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BY HILARY SCHEINUK / THE TIMES - PICAYUNE
ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
Congo connection
Congolese
THE ELECTRONIC AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC BAND KOKOKO! didn’t record its albums in studios, or even really indoors, in its birthplace of Kinshasa, the sprawling capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Its first album, 2019’s “Fongola,” was recorded at a block party in Ngwaka, a neighborhood that’s home to an art school and burgeoning street culture. The follow-up, last year’s “Butu,” was recorded in residential compounds in the city.
Performing outdoors and using improvised instruments are some of the reasons the band connected so well with the space at the Music Box Village in 2023, says Xavier Thomas, who also creates electronic music as Debruit.
KOKOKO! returns to the Music Box for a performance on Friday, March 21, and the group will stay in New Orleans for three weeks afterward to begin recording their next project.
“Last time we were here we got really inspired,” Thomas says. “There are a lot of connections historically: Congo Square; they’re two very musical cities, Kinshasa and New Orleans; the big rivers.”
This time, they’ll dive deeper into New Orleans culture.
“We are curious,” Thomas says. “We want to check the bounce music scene. There’s a parallel with electronic music. It feels like it’s a city where things can happen — new connections, spontaneous encounters. We’re going to be making music. We’re going to the Sunday (second-line) parade in the street.”
The core of KOKOKO! is Thomas, a native of France who previously collaborated with artists from Istanbul and Sudan, and Makara Bianko, a singer and percussionist from Kinshasa. At times, the full band has had five members, who typically have played improvised instruments from one- and two-string guitars to found-object percussion on soap jugs or auto parts. The full band, dressed in their signature yellow jumpsuits, showed off its beats, singing and improvised instruments on a Tiny Desk video in 2019.
The band’s experimental sounds fall far from the mainstream of Congolese music. Traditional rumba is based on Cuban rhythms, and in recent decades global hip-hop and R&B have become popular in Congo.
Thomas met Bianko after he was hired to create a soundtrack for the film “System K,” which chronicles street art
KOKOKO! returns to Music Box Village
and performances protesting social and political turmoil in Congo. Thomas saw Makara performing late into the night as a “crieur,” both singing and leading dance in a sort of raw space, where the audience was really observing open rehearsals.
In a city beset with power outages and very limited services, Thomas watched as the dancers performed for hours, while exposed wiring turned red and amplifiers smoked, he says.
“Makara had a punk spirit,” Thomas says. “He’d stick the mic in the speaker at times. I was quite impressed and we started making music together.”
Soon they played the block party for the film. But before the film was released, they put a video online and it went viral. The group soon was invited to play festivals in Europe and Congo.
The latest album returns to Bianko’s previous work. It balances house beats, synthesizers and human percussion.
“We were not repeating what we did on the first,” Thomas says. “It’s more electronic and reflects the atmosphere of Makara’s club where he used to rehearse. It’s about the nighttime, and how noisy and busy the nighttime is in Kinshasa. There are power cuts, electrical problems, power generators go on, and all these electric noises and then the sound systems turn on.”
Well into the night, many Kinshasa neighborhoods blare with music from
by Will Coviello |
speakers at bars, dance shows like Bianko’s, and even churches. “Churches are going on all night,” Thomas says. “There’s either an orchestra or a sound system. They are evangelical churches. They are open just like the clubs.”
The opening track, “Butu Ezo Ya” uses captured sounds of car horns and other night sounds. Videos for some “Butu” songs capture other elements of life in Kinshasa. The video for “Mokili” features the band and dancers performing in an alley in front of a bonfire. Such fires are common, because the city lacks garbage collection services, so people burn trash, Thomas says. “Mokili” means world in Lingala, and the song repeats the phrase “move the world.” It’s ambiguous, suggesting either dancing or a political message about change.
As with “System K” and “Fongola,” the album’s songs find ways to address turmoil in Congo. A region in the east is currently under invasion by militias from Rwanda, part of an effort to remove coltan, a mineral used in electronics like smartphones and other electronic devices.
“Congo has always had the resources the industrial revolution needed,” Thomas says. “Always in history. It’s a curse. It could be the richest country in the world if it was in control of its resources. But the big countries don’t let them.”
The country’s destabilization is the subject of “Bazo Banga,” which means “Make them scared.” It’s a phrase used in everything from sports to politics, so it’s not necessarily alarming. But it captures a lot as the song channels the raw energy of the crowded streets at night to create an energetic dance track.
Whatever the band records in New Orleans is likely to have a different flavor. The band has used its touring to explore and incorporate different types of music.
“The idea is always to find something I don’t know too much about but I’m curious about,” Thomas says. “Then with my influences and this new music, make a third place that never existed, geographically or historically. We use these ingredients to make something new.”
KOKOKO! performs Friday, March 21, at Music Box Village. Tickets $25 via musicboxvillage.com.
Louisiana Crawfsh Festival
The Louisiana Crawfish Festival features plenty of boiled crawfish and live music. The lineup features Chapel Hart, The Chee-Weez, Harvey Jesus & Fire, Laine Hardy and more. There are also amusement rides, craft and food vendors, and a second-line parade as part of the opening ceremony. Gates open at 5 p.m. Thursday, March 20, and Friday, March 21, and 11 a.m. Saturday, March 22, and Sunday, March 23, at the Frederick Sigur Civic Center in Chalmette. Admission is free on Thursday, $20 on Friday, and $10 on Saturday and Sunday. Children get in free. See louisianacrawfishfestival. com for details.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to New Orleans with two programs. On Friday, there’s “Revelations,” choreographed by Ailey, as well as new works “Sacred Songs” by Matthew Rushing, and “Finding Hope” by Hope Boykin. Saturday features “CENTURY” with music by Ray Charles, Count Basie and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, as well as Ailey’s “A Song for You,” “Grace” by Ronald K. Brown, and “Many Angels” by Lar Lubovitch. Programs begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 21, and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. Tickets $35-$209 via nobadance.com.
Lucinda Williams
Singer and Lake Charles native Lucinda Williams has released 15 albums crossing the back roads of country, folk and Americana. Her most recent release features covers of songs from The Beatles’ “Abbey Road.” She’s in town for four nights of shows at Chickie Wah Wah, on March 17-18 and 20-21. Tickets $125 via chickiewahwah.com.
electronic band
PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES PICAYUNE
Makara Bianko and Xavier Thomas of KOKOKO!
PHOTO PROVIDED BY KOKOKO !
THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN
Recycle Dat, the City of New Orleans’ Carnival-time recycling program, collected almost 74,000 pounds of recyclable material during the 2025 season, including more than 3,800 pounds of aluminum; 900 pounds of plastic bottles; 46,000 pounds of glass; and 22,000 pounds of Mardi Gras beads and throws. Recycle Dat is a partnership between the city, New Orleans & Company, Grounds Krewe, Glass Half Full and other groups.
OPENING GAMBIT
Scrim for mayor! At least he stays close when he travels.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell is back to her jet setting ways
WITH MARDI GRAS AND THE SUPER BOWL BEHIND HER, New Orleans
on the Mayor’s Office schedule well before the recent council ordinance.”
THE NUMBER OF COMMUNITY LEADERS AND ACTIVISTS WHO SIGNED A LETTER MARCH 12 URGING GOV. JEFF LANDRY NOT TO PROCEED WITH EXECUTIONS.
It’s one of the latest actions by anti-death penalty advocates and includes signatures by renowned chefs and others arguing restarting executions would hurt Louisiana’s economy. The letter expresses outrage at the “experimental and gruesome” method of using nitrogen gas.
The Krewe of Dolly recently led the charge to expand Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to New Orleans. The music icon’s initiative each month mails a free, age-appropriate book to families with children ages 0 to 5 to promote childhood literacy. More than 500 local kids are now participating through the work of the Dolly Parton-themed krewe.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell is getting back to on the road and out of town, this time for a multi-day junket in Washington, DC.
New Orleans City Council
President JP Morrell slammed Cantrell’s apparent decision to violate a new ordinance banning city-funded travel as “illegal,” arguing it is “beyond the pale” given her push to withhold funding for city schools based on an alleged fiscal crisis facing New Orleans.
In a subsequent press release Cantrell’s office said the city would not have to pay for the mayor’s attendance and participation, but did not specify whether than also meant associated travel costs or costs for any staff or security who accompanied Cantrell to DC.
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has become a bad work environment in the last year, according to a survey by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor. The survey follows high-profile resignations at LDEQ and complaints of harassment by Secretary Aurelia Giacometto. The survey reported 78.2% of respondents believe morale at LDEQ has gotten worse over the last six months, and more than a third of respondents said they work in a toxic environment.
Cantrell’s office announced her apparent taxpayer-funded sojourn in Washington, D.C. in a March 9 press release. While in the nation’s capital, Cantrell’s office says she will attend Yale’s Mayors College Conference where she’ll rub elbows with other “leaders” and learn “best practices related to challenges facing metropolitan areas across America.”
That trip appears to run in direct violation of the city’s travel ban, which went into effect March 9 and applies to both new travel requests and pre-existing plans. In theory, Cantrell could have paid for the trip herself, although that is unlikely given her penchant for charging even firstclass accommodations to the city. Her press office also explicitly noted in a release the trip was “confirmed
In a letter to city Chief Administrative Officer Gilbert Montano and Finance Director Romy Samuel, Morrell asked that the city not reimburse Cantrell or members of her staff “for any expenses or credit card charges, including per diem allowances, incurred in connection with this patently unlawful trip.”
He also requested that Montano and Samuel provided the council with “a statement of any additional expenses incurred by the Mayor or her team in connection with this trip, a statement of any reimbursements paid, and a list of the employees involved in approving and facilitating these reimbursements.”
Since winning reelection, Cantrell has enjoyed a busy city-funded travel schedule, often flying first class. She’s used city funds to attend music festivals in Europe, conferences in Dubai, Brazil, Mexico City and various junkets and events across the United States.
13.4%
C’EST WHAT ?
Mayor LaToya Cantrell in January
PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Although her use of city funds to travel has frustrated residents and members of the council, it came to a head earlier this year when Cantrell unilaterally decided to break a 2024 city ordinance, which she signed into law, committing the city to helping bail out the school system.
Samuel and other administration officials have claimed the city can’t make good on the commitment because of a looming fiscal crisis. However, they have thus far been unable to provide any evidence of a crisis.
In response, the council passed the travel ban ordinance, which also bars the mayor and other city employees — including the council — from using taxpayer funds for dinners or other entertainment.
Although she could have vetoed the ordinance, Cantrell chose not to, instead allowing it to go into effect the same day she left for D.C. So far, neither the mayor nor her office or top aides have provided a reason for why the new ordinance is invalid or why her D.C. trip isn’t covered by it.
In the letter, Morrell harshly criticized Cantrell for flouting the ordinance while claiming to face a budget crisis.
“Given the administration’s claims that the City is headed for a potential fiscal crisis, it is simply beyond the pale that the Mayor would ignore an ordinance designed to address the fiscal crisis that prompted her to withhold funding from Orleans Parish schoolchildren,” he said.
