jason Williams on Wednesday asked for several million dollars of

additional funding above Cantrell’s proposed budget for his office — which he suggested he should receive even if it means the Orleans Public Defenders won’t receive the same increase. That would go against the parity law that then-Councilman Williams fought for last year. The law requires the Orleans Public Defenders to receive 85 percent of the city-allocated funding given to the District Attorney’s Office — which they estimate is the percentage of criminal cases the office is responsible for defending. When the council passed the ordinance in August 2020, Williams — months away from an election where he was running on a progressive platform — said parity between the two offices was “absolutely required.” “I would say that as a City Council member at-large, I would say that if I was district attorney, I would say that if I was a plumber, I would say that if I was a defendant at Criminal District Court,” he said at the time. But on Wednesday, Williams indicated to the council that because his office has different responsibilities than the public defenders, the two budgets couldn’t be compared “apples to apples” — echoing

arguments against parity made by Williams’ predecessor and frequent political foil during the 2020 DA election campaign, Leon Cannizzaro. A spokesperson for Cannizzaro said the ordinance was “intended only to mislead the public into believing their duties are mirrored.” “The District Attorney’s office is responsible for maintaining numerous services and divisions that have no equivalent in the public defenders’ office,” he said. After the parity ordinance passed, it quickly became clear that the measure did not have any teeth. Because the budget is also passed as an ordinance, it carried no more legal weight than the parity law — and in fact would override it — with no legal consequences if it did not provide the mandated funding ratio. Initially, Mayor Latoya Cantrell’s proposed 2021 budget ignored the ordinance altogether — slashing city funding to both the DA’s office and the public defenders by 20 percent, and keeping the funding ratio between them the same. Ultimately, though, an amendment put forward by Williams brought city funding to the defenders’ office to around 65 percent of the city

funding to the DA’s office by pulling funding from other departments. At $3.4 million, it was the most money the office had ever received from the city — nearly doubling the amount they had received previously. This year, as her administration was preparing its proposed 2022 budget, Cantrell made parity a priority. She proposed nearly $6 million in funding for the public defenders — approximately 85 percent of the $7 million she is proposing for the DA’s office. But on Wednesday, Williams told the council that he needs more money to hire new trial attorneys and to fund a cold case unit, among other priorities. He also asked for more than $1 million to pay for civil lawsuit settlements, including $120,000 in a lawsuit he recently settled over the use of fake subpoenas by prosecutors working for his predecessor. If his office receives the money, it would again diminish the ratio of city funding to the public defenders to about 65 percent of the DA’s office. Budget hearings continue into next week. The City Council must pass a final city budget by Dec. 1. — Nicholas Chrastil / The Lens

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Spin, gaslighting and Cantrell’s team of yes ma’ams SPIN IS AN UNFORTUNATE BUT INHERENT PART OF POLITICS.

Public officials have long maintained stables of staffers whose main job is to keep the political muck off their bosses while simultaneously casting them as squeaky-clean public servants. But there’s a not-so-fine line between spinning and attempting to gaslight the public. Take the recent FBI raid at the Sewerage & Water Board. The raid followed (within hours, in fact) investigative reporting by WWLTV’s David Hammer and targeted longstanding — and ongoing — corruption at the agency. That puts the mess squarely in the lap of Mayor LaToya Cantrell, who ran for office four years ago on a platform of cleaning up the S&WB. Yet, to hear her tell it, Cantrell was practically kicking down the door on the front line of the raid. “The FBI activity last week at the S&WB is one more example of my administration picking up the can that’s been kicked down the road for decades,” Cantrell told WWL in a statement after the raid. “Departmental dysfunction and antiquated records systems are only symptoms of the backlog of issues that have been ignored too long — problems we have been fighting to address since day one of our administration.” Turning an FBI raid on an agency that she leads as board president into a boast of hands-on oversight is more than a rhetorical dodge. It’s about as far from the truth as John Gotti saying the FBI’s raid on his mob family was proof of his efforts to crack down on organized crime. The mayor’s Panglossian view of her record illustrates a broader problem at City Hall, where Cantrell and her top apparatchiks take credit for things that go right but cast blame elsewhere when things go wrong. Nobody but the mayor and her “yes ma’ams” believe a word of it. Every new mayor gets a grace period, but that honeymoon typically lasts months, not years.

PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Deputy CAO of Infrastructure Ramsey Green may not be too sure what his job is, but he knows he’s doing a good job at it.

The notion that the last three years only count when speaking positively about the Cantrell Administration was on full display during Deputy CAO for Infrastructure Ramsey Green’s testimony before the City Council during recent budget hearings. Green claimed that New Orleans “is so far ahead of [other cities in] building infrastructure to combat and prepare our city for climate change.” We doubt that the families of the 11 people who died following Hurricane Ida as a result of New Orleans’ collapsed power grid and a delayed post-storm evacuation would agree with Green’s glowing assessment. Later, Green blamed previous administrations for the lack of substantial progress in fixing roads, traffic signals and other broken services when he said the S&WB and the Department of Public Works are working “against a system that was set up based upon policy things that occurred over the last 30 or 40 years. That I don’t quite understand. And we’re doing a really good job in getting this work done.” The only thing more unsettling than attempting to memory hole the last three-plus years is Green’s admission that he doesn’t understand the breadth and depth of the problem. That, unfortunately, is the bigger problem at City Hall.

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promises, especially those made in the late stages of a campaign. That’s one of several reasons why it’s easy to understand the skepticism expressed by Treme residents in the wake of news that Mayor LaToya Cantrell has dropped her plans to put a new City Hall in Armstrong Park. Everything about Heronner’s longstanding insistence on turning Municipal Auditorium, which still hasn’t been cleaned up after Hurricane Katrina, into a new City Hall screams “not from here and doesn’t get New Orleans.” The auditorium abuts Congo Square, where enslaved people could practice their African rites and traditions on Sundays. It is sacred ground by any definition, and the idea of putting a huge public building almost on top of it reeks of indifference, if not sacrilege. Yet, even in the face of withering criticism from a significant portion of her own political base, Cantrell from the get-go refused to back down. Not after protests and marches against the idea. Not after the City Council drove a stake through the heart of her plan. Not, apparently, until Nov. 9 — four days before voters were set to decide whether Cantrell gets a second term as mayor. Even then, Cantrell couldn’t bring herself to announce the about-face. She left that to her administration spokesman, Beau Tidwell. “The idea to move City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium is dead in the water,” Tidwell said at the administration’s weekly news conference. His remarks came matterof-factly in response to a question about the status of the mayor’s controversial plan. According to The TimesPicayune, Tidwell styled his comment as mere reiteration of the status quo. Um, no. In fact, Tidwell’s statement caught casual observers as well as leading opponents to the proposal off guard. And it left many skeptical.

