Gambit: May 11, 2021

May 11-17 2021 Volume 42 Number 19

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CONTENTS

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Indian blues Monk Boudreaux releases ‘Bloodstains & Teardrops’

BY WILL COVIELLO THOUGH HE’S ONE OF NEW ORLEANS’ MOST SENIOR AND RECOGNIZABLE

Black Masking Indians, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux is quick to point out that he sings all sorts of music. His latest album makes that clear, as it’s split between reggae and blues. Half of the album was recorded six years ago in Kingston, Jamaica, and last summer Boudreaux went into Tab Benoit’s studio to record new music and finish the album.

“Tab doesn’t like reggae,” Boudreaux says. “He likes blues. We were deciding whether he was gonna mess with that. I told him, ‘Look, let’s do half reggae and half blues. I’ll do the blues with you.’ ” The result is “Bloodstains & Teardrops,” which will be released May 21 on Benoit and Reuben Williams’ Whiskey Bayou Records. Boudreaux celebrates the album Friday, May 14, with a show at Zony Mash Beer Project, and Johnny Sansone and Waylon Thibodeaux will perform.

Boudreaux says he was introduced to Bob Marley in the 1970s and bought all of his records. Boudreaux included reggae sounds on his 2007 album “Mr. Stranger Man,” which also featured contributions from Benoit.

The start of making “Bloodstains & Teardrops” was a week-long visit to Jamaica. Boudreaux toured the island and visited Marley’s home. He then went into the studio with guitarist Damon Fowler, who had traveled with him, and the Jamaican rhythm section of bassist Jason “Welsh Bass” Welsh and drummer Wayne “Unga Barunga” Thompson, who together form Notis.

Reggae beats drive several tunes including the title track, on which Boudreaux sings about the tragedy of young people harmed by street violence. The song also features Ali Meek, who adds background “toasting” vocals, a Caribbean DJ style of talking over the beat. There’s also a reggae vibe to the more whimsical “Mr. Okra Man,” about New Orleans’ produce vendors driving through neighborhoods calling out their stock of bananas, mangos and more.

Boudreaux says he composed the album’s lyrics in the studio.

“That’s how I record,” he says. “A lot of the time, something’s in your head

P R OV I D E D P H OTO B Y INGRID WILLIAMS

Tank and the Bangas.

Broad Street Boogaloo

and you just wait for the time for it to come out. If I go in the studio, I know what I am going in there for. Once the music starts rolling, you got to roll with it.”

He says he waited awhile to do “Should’ve Been a Preacher Man,” a breezy, blues song augmented by Sansone’s accordion playing. The title comes from something his mother used to say to him.

“She used to say that all the time,” Boudreaux says. “I was always trying to help people out and tell them what’s wrong and what’s right.”

The album features many of the musicians Boudreaux joined in the Voice of the Wetlands All-stars. Benoit recruited musicians from across the musical spectrum in south Louisiana to perform and raise awareness about the loss of coastal Louisiana wetlands. The group has included Boudreaux, George Porter Jr., Anders Osborne, Sansone, Thibodeaux, Dr. John and others. Boudreaux has worked with Benoit, Osborne, Sansone and others on albums since “Mr. Stranger Man.” And BeauSoleil’s Michael Doucet lends his fiddle to several tracks on the new album.

“Bloodstains & Teardrops” gets a strong infusion of blues sounds from Benoit, who adds guitar, keyboards and drums, and Sansone on harmonica. “Choo Choo” is a raucous stomp with a chugging beat, organ riffs and Sansone’s wailing harmonica. Despite the upbeat sound, it’s about escaping a bad relationship.

P H OTO B Y J E R R Y M O R A N

“Yeah, I had to leave the women,” Boudreaux says with a laugh. “Get out of town, go anywhere.”

Other songs are more serious in tone and message. The track “Kick Me Down” is about learning about false friends. “Indian Blues” is steeped in Mississippi hill country blues styles, and Boudreaux’s lyrics reflect on life: “See me walking / With tears in my eyes / You might not understand / But I’m a happy man.”

The blues helped get Boudreaux interested in music while growing up in New Orleans. He lived near future R&B guitarist Ernie Vincent, whose father used to sing.