“If the Mayor seeks to learn about ‘best practices’ in leadership, she might begin with ‘obeying the law’ and with ‘leading by example through self-sacrifice and financial discipline,’ ” he added. — John Stanton
Disgraced 911 chief
‘The Real Estate Gladiator’ is running for mayor because of course he is
DISGRACED FORMER 911 SYSTEM HEAD Tyrell “The Real Estate Gladiator” Morris has announced he will run for mayor of New Orleans while on trial for corruption and malfeasance relating to a drunk driving accident and subsequent cover up.
Morris told WDSU, which broke the story, he was running because his family and prayer to an unidentified deity had made it “clear” he should run. Morris’ resume is the stuff of political legend: Prior to randomly being chosen by Mayor LaToya Cantrell to take over the city’s 911 and 311 systems, Morris had most recently been employed as a cashier at a casino after a brief stint as the head of DC’s public pools.
While in charge of 911 and 311, both systems essentially collapsed: in some instances calls to 911 went unanswered while the non-emergency system became so bad the heads of other agencies openly urged the public to simply call them directly.
Tyrell Morris and Mayor LaToya Cantrell
PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMESICAYUNE
That’s not to say Morris wasn’t busy. In addition to regularly attending social events with Cantrell – eventually making his way into the mayor’s inner circle before being thrown off the island in the summer of 2023 –Morris also launched a thriving real estate business. In fact, he often posted about hot deals on properties during weekday business hours.
The real estate industry has produced any number of highly qualified and ethically upstanding politicians over the years, most notably Donald Trump.
Being able to multitask will come in handy on the campaign trail: Morris is under indictment for a variety of crimes related to his 2023 car accident, including allegedly altering the city code to change accident reporting rules in such a way that tracked the changes back to Morris.
Morris may not be the only mayoral candidate who’s dealt with an ethics related court proceeding. Council
Member Oliver Thomas, who in 2007 was sentenced to 37 months in prison for taking bribes, is also expected to announce he’s running for mayor.
— John Stanton
New Orleans may permanently ban city-funded booze purchases during work trips
NEW ORLEANS OFFICIALS AND OTHER CITY EMPLOYEES WOULD BE PERMANENTLY barred from using city funds to purchase alcohol while traveling under a new ordinance introduced by City Council Vice President Helena Moreno, the latest move by the council to reign in travel spending.
The city ordinance mirrors a state law which bars state officials from either using state-issued credit cards to purchase alcohol or being reimbursed for those purchases while on official travel.
In a city which prides itself on the ability to do a bit of day drinking while still getting our jobs done, the ordinance may seem a bit incongruous. But the move doesn’t come in a vacuum.
The proposed ordinance was filed the same day Mayor LaToya Cantrell is wrapping up a controversial trip to Washington, D.C. The mayor has spent significant time out of the city during her second term, including attending music festivals and other events in Europe, a variety of international climate conferences in places like Dubai and attending seminars and meetings in D.C., New York, Miami and other U.S. cities.
Normally, Cantrell leaving for yet another trip would have likely done
little more than elicit exasperated sighs, but it comes at a time when she and her top aides are engaged in a war of wills with the city council and the school board.
Since January, Cantrell has refused to comply with an ordinance she signed into law last year requiring the city to give the school board $20 million this year to close a budget short fall. That provision, which was included in the city’s 2025 funding bill, came as part of a broader agreement her aides made with the council and school board to end the board’s lawsuit against her administration over the withholding of millions in revenue.
Despite her Chief Administrative Officer publicly backing the deal and her decision to sign the ordinance into law, Cantrell’s office has recently alleged the city is facing a significant fiscal crisis and can’t afford to make
the payments. However, neither Cantrell nor her top aides have provided the council or the public with evidence of a looming crisis.
In response, the council recently approved a temporary ban on most city-funded travel, which went into effect March 9, the same day Cantrell left for D.C. That ordinance also temporarily bars Cantrell, members of the council and other city employees from using city credit cards to pay for dinners or other entertainment, or to be reimbursed for those costs.
As has become her habit, the mayor has refused to speak to the media — or members of the council for that matter — about the stand-off. But it has resulted in infighting between her top aides, increasingly hostility between the council and the administration, and protests by teachers, parents and school administrators.
The council could vote on Moreno’s permanent ban on alcohol purchases as soon as March 27.
— John Stanton
City Council Vice President Helena Moreno
PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT
shop @ gae tanasnola
@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake,
Outside one of our favorite Metairie Road breakfast spots, the Blue Line Sandwich Co., are street tiles with the name “Singer.” What’s the story?
Dear reader, THE PROPERTY AT 2023
METAIRIE ROAD, WHICH BEARS THE NAME Cecile Building and is located in a bustling strip mall, has been home to a number of businesses over the past century.
For many years it was home to Metairie Appliances Inc., and in 1948 it also became a Singer Sewing Center. That explains the name “Singer” you see in the tiles out front. Newspaper ads touted the sewing classes offered to teenaged girls, with an eight-lesson course available for $8.
“If you’d like more clothes, why not make them yourself? It’s fun … it’s easy to learn and easy on the budget too,” explained a Times-Picayune ad, which said participants would make a dress while learning to sew, on a Singer sewing machine, of course.
Classes were also offered for adults at the store, which sold a complete line of sewing products in addition to sewing machines and vacuum cleaners. Singer also had sewing centers on Canal, Oak, and N. Broad streets and in the 1950s added stores in Gentilly, Gretna, Harahan and on Magazine Street.
The Singer store on Metairie Road closed sometime around 1962. It reopened as Harde Furniture before becoming Charlie’s New York Delicatessen. The deli was owned and operated by Charlie Young, who also
BLAKE VIEW
had Charlie’s Deli in Lakeview, now home to Francesca by Katie’s. Young was also well known as a bugler at the Fair Grounds racetrack. He was tragically murdered in 1986 during a holdup at a Metairie Time Saver convenience store where he also worked.
In 1979, Leo and Shelley Wang opened the popular Great Wall Chinese restaurant at the Old Metairie address.
“For years the most popular place to get a soy sauce fix along Metairie Road has been the Great Wall restaurant, couched inside the strip shopping center that forms the 2000 block near Bonnabel Boulevard,” wrote TimesPicayune restaurant critic Gene Bourg in 1991.
He called it “fundamentally a neighborhood restaurant” with a “lack of pretension” and low prices, adding that “a $20 bill should cover a substantial dinner for two with taxes, tip and possibly a couple of Tsingtao beers.”
The Wangs retired in 2014 and closed Great Wall. Within the next year, chef Bradley McGehee and his wife Stephanie opened the Blue Line Sandwich Co. in its place.
THE 1850 HOUSE, LOCATED AT JACKSON SQUARE ON THE GROUND FLOOR of the Lower Pontalba apartments, reopened earlier this month after closing for restoration work.
Located at 523 St. Ann St., the house is designed to replicate daily life in 1850 when the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba designed and built the Upper and Lower Pontalba Buildings, which flank Jackson Square.
The 1850 House is furnished with furniture, art and décor typical of that era, including Old Paris porcelain, New Orleans silver and other antebellum antiques designed to transport visitors back in time.
A property of the Louisiana State Museum, the house is open Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors, active military members and students. A museum store and gift shop at the front of the house offers Louisiana and New Orleans history books as well as art and jewelry by local artists. Learn more at louisianastatemuseum.org/museum/1850-house.
Street tiles saying ‘Singer’ at the doorstep of the Blue Line Sandwich Co.
PHOTO BY BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN / GAMBIT
BIGCHIEF MONK BOUDREAUX &THE GOLDEN EAGLES
NEW BREED BRASSBAND
ORIGINALPINETTES BRASSBAND
ROBINBARNES &THE FIYABIRDS &MORE
BATON ALL ON EYES ROUGE
The Louisiana Legislature’s regular session starts in April
BY KAYLEE POCHE & JOHN STANTON
IN LESS THAN A MONTH, the Louisiana Legislature will convene in Baton Rouge for their annual regular lawmaking session, and Gov. Jeff Landry’s second as governor, during which they’ll focus largely on financial issues.
Last year’s regular and special sessions were roller coaster events, in which Landry lost big on his push to change the state’s constitution while conservatives approved a host of anti-human rights measures. The 2025 session may not be as eventful – although not necessarily any less significant to people’s lives.
In fact, under Louisiana law, members of the state House and Senate are limited in the number of non-fiscal bills they can propose to just five (and in theory what they can propose doing). That means (again in theory) there’s unlikely to be efforts to push sweeping changes like Landry’s constitutional convention plan or major rollbacks of human and civil rights.
However, that doesn’t mean there won’t be lots of things happening that New Orleanians will want to keep an eye on — and express their support for or agitate against, as needed.
Landry seems to have fully bought into the slash and burn approach to government championed by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, even going so far as creating his own version of the Department of Government Efficiency, a fake agency ostensibly designed to identify waste but is simply cutting critical programs across the federal government. It’s
likely Republicans in the legislature will want to get in on the fun, too, and any chance they may get to cut programs to the bone could happen.
Despite the narrow focus on the session, there are already several proposals that specifically target New Orleans that are expected to come up as well as changes to environmental laws, labor rules, civil rights protections and other issues New Orleanians care deeply about.
Also, depending on what voters do during the vote on constitutional amendments this month, Landry could look to push through bills implementing any items that don’t get passed.
Interestingly, it’s not entirely clear how much progress Louisiana Democrats have made in their rebuilding efforts, and this session will likely provide a good test of whether the party is serious about being an opposition party or is leaning more toward its traditional “go along to get along” style.
That said, Louisiana Democratic Party Chair Randal Gaines says the party is opposing all four amendments on the March 29 ballot. He says their campaign against them includes texting Democratic voters, posting on social media and doing “accelerated phone banking” as the election nears.
So while this year’s session will be more limited, there’s still a lot that could happen.
The State Capitol
PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Gov. Jeff Landry
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Here’s a list of some of the key issues and measures we’ll be watching this spring as the legislature gets to work.
LGBTQ RIGHTS
Logan Wolf, a Forum for Equality board member, said the LGBTQ rights advocacy group is expecting to fight against attempts to further chip away at the rights of queer people in Louisiana.
“The fact of the matter is that we’re probably going to continue to see attacks on trans people, attacks on queer people,” Wolf says.
Several states have introduced resolutions urging the United States Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 case legalizing same-sex marriage. While resolutions aren’t law, Wolf predicts gay marriage will be challenged in the courts.
He also says there could be bills aimed at further limiting access to gender-affirming health care. In 2023, the state legislature banned hormone therapies, puberty-blocking therapies and gender-affirming surgeries for minors.
“Louisiana Republicans are hell-bent on making life worse for us, and so any way that they can find to pick on and attack us, they will,” Wolf says.
Other state legislatures also are considering redefining “sex” as a person’s sex assigned at birth and bills that will chip away at protections against gender identity discrimination.