S TA F F P H O T O B Y J O H N S TA N T O N

Protesters gathered June 17 at Armstrong Park to oppose the relocation of City Hall to the Municipal Auditorium. Cheryl Austin of the Save Our Soul coalition, one of several groups that opposes Cantrell’s idea, wondered why the announcement came without any official comment from the mayor herself. Austin’s not alone in that regard. I texted and phoned Tidwell Nov. 11 to get the mayor on the record. It’s an easy enough matter to put to rest — if Tidwell’s announcement did in fact reflect the mayor’s position — but I received no response. The mayor’s silence causes Austin and others to wonder if Cantrell has truly changed her mind, because the administration is still seeking proposals to redevelop the auditorium as a new City Hall. Actions speak louder than words. So, at times, does silence. For months Cantrell has maintained that she’s just trying to protect $38 million in unspent FEMA money dedicated to the auditorium — but that position also gives her a convenient out to reverse course after the election. After the mayor misled voters about her proposed library millage less than a year ago, citizens have good reason to question her sincerity. If Cantrell wants to regain voters’ trust, she’s gonna have to earn it back. Until she tells citizens herself — in clear and unambiguous terms — that City Hall isn’t going in Armstrong Park, the only thing “dead in the water” on this issue is her credibility.

BLAKE PONTCHARTR AIN™

Hey Blake, I came across an ad for Rubensteins from the 1940s which listed three locations on Canal Street and said it sold women’s clothes. That was surprising since it’s known as a men’s store. What can you tell me about its history?

Dear reader, IN 1924, MORRIS RUBENSTEIN, THE SON OF RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS, opened

a haberdashery at 102 St. Charles Ave., at the corner of Canal. His brothers, Elkin and Sam, joined the business six months later and the store became Rubenstein Bros. According to The TimesPicayune, the brothers leased a second building at the Canal Street location, before adding a third in 1937. The familiar Rubenstein Bros. sign was erected in 1940. A shortage of men’s merchandise during World War II prompted the Rubenstein brothers to begin selling women’s clothing. That stopped when the war ended in 1945. The Rubenstein’s store you saw advertised was likely another business unrelated to Rubenstein Bros. It was founded by Frank Rubenstein in 1923. That Rubenstein’s store also sold women’s clothing, originally

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Andre Rubenstein, center, stands in the display window of his family’s clothing store on Canal Street. at Canal and Rampart. Three other stores on Canal were added, as well as more than 150 others nationwide. The chain was later called Franklin Stores. As for Rubenstein Bros., a second generation of the family joined the business in the 1960s: Elkin’s sons Andre and David, who remain with the business today, along with other third-generation family members. A Rubenstein Bros. location in the Lake Forest Plaza opened in 1974 but closed in the 1980s. A Lakeside Shopping Center location has also since closed. In 1999, the business became Rubensteins, dropping “Bros.” from its name.

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BL AKEVIE W THIS WEEK WE CELEBRATE A NEW ORLEANS ICON: SIX-TIME GRAMMY AWARD WINNER and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dr. John, born 80 years ago this week. Malcolm John “Mac” Rebennack Jr., was born on Nov. 20, 1941, and grew up in New Orleans’ Third Ward. He formed his first bands while a student at Jesuit, but was kicked out of high school and learned the music business performing in French Quarter clubs and with greats like Earl King, Huey “Piano” Smith and James Booker. He became a guitarist on early recordings by Professor Longhair, Frankie Ford and Art Neville. He switched to piano after losing part of a finger to a gunshot. After becoming hooked on drugs and serving prison time, he headed west for Los Angeles in 1965 to work as a session musician. It was in L.A. that producer (and fellow New Orleanian) Harold Battiste helped Rebennack create the persona of Dr. John the Night Tripper. His 1968 album “Gris-Gris” introduced Dr. John’s funky, mystical style of rock and rhythm and blues to a worldwide audience. It also introduced the signature tune “I Walk on Guilded Splinters.” Dr. John’s 1973 record, “In the right Place,” was produced by Allen Toussaint and featured the Meters. It introduced his hits “Right Place Wrong Time” and “Such a Night.” Though he battled a heroin addiction throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, Rebennack continued performing and won his first Grammy in 1989 for “Makin’ Whoopee,” his collaboration with Rickie Lee Jones. Dr. John remained active writing, performing and recording songs in various musical styles until 2017. He died in 2019.

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K C A B THE IN

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After two years of loss and uncertainty, social aid and pleasure clubs are steppin’ out again

BY KAYLEE POCHE WHEN FAMILY TIES SOCIAL AID AND PLEASURE CLUB got the green light from the city to second line in October, they only had about two weeks to put together an entire parade. Jeremy “Worm” Horn, co-founder and president of Footwerk Family Social Aid and Pleasure Club, says it was a mad rush getting everything ready in time for the second line. A relatively new club, Footwerk Family parades with Family Ties. Although members already had their shoes, shirts and hats ready, they still needed to make the handsewn pants, streamers and fans for all dozen members. “We probably stayed up every single night — countless hours, 15 plus hours — trying to make streamers. You gotta think you’re making streamers for 12 different people, accessory pieces ... We wound up getting everything done the day before the second line,” Horn says of the week leading up to the second line. The long hours ultimately paid off: Family Ties and Footwerk Family stepped out Oct. 3, making them the second Second Line Sunday this season, which usually runs from late August until late June with breaks for Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest. This is the first second

line season since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, marking the longest break in the Sunday tradition since second lines began more than a century ago. When Family Ties and Footwerk Family emerged from Lillie’s Lounge on North Broad Street — Family Ties in black and silver, Footwerk Family in black and purple — waving their fans, it was the first “Coming out the Door” ceremony the clubs had experienced in two years due to Covid restrictions. As the brass band announced the club’s emergence, people who hadn’t seen each other since the beginning of the pandemic smiled, laughed and hugged. It was a moment of joy, and one of the most special days Horn can remember. “That was like the best day ever,” Horn recalls with a smile. “Everybody was just out there to have a bunch of fun ... I wish I could go back to that day right now as we speak.” “People go through so much, and second line is a way to express your feelings and express yourself,” he says. “And when you’re going through things, you go to the second line for those four hours and you start dancing and listening to the music. It’s just like

P H O T O B Y B R E T T D U K E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

The Young Men Olympians Junior Benevolent Association’s second line parade on Sept. 26, 2021 marked the return of Second Line Sundays to New Orleans. all your problems go away. You don’t even think about the struggle you’re going through.” “When you see people out there, it’s like everyone’s just happy,” he adds. And after the prior 19 months — marred by illness, death and the

PHOTO BY DOUG MACCASH / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

WWOZ’s Action Jackson, who hosted “Takin’ It To The Streets” and whose website became a definitive source for second line routes, interviews and other information.

cancellation of beloved celebrations and traditions — these recent Sunday second lines have been especially cathartic for so many in the city. As New Orleans increases its vaccination rates and Covid cases remain low locally, more social aid and pleasure clubs are planning their return to Second Line Sundays — marking the return of a Black New Orleans tradition core to the city’s identity. In June, the Perfect Gentlemen Social Aid and Pleasure Club held a Father’s Day second line, the first city-permitted second line since the pandemic began. Then, Young Men Olympians, the oldest parading second line club in the city at 137 years old, was the first to return this season on Sept. 26. Family Ties took place the next week, and Prince of Wales followed on Oct. 10. The monthlong hiatus ended with Sudan happening Nov. 14. Nine Times will then parade Nov. 21, and Big Nine is planned for Dec. 19. Many more clubs, like the Treme Sidewalk Steppers, have announced they’ll return next year.