“His dad would come out every evening when he came home from work and sit on the step with his guitar and play the blues,” Boudreaux says. “I used to sit out and listen to him. There was another old man called Old Man Mo who used to walk down to the grocery store singing the blues, and I used to follow him around. He said, ‘If you’re going to follow me, you can go to the store for me.’ ” Now Boudreaux is helping younger musicians. His grandson J’Wan Boudreaux has performed with the Indian funk band Cha Wa, and Monk is looking to record music with him. It’s part of musical tradition, he says.

“I went to college,” Boudreaux says.

“I went to the elders and they taught me everything I know.”

MID-CITY BAYOU BOOGALOO IN Exile converts the annual festival to a concert series during the pandemic. The North Mississippi Allstars kick off festivities at the Tucks Funky Uncle on Friday, May 14. The next two days are at the Broadside, with art markets starting at 3 p.m.

The New Orleans Nightcrawlers and 101 Runners perform Saturday, May 15. Tank and the Bangas and Cha Wa perform Sunday, May 16. Visit thebayouboogaloo.com for tickets and details.

Less Crude VOCALIST ALEXIS MARCEAUX AND MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST Sam Craft — besides being the leads of the percussion-heavy bilingual pop outfit Sweet Crude — make up the indie pop duo Alexis & The Samurai. They perform at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Friday, May 14 at Tipitina’s.

Find tickets at tipitinas.com.

Mai day THE GERMAN-AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER OF GRETNA hosts a Maifest celebration with a beer garden, music, and German brats, pretzels, beer, wine and more.

Eric Hahn and the Bayou Bavarians play beer garden songs. Maifest is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 15. There’s a Maypole dance Friday, May 14, on the Huey P. Long neutral ground at Sixth Street. Maifest is at the Cultural Center at 519 Huey P. Long Ave. Find information at gacc-nola.org.

Slow burn GRAMMY-NOMINATED CEDRIC BURNSIDE — GRANDSON OF THE legendary R.L. Burnside — returns to New Orleans to show off his PAGE 24

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PJ’s Coffee removed a local

The number of state lawmakers who voted last week to keep spanking and other forms of corporal punishment in public schools.

franchisee as co-owner of the coffee chain’s Chartres Street location after the man commented “Eat a [eggplant emoji, aka ‘dick’]” in response to a Facebook post by LeBron James that read “Protect our young Black women and men.” In a statement last week, PJ’s said it “does not tolerate hatred or disrespect of any kind,” and that the franchisee, Stephen Bruno Jr.’s comment was “inappropriate and uncalled for.”

The bill to ban such practices was authored

by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans.

Currently, educators in the state’s 69 school districts choose whether to allow corporal punishment in their district. Of those districts, 29 allow these forms of physical punishment, while 40 systems ban them, including most school districts in the New Orleans area. The vote was 48-49, five votes short of the number needed to ban it. Hitting children in schools is illegal in 31 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

P H OTO B Y J U L I O C O R T E Z / A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S

Trump supporters gather outside the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington D.C.

Dooky Chase’s Restaurant

is home to the first marker on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail.

A plaque and 6-foot-tall steel silhouette of a Civil Rights protester now stand just outside the beloved eatery and honor its history as a place where leaders like Oretha Castle Haley, A.P. Tureaud and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could meet and strategize — as chef co-owner Leah Chase tirelessly worked to keep them fed.

The marker is the first of 15 to be installed across the state.

The Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill last week that would allow people 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun without a permit or firearms training. The legislation passed 72-28. The legislation has a good chance to pass in the Senate, but Gov. John Bel Edwards has said he will veto it. Statewide polls show voters overwhelmingly oppose the “open carry” of firearms without permits and training.

Local Republicans spar over racist remarks and conspiracy theories CONSERVATIVE RADIO AND TV HOST JEFF CROUERE and his wife, Mimi, are distancing themselves from some of the more extreme members of the Louisiana Republican Party, including QAnon conspiracy theorist and president of the Women’s Republican Club of New Orleans, Martha Huckabay.

Huckabay came under fire for making comments in a public Facebook post, suggesting Americans focus on the “good” aspects of slavery, such as a “hard work ethic” and “love and respect” between enslaved people and those who enslaved them. The statement was first shared by the Twitter account @HellOrBywater, which tracks online activity from some right-wing extremists.