Last year, Louisiana passed a handful of anti-LGBTQ laws, including one forcing transgender men and boys to use the women’s restroom and transgender women and girls to use the men’s room. It also applies to domestic violence shelters, prisons, jails and juvenile detention facilities.
However, even if it’s an uphill battle in a legislature with mostly Republicans
and some Democrats who oppose LGBTQ rights, Wolf says it’s important for people to show up in opposition to these bills. That could look like contacting their state legislator, testifying at committee meetings or attending protests.
“Even though we might not achieve the results, we should still hold their feet to the fire,” Wolf says.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Michelle Erenberg, executive director of Lift Louisiana, says the women’s and reproductive health advocacy group is working on two bills so far.
The first will be from Rep. Delisha Boyd, a New Orleans Democrat, proposing rape and incest exceptions to the state’s strict abortion ban.
Boyd, whose mother was raped at 15 and became pregnant with her, brought a similar proposal last year for rape survivors younger than 17.
The Lift Louisiana team is also looking for a legislator to bring forward a reproductive freedom constitutional amendment that would let voters decide on adding the right to services like abortion, contraception and fertility treatments to the Louisiana constitution.
Rep. Aimee Freeman, a New Orleans Democrat, brought the bill last year. Given the strong anti-abortion sentiment in the Louisiana Legislature, it did not make it out of committee, though other states like Ohio have recently passed similar constitutional amendments.
Erenberg says Lift Louisiana is also looking at anti-abortion bills legislators in other states are bringing forward, including bills to classify abortion as homicide and another that would mandate students watch ultrasound videos or require teaching of fetal development.
She says the latter is a “means of pushing an anti-abortion agenda and creating more opportunities to teach students in a way that sort of reinforces stigma and information about abortion, specifically like abortion later in pregnancy.”
Erenberg says she’s also worried about the possibility of legislators reviving attempts to limit access to public records and passing unconstitutional laws in hopes of getting courts to revisit key issues.
“It’s just such a new environment right now,” she says, referring to the national political climate under Trump’s second term.
ENVIRONMENT AND EDUCATION
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which pushes right-wing “model bills” through state legislatures across the country, is promoting redefining “green energy” to include natural gas and nuclear power.
ALEC notes on its website that Gov. Jeff Landry has already endorsed the
idea. Ohio and Tennessee have passed similar laws, so it seems likely this could be coming to Louisiana.
Lawmakers will also decide how much money they want to put into the state’s new LA GATOR scholarship program, which gives public money to eligible families to help students pay for private schooling, including tuition and other expenses.
Landry has asked lawmakers for $93.5 million for the program, which would double the state’s existing voucher program and pay for around 11,500 students to attend private schools. Ten days into the month-anda-half-long application period, almost 14,000 eligible students had applied.
LOCAL ISSUES
There’s a handful of issues on the local level that may come up during the legislature this year, and all of them could have a major impact on New Orleans residents.
Sen. Stewart Cathey, a Monroe Republican, could move to ban traffic cameras statewide in response to the Cantrell administration’s inability to
Rep. Delisha Boyd
PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
A school zone traffic camera
PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Students at Benjamin Franklin High School rallying for LGBTQ rights
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Crescent Canna
PHOTO COURTESY CRESCENT CANNA
come to an agreement with the Orleans Parish school district on how to divvy up fines from cameras near schools.
Last year Cathey, a longtime critic of traffic cameras, successfully passed a bill requiring local governments to sign agreements with school systems on how to split the money from traffic camera tickets. It was part of a compromise with local officials from around the state who don’t want to lose a reliably lucrative stream of funding. Under the law, cities can only use the cameras for enforcement once those agreements are in place.
Nearly all communities in the state quickly did so, often with schools getting 20% or more of the revenue generated from school zone cameras. But not in New Orleans, where Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration continues to demand a 90% cut of the money.
But that impasse hasn’t stopped the city from using the cameras since the fall and putting the funds collected into a special account pending a deal.
That hasn’t sat well with Cathey, who told WWL the city was being “deceitful” and that the use of the account is “just completely outside of the scope of the law.”
After people were ticketed during the blizzard in January — despite the fact that the cameras were supposed to have been turned off because of the weather — Cathey told WDSU he plans on pursuing a statewide ban on traffic cameras.
According to City Council Budget Chairman Joe Giarrusso, that could be bad for the city, at least financially. Giarrusso notes that while “pretty much everybody hates them,” the cameras generate a substantial amount of revenue for the city — anywhere from $15 to $20 million a year, most of which goes to schools and the Sewerage & Water Board.
Meanwhile, Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, a Republican representing parts of New Orleans and Metairie, is also considering introducing new legislation related to S&WB. Over the last several years, she has taken the lead on efforts to reform the troubled agency, including working with City Council President JP Morrell, fellow New Orleans legislators and others on ways to fix its broken billing system and better regulate the agency.
At this point it’s unclear what, if anything, Hilferty will bring, though last year she successfully moved bills creating a system for a third-party to settle bill disputes and giving residents the ability to use a set billing option based on their last three bills.
CONSUMABLE HEMP
Rep. Laurie Schlegel, a Metairie Republican, is continuing her attempts to legislate her version of morality.
For instance, she’s the reason Pornhub and other major porn sites are no longer available to Louisianans without proof of ID. And she was one of the supporters of last year’s failed push to outlaw THC drinks and other consumable hemp products.
This year, she’s once again on the warpath against consumable hemp products. Her House Bill 36 would classify “any product derived from industrial hemp that contains any cannabinoid, including cannabidiol or THC, and is intended for consumption or topical use” as an illegal controlled substance in Louisiana. Although THC drinks and other products remain legal in Louisiana, the legislature passed serious restrictions on their sale last year.
HB 12, meanwhile, would set penalties for selling consumable hemp products to minors at up to $2,000 in fines and six months in prison.
TIKTOK, YOUTUBE AND FREE SPEECH
HB 37 appears to be aimed at regulating how people use TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and other social media sites.
HB 37 is a clear attempt to regulate the sorts of online speech people can engage in on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and other social media sites. The bill would create a “duty of care” for any “public website, online service, online application, or mobile application that predominantly provides a community forum for user generated content.”
That “duty of care” would require sites to “prohibit an adult from connecting to a minor on a covered platform unless the initial connection is made by the minor ... Prohibit an adult from sending private or direct messages to a minor ... unless the minor is connected to the adult on the covered platform ... Prohibit a covered platform from disclosing or sharing the geolocation of a minor with any individual who is not the legal representative of the minor ... [and] Prohibit an adult from viewing the online profile or personal data of a minor on a covered platform unless the adult is connected to the minor on the covered platform.”
The bill also requires platforms to notify parents within 24 hours if a child makes a microtransaction, is exposed to “sexually explicit” material, or if a “connection” is made between an adult and their child.
The language in the bill is broad. For instance, it defines a connection as “linking, associating, or interacting of user accounts between an adult and a minor.” It’s unclear what exactly the state would consider “interacting” and whether liking or simply viewing content would meet that threshold.
The bill would require sites to monitor potentially billions of interactions between accounts every day. They would need to create a system for determining if something is “sexually explicit” and create a system for notifying parents, which would require them having contact information for the parents of minors on their site.
Protecting kids from predators anywhere is obviously important. But the bill’s vague wording and broad scope seems to be more of a backdoor way to force sites to create the sorts of restrictive age verification systems Schlegel used to choke off legal online porn in the state.
However, Schlegel seems less concerned with government enforcing accountability of nonprofits who donate potentially dangerous medical products.
HB 16 would make nonprofits “not be liable to any person for any injury, death, loss, civil penalty, or damage as a result of any donated medical
equipment or supplies, unless the damage or injury was caused by gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct.” That’s a significant legal bar which would make it impossible to hold a nonprofit accountable in most instances.
It’s unclear why Schlegel wants to give nonprofits a pass in this instance, though Republicans’ hostility to vaccines and medical science in general should raise alarm bells for anyone concerned about public health.
OTHER BILLS OF NOTE
HB 5, by Rep. Steve Jackson, a Shreveport Democrat, would impose a term of hard labor to anyone convicted on their second or subsequent solicitation of prostitution charge.
HB 56, by Rep. Dodie Horton, a Haughton Republican, would confront the nationwide scourge of people not being allowed to fly American flags by guaranteeing Louisianans right to do so.
HB 38, by Rep. Tony Bacala, a Prairieville Republican, would significantly make it so police could hide who they relied on as witnesses of an alleged crime in their initial public arrest report.
And Senate Bill 4, by Sen. Eddie Lambert, a Gonzales Republican, would make it legal for politicians to pay to display political ads at school athletic fields and gyms — presumably because we don’t see enough of that literally everywhere else.
Rep. Dodie Horton
PHOTO BY HILARY SCHEINUK / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Rep. Laurie Schlegel
PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Board of Education votes to put xenophobic propaganda over educating children
THE LOUISIANA BOARD OF EDUCATION MARCH 11 UNANIMOUSLY VOTED to require fourth and fifth grade textbooks promote jingoistic and racist propaganda for President Donald Trump by replacing the name of the Gulf of Mexico with “Gulf of America.”
According to the TimesPicayune, the new rule “means that Louisiana teachers will be encouraged to refer to the body of water between Mexico and North America by the new name in classroom lessons, and all new fourth and fifth-grade social studies materials – the two grades whose standards mention the Gulf in units on world history – will be required to reflect the change moving forward. However, schools will not be required to replace their existing textbooks.”
While Trump in January issued an Executive Order claiming to rename the Gulf of Mexico, its name remains the same. Like every other president before him, Trump lacks the authority to unilaterally rename parts of the planet, especially those outside the territorial boundaries of the United States. Additionally, Executive Orders are
A map of the Gulf of Mexico from the early 1700s published by English company Mount and Page.
not binding on schools, states or publishers.
As anyone with even a cursory understanding of history and access to google knows, the Gulf of Mexico’s name predates not only the nation of Mexico, but also the United States, having been used for over 400 years by the entire world.
Although the name change may seem silly, it is a tactic often used by colonial powers – as in the case of the Malvinas islands, which the United Kingdom claims under the name “Falkland” –attempting to claim the right to control territories.
Trump’s name change is part of his so-called “America First” agenda, a moniker which itself has a dark history in the United States, most notably being used by antisemitic Nazi sympathizers during World War II, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
The Jefferson Parish Council recently voted against adopting the the propaganda, calling a proposed resolution to do so “inherently divisive,” according to the T-P. — John Stanton
REPRODUCTION OF MAP BY UT AUSTIN VIA WIKIPEDIA
ADVENTURES AHEAD
LOUISIANA COLORING BOOK |
$12 from Monomini (2109 Magazine St., 204-827-1269; shopmonomini.com).
STAFF PHOTO
DOUGHNUT SHORTS |
$30 from Phina
PHOTO PROVIDED BY PHINA
BY SARAH RAVITS
YETI WATER BOTTLE | $28 from Massey’s Outftters (509 N. Carrollton Ave., 504-648-0292; masseysoutftters.com).