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BACK IN THE STREETS

P H O T O B Y B R E T T D U K E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

People dance as members of the High Steppers Brass Band with Divine Ladies, Dumaine Street Gang and Family Ties Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs parade during the 2019 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Still, as Sundays become Sundays again, the second line community feels the loss of those in the culture who have passed away since the last second line season. It’s “a lot of different emotions,” says Travis Carter, the sousaphone player who leads Da Truth Brass Band, which played at both Family Ties and Prince of Wales second lines this season. “You’re happy that you’re back playing, but it’s a little different now ... A lot of people that’d usually be at the second line that we used to see, they’re not there no more … So it was like a good thing and a sad moment at the same time.” But amid those mixed emotions, Carter says the return of Second Line Sundays has resurrected the city. “Once that pandemic hit and we couldn’t do what we do, I feel like

the city died,” he says. “But once it came back, we brought it back to life.”

THE ROOTS OF SOCIAL AID AND PLEASURE CLUBS date back to late 18th-century New Orleans. Black people formed community organizations — originally known as mutual aid or benevolent societies — to help provide members with social services in the absence of a modern health care system. The groups pooled resources to pay for medical care if a member became ill — a practical need in an age of yellow fever and other illnesses — and traditional burials when they died. The latter was important because many believed a traditional burial was needed for someone to go to heaven.

Some forms of health and life insurance did exist, but often these companies would deny Black people insurance because of the color of their skin. These societies would often have society tombs, assuring members a space. Black funerals were a major deal — a fairly somber affair with traditional formal dress and mournful attire but followed by a joyful celebration. Over time as insurance became available to Black people, the social organizations changed. Today, annual parades are the highlight of the groups’ activities. These Sunday second lines became a way for people to forget about the stresses from the week before and the stresses of the week ahead and just dance and have fun. People in the culture say these parades function as a “stress reliever.” “I go through the depression and the hardship during the week, and I look forward to Sunday because I know I’ll get out there and play my

horn, and release some stress and have fun,” Carter says. “So that’s my therapy right there. Second lines are my therapy.” Eric Lewis, a member of Big Nine Social Aid and Pleasure Club, says, “When I’m out there, I forget about everything that I have going on. All my problems disappear for the moment — everything. It’s just a joyous thing.” At a time when people were losing loved ones and struggling financially, not having this emotional outlet compounded those hardships. That was especially true for Lewis who lost his uncle Ronald Lewis to Covid at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Ronald Lewis was the co-founder and president of Big Nine, and the reason Eric Lewis joined the club in the first place. The club’s manager, Robert “Big Bob” Stark also got Covid around the same time. He was put into a medically induced coma

P H O T O B Y C H R I S G R A N G E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Da Truth Brass Band plays at a second line in 2017.

BACK IN THE STREETS 15

AMONG THE DEATHS SINCE MARCH 2020 have been several culture bearers who dedicated their lives to chronicling second line culture. Back in 2003, Ronald Lewis founded the House of Dance and Feathers Museum in the Lower 9th Ward to showcase the city’s Black street culture. He was 68 when he passed. He was inspired by Sylvester Francis, who started the Backstreet Cultural Museum in Treme in 1999. Francis died at the age of 73 of appendicitis a few months after Lewis on Sept. 1, 2020. Eric Seiferth, who helped curate the Historic New Orleans Collection’s “Dancing in the Streets” exhibition on display earlier this year, says when Francis started the museum it was the first of its kind dedicated to telling the stories of Black parading traditions in the city. Francis was a part of both Mardi Gras Indian culture and second line

culture, as well as a photographer and videographer. At Backstreet, one side of the museum focused on Mardi Gras Indian culture, while the other side looked at second lines. “He added a unique lens into both the culture and the documentation of the culture,” Seiferth says. “Most people photographing … were more often than not white outsiders, people like Jules Cahn or Michael P. Smith, whose collections we have.” And it was Francis himself who brought the museum to life. He gave tours and guided visitors through Backstreet, as they looked at the Mardi Gras Indian suits or watched videos of second lines. “He could tell you about it because he photographed it, he took videos of it and he participated in it,” Seiferth says. “I think he had an appreciation of it and of its importance to the city and its place in the city’s history that few outsiders had and certainly no other museum professionals had.” At House of Dance and Feathers, it was a similar experience. Visitors would sit down with Lewis, and he’d share his stories. “He told you his experiences of what he knew about it through his own lens of experience that you just can’t get elsewhere and doesn’t exist anymore in the same way because those two men who dedicated the latter parts of their lives to telling these stories aren’t around anymore to do so,” Seiferth says. “There are plenty of people that know what they do … but nobody is dedicated entirely to telling the stories publicly anymore like they were and like what happened in their spaces.” The losses continued to mount well into 2021. In August, WWOZ DJ Charles “Action Jackson” Jack-

P H O T O B Y S O P H I A G E R M E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Sylvester Francis stands in his Backstreet Cultural Museum in the Treme neighborhood in 2015.

son Jr. died of cancer at the age of 59. He’d hosted his radio show, “Takin’ It To The Streets,” since 2011 where he interviewed culture bearers and shared Black parading culture with a broader audience, and his website became a definitive source for second line routes, interviews and other information. Jackson, who also hosted a weekly blues radio show, had a deep knowledge of second line routes and history. “People that listen to WWOZ were able to hear in his interviews with people like Ronald Lewis or other club leaders to learn about the parades in a way that was expanded from just stumbling on one and grabbing a beer and walking with it for half an hour,” Seiferth says. These losses follow the death of

Deborah “Big Red” Cotton back in 2017 after she was injured in a mass shooting at a 2013 second line. Cotton covered second lines for Gambit and posted videos of them to YouTube, and blamed the absence of media coverage of the weekly parades on “sheer racism.” “We’ll see who kind of takes the reins from these three men, but there’s shoes to fill for sure,” Seiferth says. “That’s what I think will be their biggest legacy and the biggest loss that we’ll feel in the city from their passing.”

SUNDAY SECOND LINES are, of course, much different from funeral second lines, but at the funeral secPAGE 19

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for a month, and stayed in the hospital until August 2020, according to WWNO. Throughout that time, Lewis says going to see the little live music that was able to occur in the city helped him cope during the absence of Second Line Sundays. “It really was crazy for me because you have to take that energy and channel it somewhere else and try to do different little things,” Lewis says. “And thank God for the bars and stuff like that who were still open and that were big enough to operate with a few people inside of their bar and still have live music. I thank God for people like them because without them, I don’t know if we would’ve made it.”