Huckabay’s statements were swiftly condemned by the Orleans Parish Republican Executive Committee chair Adrian Bruneau, who told Gambit Huckabay’s words were “atrocious.” Huckabay said she was taken out of context, adding “Nobody believes there is anything good about slavery.”

But on May 2, she lashed out at state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, R-New Orleans, after Hilferty pointed out there are no “good” parts of slavery during consideration of legislation by Rep. Ray Garofalo, R-Meraux, to ban teaching critical race theory, which examines systemic racism. Garofalo had suggested teachers educate children about “the good, the bad and the ugly” aspects of slavery.

In a rambling Facebook post, Huckabay, whose views strongly align with the widely discredited QAnon movement, claimed Hilferty and other conservative legislators were becoming indoctrinated by Communist beliefs. She also insisted slavery resulted in “hard working ethics” and “love and respect” between some enslaved people and slave owners.

Huckabay argued Garofalo’s words were appropriate and lamented that the Republican-dominated state legislature has been infiltrated with “marxisum [sic].” She said the topic of slavery is a “one-sided” “leftist trap.”

PAGE 10

C’est What

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Should St. Bernard voters recall state Rep. Ray Garofalo after his ‘the good’ of slavery comment?

65.9% YES

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NO

9

COMMENTARY

Just legalize it!

LAST WEEK, THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE TOOK A MAJOR STEP

toward legalization of cannabis products when the House overwhelmingly passed an expansion of Louisiana’s medical marijuana laws to include smokable products. It’s a common-sense move, and we are heartened that House members passed Rep. Tanner Magee’s HB 391 by a vote of 73-26.

It is one of three measures on lawmakers’ plate. New Orleans Rep. Candace Newell has proposed decriminalization legislation. We support both measures.

Decriminalization is a critical first step toward ending — and eventually undoing — the deeply racist way in which drug laws have been enforced in the United States.

While we support these efforts, they do not go far enough. Full legalization of cannabis is long past due.

Despite the fact that Louisiana allows drive-thru daiquiri shops — which we also fully support — the idea of legalizing cannabis has long been considered unthinkable. No longer. Today, it is a real possibility.

Republican Rep. Richard Nelson of Mandeville’s HB 699 would legalize recreational marijuana, and his companion bill, HB 434, would tax it.

Nelson isn’t a “RINO” — Republican In Name Only — he’s a dyed-in-the wool conservative. He’s also a pragmatist.

Last month Nelson quipped that “Marijuana is more popular than Donald Trump in Louisiana.” He’s not wrong — Trump won the state in last year’s election with 58.5% of the vote. But according to a poll conducted by the Baton Rouge firm JMC Analytics, 67% of Louisianans support marijuana legalization.

That’s up 13% from last year.

Sixteen other states have fully legalized cannabis products, including conservative bastions like Alaska and South Dakota (though South Dakota’s governor is trying to challenge that vote). More are on the

P H OTO B Y H I L A R Y S H E I N U K , T H E A DVO C AT E

Rep. Richard Nelson, R-Mandeville and Rep. Randal Gaines, D-LaPlace, during legislative session in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

way: Virginia, which already allows some forms of CBD to be used and sold, is expected to allow fully legalized cannabis use soon.

Nelson’s proposals also would be a financial boon to the state. He projects the tax would generate $100 million in revenues initially.

That windfall could help fund health services, education and addiction recovery programs, to name but a few critical needs. Legalization would create jobs and boost the economy as small businesses begin selling to consumers.

There simply isn’t a convincing argument against full legalization. So-called “gateway drug” arguments and allegations that cannabis inherently contributes to criminal behavior are steeped in the racist history of marijuana prohibition and have long been debunked not only by science but everyone’s lived experiences.

And if the people of some parishes don’t want legalized marijuana in their communities, Nelson’s HB 699 provides a mechanism for them to opt out. This is the same principle applied to video poker and sports betting.

Politicians often talk about their desire to find common ground. Too often, that’s just lip service. On this issue, however, Louisiana’s state representatives and senators have an opportunity to work together, across every political and philosophical divide, for the good of their constituents and the public treasury. Equally important, it’s what their constituents want — in overwhelming numbers. We urge lawmakers to heed the will of voters and pass Nelson’s, Magee’s and Newell’s marijuana bills.