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MASSEY’S OUTFITTERS
|
HAIR TIES | $3 each from Judy at the Rink (2727 Prytania St., 504-891-7018; judyattherink.com).
PROVIDED BY
AT THE RINK
Little Miss Muffn (766 Harrison Ave., 504-482-8200; 3307 Severn Ave., Metairie, 504-455-1444; shoplittlemissmuffn.com).
$10 from Goods That Matter (1114 Josephine St., 504-2642478; goodsthatmatter.com).
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GOODS THAT MATTER
SHADES |
$16 from GAMBIT STAFF PHOTO
ADVENTURES AHEAD
CRAWFISH SWIM TRUNKS
|
$46 from Perlis (600 Decatur St., 504523-6681; 1281 N. Causeway Blvd., Mandeville, 985-674-1711; 6070 Magazine St., 504895-8661; perlis.com).
PHOTO PROVIDED BY PERLIS
DISABILITIES KIDS SUMMER CAMPS WITH FOR
BY SARAH RAVITS
Summer camps are meant to give kids a sense of independence and the chance to make new friends and learn new things — not to mention they provide a break for parents who may or may not be struggling to keep them entertained when they’re out of school.
But for parents and caregivers of children with disabilities, it’s not quite as easy to send a kid off to any summer camp, especially if the child has around-the-clock needs or requires special medical attention.
Fortunately, there are a variety of options for kids outside their school, medical or home setting, including specialty camps that cater to kids with different needs and inclusive camps that provide extra support. After all, all young people deserve a chance to have a carefree, fun summer while honing new skills and interests.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list, and many additional local summer camps provide resources and support staff for children with disabilities.
CAMP LIGHTHOUSE
The nonprofit Lighthouse Louisiana puts on its annual summer enrichment program for young people who are blind or visually impaired.
Its two-week camp gives campers the opportunity to learn specific adaptive skills, like going to local shops and practicing paying for items, navigating public transit like the streetcar, learning how to grocery shop and more. There are also outings to City Park, the Cool Zoo and more.
“Oftentimes kids with visual impairments don’t get the opportunity to
enjoy these types of activities,” says Cathleen Randon, vice president of development and communications for Lighthouse. “During the camp they are able to experience these field trips with their peers in a safe environment with staff helping them along the way.” Camp Lighthouse runs June 2-6 and June 9-13. To sign up, contact Lighthouse Louisiana at (504) 8994501 or email info@lighthouselouisiana.org.
CRANE REHAB CENTER
Crane Rehab Center in Metairie is a rehab facility that provides physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and more. Starting in early June, the center hosts its annual PEAC Summer Camp, a series of week-long programs.
The camps are for children ages 3-8 who can participate in a small group setting. The camps promote learning new skills and developing new interests while learning how to interact with others.
For more information or to register, visit campscui.active.com.
NORD CAMPS
The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission partners with several local organizations, including schools and nonprofits, to offer affordable programs for young people. Many of those camps can accommodate kids with disabilities and provide extra on-site support.
There are about 30 camps to choose from this summer. Primary camps, where kids engage in a range of activities, start in early June and last through late July. Youth camps serve kids ages 4-12, and teen camps serve kids 13-15.
There are also specialty camps that last a week or two, where kids can hone specialized skills in activities like tennis, guitar playing, dance, swimming and academic subjects like science and technology.
While NORD used to have camps specifically for kids with disabilities, Larry Barbarino Jr., NORD’s CEO, says last year the commission shifted its focus toward inclusive camps, where kids of all abilities can interact with each other.
“Kids (with disabilities) want to be included with everyone else, they don’t want to be isolated,” he says.
He says parents have warmly received it, and it’s been convenient for families who have multiple children. “If kids have siblings, they are able to have them all in the same location,” he says. “It allows kids
Campers at Camp Tiger go on field trips to places like the Audubon Zoo, Insectarium and Aquarium; and Folsom’s Global Wildlife Center.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CHARLIE MCKENZIE / CAMP TIGER
to interact with each other, with or without disabilities.”
Barbarino says there’s extra support services on hand for kids who are disabled or need a little extra attention at many of the camps (each program varies, so check ahead of time).
“A lot of our staff works in the school system and in special education,” he says. “So those are the ones we pair for our inclusive camps.”
Kids with disabilities can also bring in their own support, for example, if a child requires their own aide or if the family simply feels more comfortable with someone they know and trust being on-site.
“There are some parents that are really protective of their kids,” Barbarino says. “We’re able to allow the extra support if needed.”
For more information, visit nordc.org/summer.
CAMP TIGER AT LSU
Camp Tiger is a free, weeklong day camp for kids ages 5-16 with developmental disabilities and other special needs. Hosted by LSU School of Medicine students in New Orleans, the camp runs from May 19-May 23. Generally, each camper has about 2 or 3 counselors assigned to them, but they are also allowed to bring in
their ADA specialist if needed. There are doctors and emergency responders on-site, says Charlie McKenzie, a current medical student and the camp’s director.
Counselors accompany young campers on local outings. There are field trips to a bowling alley, an arcade, the Audubon Zoo, Insectarium and Aquarium, as well as Folsom’s Global Wildlife Animal Center. There’s also a field day at the LSU Dental school, with games, face-painting, a catered lunch and snowballs.
“It’s everything you can do that’s designed in New Orleans for people 18 and under,” says McKenzie. “Our mission is to provide the most fun possible for these kids.”
Camp Tiger is free to attend and includes breakfast and lunch each day of the camp. McKenzie says it’s a welcome break for parents who are often burdened by costs of care for their children.
“It allows the parents to drop them off with us and know that they’re safe and having fun,” McKenzie adds.
Registration is open through early April. Sign up at lsuhsc.edu/orgs/ camp-tiger/application.aspx.
March14-16
Seafoodstuffedshell pasta with asidecaesar
Seafoodstuffedredfish with veggiesand seafoodcream
Braisedshortribsin
Demiglace and5cheeseMac andveggies
Crawfishempanadas with jalapeñoaioli
Smotheredporkloin with loadedmashand veggies
Brisketonabiscuit withfried egg cheddarcheeseand hollandaisewith a side of hash browns (SundayBrunch)
Baconcheddar egg spicy chickenbiscuit with asideofhashbrowns (SundayBrunch)
3701 iberville st •504.488.6582 katiesinmidcity.com Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm Fri&Sat 11am-10pm•Sun 10am-5pm
Join Us forS um merdance 2025 at NewO rlea ns School of Ballet! Classesand workshopsfor all ages - June 2-28.Whether you’re abeginneroranadvanced dancer, there’ssomething foreveryone!
www.neworleansschoolofballet.com
Lighthouse Louisiana provides summer programs for kids who are blind or visually impaired.
PHOTO BY LIGHTHOUSE LOUISIANA
Session1-June2nd throughJune20th(3weeks)
Session2- June 23rd throughJuly11th(3weeks)
Session3-July14ththrough August 1st(3weeks)
Sumer Camps SchoolsActivitiesServices
SCHOOL OF ROCK
1907 Veterans Boulevard Metairie, LA schoolofrock.com/locations/metairie /music-camps
LOUISIANA SPIRIT CHEER
laspiritcheer.com
Louisiana Spirit Cheer summer camp is more than just cheer! Campers will learn motions, cheers, dances, stunts, arts & crafts, jump in our NEW space walk, play games all day long and snoballs! End of week performance for parents and family.
Ages 5-13, boys and girls, no experience necessary. We offer weekly sign up and camp runs all summer long! Sign up on our website laspiritcheer. com Email jill@laspiritstaff.com for more info.
SUMMER CAMP MEMORIAL BAPTIST SUMMER CAMP
School of Rock music camps give students the opportunity to play in a band together in a safe and fun environment, learning Rock songs in a wide variety of styles. All camps culminate in a LIVE performance! 5701 Veterans Memorial Boulevard
Jun 2 - Jun 6, 2025
Rookies Summer Camp
Jun 9 - Jun 13, 2025
The Taylor Swift Experience Camp
Jun 16 - Jun 20, 2025
Rock 101 Summer Camp #1
Jun 23 - Jun 27, 2025
Classic Metal Camp
Jul 7 - Jul 11, 2025
Rock 101Summer Camp #2
Jul 14 - Jul 18, 2025 Rookies Camp
Jul 21 - Jul 25, 2025 Green Day Camp
Jul 28 - Aug 1, 2025 Rock 101 Summer Camp #3
For camp info call 504-618-ROCK or visit schoolofrock.com/locations/metairie/music-camps
June 2, 2025 – August 1, 2025 // 9 weeks
Memorial Baptist Summer Camp provides children entering Kindergarten—7th grade with amazing, supervised activities that encourage friendship & fun! We are located right in the heart of Metairie, where the interstate meets Veterans Blvd. Camp activities include Games, Sports, Movies, a Trampoline area, on-site Swimming, and local Field Trips.
Memorial Baptist School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, or disability in violation of state law and federal law or regulation in the administration of its educational policies or programs.
LOUIS ARMSTRONG JAZZ CAMP
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA
louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com
The Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp provides high-level Jazz education and skills training on a local college campus in the areas of leadership, teamwork, problem solving and creativity. For three weeks students between the ages of 10 and 21 experience an intense learning environment of instruction and performance in various instructional areas including brass, woodwinds, guitar, piano, percussion, drum set, upright acoustic and electric bass, jazz vocals, dance, and hip hop. More than 2,000 highly diverse students have participated in the camp since its inception. A culminating public concert is held at the camp’s end. To register or learn more, please visit louisarmstrongjazzcamp.com.
UNIVERSITY OF NEW ORLEANS
ECOLE BILINGUE
821 General Pershing Street New Orleans, LA ebnola.net
Arts, crafts, sports, games, singing, and play! At Ecole Bilingue’s summer camps, children practice French in a natural, playful way. Open to campers entering Pre-K2 through 6th grade. No French language background is required, as campers will be exposed to French through everyday interactions and activities. EB offers traditional summer camp, reading camps in French and English, and chess camp. Sign up for one week or 10 weeks! Learn more at: www.ebnola.net/ eb-summer-camp
7027 Milne Boulevard
New Orleans, LA mcacubs.com
Choose your adventure at Mount Carmel’s Summer Camp! Campers customize their summer fun by picking their favorite activities from a diverse and exciting selection. They will enjoy being artists, scientists, dancers, athletes, cheerleaders, chefs, detectives, designers, actresses and so much more! Campers will explore their individual interests and uncover new talents as they make friends and have a blast! With morning and afternoon sessions available, girls entering grades 2 – 8 can attend by the week from June 2 to June 27. Registration opens on March 12 for specialty camps (grades 5 – 8) and March 13 for junior camps (grades 2 – 4).