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BACK IN THE STREETS 19

ond lines for prominent figures in the culture this year, like Jackson, people in the community were able to see some familiar faces, sights and sounds. “It’s like you only see certain people at second lines,” Horn says. “We don’t know each other’s lives like that, but when we’re out at a second line, it’s like we’ve been knowing each other for years.” There were funeral second lines for Bennie Pete, sousaphone player and co-founder of Hot 8 Brass Band, following his death on Sept. 6 due to complications from sarcoidosis and Covid. He was 45. There were several second lines in September for Pete. The next month, there was a viewing the evening of Oct. 1 at Christian Mission Baptist Church and then a second line to Tuba Fats Square and the Candlelight Lounge — a rare nighttime parade. After his funeral service, burial and repast on Oct. 2, there was another second line at A.L. Davis Park. Da Truth Brass Band’s Carter says Pete was one of his mentors. He remembers stumbling upon his first second line as a teenager when he was walking home one day and being mesmerized by Pete’s sousaphone playing. “I see this big, tall guy playing a tuba,” Carter says. “I’m like, ‘Oh my god, this man sounds like about three people by himself, so let me go see what this is about.’ I followed him the rest of the second line, listening to him, watching him with his fingers and everything.” After that, he started going to the second lines “just to figure out what makes him do this and what makes him Bennie Pete,” he says. Following the second lines, he’d go back to school and play those same songs for his classmates — songs like The Soul Rebels’ “Let Your Mind Be Free” and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.” “They’d be dancing and everything,” Carter says. “So that’s what got me started right there.” Then around 2013, Pete asked Carter to go on tour with Hot 8 because he was ill. “He was like, ‘Man, I really need you to come play with the band for a little until I get myself back right.’ So he helped me out a lot to become the tuba player that I am today,” Carter says.

THE LONG HIATUS OF SECOND LINE SUNDAYS has also meant a loss of income

P H O T O B Y K AT H L E E N F LY N N / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

The CTC Steppers Second Line Parade took place on Feb. 21, 2016.

for many in the city. Beyond being an economic driver for tourism, the second lines are economies within themselves. “These parades, they have to pay thousands of dollars each year to get their parade permit,” Seiferth says. “Meanwhile, they’re injecting thousands of dollars into our economy by existing.” In addition to having to buy permits from the city, the clubs are also buying hats from Meyer the Hatter, banners from The Pennant Shop on Metairie Road, fabrics from Jefferson Variety Store and paying local makers to make their art. And they’re hiring brass bands to perform for hours. Carter says not having second lines hit Da Truth Brass Band hard. “Not playing second lines, that was suffocating,” he says. “It was like cutting off our life supply.” Then at the second lines, vendors come to sell food and drinks to the massive crowds of people. “It brings a lot of economic value to the city because a lot of people are just out there hustling, like with selling beers, water and cold drinks,” says Walter James Fair, president of the CTC Steppers. “That’s revenue for them. Food trucks and the street vendors, they’re looking forward to making some money.” On top of that, clubs still maintain their long history of commu-

nity aid. Big Nine hosts annual school supply giveaways for the kids, and Eric Lewis says he just started a team to clean up different areas in the Lower 9th Ward. “The existence of this special thing we have in New Orleans is very much taken for granted, when it’s the money and sweat and passion of the clubs that put thousands of dollars into our economy,” Seiferth says. “It’s not just that they spur the spending of money, but it’s also that they help make healthy communities.”

WHILE SOME SUNDAY SECOND LINES ARE RETURNING, there still aren’t parades every week like there usually are this time of year. It likely won’t be until next year that we start to see more regularity in the schedule. When YMO opened up the 20212022 season, they didn’t have their usual royal court and floats, which are tradition for the larger second lines in the city. “It was kind of like breaking the ice,” Fair says. “Young Men Olympians was the first second line. They’ve been around (more than) 135 years, so it was a good club to do it. But it wasn’t a normal thing like how we usually put on the show with the royal court.” It’ll be harder for some of the smaller clubs to return due to the unpredictability of Covid. And

some members have struggled financially during the pandemic due to losing work or other hardships, making it difficult to pay their club dues. And it’s not lost on some that though the city is no longer in the middle of a Covid surge, the pandemic isn’t over. Carter says he’s been nervous performing at second lines recently with the big crowds. “You were happy to be back but at the same time, you’re still kind of scared,” he says. “Even though I’m out here vaccinated and everything, I have all these people around me and they want to be around me because they always want to be up under the tuba player. But my anxiety be so high because I’m like, ‘Oh my god, what if this person has Covid or what if this person has Covid?’ So I’m like, ‘Can y’all back up just a little bit? Just give me a little room.’ ” Still, he says there have been what he and others like to call “true magic moments” at the second lines lately, like when everyone stopped under the Claiborne overpass and Da Truth played Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You.” “The crowd just went bananas right there,” Carter says. “They had people dancing all on top of signs, and it was just crazy just to see all the people. At that moment, I was like, ‘Man, we back.’ ”

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PAGE 15

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Burgundy Brine Sneaky Pickle adds Brine Bar

BEN TABOR IS PRACTICING CULINARY DIVERSITY and inclusion at Sneaky

Pickle’s newly opened evening service at Brine Bar. While Sneaky Pickle was mostly — but never solely — vegetarian and vegan focused, the new Brine Bar menu welcomes all, from plant-based eaters to vegetarians, pescatarians and omnivores. Even a carnivore can find room at the table at the restaurant’s new location, formerly home to Maurepas Foods on Burgundy Street. Tabor and his partner Olivia Clarkson purchased the long-shuttered building at 3200 Burgundy St. with the help of a cousin. More family is assisting, including his brother Luke Tabor and his wife Michele Fryer, bar professionals who came here from Rhode Island to institute the robust cocktail program. Sneaky Pickle started in 2014 as a funky little spot in a ramshackle building on St. Claude Avenue. It had a miniscule kitchen and picnic tables for dining in the yard. Tabor’s take-no-prisoners approach to cooking, which eschewed manufactured vegan ingredients in favor of the creative use of vegetables, seeds and nuts earned him a devoted following. Those fans flocked to the new location from the jump, with lines out the door making it hard for the restaurant to get up to speed — from getting the dining room fully configured to opening the nighttime Brine Bar to getting the walls and mural painted. Although it’s twice the size, the new Pickle feels comfy and funky, retaining its trademark edge. The bar is lined with bottles, glassware and plants, and a salmon-colored wash dominates the center panel. Banquettes from The Chloe create one corner — Tabor’s sister is a manager there, and he got first dibs when the hotel changed decor. The overall effect is a fetching hodgepodge, a neighborhood vibe that invites guests to stay a while.

FORK + CENTER

by Beth D’Addono Longtime Sneaky Pickle fans can still find favorites on the daytime menu, such as the smoked tempeh Reuben and the beet flatbread. But the Bar Brine menu is different. It showcases the chef’s impressive housemade sourdough bread, a changing charcuterie plate and red snapper crudo. House-made pastas are featured in dishes including hand-pulled squid ink noodles with chili oil and cheesy cappellacci, little pasta hats stuffed with pumpkin in a cheesy kale sauce. A recent vegan pasta features tender bucatini tubes bathed in a macadamia nut and cauliflower “cream” sauce with beech mushrooms. Of the opening menu’s 13 items, six are vegan. “I’d always brought in whole fish,” Tabor says. “And we’re getting as much as we can through connections I have with a spear fisherman. Shrimp come from our guy who brings them right from the boat.” Tabor emphasizes locally sourced and sustainably caught and raised ingredients. Pork raised at Home Place Pastures in Mississippi is used for the charcuterie and other dishes. “We are cooking the kind of food we like to eat and enjoy. We like all types of food,” the chef says. “It’s not all straightforward vegan, so I want that message to be clear. We don’t want super strict vegans coming in and being grossed out.” Luke Tabor’s creative cocktail menu has options like the Black Heart, made with mezcal, Averna, beet shrub and mole bitters.