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She wrote, “Slavery goes all they [sic] way back to biblical times, and if you’ve read your Bible, you would know that many of the slaves loved their masters, and their masters loved them, and took very good care of them, and their families.”

Crouere removed Huckabay as a guest panelist for the May 6 edition of his TV show “Politics with a Punch,” which typically features an array of elected officials — both Democrats and Republicans — in addition to community leaders, comedians and media personalities.

Meanwhile, Bruneau said Huckabay has “zero clout” within the local GOP. But a number of prominent right-wing politicians, including Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and other high-ranking members of the GOP have attended events and speaking engagements organized and promoted by Huckabay.

Crouere said it’s only the second time in 19 years of hosting the show he’s had to remove someone from the panel. “I try to vet guests carefully to keep out those who will not add to an enjoyable evening,” he said.

Crouere, who describes himself as a “mainstream conservative,” has also attended and been photographed at a number of events with Huckabay and other rightwing extremists. He praised her in December for her “dynamic” leadership, saying she had done a “great job” organizing the WRCNO. In one photo, he can be seen holding a QAnon sign with a beaming Huckabay. Crouere said he did not understand what the sign, which is adorned with a shortened version of the movement’s signature rallying cry, “Where we go one, we go all,” signified, and that he regrets posing alongside Huckabay.

“I have no connection with [QAnon], and I don’t really know what it is about, except it seems to be based on fanciful thinking,” Crouere said. “I truly think the whole QAnon movement is destructive and non-productive. It gives some Trump supporters false hope, and I think it has been very damaging.”

Despite these claims, Crouere over the years has used his media platforms to allow a number of extremists to entertain and perpetuate a variety of dangerous conspiracy theories, including many that are directly aligned with the QAnon movement.

For example, “chemtrail” activist Raphaelle O’Neill has been a repeat guest on his show “Ringside Politics,” where she discussed anti-science theories involving 5G, microwaves and weather control.

And some of Crouere’s views do overlap with QAnon tenets. He has

been a vocal proponent of the “Big Lie” conspiracy, a central focus of the movement, which claims ex-president Donald Trump was not defeated in last year’s election. He also last month penned a column for The Hayride, falsely implying that Gov. John Bel Edwards did not win the gubernatorial election in 2019 against Eddie Rispone.

He also spread unsubstantiated rumors last summer about a nefarious plot to attack the French Quarter by Black Lives Matter organizers and Antifa “terrorists.” The demonstrations were peaceful, and the only violence that occurred was when New Orleans police officers launched tear gas and shot demonstrators with rubber bullets on the Crescent City Connection bridge.

— SARAH RAVITS

Public Library expands hours and services The New Orleans Public Library is expanding services effective May 17 after more than a year of COVID-19 restrictions.

Guests will be able to walk in without making appointments, and hours will be expanded.

“People can come in like normal, but we’ll still have limited capacity,” said Emily Painton, director of public services. “We’ll keep social distancing. The capacity is pretty big at most of our libraries.”

Throughout the pandemic, the library has continued to provide services for New Orleans residents through virtual events and contactless pick-ups and drop-offs for borrowed books at all of its locations. That will also continue for the foreseeable future, Painton says.

But she says the library will have more in-person programs soon, including tai chi classes and “micro” cinema showings.

She admits it’s been challenging for library staffers to plan events too far in advance because state and city guidelines have waxed and waned throughout the pandemic.

Still, she says, she is looking forward to lifted restrictions and the ability to host more people in-person. “We’re excited,” she said. “It’ll be incremental, but I’m hoping this will feel better to everyone.”

The library will be open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Martin Luther King Jr. Library will be open for contactless pick-up and drop-off on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The City Archives & Special Collections are open by appointment Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

— SARAH RAVITS

Bill to decriminalize sex work in Louisiana fails to make it out of committee Many sex workers and allies turned out in full force to voice their support for a bill to decriminalize sex work in Louisiana, but that effort failed to get out of committee Tuesday.

After nearly three hours of discussion, Rep. Mandie Landry, a New Orleans Democrat, voluntarily deferred the bill when she saw it was unlikely to pass.