2000
The University of New Orleans Summer Day Camp offers a recreation and sports camp that is open to boys and girls ages 5 - 11 years old; with activities like sports, games, field trips, and swimming. Fee includes Morning/Afternoon supervision. Contact info: Camp Director – Kassie Thibodeaux; 504-280-6009; kthibode@uno.edu; University of New Orleans – Recreation & Fitness Center 2000 Lakeshore Drive, NOLA 70148. ris.uno.edu
safesitter.org
SAFE SITTER® prepares students in grades 6–8 to be safe and responsible when home alone or babysitting. The program teaches basic life-saving skills like choking rescue, safety precautions, first-aid, and emergency response. Students also learn childcare basics and introductory job skills. Through hands-on activities and role-playing, they gain confidence in handling real-life situations. Register for one of our upcoming sessions available on: July 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, and August 2, 3, 9.
SAFE SITTER
June9-13
June16-20
June23-27
SummerCamp Summer Camp
CEDARWOOD CAMPS & AQUATICS
607 Heavens Drive Mandeville, LA cedarwoodschool.com
Cedarwood’s seven-acre campus is the setting for exploration, creativity, and discovery. Cedarwood Camp will integrate creative arts and drama, robotics, and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math), music and movement, and aquatics in the Jr. Olympic pool. The discovery that STEAM learning delivers has been proven to beneft and position children for success in the future. Swimming lessons are available for campers and non-campers. Register online at cedarwoodschool.com
NEW ORLEANS GLASSWORKS
727 Magazine Street
New Orleans, LA
neworleansglassworks.com
New Orleans Glassworks & Printmaking Studio’s Summer Technical Workshop for Young Adults is a hands-on experience where science meets art! Students may attend the Three-Week Session, Weekly Sessions, or both to learn Glassblowing, Glass Torchworking/Flameworking, Metal Sculpture & Welding, Printmaking, Screen Printing, Stained Glass, Ceramics, Architectural Sculpture & Float Building, and more! No two weeks are alike, and attending multiple weeks allows students to progress within these disciplines and create custom multimedia projects. Limited to 25 students per week, all students receive individualized instruction to help them fnd their inspiration and tap into their creativity!
NEW ORLEANS SCHOOL OF BALLET
717 Adams Street New Orleans, LA neworleansschoolofballet.com
Experience the joy of dance this summer!
Summerdance 2025 runs from June 2-28, offering classes and workshops for all ages in a fun and enriching environment. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced dancer, there’s something for everyone! For more details, contact us at 504-866-0652 or visit www. neworleansschoolofballet.com. Don’t miss out on a summer of movement, creativity, and inspiration!
6500 Riverside Drive
Join us for Summer Camp 2025 at Atonement Lutheran! Camps run May 27 – August 1. You do not have to attend our church or school to participate in camp. All are welcome! We have camps available for students in PreK – 8th grade! Choose from a wide variety of camps like soccer, basketball, slime, cooking, art, cheer and more! Call rose at 504-887-0225 or email churchoffce@alcs.org to register or for questions!
CRESCENT CITY NINJA ACADEMY
1539 Lafayette Street, Suite B Gretna, LA
Crescent City Ninja Academy Summer Camp is the ultimate adventure for young thrill-seekers! Designed for kids ages 6-12, this action-packed camp combines ftness, fun, and teamwork as campers tackle a variety of ninja-style obstacle courses. With a focus on building strength, agility, and confdence, children get to challenge themselves while learning new skills in a supportive, energetic environment. Camp is held in our 4,000 sq foot, climate-controlled Ninja Warrior Arena and is led by experienced instructors who guide campers through exciting challenges, including climbing walls, balance obstacles, and obstacle races, all while encouraging teamwork and perseverance. Whether your child is a frst-timer or an experienced ninja in the making, our summer Camp offers a fun and safe way for kids to stay active!
3101 Wall Boulevard
Gretna, LA ardencahillacademy.com
Voted #1 Summer Camp in New Orleans by Gambit readers for FIVE years. Cahill Camp Corral offers two sessions comprised of 10 themed weeks of on-campus activities such as horseback riding, swimming, art, theater, sports, game room, petting farm, archery, rifery, STEAM and more. Space, Dinosaur and Adventure week are always a hit, while blue and white days, rodeos, a theatre production, and the overnight camp “in” are not to be missed. Academic enrichment classes are offered as session options. Add weekly and session rates available.
Free slogan t-shirt if registered by April 1! Conveniently located in Gretna, 10 minutes from the GNO Bridge. For more information or to register now, visit Cahill Camp Corral online at ardencahillacademy.com.
NEW ORLEANS PHARMACY MUSEUM
514 Chartres Street New Orleans, LA pharmacymuseum.org
Immerse yourself in history by visiting the home and apothecary of the frst licensed pharmacist in the United States! All student and youth tours of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum align with Louisiana state curriculum standards and can be tailored to meet the needs of each group. Our student tours maximize learning and fun, with tour customization options that can be based on grade level, age group, subject matter, or activity of interest. We offer a variety of activities to engage students in learning about the history, science, and impact of pharmacy while connecting the museum’s exhibits to their curriculum.
UPTURN ARTS
1719 Toledano Street
New Orleans, LA upturnarts.org
Join Upturn Arts for 12 weeks of exciting weekly camps from May 19 to August 15, designed for young artists ages 4 to 12. Our talented teaching artists offer classes in theater, music, dance, and visual arts. Young artists enjoy time with their friends in a fun, creative environment, where they are encouraged to fnd their artistic voice and create original works of art. We focus on individuality, discovery, and exploration in each class.
Each week features a unique theme inspired by the rich arts and culture of New Orleans. On Fridays, local master artists will showcase their talents in a one-of-a-kind workshop experience.
1200 South Clearview Parkway, Suite 1200 Harahan, LA ochsnerfitness.com/kidsports
Experience the ultimate summer adventure at Ochsner Fitness Center’s Kidsports & Gymnastics/Tumbling Summer Camps. From May 12 to May 15, children aged 3-12 can dive into a world of excitement and growth. Kidsports offers a vibrant mix of sports, arts, swimming, and more, while Gymnastics & Tumbling specializes in professional coaching and state-ofthe-art equipment. Safety is paramount, with trained staff overseeing activities. Plus, swimming lessons for all ages ensure a splash-tastic time! For an unforgettable summer, call 504-733-1200 or visit ochsnerftness.com/kidsports.
DE LA SALLE HIGH SCHOOL
Join the summer fun at De La Salle’s Cav Camp! Open to boys and girls in PK-8th grades with 7 weeks of summer fun. Campers will enjoy weekly swimming, water days, and special events. Campers build their schedules each day so no two days are the same. They will enjoy activities such as Sports, Art, STEM, Performing Arts, and more! We also offer extended care, lunch, and bus service at an additional cost. Our staff is made up of certifed teachers as well as current and former De La Salle students. Sign up for the whole summer, all of June, or all of July for discounts. De La Salle Alumni receive an additional discount on camp tuition. For more information, please go to www.delasallenola.com/ cav-camp. Follow us on Facebook at DLS Cav Camp and on Instagram at dlscavcamp. Questions? Email Camp Director Caroline Laurent Huber ‘99 at cavcamp@delasallenola.com.
Camp is open to boys an dgirls ages 5-11 yearsold.Withactivitieslikesports, games, field trips, an dswimming. Feeinclu des: lunch, field trips, an d before/after camp supervision.
Camp Director -KassieThibo deaux 504-280 -6009• kthibo de@uno.e du
CRESCENT CITY GYMNASTICS
7800 Earhart Boulevard New Orleans, LA crescentcitygymnastics.com
Crescent City Gymnastics Summer Camp runs weekly from May 27 – August 1! In addition to structured time on each of the gymnastics apparatus/events (bars, beam, foor and vault), campers will also enjoy trampoline, free play, gymnastics games, arts and crafts, and much more!
NEW ORLEANS ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS
5256 Magazine Street New Orleans, LA noafa.org
We are so excited for you and your family to join us for the fourth year of Summer Fine Arts Camp at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts! The 2025 Summer Camp season has an amazing program lined up, with experienced and knowledgeable staff, a beautiful facility, guest artists, workshops, and more. Each day will be centered around the development of fne art skills through classes focused on drawing, painting, ceramics, mixed media, and more. We look forward to welcoming you and your family to our community! (Ages 4-12)
SAINT MATTHEW THE APOSTLE
10021 Jefferson Highway River Ridge, LA smaschool.net/apps/pages/summercamp
Summer Camp is BACK at St. Matthew the Apostle! Our mission is to offer families a fun, safe, and faithflled option for children from all schools.
With regards to activities, the sky is the limit this summer! We will offer feld trips as well as on-campus events such as robotics, musical theatre, culinary fun, SLIME, water slides, spacewalks…
Scan the QR Code for more information and registration forms. Email questions to camp@smaschool.net.
laapa.com
With a choice of over 20 instrumental, vocal, dance, and drama programs, this summer camp provides children ages 5-14 with the opportunity to try out up to eight programs of interests. The goal of each class for beginning students is to provide an introduction and basic foundation in a fun and relaxed environment. For experiences students, the goal is to provide the inspiration and motivation necessary to take their skills to the next level! Camp is held from 9 AM – 3PM Monday- Friday and includes LAAPA t-shirt and one free instrument rental.
SCHOOL OF ROCK NORTHSHORE
1872 N Causeway Boulevard Mandeville, LA schoolofrock.com/locations /northshore
School of Rock Northshore summer camps are performance-based music camps that get every camper rocking out and having fun! Rookies Camps introduce children ages 6 and 7 to music, instruments, and playing in a band. Rock 101 is for beginner musicians ages 8 to 12, placing campers in a band and teaching them a variety of songs in a group setting. Performance Program Camps are for more experienced musicians ages 10 to 17 and focus on a specifc artist or genre. All camps end with an exciting live performance!
LOYOLA’S COLLEGE OF MUSIC
6363 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA
cmm.loyno.edu/cmmexperience
Loyola’s College of Music and Media presents the 2025 Creative Summer Experience, a vibrant boot camp for rising 9th to 12th grade students to explore careers in motion design, graphic design, game design, flm, theater, music, and more. Participants will learn from experts and gain hands-on experience in a collaborative environment, with new courses and revamped experiences for returning students. This program is designed to inspire creativity and develop valuable skills, enabling students to create portfolio-ready projects and open doors to exciting opportunities in the arts and media felds. The camp will take place from June 16-20 and June 23-28, running daily from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, at a cost of $600 per week ($700 after April 18, 2025), with scholarships available. For more information, email scdexperience@loyno.edu.
THE STUDIO SCHOOL OF DANCE
3116 North Arnoult Road Metairie, LA thestudionola.com
Camp Studio NOLA is back at The Studio School of Dance! Each week will be centered around a fun theme. Not only do we dance, but the campers get to play games, do crafts and activities, and even do an end-of-the-week performance for you. All participants must be 3-10 years of age to participate in a full-day camp. Previous experience or exposure to dance is helpful but certainly not needed. It’s endless fun, and they will be EXHAUSTED by pickup! Registrations are accepted on a frst-come-frst-serve basis.