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Upperline Closes THE KITCHEN WAS QUIET AT UPPERLINE , and the shelves behind the bar were bare. No one was cooking gumbo or mixing Sazeracs. But it still felt like Upperline. It still felt like the restaurant that for nearly 40 years defined a certain type of hospitality in New Orleans. It still felt like Upperline because JoAnn Clevenger was holding court, sharing stories about the restaurant’s long tenure. Clevenger was at the restaurant for an interview on her decision to permanently close Upperline. In the process though, she also weaved a narrative of hospitality, art, New Orleans cultural history, the business behind the restaurant business, and how these strings entwined under her direction. “It’s a community, it’s the vendors, employees, the customers, of course, but also the letter carrier,

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

Owners Ben Tabor and Olivia Clarkson at Sneaky Pickle. There’s always a non-alcoholic option, like the current fresh sugar cane juice mixed with ginger, mint and lemon and topped with club soda. Wines hail from regions in Georgia, Slovenia and Spain and there are local beers as well as options from breweries like Lupulin Brewing in Minnesota. Keeping their options open as they expanded made sense to Ben Tabor and Clarkson. “At first, we were just going to change a few things,” he says. “Then we decided to make it a different experience altogether, from the lighting to the drinks to what’s on the plate. It’s tough for restaurants right now. We don’t want to limit ourselves.”

? WHAT

Sneaky Pickle and Brine Bar

WHERE

3200 Burgundy St., (504) 218-5651; yousneakypickle.com

WHEN

Sneaky Pickle: 12-4:30 p.m. Wed.-Mon. Brine Bar: 6-10 p.m. Fri.-Mon.

HOW

Dine-in

CHECK IT OUT

A vegan-friendly restaurant expands its offerings at new Bywater spot

PHOTO BY CHRIS GR ANGER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

JoAnn Clevenger at her now closed Upperline restaurant. the stove repairman; they all have a part in making the restaurant work,” she says. “When the guest walks in, all this work has been done, and it’s like staging a performance and finally the curtain rises.” Upperline has been closed through the pandemic. It opened its doors just a handful of times for private events since March 2020. Clevenger initially planned to reopen. But at age 82, her appraisal of the hardships in the hospitality business right now steered the decision to shut down for good. She and her family might sell the business along with the property.

FORK & CENTER

musical’s creator and director, Vernel Bagernis, because he worked at one of her favorite restaurants, Vaucresson’s Creole Cafe (from the same family that today runs Vaucresson Sausage Co.). The production was a hit and toured the U.S. and London, with multiple casts using Clevenger’s costumes. She initially was looking for a second location for Matilda’s when she discovered an available restaurant space, the longtime neighborhood joint Martin’s on Upperline Street. She saw a new opportunity in the emerging interest in regional cuisine. Upperline opened here in 1983. The early influential chefs at Upperline include her own son Jason Clevenger, who came over from Cafe Sbisa; the late Tom Cowman; and Ken Smith, who left in 2010 to join the seminary (he’s now chaplain at East Jefferson Hospital). The food remained its own distinctive blend of Creole, Southern and Cajun. Clevenger was never a chef, but the menu carried her imprint. When the 1991 movie “Fried Green Tomatoes” was coming out, Clevenger decided she had to use the marquee ingredient at the restaurant somehow. She had grown up eating them on the family farm. After thinking on it for a few days, she crossed this very-Southern staple with shrimp remoulade, a Creole standard. It was a hit, and it was soon copied by many other restaurants and remains common on local menus. Through the years she has run special menus that mine history, like her Thomas Jefferson dinners, Jane Austen dinners and a menu dubbed the “garlic fest” to add some pep to the slow summer season. Today, Clevenger still collects old menus. She reads voraciously and lately has been intrigued by the Irani-run cafes of Mumbai and their status as everyman fixtures in their neighborhoods. The Upperline art collection numbers some 400 pieces, which Clevenger has periodically rotated through the dining rooms. Hosting people amid this collection was always one way Clevenger felt she was binding connections between them. “The original meaning of the word restaurant is restorative,” she says. “When I learned that, I realized that’s what I was trying to do in the restaurant. Art is part of that restoration.” No one comes to a restaurant like Upperline because they’re

hungry, Clevenger has often said. They’re seeking something else. “It’s the way they make people feel,” she says. “The lighting, the sound levels, how you are treated by the service staff; these are extraordinarily important things. If the food is not good, the other things can’t make up for it. But if the food is good these other things can chip away at it if not done right.” Upperline grew in reputation, doubled in size from 40 seats to 80, and drew more visitors. Still, Clevenger endeavored to keep it a local’s restaurant. That meant reserving tables for people who called with local area codes, declining large tables (which can overwhelm others’ intimate experience) and limiting how far in advance the restaurant accepted reservations. “One thing that was always important to me was to keep the balance between locals and out-oftown people,” Clevenger says. “If it’s just a place where people eat and leave, they can’t connect, and you lose that community feel.” As Clevenger walked around her quiet dining rooms, just a single member of her one-time staff was still there — Benjamin Summers, who has worked at the restaurant since 1991. He has been helping her keep up with maintenance as the old building has stayed mostly dormant. At the end of the visit, the two walked around outside, locking up the tall shutters again. Clevenger pointed out holly trees and palms that she planted years ago. They now rise to the second-floor roof. Just as her composed look is the same today as for decades past, the octogenarian still, as always, beams with delight when sharing stories, and almost leaps in place at the key details. She seems joyful, even while talking of the glory days of a restaurant that may never host another dinner. She says she is grateful for all that her pursuits at Upperline have brought her. “My push for adventure found an outlet because I used common sense; without that, I couldn’t take these flights of fancy and have these adventure,” she says. “Every day has been an adventure.” — IAN McNULTY/ THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

WINE OF THE

WEEK

Diora

La Splendeur Du Soleil Chardonnay Monterey, California | 2019

This Chardonnay has a beautiful, pale golden hue with tropical aromas of pineapple that mingle with toasted oak and hints of ripe apricot, creme brûlée and pear. The delicate ﬂavors of crème brûlée give way to lovely notes of key lime, white peach, and marshmallow in a medium-bodied mouthfeel. DISTRIBUTED BY

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That means a new Upperline could emerge here. But either way, the decision marks her departure from the restaurant. She has won acclaim and reaped rich personal gratification, and more than a business, she considers it a calling. “I don’t want to retire. You don’t retire from something you love,” she says. “But I have to recognize that the circle here is complete.” Clevenger has been the consummate restaurateur, the embodiment of the venture. Even her own look has become emblematic of Upperline, with her Gibson girl hairdo, round eyeglasses and the same red and black dress (she has multiple copies of the same garment). That dress always is adorned with a Girl Scout pin, a memento of her youth. “That’s my reminder to tell myself every day to be brave, strong, patient, kind and silly,” she said, with a giggle at the end. “Remembering to be silly gives my brain a boost that helps me remain prepared for the adventures of tomorrow.” Clevenger grew up on a farm in central Louisiana and moved to New Orleans as a teenager in the late 1950s while her mother was ill and seeking care at Charity Hospital. She came of age when the French Quarter was experiencing a cultural rebirth, after decades of decline and neglect. She was part of its bohemian milieu in the 1960s. She worked as a waitress and bartender and eventually opened her own bars. One was Andy’s, tucked into a carriageway on Bourbon Street, which was a folk music venue. Then she started the Abbey, a Decatur Street bar which is now a byword for grunge, but was, while she ran it, closer to a neighborhood pub. Back then it was the first local bar to pour Guinness stout on draft. “I tried to curate my clientele,” she said. “But one thing I learned at bars is to assume everyone who comes through the door is going to be the best customer in the world, until they prove otherwise.” She fought a legal battle to allow flower vendor carts in the French Quarter, and she ran a small fleet of them. She had a snowball stand in the French Market and eventually opened a vintage clothing boutique called Matilda’s on Decatur Street. Through the store, she made the costumes for the musical “One Mo’ Time,” a New Orleans production about Black vaudeville set in the 1920s. She knew little about costume design, but she did know the