Though the bill could technically be rescheduled for a later House Administration of Criminal Justice committee hearing, Rep. Ted James, a Baton Rouge Democrat, said in committee it’s unlikely they’ll have time for another lengthy debate on the topic this session. Instead, Landry told Gambit she should still have time this session to bring forward a measure that would create a task force — made up of sex workers, law enforcement and health care workers — to study the issue.

“After 3 hours of incredible testimony, it became clear that HB 67 was going to have little support from the committee,” Landry tweeted after shelving the bill.

“Deferring in favor of a task force/ study resolution retains goodwill with the committee. Disappointing, but change takes time.”

The bill would have kept law enforcement from prosecuting prostitution and other related offenses, as currently defined by Louisiana law, including purchasing commercial sex, soliciting for prostitutes and inciting or promoting prostitution.

Trafficking, when someone recruits, transports or solicits another person through “fraud, deceit or force” to provide labor would remain illegal, Landry said.

Supporters of the bill, who collectively testified for an hour and a half, said it would help sex workers who are sexually assaulted during their work feel more comfortable reporting the abuse to the police because they wouldn’t have to have to worry about facing legal consequences for telling authorities they engaged in sex work. Several sex workers shared emotional stories about personally experiencing abuse on the job and feeling like they had little avenues for assistance.

They also pointed out that having a criminal record can affect many facets of a person’s life, including seeking other employment and applying for housing.

“The people who are policed and prosecuted for sex work-related offenses are overwhelmingly people who are poor, women, black,

transgender, unhoused or unstably housed,” said Christine Breland, program director for Women with a Vision. “It’s fine that people don’t approve, but that does not mean this labor should be criminalized.”

In addition to the testimony, 109 people submitted “green cards” into the record, signaling their support of the bill.

Opponents of the bill included some religious leaders and some anti-sex trafficking groups who said they worried decriminalization would lead to an increase in trafficking. Seventeen others submitted cards in opposition of the bill.

Sheri Lochridge, the anti-human trafficking team leader for Covenant House New Orleans, a homeless shelter with religious ties, said that while she supports decriminalization of prostitution as defined under state law, she didn’t agree with decriminalizing soliciting, inciting or promoting prostitution.

“We do strongly agree that people who engage in prostitution should not be criminalized, as this only creates additional barriers to often already marginalized populations,” she said. “However ... the repeal of laws under this bill, such as soliciting for prostitutes, inciting prostitution, promoting prostitution and enticing persons into prostitution are laws that have been used to protect our most vulnerable populations from traffickers who often prey on them and to bring justice to those who have already been victimized.”

Andrew Lewis, the former coordinator for the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force, said while human trafficking does occur in Louisiana, there is discrepancy in how it is reported — including what is considered a “confirmed” or “prospective” case.

“Many organizations report human trafficking based on subjective definitions, Lewis said. “If a nonprofit or law enforcement agency believes that all sex work is trafficking, they’ll report it as such. This inaccurate information might increase their funding, but it leads to a reduction in funding and attention for our fight to end actual human trafficking.”

While the measure failed, Landry said the Louisiana Legislature was the first in the country to consider a bill to decriminalize sex work. “[Sex workers] have never ever had their voices heard in this building,” Landry said.

— KAYLEE POCHE

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CLANCY DUBOS

Hot race shaping up for N.O. at-large council seat

Crosss

WITH NO MAJOR OPPONENT STEPPING UP SO FAR to chal-

lenge Mayor LaToya Cantrell for re-election, the hottest race on the citywide ballot next fall could be the contest for an open at-large seat on the New Orleans City Council.

Three well-known politicos are already running for the job: former state Sen. JP Morrell, District C Council member Kristin Gisleson Palmer, and District D Councilman Jared Brossett.

Others, of course, could join the fray; qualifying runs July 14-16. District B Councilman Jay Banks is also looking at it and will decide in the next few few weeks.

The open at-large seat is the Division 2 spot vacated in January by Jason Williams, who won the race for district attorney last December.

Interim at-large Council member Donna Glapion is barred by the City Charter from seeking the post.

Palmer and Morrell are expected to make formal announcements this week. Brossett has not formally announced, but he has made no secret of his intentions.