CITY PARK MOVEMENT & ART
Uptown: 1122 Dublin Street
Mid City: 4300 Dumaine Street
New Orleans, LA
cityparkmovementandart.com
City Park Movement and Art offers arts intensives and weekly classes June - August. Young Artists ages 3 – 18 are invited to join us for one- or twoweek arts intensives for Musical Theater, Dance, and more. Young Artists ages 3 - adult are also invited to join us for a weekly class in dance or musical theater. At CPMA we know that summer activities can be both enriching and FUN! Come learn, grow, get creative, and continue your training with us this summer.
156 Bertucci Lane St. Rose, LA ponytalesbirthdays.com
Have your children experience interactions with barn animals with an emphasis on horse and pony handling. Ages 5-12. No experience necessary. We’ve been doing Pony Tales since 1983. Daily pony rides, pony handling, sometimes crafts and other games. May 26- August. Hours in summer 8:30-2pm. http://www.ponytalesbirthdays.com. email ponynola@gmail.com
FRANCO’S
100 Bon Temps Roule Mandeville, LA francosmandeville.com/programs/kids/ summer-camp
Come join the fun in the sun at Franco’s Summer Camp! With the most versatile lineup of themed camp weeks on the North Shore, our campers experience a unique adventure each week including meeting a Highland Mini Cow, dancing in our Crazy Glow Party house, and the New Orleans Saints sports experience among other festive weeks. Our campers receive complimentary swimming or tennis lessons, get to play pickleball, basketball, enjoy our infatable bounce houses and ride the water slides during daily free swim. The fun comes to Franco’s each week and the friendships last a lifetime.
PONY TALES
THE VINEYARD CAMP
1945 Vineyard Road Westfield, NC vineyardcamp.com
The Vineyard Camp,a special camp in the foothills of North Carolina. The Vineyard is world renown for there excellent in sports programs. Led by pastor and author Lewis Dean Barley for over 40 years, Dean has constructed and created an environment that is a safe place for children from all over the world to come and learn about the gospel. Over the course of our camps existence children and staff from over 50 countries have joined.
THE WILLOW SCHOOL NEW ORLEANS
5625 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA willowschoolNOLA.org
As an Arts Schools Network Exemplary School, The Willow School offers a renowned arts-integrated academic program at its Uptown campuses. Willow’s Summer Arts and Innovation Camp offers three weeks of fun incorporating STEM and the arts for grades 1 - 8 at its middle school campus. Elementary school campers participate in ARTS SPARK! with classes in design, visual and performing arts, science and more. For grades 5 - 8, young artists and explorers are introduced to and prepped for conservatory and design-oriented high school programs. Classes have included theatre, music, visual art, media art, dance, science, robotics, culture, coding and more. For more information go to willowschoolNOLA.org.
THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION
520 Royal Street New Orleans, LA hnoc.org
SUMMER AT MCGEHEE
2343 Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA
mcgeheeschool.com/summer
Step into the excitement of Summer at McGehee, where each week offers new opportunities for exploration, creativity, and lasting memories through themed adventures, hands-on activities, high-energy games, and plenty of outdoor fun!
McGehee presents a summer day camp for those from Entering Pre-K to Entering 7th grade, along with Learning Leap reading and math programs catering to Entering 1st--4th graders. Camp is open to both girls and boys from the greater New Orleans community. Additionally, campers can seize the opportunity to join our athletic camps designed for GIRLS in Entering 4th-8th grades, covering volleyball, soccer, track and feld, basketball, and softball. Embrace a summer flled with excitement and enrichment at McGehee!
Museum Lab gives teens ages 13-18 behind-the-scenes access to the storied French Quarter museum, The Historic New Orleans Collection. Museum Lab participants will learn what goes into curating and showcasing museum materials which preserve the history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. During the week-long program, young curators will participate in daily workshops, learn new skills, and share ideas on how to bring a museum to life. In addition to exploring The Historic New Orleans Collection, campers will also visit four other museums in the French Quarter during the week. Each day there is something new to see and learn! Register today at [hnoc.org/ programs/museum-lab]hnoc.org/programs/museum-lab!
Ask Wonder Explore (AWE) is a transformative microschool and camp dedicated to empowering youth through STEM and social justice education. We provide hands-on, project-based learning experiences that foster curiosity, creativity, and advocacy. At AWE, students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and social-emotional skills while addressing real-world challenges in their communities. Our inclusive environment encourages risk-taking, innovation, and collaboration, ensuring that every child feels supported in their learning journey. By combining STEM with activism, we equip the next generation of leaders with the tools to challenge inequities, drive change, and shape a more just and equitable future.
EAT + DRINK
Doctor’s orders
Two chef friends combine casual fare and creative cooking by Beth D’Addono |
DR. JONES IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN TWO CHEF FRIENDS, David Rouse (the DR in Dr.) and Billy Jones, finally opened their own place.
The compact Metairie restaurant with its open kitchen and smattering of tables is a real gem, the product of two chefs well versed in bold flavors layered in unexpected ways. It’s also a great surprise, especially considering its affordable prices and BYOB option.
Rouse, who is from Mandeville, and Jones, from Slidell, met at the Louisiana Culinary Institute almost 20 years ago. Although their personalities are polar opposites, they’re kindred culinary spirits who stayed close over the years.
Jones worked with the Link Restaurant Group, and Rouse with the Besh Restaurant Group (now named BRG Hospitality). A dozen years ago, they moved to Chicago together on a whim to check out another city’s food scene. They lasted a year, working in that city’s Michelin star restaurant scene.
“It was five degrees when we left Chicago,” Jones says. “We got home just in time for Mardi Gras.”
They worked for the Link group at Cochon and Herbsaint before Jones opened the now shuttered American Chinese restaurant Blue Giant. After it closed, he took a break. Rouse did the same after Chemin a la Mer was in the works.
“It was strange how we were both at the same place, ready to come back,” Jones says.
Rouse was doing catering out of his house, cooking private dinners and providing green room eats at venues like the Fillmore and Saenger Theatre. He saw potential in the small space on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, formerly home to Yakuza House.
The two friends got the band back together and leased it. What started as catering morphed quickly into the wonderful cafe Dr. Jones.
The menu is compact, and diners could order all of the options in one
sitting. Each dish seems simple at first, but then there’s always some culinary sleight of hand that makes delicious sense.
The chicken and andouille gumbo gets depth of flavor from tomatoes and okra roasted overnight and the addition of djon djon, a Haitian black mushroom that brings an earthy goodness to every spoonful. The buttery barbecue shrimp seems familiar, but the chefs spike it with berber, a complex Ethiopian spice blend redolent with cumin, garlic and ginger.
Mirliton does a star turn that has nothing to do with its usual stewed texture. Here, it’s shredded and swapped in for the usual green papaya salad, a Thai dish fragrant with citrus, fish sauce, and chiles. It’s a refreshing mix that can be a warm weather go-to for sure.
Jones brings that same love for the ingredients he used at Blue Giant to the blackened eggplant, which is treated with nuoc cham and lots of
cilantro. Natchitoches meat pies benefit from a lime crema dipping sauce. The partners admit their yin and yang can shake things up a bit.
“I’m outspoken and fly by the seat of my pants,” Jones says. “David is thoughtful and thinks everything all the way through. He’s always thinking. My palate is spicier, his is more refined. But we’re not afraid to have tough conversations. We’ve been friends for such a long time.”
The 32-seat restaurant is mostly a lunch place, open Wednesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but on Saturdays, hours extend until 9 p.m. That allows the chefs to flex their culinary muscles.
A monthly chef’s choice dinner series is also in the works. The first one will feature an all-seafood menu on Friday, March 28. The meal is $75 per person, with seatings at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
“We already have a lot of regulars from the neighborhood,” Jones says. “We want to create an experience for them. Having so many repeat customers is really a good feeling.”
Franklin reboot
AFTER MORE THAN A DECADE, THE FRANKLIN CLOSED ITS DOORS over the Mardi Gras weekend. Very soon though its stylish old home in the Marigny will become a new restaurant bringing together a cast of pros who long worked together at the Link Restaurant Group. It’s also a comeback for one chef who has been out of the dining scene for a few years.
The new restaurant is called Evviva and is scheduled to open in early April. It takes its name from the Italian word for “hurray!”
The new operators are Heather Lolley and Humberto Suazo, who together spent decades working for chef Donald Link’s company, she as operations director, he as chief financial officer. Today they run the Bywater taco hot spot Galaxie.
The executive chef at Evviva is Rebecca Wilcomb, who in 2017 won a James Beard award as chef de cuisine at Herbsaint and was opening chef and partner at Gianna, the group’s Italian restaurant.
The chef de cuisine at Evviva is Marcus Jacobs, who cooked alongside Wilcomb at Herbsaint before opening Marjie’s Grill and Seafood Sally’s (both now closed) and co-founding Porgy’s Seafood Market in 2023.
Evviva will be an upscale/casual restaurant with a seasonal menu, drawing influences from Mediterranean coastal regions in particular.
“It’s based on the things we love, on our travels, what we’ve experienced in different places with great hospitality, service and food,” Wilcomb says.
Rebecca Wilcomb is the chef of Evviva.
PHOTO BY DAVID GRUNFELD / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
Metairie
David Rouse is one of the chefs and owners of Dr. Jones.
PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER / GAMBIT
The connecting thread here is Patrick Finney, an owner of the restaurant property and partner in the Franklin. He says the former restaurant needed new energy, and for ideas he approached Lolley and Suazo, who are his business partners at Galaxie.
Beegle missed East Coast food, and she decided to start serving her personal favorite dish — a Philly cheesesteak — in New Orleans.
Trilly Cheesesteak started as a weekly pop-up at Bud Rips Old 9th Ward Bar in 2017. Within a year, it found a new home on Banks Street in Mid-City. The restaurant moved to another building off Tulane Avenue in 2021, where it’s currently located.
They in turn recruited Wilcomb, who had been out of the restaurant business since departing Gianna in 2021. She’s since started a family, and entered a new chapter of life. Today, she says she’s eager to get back to restaurant cooking and reconnecting with her community through hospitality.
She and Jacobs share a love of working with local food producers and purveyors, and simply talking food together, she says.
The partners are planning a quick turnaround for the restaurant. It will keep the same general layout across its 60-seat floor plan, with its large bar in the center, though there will some design tweaks to change it up.
The aim is to make an everyday casual spot flexible enough for bar snacks or full meals, Lolley says.
The Franklin first opened in 2014, a time when more attention and investment was pouring in to the Marigny and adjacent neighborhoods. It was built in an old corner grocery that was long vacant. With its large bar and seductive interior, it had a menu of modern bistro-style dishes, and toed the line between lounge and restaurant, with excellent cocktails and a popular happy hour. — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune
Trilly to close
AFTER SERVING PHILADELPHIA’S STAPLE SANDWICH IN NEW ORLEANS for eight years, Trilly Cheesesteaks is closing the doors of its Mid-City restaurant later this month.