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3 COURSE INTERVIEW

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Chef by Will Coviello CHEF JASON GOODENOUGH CAME TO NEW ORLEANS A DECADE AGO and

opened his restaurant Carrollton Market in 2014. He made news last year by leading a $12,000 donation drive to Cafe Hope after a customer complained about Black Lives Matter signs on the wall of his restaurant. He closed Carrollton Market during the pandemic and is preparing to open an immersive travel and cooking business. On Nov. 19, he’s cooking at a Southern Food & Beverage Museum event called “A Southern Braai,” featuring South African wines and the style of outdoor grilling common in South Africa.

What is braai? JASON GOODENOUGH: Braai is the South African word for grill. The dinner is basically a grill out, multi-course, family-style, wood grill menu finding the commonalities between South African cuisine and what we do here. I have a bunch of braai cookbooks and I have been digging into that culture from a food standpoint and pulling things out that I can source locally and still get the vibe. The thing that has struck me is how similar it is to a bunch of Southerners sitting around a barbecue grill drinking beer and cooking ribs. They do more mutton and lamb, so I am doing lamb. I am doing a bean dish, but with a South African boerewors sausage that Piece of Meat made for me. It’s a traditional thing there. It’s a beef and pork sausage that’s heavy on coriander. Leighann (Smith) made it for us. Usually you grill that in a coil with skewers through it so it holds its shape. I am taking it out of the casing and working it into beans, which we’re going to do in a pot in the embers. Based on its geography, there’s Malay influence in South Africa. We used to do some Malay stuff at Carrollton Market. We did a Malay curried chicken dish with coconut. I was talking to the wine importer, and she said that traditionally in South Africa, they’d add raisins and turmeric to the rice. So perfect, we’ll do that. We’re doing a peri-peri shrimp course. I lived in England as a kid, and I loved Nando’s. Nando’s is known for peri-peri chicken

sandwiches, so we’re serving the peri-peri with Nando’s hot sauce.

What is your new venture? G: It’s different than anything I have done in my past. It’s called The New Culinarian, and it’s an experiential travel company. The first thing we’re doing is called the Immersive New Orleans Culinary Experience. So, half of the day, people will work with me in the NOCHI kitchen learning to cook New Orleans food. They’ll stay at Hotel Peter & Paul. Then at night, we’ll take them out to restaurants. So we may go to Pho Tau Bay for appetizers and then Maypop for entrees and dessert and talk about Asian influence in New Orleans — here’s the traditional version and here’s the modern version. It’s kind of anthropological. We’ll go to Mosca’s. We’ll take a private streetcar down to Commander’s Palace. I moved here 10 years ago. It’s been interesting learning about the culture and especially the food culture here. I am fascinated by it still and how it’s evolving. I thought for hardcore foodie types, or culinarians we’re calling them, this will be a great thing. Day one will be trinity, stock, roux. The next day we’ll build off of that, so it’ll be gumbo and shrimp remoulade. It’ll be 12 students max in the class. The program starts on Wednesday. The last day is Saturday, and the last night is dinner at my house. I’ll cook them dinner. We’ll have a five to seven course menu. We’ll present them with their chef coats. We have a piano, so I’ll have a musician playing. The first one is in January, and the goal is to do one a month next year.

What do you think the Covid pandemic has shown people about restaurants and how they work? G: (Before the pandemic) how much it costs to put food on a plate was the least understood

PHOTO BY MA X BECHERER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

thing. When I would tell people it cost at least $7 to put a piece of snapper on a plate — before I added any sauce or garnish or anything else — they’re like “Oh.” I don’t think people understand how much passion is required to put out the best quality product and the sacrifice that’s required to do it. (Now, restaurant) owners are recognizing that they have to pay people more. I hope that the public recognizes that they are going to have to pay more for food, because the workers were underpaid. I was talking to Polly Watts, who owns the Avenue Pub. She said half of the senior bartenders and cooks that she knows in the business have moved on. A generation of institutional knowledge is gone. There was a guy who was with me for years. He was the best server in New Orleans. I attribute 100% of my reputation for front-of-the-house service to this guy. He’s out of the business because he’s driving Uber now. I think it was a combination of (demanding) hours, and a lot of folks with kids liked spending all that time with their kids and aren’t going back. Now, there are other businesses that have easier hours, that pay better and give you better benefits. If there is one thing I wish people would take away from my opinion, it’s that restaurant workers are not lazy, they’re some of the hardest working people in this country. Visit thenewculinarian.com for information on Jason Goodenough’s new venture.

O U T T O E AT

Out 2 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.

CBD Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; juansflyingburrito.com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description. Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.-Fri., dinner daily. $$

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

FRENCH QUARTER Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — The menu features Gulf seafood in traditional and contemporary Creole dishes, po-boys and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

JEFFERSON/RIVER RIDGE The Rivershack Tavern — 3449 River Road, (504) 834-4938; therivershacktavern.com — This bar and music spot offers a menu of burgers, sandwiches and changing lunch specials. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 7333803; theospizza.com — There is a wide variety of specialty pies and toppings to build your own pizza. The menu also includes salads and sandwiches. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $

LAKEVIEW The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp and grits features eight jumbo shrimp over creamy cheese grits and a cheese biscuit. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew.com — Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan. Delivery are available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

METAIRIE Andrea’s Restaurant — 3100 N. 19th St., Metairie, (504) 834-8583; andreasrestaurant.com — Chef Andrea Apuzzo’s speckled trout royale is topped with crabmeat and lemon-cream sauce. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$

$ — average dinner entrée under $10 $$ — $11-$20 $$$ — $20-up

Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter includes fried catfish, shrimp, oysters, crab balls fries and a side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 8882010; koshercajun.com — This New Yorkstyle deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami. Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Martin Wine Cellar — 714 Elmeer Ave., Metairie, (504) 896-7350; martinwine. com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch daily. $$ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — The CreoleItalian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana, and Mama’s Eggplant with red gravy and Romano cheese. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 8854572; shortstoppoboysno.com — Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; juansflyingburrito.com — See Uptown section for restaurant description. Outdoor dining available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — A Cajun Cuban has roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — Shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onions on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as grilled or fried seafood plates, po-boys, raw or char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

NORTHSHORE The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster

Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; thebluecrabnola.com — See Lakeview section for restaurant description. No reservations. Lunch Fri.Sat., dinner Wed.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