Morrell teased his formal announcement in several tweets last week, promising “a LARGE announcement” on May 12. Invitations also went out for a “JP Morrell City Council at Large” fundraiser on May 13, co-hosted former U.S. Sen. John Breaux, state Senate President Page Cortez and Legislative Black Caucus chair Rep. Ted James.

Several local lawmakers are on the host committee.

As a state senator, Morrell authored the constitutional amendment that overturned Louisiana’s non-unanimous jury verdict rule — securing a two-thirds vote from lawmakers and lopsided voter approval.

One potential glitch to his candidacy, which I expect will be resolved soon: His father, Clerk of Criminal District Court Arthur Morrell, is up for re-election this fall. It’s unlikely Morrell pere et fil will both seek citywide office at the same time.

Palmer doesn’t mince words. “I’m running,” she says. “I will probably announce next week at some point, though of course I’ll continue to serve my district.” Her council district includes all of Algiers, the French Quarter, Treme, Faubourg Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods.

WITH DIAMONDS

P H OTO S B Y B R E T T D U K E , DAV I D GRUNFELD, JULIA KUMARI D R A P K I N T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E | T H E N E W O R L E A N S A DVO C AT E , DAV I D G R U N F E L D

From Left: Former state Sen. J.P. Morrell and council members Kristin Palmer, Jared Brossett and Jay Banks are all either running or may run for the open council seat.

She said her district “is the one that most reflects the diversity of New Orleans.”

“I’ve served two terms as a district council member, and I think we need an at-large member who has district experience,” Palmer says. “That experience helps me understand the quality-of-life issues that citizens face every day.”

On the council, Palmer has led the fight to rein in short-term rentals and pushed to reform the city’s alcoholic beverage outlet ordinance. She chairs the council’s Transportation and Governmental Affairs committees.

I couldn’t reach Brossett for comment by press time, but he faces an up-or-out dilemma: He’s term limited in his District D seat.

He chairs the council’s Budget Committee, but here’s what voters will likely hear about him if he runs: Last June an obviously intoxicated Brossett drove his city-owned SUV head-on into a car operated by a 33-year-old Chinese national. Brossett’s car crossed the neutral ground in the 2400 block of Elysian Fields before hitting Minghong Lin’s vehicle. He was charged with DWI and allowed to complete a “diversion” program that led to the charge being dismissed. He agreed to pay the city more than $45,000 for wrecking his assigned vehicle.

If you think that disqualifies him, remember that the recently elected DA faces federal tax fraud charges and the mayor has a history of not paying her taxes on time.

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BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™ @GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake, What can you tell me about how and why NOPSI, the city’s old utility company, became Entergy New Orleans?

—JACQUES

Dear Jacques,

New Orleans Public Service Inc., commonly known as NOPSI, was founded in 1922. It succeeded the insolvent New Orleans Railway and Light Company, which had been the city’s gas and electricity provider since its founding in 1905.

NOPSI subsequently merged into the Electric Bond and Share Company of New York, known as EBASCO. That company, a subsidiary of General Electric, created the Electric Power and Light Corp. Among its holdings were NOPSI and Louisiana Power and Light Co. (LP&L), which served customers outside of Orleans Parish.

EBASCO was dissolved in 1949 and a new company, Middle South Utilities, Inc., succeeded it. Along with overseeing NOPSI, its holdings included LP&L, Arkansas Power and Light and Mississippi Power and Light.

In addition to providing electricity and natural gas, NOPSI also operated New Orleans’ streetcars and buses.

In 1983, that responsibility was trans-

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The former New Orleans Public Service, Inc. building in the CBD; the building is now a hotel.

ferred to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, a public agency created by the state Legislature.

In 1989, Middle South Utilities changed its name to Entergy Corp.

The name was an amalgam of enterprise, energy and synergy. In 1994, NOPSI was reorganized and renamed Entergy New Orleans Inc. It is regulated by the New Orleans City Council. The Louisiana Public Service Commission regulates Entergy Louisiana (the successor to LP&L), which provides electricity to many (but not all) parishes outside New Orleans.