Owners Quarry Beegle and Carlos Stich announced on social media that the rising costs of ingredients, insurance hikes and a looming lease renewal are the reasons for the restaurant’s coming closure on March 30. Heartbroken fans filled the comment section with lengthy compliments about the menu, goodbyes and teary-eyed emojis.
“This isn’t about a lack of support — we’ve felt nothing but love,” the owners assured customers.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in animation and working on a few artistic projects, Beegle, a native of north Delaware, came to New Orleans in 2013 during a phase of exhaustion and burnout. Along with wanting to be closer to a friend who lived in the city, Beegle said she moved to “experience a different culture and meet new people.”
Owning the restaurant took sacrifice, as the city battled its way through a pandemic, hurricanes and flooding in the last decade. Beegle felt the restaurant industry hindered her ability to explore other passions, such as art, traveling and surfing in Grand Isle.
“It’s a really demanding business to be involved in,” Beegle says. “I am excited to be able to pursue other passions and to be able to travel more.”
Stich, a Slidell native who officially became Beegle’s business partner in 2021, says he will miss working in the hospitality industry.
“I really love running a restaurant and creating spaces in the community for people to come enjoy good food,” Stich says. “I’m hoping in the future to do something more, but in the near short term, I don’t have anything in mind.”
Stich adds that he will miss the food at Trilly Cheesesteaks, which offered vegan options that made his life “very convenient” as a vegetarian. As much as he loves many aspects of the industry, from serving customers to the food itself, he agreed that it isn’t easy work. Plus, he works full-time as a data engineer.
“I’ve seen it take a toll on our staff... just how much work goes in,” he says. “We make all of our vegan products from scratch, so they’re very labor-intensive items to produce.”
Trilly Cheesesteaks brought in rolls from Amoroso’s, a famous baking company in Philadelphia. The seitan meat used for vegan sandwiches was made from scratch.
The menu offers classic and innovative takes on the Philly staple. Thinly sliced steak, sautéed peppers and onion and melted American cheese defined the restaurant’s standard cheesesteak. The Far East Philly features flavors like sweet ginger soy sauce, fried pickled red onions and cream cheese.
The restaurant offered a vegan version for every sandwich. Though Beegle doesn’t plan on returning to the restaurant industry, she says she may create a recipe book for Trilly Cheesesteak’s vegan items.
Poet Wolfe /
Evan Troxell
Founder, Gulf Coast Crawfsh Co.
by Will Coviello
EVAN TROXELL GREW UP ON A BAYOU IN GULF COAST FLORIDA , fishing for trout and redfish but also holding shrimp boils. After college, he moved to New Orleans to work in the bar business. Eventually, he branched off to create a shrimp and crawfish boiling company, and later a catering business serving oysters. His Gulf Coast Crawfish Company does private boils, and during crawfish season, it does boils on Fridays at Mid-City Yacht Club from 4-8 p.m., and from noon to 5 p.m. at Port Orleans Brewing Co. on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit gulfcoastcrawfish.com.
How did you get interested in seafood?
EVAN TROXELL: I grew up on the Florida Gulf Coast. In Florida, we had shrimp boils, crawfish boils, fish fries and that sort of thing. I am from Fort Walton Beach. We grew up with a lot of New Orleans influence and culture by way of people from New Orleans and Louisiana coming to the beach. Same thing for us. I have been coming to New Orleans since I was 3 years old.
My grandfather had me cleaning fish. He’d catch trout, redfish and mullet. I grew up on the bayou in Florida. It’s brackish water. Our mullet is cleaner than what you have here. It’s a bottom feeder, but the bottoms (in Florida) are sandy, clean bottoms.
I was exposed to this picnic-style, family-style entertaining from a young age. I love cooking, I love New Orleans. After college, my girlfriend and I moved over here. She got a nursing job. I worked in the bar industry in beer sales and management.
How did you get into crawfish boiling?
T: I did home boils before I started doing public boils. My first public boil was in March 2016 over at The Bulldog in Mid-City. I was the assistant manager.
It was like, “Hey, we’re gonna have a boil and try to get some customers to the bar.” I saw that on Fridays, every place was having a boil. I called all the known boilers. I was like, “Will you come out and do a boil?” And they were all like, “No, we’re too busy selling crawfish.” I was like, OK, I know how to boil shrimp, I can probably
figure out how to boil crawfish. That’s how it all started.
(Gulf Coast Crawfish) grew from 2016 to 2019 at Urban South Brewery and got our name out there. Then Covid shut us down for a little while. We pivoted and started boiling on the street. We were cooking 500 pounds a day.
I used to be a pop-up warrior. I used to do every one in the book. But there came a point where it flipped, so people were calling us and booking us for private events. So we’re only doing the two pop-ups at this point. That’s all we can do.
We grew with Urban South Brewery, Miel Brewery and our current partner, Port Orleans. We’ve been around a long time, for the past 9-10 years now.
We stay busy year-round with small parties and events. But it increases 300% in crawfish season. We do shrimp and snow crab boils. We buy as direct as we can for crawfish and shrimp. Shrimp come right off the boat in Houma. Oysters come out of Belle Chasse. Snow crab comes from northern colder waters. We don’t buy any imported products.
We always dabbled with oysters as an add-on. I put together the oyster catering idea in June 2020 because I was sitting around so bored. It’s Lafitte’s Oyster Catering.
I thought I had to do something in addition to crawfish boils. The crawfish business still adds on oysters. But the oyster business is more the cocktail and wine crowd. We’ll bring in caviar and Murder Point oysters, and Canadian Prince Edward Island ones. For Gulf oysters, we buy premium oysters from Tesvich Oyster company. They make an oyster called Reef
WI NE OF THE WEEK
Candy. You can find them at a couple places around town. We do raw and char-grilled oysters. Our company catered a Super Bowl VIP party at the Superdome with 1,000 oysters. We’re doing a lot of events.
What do you serve at a boil?
T: We have two styles of boil. Our main boil is like a backyard boil. We have the corn, potatoes and sausage. We have garlic, onion, mushrooms, celery, jalapenos, habaneros and Thai chilies. All of that is mixed into the boil with the crawfish and shrimp or snow crab. That’s when we’re doing it table-dump style, throwing it out for everybody to eat. It could be a party or a corporate event.
Our other style, we’ll actually do all of our sides first. We’ll do corn, potatoes and sausage. Then we pull all of that out. We’ll do our mix-in sides, which is garlic, mushrooms and onions; all of that is going to go back in there. Then we cook our crawfish and portion it out for trays or by-thepound sales. If you put it all together, the potatoes get a little too soft if you mix everything together.
Our scale could be a one-sack boil or a 20-sack boil. We’ve got two trailers. We can do different boils throughout the day. We cooked 27 sacks last Saturday. There is crazy demand for crawfish right now.
This year, everything is aligned for it to be one of the best crawfish seasons I can remember. With the wet summer we had, the conditions were just right. I love entertaining and meeting people. I meet people who come here. We’re happy to go cook for birthday parties or any kind of event. We like to be a part of people’s story.
Dark garnetinthe glass, commanding aromas of blueberry,plum, and baking spices with concentrated layers of ripe dark fruit and dark chocolate.With robust, full-bodied and balanced acidity,this complex wine leavesalasting impression with asmooth, round, and full finish.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY EVAN TROXELL
OUT TO EAT
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.
$ — average dinner entrée under $10
$$ $11-$20
$$$ — $20-up
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. $$
Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ices, cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and more. There also are coffee drinks. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $
noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
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
HAND GRENADE
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 Mon.Sat., dinner Fri.-Mon. $$
The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available. Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$
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. $$
Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken
Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 5860300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes chargrilled oysters topped with Parmesan and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
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 daily. $$
Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The bar menu includes sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, including one topped with peach, prosciutto, stracciatella cheese, arugula and pecans. No reservations. Lunch Fri.Mon., dinner daily. $$
Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes
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. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans and rice with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as shrimp Creole, seafood platters, po-boys, char-grilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$
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. $$$ Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill.com — The menu includes burgers,
OUT TO EAT
sandwiches, pizza and sauteed andouille with fig dip, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner
Mon.-Sat. $$
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. $$
Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations. Dinner
Mon.-Sat. $$
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)
The Vintage (3121 Magazine St., 504-608-1008; thevintagenola.com) serves coffee, beignets and a menu of sandwiches and small plates.
PHOTO BY TODD A. PRICE / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
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; 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. 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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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade
Ricky Templet and Charles Marsala are the grand marshals for the Louisiana Irish-Italian Parade in Metairie. The procession features marching groups, floats and trucks. The parade begins at noon Sunday, March 23, on Veterans Memorial Boulevard near Houma Boulevard and proceeds to Martin Behrman Drive, including a loop on Severn Avenue. For information, visit lairish-italian.org.
Stella Shouting Contest
The annual Stella Shouting Contest is a harbinger of the Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival to come. The event is hosted by actor Bryan Batt, with Beth Bartley d’Amour as Stella and Todd d’Amour as Stanley. The contest takes the first 25 prospective Stanley Kowalskis (sign-up begins at 1:30 p.m.), and shouting begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 23, in Jackson Square. Festival events run March 26-30. Visit tennesseewilliams.net for details.
Trey Anastasio
Singer-guitarist Trey Anastasio started up the jam band Phish in 1983 with drummer Jon Fishman and bassist Mike Gordon, and he has struck out solo numerous times over the years. In 2022, Anastasio released his first fully acoustic solo album, “Mercy,” and he is now on his first, long solo acoustic tour, which stops Friday, March 21, at the Saenger Theatre. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets start at $49.50 via saengernola.com.
We Will Dream Festival
The biennial We Will Dream Festival kicks off with the OverFlow mixer with a panel discussion, entertainment and more at the Andre Cailloux Center. The festival hosts the HBCU Theatre Summit Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22. The festival runs through May and includes the Azucar new play reading festival in April. OverFlow begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 19. Visit nodreamdeferrednola.com for information.
Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes
The Wednesday at the Square spring concert series kicks off with Johnny Sketch and the Dirty Notes, the long-running jazz funk outfit. N.O.B.A.B.E., the local collective of women-identifying songwriters, opens. The free concerts feature food and drink vendors and an art market.
At 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, at Lafayette Square. Concerts run every Wednesday through May 7. Find information at ylcwats.com.
‘Medea as a Lounge Singer’ In Euripides’ tragedy, Medea is spurned by her husband Jason and she seeks revenge before fleeing to Athens. In Tucker Fuller’s new song cycle, Medea is imagined as a lounge singer in Athens, recounting her story in 13 jazz and blues-inspired tunes. The New Resonance Orchestra provides the music. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, and Thursday, March 20, at Toulouse Theatre. Tickets $15-$25 via toulousetheatre.com.
‘Wonka’
The New Orleans Recreation Development Commission each spring and fall host free, weekly movie nights in one of the city’s parks. The spring series is up and running, and the next edition will feature the movie “Wonka” on Friday, March 21, at Bodenger Playground in Algiers. Starring Timothee Chalamet as Willy Wonka, the 2023 movie is an origin story for the eccentric chocolatier. Movies begin at dusk. Find more information at nordc.org.