UPTOWN Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — The menu includes fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and red beans and rice. Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Juan’s Flying Burrito — 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 5538 Magazine St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes grilled steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar-jack cheese, black beans, yellow rice, salsa la fonda, guacamole and sour cream. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$ Martin Wine Cellar — 3827 Baronne St., (504) 894-7444; martinwine.com — The Sena salad includes pulled roasted chicken, golden raisins, blue cheese, pecans and field greens tossed with Tobasco pepperjelly vinaigrette. No reservations. Lunch daily. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco. com — The Peruvian menu includes lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes. Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$

WEST BANK Asia — Boomtown Casino & Hotel, 4132 Peters Road, Harvey, (504) 3648812; boomtownneworleans.com — Restaurateur Tri La’s menu serves Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. The Lau Hot Pot for two comes with choice of scallops, snow crab or shrimp. Reservations accepted. Dinner Fri.-Sun. $$ Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$

EVERY WEAR A STORY MIGNONFAGET.COM

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M I G N O N FAG E T

C O M P L E T E L I S T I N G S A T W W W. B E S T O F N E W O R L E A N S . C O M

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MUSIC

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Washington, D.C., Ben Usie has reshaped, stripped down and rethought his solo band Bruisey Peets. The Lafayette native has taken the project from a synth-heavy, dark noise pop act to a four-piece rock band to a piano-driven solo show. On Friday, Usie will release the latest Bruisey Peets record, “Poached Eggs,” a dreamy, contemplative collection of piano-rooted, queer swamp pop made with the help of past bandmates, family and the Lost Bayou Ramblers’ Louis Michot, Bryan Webre and Jonny Campos. Bruisey Peets hosts a “Poached Eggs” release show at 9 p.m. Friday at Gasa Gasa. “My brother and a few friends say I’m a poet that just uses a few instruments more than a musician or whatever,” Usie says. “But I like to pick a frame for a batch of time. It was synthy stuff, then guitar, and then piano — and there’s been moments in between of more experimentation. But when I want to make a record, I go in with a certain direction.” Bruisey Peets got its start as a side project, an outlet for Usie’s solo music while drumming with the noise pop band Br’er. During his eight years in the D.C. area, Usie built up a rig weighed down with electronics and equipment — only to find it tough to lug around to New Orleans bars once he returned to Louisiana. And while he stayed in tune with New Orleans’ noise scene, he was more often going to see singer-songwriters like Julie Odell. Usie transitioned to playing piano and guitar, turning Bruisey Peets into a four-piece rock band with drummer Ethan Brasseaux (Usie’s brother), guitarist Adam Keil and bassist Ian Wood. With that configuration, Bruisey Peets recorded the album “To Make At Last Love Last,” about “a queer Cajun coming back to south Louisiana and navigating the contradictions of tradition,” the album notes say. Still, toward the end of 2019, the band members were ready to try new things, and so Usie stripped Bruisey Peets down even further, to solo shows based around new piano-focused songs. Not long after, though, Webre, bassist for the Lost Bayou Ramblers and Usie’s friend, picked up on the refreshed

PROVIDED PHOTO BY OLIVIA PERILLO

direction and added his bass. That collaboration is at the core of the songs on “Poached Eggs.” “Bryan could kind of see where I was trying to go, and so he really helped frame it with the upright bass. And us playing shows like that helped convince me and the people around us that it could turn into what it was,” Usie says. Usie and Webre asked Brasseaux and former Br’er bandmate Erik Sleight to join them at Mark Bingham’s studio in Henderson in January 2020. The group learned the songs quickly and recorded most of “Poached Eggs” in three days. Michot, Campos and keyboardist Saul Pickett contributed to the album in February, and Usie and Bingham finished mixing the record on March 13, 2020 — just in time for the pandemic to hit Louisiana. On much of “Poached Eggs,” Usie is commenting on the traps and bleakness of capitalism. You can’t help but notice, though, the tracklisting almost reads like a menu: “Chicken,” “Onions,” “Poached Eggs,” “Apple Core.” Even the song “Bull Testicles” was influenced by a memory of Usie’s late grandfather, Roland — whom Usie and his sisters pay tribute to on the record along with a cousin who passed suddenly — cooking mountain oysters and taking young Ben squirrel hunting. “It’s not scream-y. It’s not shout-y. It’s not really trying to put a banner in front of your face,” Usie says. “It sounds like a sad clown coming to terms with the big machine that we’re all just swimming in.” Usie will be joined by Campos, Wood and Lee Garcia to play as Bruisey Peets on Friday at Gasa Gasa. Ocean Boyfriend opens. Tickets are $10. facebook.com/ gasagasaonfreret.

MUSIC

To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com Note: Due to COVID-19, events may have certain restrictions or may be postponed; we recommend checking out a venues social media sites or call before you go for the most up to dateinformation.

TUESDAY 16 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Sam Doores and Friends in the Round, 7 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Illiterate Light, Dogwood Tales, 8 pm DEUTSCHES HAUS — John Rankin, Tom Fisher and Duke Heitger, 7 pm DOS JEFES — Tom Hook, Wendell Brunious, 8:30 pm GASA GASA — Adam Melchor, 8 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Kitchen Table Cafe Trio, 6:30 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — Steve Detroy, 9 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — CrazyTownX and Green Jelly, 6:30 pm

WEDNESDAY 17 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Helen Gillet, 7 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Christian Duque & the Roadmasters, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tin Men, 6 pm DOS JEFES — Kris Tokarski, 8:30 pm MADAME VIC'S — Marty Peters & the Party Meters, 8 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Greg Stafford with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm SANTOS — Swamp Moves with Russell Welch, 8 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin' It Up with Big Sam, 7:30 pm THE SANDBAR — Virtual Student Combo Showcase with Brian Seeger, 7 pm

THURSDAY 18 BAMBOULAS — Christopher Johnson Jazz, 2 pm; Marty Peters & the Party Meters, 6:30 pm; Tree House Band, 10 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm BOURREE — Sam Cammarata, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Tom McDermott and Aurora Nealand, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Cricket and the 2:19, 8 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Alex McMurrary and Bill Malchow, 7 pm COPPER VINE — Nick Ellman and Sam Kuslan, 6:30 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Hash Cabbage, 9 pm DOS JEFES — Anna Quinn, 8:30 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Dr. Mark St. Cyr Traditional Jazz Band, 6:30 pm LOBBY LOUNGE AT THE HARBOR CENTER — Shake 'Em Up Jazz Band, 7 pm MADAME VIC'S — Andy J. Forest Treeaux, 8 pm MARIGNY OPERA HOUSE — Flaxan, 7 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Duke Heitger & Tim Laughlin with Crescent City Joymakers, 7:30 pm

PAVILION OF THE TWO SISTERS — Benny Grunch and the Bunch, 6 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da Lovebirds with Robin Barnes, 8 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — DarkLounge Ministries, 6 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Pedro Segundo Trio, 8 & 10 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm TIPITINA'S — Ivan Neville's Piano Sessions, 8 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Sweet Crude, 7 pm