BLAKEVIEW A SIGNIFICANT CHAPTER IN CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY was written 60 years ago this week, when the Freedom Riders arrived in New Orleans. The group of 13 people — seven who were Black and six white — included college students and a future Congressman, John Lewis. The young people belonged to the group known as CORE, or the Congress of Racial Equality. They planned to ride buses from Washington, D.C., to New Orleans, making stops in Southern cities along the way. They were testing the 1960 Supreme Court decision in Boynton v. Virginia, which declared unconstitutional the segregation of interstate transportation facilities such as bus stations.

They left Washington on May 4, 1961. Their plan was to reach New Orleans on May 17 to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision desegregating public schools.

The group traveled through Virginia and North Carolina without incident but encountered violent resistance in South Carolina, where Lewis, Albert Bigelow and Genevieve Hughes were viciously attacked after entering a “whites only” waiting room.

When the group got to Anniston, Alabama, a mob of 50 white supremacists and Ku Klux Klan members firebombed the bus. The Freedom Riders escaped, only to be beaten by the mob. Members on a second bus met a similar fate in Birmingham.

Their next destination was Montgomery, but bus drivers refused to take them there. The group took a plane to New Orleans, arriving here on May 15, 1961.

Many locals were afraid to house them for fear of another attack. CORE members and Xavier University students Rudy Lombard and Vincent Roux convinced Dr. Norman C. Francis, Xavier’s dean of male students, to allow the group to stay in a dormitory on the school’s campus.

While here, they also appeared at a peaceful rally at New Zion Baptist Church, whose pastor was Rev. A.L. Davis, who later became New Orleans’ first Black city councilman.

A new group of Freedom Riders would later resume the historic trek in Alabama, where the original trip ended. In all, some 400 Freedom Riders staged similar protests across the South throughout the summer and fall of 1961.

New Orleans hip-hop artist

A l f r e d Ba n ks gets his head straight

BY JA K E CL A PP ALFRED BANKS HADN’T WRITTEN ANYTHING in almost three

P H OTO P R OV I D E D

BY SAR AH J O N E S

months. The pandemic had pulled the rug out from under the New Orleans hip-hop artist last spring in a three-hit combo that sent him into a dark place and ground his creativity to a halt.

“It was like goddamn, man. I was in a bad space,” Banks recently said. Drinking water in the shade of La Madeleine’s porch and talking over the squeals of the streetcar navigating the curve from St. Charles onto South Carrollton, Banks is in a better place than he was this time last year. But it took some work to clear his head.

When 2020 swept his legs out from under him, Banks was in the middle of working on a new solo project — which he plans to have out later this year — and “I was like, I don’t feel like finishing. I don’t care.” Creating anything fun felt like the end of the world.

It took scrolling Instagram to finally shake the creativity loose.

Banks had hit a low point — but he recognized what was happening and reached out to people and resources for help. He started seeing a therapist and focusing on his mental health. He was making progress on his emotional self.

“And then I was just on the ’gram someday scrolling, that’s when I heard those beats and it just inspired me,” Banks says.

He wrote a couple of verses on the spot and reached out to the beatmaker, Sedrick Avenue, a Denver-based rapper and producer that Banks had been acquaintances with for a few years.

After months of nothing, Banks finished his new album, “One Guy Standing By Himself,” in about a week. He’s now planning

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16 COVER STORY

P H O T O P R OV I D E D B Y J O S E C O T T O

SaxKixAve is Tanks and the Bangas sax player Albert Allenback, left, and emcee Alfred Banks.

on performing the album on May 28 at Gasa Gasa and officially releasing the record on May 31.

“One guy standing by himself — I’m out here [solo] making it happen. For the first time in about 10 years, I’m by myself,” Banks says. “There’s newfound energy.”

Banks, who turns 30 this year, has been a steady, ambitious presence in New Orleans music since 2009, when he performed for the first time at Truth Universal’s hip-hop showcase Grassroots. But some of his best music has come in the last five years with a stretch of insightful releases that get past any pretense and into the mind of Alfred Banks the person.

“One Guy Standing By Himself” is just the latest example of Banks learning more about who he is — but still with wit, swagger and laidback beats.

Banks puts thought into his clothes, onstage and off. It doesn’t have to be flashy — a good T-shirt, good jeans, maybe a crisp denim jacket or track jacket and a hat made by a New Orleans designer — it can be simple with sharp details. He knows how he wants to look and be comfortable.