Downtown Irish Club Parade
New Orleans Downtown Irish Club’s parade goes from Washington Square in Marigny to Lucy’s Retired Surfer’s Bar. The pub crawl stops at several Decatur Street bars along the way. The procession begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday, March 17. Visit downtownirishclub.com for information.
Bayou Bluegrass Festival
The Delta Hayride Association’s first Bayou Bluegrass Festival will feature Nashville’s East Nash Grass; Catahoula Drive, which mixes some gospel into its bluegrass; award-winning bassist Edgar Loudermilk and his band; Covington’s The Spring Chickens; and local band The Tanglers. The bluegrass party runs noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at the Deutsches Haus. Tickets are $35 and free for kids under 12 via deltahayride.com.
Louisiana Derby
The racing card at the New Orleans Fair Grounds & Slots is highlighted by the 112th running of Louisiana Derby on Saturday, March 22. The race has a $1 million purse, and the day also features the New Orleans Classic and other graded stakes races. The first post time is at noon Saturday. Find information at fgno.com.
MUSIC
MUSI C LISTINGS AND MO R E EVENTS TAKING PLA C E IN T H E NEW O R LEANS A R EA, VISIT CALENDAR.GAMBITWEEKLY.COM
To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com
Sacred Music from many traditions, local and international PeaceWalk, arts and crafts, interfaith altars,interactiveworkshops, anddemonstrations, artexhibits, psychic readers,dance, prayer,blessings, storytelling,food, fun, andfamilyfriendly.
HOUSE OF BLUES — TimaLikesMusic: Presents: That Y2K Love, 8 pm
THE JOY THEATER — The Bar-Kays, 8 pm
LE BON TEMPS ROULÉ — Lily Unless & The If Onlys, 11 pm
MAPLE LEAF BAR — Blue Tang People, 8 pm; Post Phish Party with Phoush, 11 pm
NEW ORLEANS PHARMACY
MUSEUM — B.A.M. , 7 pm
NO DICE — Lathe Of Heaven + Missing, 9 pm; Late Night with DJ Legatron Prime, 12 am
ORPHEUM THEATER — Stephanie Mills and Will Downing , 8 pm
THE PRESS ROOM AT THE ELIZA
JANE — Or Shovaly Plus, 3 pm
THE RABBIT HOLE Mikey Lion: Desert Hearts, 10 pm
ROCK 'N' BOWL Bag of Donuts, 8:30 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL Big Easy Brawlers, 9 pm
SAENGER THEATRE — Trey Anastasio, 8 pm
SANTOS BAR — The Playboy’s Ball, 10 pm
SEAWITCH OYSTER BAR & RESTAURANT Anne Elise and the Swamp Circus, 5 pm
SIBERIA Coroner + Deceased + Wizard D*, 9 pm
TIPITINA’S Johnny Sketch & The Dirty Notes, 9 pm
SATURDAY 22
30/90 — Tiago Guy, 2 pm; Anne Elise & The Swamp Circus, 5 pm; AdoSoul & The Tribe, 8 pm; Hotline, 11 pm
BAMBOULA’S — The Jaywalkers, 11 am; Boardwalker & The 3 Finger Swingers, 2:15 pm; Johnny Mastro Blues, 6:30 pm; Paggy Prine & Southern Soul, 10 pm
BEANLANDIA La Louisiane Series ft. Corey Ledet Zydeco, 6 pm
BLUE NILE Big Sam’s Funky Nation, 11 am
MAPLE LEAF BAR — Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen, 8 pm; Noah Young, Mahmoud Chouki, Terrence Houston and Victor Campbell, 11 pm
THE MAISON Jenavieve & The Winding Boys, 6 pm; Higher Heights, 9 pm
MAPLE LEAF BAR — Joe Krown Trio with Papa Mali, 9 pm
NO DICE Urq & The Dismal Villagers, Celebrity Sightings and Coworkers, 9 pm
OKAY BAR — Avant Garden Party, Caleb Brown, Ashley Beach and Justin Ready, 7 pm
SIBERIA Haunt and Hitten, 9 pm
TIPITINA’S — Fais Do-Do With Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, 5:15 pm
MUSIC
With a little help
by Jake Clapp
FOR ABOUT A DECADE OR SO, NEW ORLEANS musician and visual artist Kevin Comarda kept his project
The Self-Help Tapes pretty close to his chest. He would occasionally invite other musicians to play on some recordings or perform live, but largely, Comarda operated solo, crafting textured indie rock through guitar and synth looping.
Comarda, an area native, had been playing in bands for a while, including Community, the impactful early-2000s indie rock band that has found new life the last couple of years. But he wanted to work on his own songwriting, so he started performing as The Self-Help Tapes around 2009.
“I think I just wanted to start something else on my own and carry all the things that I’ve learned growing up,” Comarda says. “I could perform by myself. That was also attractive to me at the time.”
But shortly before the pandemic, some of those solo inclinations had started to soften. And The Self-Help Tapes’ 2021 album, “Erit Lux,” found Comarda working closely with drummer Robert Landry, and the record featured guitarist Craig Oubre on a couple of tracks.
Comarda has continued to lean into collaboration, and now the album “In a Bed of Broken Roses” sees The SelfHelp Tapes as a full, four-member band. Comarda again worked with Landry and Oubre, and bassist Annie Cespedes has joined the project.
“In a Bed of Broken Roses” was released on March 14 through Strange Daisy Records, and The Self-Help Tapes will play an album release show at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Okay Bar. The bands Hopeless Fancy and Tashi Delay also are on the bill.
The Self-Help Tapes “is about being very personal and intimate. It’s very vulnerable subject matter, so it’s extra vulnerable when you try to pull someone else in,” Comarda says. “But I was ready for it. Something in me was buzzing to grow the thing, and this was the way to do it.”
Over the years, The Self-Help Tapes had been something Comarda — who also is a visual artist often working in collage — could put on the shelf when things got busy or frustrating and come back to whenever the time was right. In the mid-2010s, he started playing in James
Hayes’ band Lovey Dovies, and “I sort of got band fever again,” Comarda says.
Soon after, Landry reached out about playing together, and “Rob made the difference,” Comarda says. Landry has drummed with a number of New Orleans bands, including the ska punk band Bad Operation the last few years.
Landry “made me feel excited about my songs,” Comarda says, “which is very hard sometimes. He’s that extra support. Not only a killer musician, he understands songwriting as well. You need someone to bounce ideas off of.”
Comarda and Landry wrote “Erit Lux” and recorded the album with Bad Operation and Pears guitarist Brian Pretus before the pandemic. The album was mixed by Nick Pope, who returned to engineer and mix “In a Bed of Broken Roses.”
As The Self-Help Tapes, Comarda writes vulnerable lyrics embedded in indie and alternative rock that mixes in some post-rock-like textures and ambience. And Comarda finds a balance between the deeply personal and the relatable in his songwriting.
Most of “In a Bed of Broken Roses” was influenced by the pandemic era, and there’s a lot of reflection on isolation and trying to connect in a world where everyone is moving apart.
“I am the worst self-critic,” Comarda says about the difference between writing solo and with other musicians. “The more of me that’s in it, the more I’m really critical of it. Where, when everyone else contributes a bit, I can sort of see it from an outside perspective. … I can take myself out of it a little bit more.”
Find “In a Bed of Broken Roses” at strangedaisy.com.
The Self-Help Tapes
PHOTO BY JAMES SCOTT CULLEN / PROVIDED BY KEVIN COMARDA
GOING OUT
World on a string
by Will Coviello
THE DANNY BARKER BANJO & GUITAR FESTIVAL celebrates Barker’s long career and many contributions to New Orleans’ music as a musician, mentor, preservationist and personality. The performing lineup is full of musicians who as teens were mentored by Barker.
This year’s festival runs March 18-23, and includes tributes and mentoring events throughout the week, as well as a three-day mini-festival Friday through Sunday at the New Orleans Jazz Museum.
Barker was born into a musical family and was the nephew of Paul and Louis Barbarin. He was in Cab Calloway’s band and played with Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Red Allen and many more. He married local jazz and blues singer Louisa Dupont, who became better known as Blue Lu Barker, the voice behind their recording of “Don’t You Feel My Leg.”
Danny Barker influenced generations of New Orleans musicians as a mentor, including Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Herlin Riley, Leroy Jones, Gregg Stafford and Michael White. He created the Fairview Baptist Church Band to teach traditional music to young people, and its members went on to launch many brass bands that both carried on the tradition and incorporated popular music into the brass band format.
One of the highlights of the festival is A Touch of Blue, a tribute to Blue Lu Barker featuring vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater at the New Orleans Museum of Art. She’ll be backed by a band including White, Wendell Brunious and guitarist Detroit Brooks, who is an organizer of the festival. New York jazz singer Catherine Russell, whose father was a band director for Louis Armstrong, often visits New Orleans to perform at the Satchmo SummerFest. She’ll lead tributes to Barker at Snug Harbor at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
Events at the Jazz Museum kick off with second line parades on Friday and Saturday morning. The festival has a music stage in the courtyard, as well as an indoor stage on the museum’s third floor and an interview stage on the first floor.
Drummer Shannon Powell leads off on the outdoor stage at 11 a.m. Friday, and the day concludes with Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers at 4-5 p.m. The indoor stage kicks off with bluesman Chris Thomas King at 11:30
a.m. Interview sessions include Powell and Riley talking about drumming at 1 p.m., and a discussion of the Junior Pinstripe Brass Band with Brice Miller and Ronell Johnson.
On Saturday, the outdoor stage starts with vocalists Charmaine Neville at 11 a.m. and John Boutte at 12:15 p.m. Guitarist and composer Mahmoud Chouki follows at 1:30 p.m. Bluesman Little Freddie King performs at 2:45 p.m. and the stage finishes with the Treme Brass Band and the Black Men of Labor social aid and pleasure club.
The indoor stage features Cuban vocalist Yusa at 11:30 a.m., longtime Preservation Hall bandleader and trumpeter Wendell Brunious at 12:30 p.m., and Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes at 1:30 p.m. On the interview stage, Jazz Museum curator David Kunian talks to Kermit Ruffins, Eric Cager talks to brass band leader and drummer Benny Jones, and Armand Sheik Richardson talks to trumpeter Leroy Jones, a veteran of Barker’s Fairview Baptist Church Band, and for a while its bandleader.
On Sunday, Jones leads his band at 12:15 p.m., and the outdoor stage finishes with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The indoor stage leads off with the harmonies of The Pfister Sisters at 11:30 a.m. and concludes with The Dixie Cups at 3:30 p.m. On the interview stage, Gregory Davis and Roger Lewis discuss the Dirty Dozen.
For a full schedule of events and tickets, visit dannybarkerfestival.com.
Catherine Russell performs at the Danny Barker Banjo & Guitar Festival.
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