FRIDAY 19 BAMBOULAS — The Villains, 2 pm; Les Getrex N Creole Cooking, 6:30 pm; City of Trees, 10 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm BOURREE — Jelani Akil Bauman, 4 pm; Julie Elody, 7 pm BUFFA'S — Meryl and Her Zimmermen, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — T Marie & Bayou Juju, 6 pm; Micah McKee & The Lonesome Wild, 9 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Greazy Alice, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Feuffolet, Daquiri Queens, 7 pm; Nightcrawlers Brass Ban, 11 pm DOS JEFES — The Jaz2 Band, 9 pm JAZZ @ THE BLUE DOG — DUKES of Dixieland, 7 pm MADAME VIC'S — Margie Perez and Her Trio Latino, 8 pm MANDEVILLE TRAILHEAD — Gregg Martinez and The Delta Kings, 6:30 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Damn Hippies, 7:30 pm; The Crowe Boys, 9 pm NOLA BREWING COMPANY — Johnny Sansone, 5 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Kevin Louis & Topsy Chapman with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — The Mixed Nuts with DJ Jubille, 8:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Herlin Riley Quarter, 8 & 10 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — 84 A Tribute to Van Halen, 8 pm ST. ANNA'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH — Electric Yat Quartet + Andre Bohren, 7 pm TERRABELLA VILLAGE — Four Unplugged, 5:30 pm THE FOUNTAIN LOUNGE AT THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL — Paul Longstregth, 6 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Burlesque Ballroom feat. Romy Kaye, 7 & 9 pm TIPITINA'S — Shakey Graves + Sun June, 10 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Astro Inn, Midriff, 7 pm

SATURDAY 20 ACE HOTEL NEW ORLEANS — Kydra Joi, 9 pm BAMBOULAS — G & The Swinging Gypsies, 2 pm; Johnny Mastro Blues, 6:30 pm; Crawdaddy T’s Cajun/ Zydeo Revue, 10 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Jordan Anderson, 8 pm BOURREE — Nola Hummingbirds, 2 pm; Gordon Towell Jazz Duo, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Jamie Bernstein’s Yakameiniacs, 7 & 9 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Tasche and the Psychedelic Roses, 9 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Lost in the '60s, 8 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tuba Skinny, 6 pm; Green Gasoline, Quarx, 10 pm DOS JEFES — Vivaz!, 9 pm GEORGE AND JOYCE WEIN JAZZ & HERITAGE CENTER — Donald Harrison Jr. Quartet, 7 pm JAZZ @ THE BLUE DOG — DUKES of Dixieland, 7 pm JOY THEATER — Toosii, 8 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Bad Penny Pleasuremakers, 6:30 pm MADAME VIC'S — Gal Holiday & The Honkey Tonk Revue, 6 pm; Jacky Blaire and the Hot Biscuits, 9 pm NEUTRAL GROUND COFFEE HOUSE — Loyola Musicians' Night, 7:30 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Will Smith with Palm Court Jazz Band, 7:30 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — The Chee Weez, 9 pm SMOOTHIE KING CENTER — Dan + Shay, 7 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Dr. Michael White & the Original Liberty Jazz Band, 8 & 10 pm THE FOUNTAIN LOUNGE AT THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL — Sam Kuslan, 6 pm THE HOWLIN' WOLF — Beats Off A Boat after show, 1 am THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — The Nayo Jones Experience, 7:30 pm

CREDIT BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE Gal Holiday & The Honkey Tonk Revue play at Madam Vic’s Nov. 20

TIPITINA'S — Drive-By Truckers, Buffalo Nichols, 9 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — J & The Causeways, 7 pm

SUNDAY 21 BAMBOULAS — NOLA Ragweeds Jazz, 2 pm; NOLA R&B Review, 6:30 pm; Ed Wills Blues 4 Sale, 10 pm BOURREE — Orphaned in Storyville, 2 pm; Smith Stickney, 6 pm BUFFA'S — Some Like It Hot, 11 am & 1 pm; Kid Merv Jazz Band, 7 & 9 pm CHICKIE WAH WAH — Kimberly Kaye's Rent Party with Meschiya Lake, Debbie Davis, Arsene Delay and Friends, 5 pm CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH — John Autin, 5 pm LE BON TEMPS ROULE — Doctor Lo, 8 pm MADAME VIC'S — High Standards Traditional Jazz Band, 7 pm PALM COURT JAZZ CAFE — Mark Braud and Sunday Night Swingsters, 7:30 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Jordan Anderson, 6 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — BRW, 4:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Mahmoud Chouki & Oscar Rossignoli, 8 & 10 pm THE HOWLIN' WOLF — Hot 8 Brass Band, 9 pm THE MAISON RESTAURANT AND MUSIC CLUB — Tim Laughlin Jazz Band, 4 pm

MONDAY 22 BUFFA'S — Doyle Cooper Trio, 7 pm DOS JEFES — John Fohl, 8:30 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Caroline Polachek, Oklou, 8 pm THE FOUNTAIN LOUNGE AT THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL — Sam Kuslan, 5:30 pm

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producer Qbaby will provide the music for a dance party, Cubs the Poet will give a reading and there’s art by Nic Aziz. Activist and former congressional candidate Gary Chambers also will speak. Tickets start at $75. New Orleans Airlift will share proceeds with Backstreet Cultural Museum and Another Gulf is Possible. “Monumental” starts at 6 p.m. at Music Box Village. Find more information at facebook.com/ neworleansairlift.

Novembre Numerique TRAVEL HAS NOT BEEN EASY DURING THE PANDEMIC, but locals can visit

France virtually and through augmented reality at the Digital November immersive arts festival. Attendees can explore the Eiffel Tower, walk in Paris’s Musee d’Orsay, cruise on the Seine and more. There also are short films. The project was created by the French Institute in Paris and is presented here by the Alliance Francaise de la Nouvelle-Orleans. The exhibits are open Thursday, Nov. 18, through Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Alliance’s space at 1519 Jackson Ave. Admission is free. Visit af-neworleans.org/novnumerique for details.

Mary Lattimore and Walt McClements HARP AND SOLO ACCORDION ARE NOT A COMMON CONCERT DOUBLE BILL , but this show at Gasa

Gasa features two Los Angeles musicians pioneering new approaches to their instruments. Walt McClements spent a decade in New Orleans performing with Hurray for the Riff Raff, Panorama Jazz Band and others before departing for the West Coast. He recently released “A Hole in the Fence,” an album of ambient accordion music. Lattimore has played her Lyon and Healy Concert Grand pedal harp with Kurt Vile and Thurston Moore, but she’s focused on her solo performances and recording. The show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20. Tickets $15 on ticketweb.com.

Daniel Sloss SCOTTISH COMEDIAN DANIEL SLOSS MADE A NAME FOR HIMSELF with a

joke about people who stay in relationships because they prefer to avoid the unpleasantness of breaking up, and has since kept a tally of people who’ve told him they broke up after hearing it. Joining him at The Fillmore is fellow comedian and podcast co-host Kai Humpheries. Doors

open at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21. Solo tickets start at $49.50 on ticketmaster.com.

Be a Super Hero & Register Now!

Dr. Ko’s Coats for Kids CELLIST AND XAVIER UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR JEE-YEOUN KO’S ANNUAL BENEFIT CONCERT is a tribute to Ellis Marsalis, a longtime host of the event. It features performances by members of the Ellis Marsalis Quartet and the Xavier music department, Soul Brass Band and Faubourg Quartet at Gallier Hall. Attendees are asked to donate a new or gently used children’s coat. The performance is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18. Tickets $15 on Eventbrite.

SUNDAY, NOV. 28, 2021 • L AFRENIERE PARK REGISTER AT NOLAGIRL.ORG