He didn’t get a good night’s sleep the night before, so Banks threw on a black tee and sweats for a relaxed interview at the corner of St. Charles and South Carrollton. He’s still got on

clean 2006 Jordan 3s, though — one out of around 100 pairs of sneakers he’s picked up over the years.

Banks had high hopes for 2020. He had joined forces with Tank and the Bangas saxophonist Albert Allenback — here stretching his legs as a beatmaker — for SaxKixAve, and the duo were working on their buoyant debut EP, “I Don’t Wear Suits,” which was released last April. Banks also was planning that new solo release.

And then Covid tagged into the ring.

“It fucking sucked, bro,” Banks says without missing a beat.

First, the shutdown wiped out months-worth of shows with a finger snap. Slots at French Quarter Festival and Freret Street Fest were gone in an instant. Solo tour dates and shows with Houston soul band The Suffers and Tank and the Bangas disappeared. And Banks had hoped to join The Soul Rebels onstage at Jazz Fest to rap his verse on their song “Greatness.” Banks would have been in good company, too: The Soul Rebels’ track also features New Orleans rapper Dee-1, and the song was getting massive attention as part of ESPN’s 2019-20 college basketball campaign.

Then, Banks and his girlfriend of seven years broke up.

Banks has depression and bipolar disorder — the rapper has been open about his mental health in his music — but “I hid behind music so I didn’t

I learned so much about myself.

My world can just come crashing down and my base can be pulled from under me, and somehow I still survive.

And I look good doing it.

— A L F R E D B A NK S

have to handle my shit,” he says. “So when I lost my shows, that’s when my relationship crumbled because I didn’t realize how depressed I was or that I wasn’t taking care of myself, and she had to deal with the emotional burden.”

They began discussing their relationship and decided it was best to split, he says.

“So I was like, OK, damn. At least I’m still going to work for my day job,” Banks says.

And there’s the knockout: The Canal Street head shop Banks was working at — a head scratcher considering Banks doesn’t smoke or drink — couldn’t withstand the Covid shutdowns and closed.

Within weeks, he was single, broke and set adrift. Banks admits there were some tears in the Uber while riding to Allenback’s place in Metairie to finish “I Don’t Wear Suits.”

“I learned so much about myself.

My world can just come crashing down and my base can be pulled from under me, and somehow I still survive,” Banks says. “And I look good doing it. It’s crazy,” he smoothly drops. It’s the kind of nonchalant dig that shows up constantly in his music — a piece of wit that you could miss if you blinked.

Therapy and working on his mental health helped Banks start to get his head straight, he says. And that’s when he came across Sedrick Ave-

17

Mainstream party songs have never really been Banks’ thing. High-energy sets? Yes. Catchy as hell tracks?

Absolutely. Style? Just look at the sneakers.

But he’s always been an idiosyncratic performer, at home with other underground rappers and alternative musicians. Inspired by Lupe Fiasco’s “Food & Liquor,” he learned by watching New Orleans emcees Truth Universal and Lyrikill and performing at Grassroots showcases, which gave a platform to performers like 3D Na’Tee, Dee-1 and Nesby Phips.

Banks has developed a tight, charismatic onstage presence. Offstage, he’s a little more low-key — relaxed, thoughtful and always professional when it comes to talking about the business of making music.

Banks cut his teeth touring regionally with Baton Rouge’s Marcel P. Black — so much so that some promoters started to see them as a double-bill package, Black says.

“He helped me get into Mobile, I helped him get into Birmingham,” Black says. “All of these cities in the Gulf states, we were together. When we first did Atlanta, we did it together. We had a reputation for kicking ass on stage.”

Black met Banks in 2009, right when Banks was starting out and Black — who already had an established base in Baton Rouge — was

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performing more in New Orleans.

Black became like a big brother to Banks, and the two have been close for about a decade.

“I would talk to him about older male stuff and he would keep me fresh,” Black says. “I don’t really care about dressing because I’m a conscious artist — I’m gonna put on a Malcolm X shirt, some tennis shoes and go rap. He was like, ‘Man, look, when you get on stage, everyone’s looking at you. Take some fashion chances.’ ” Similarly, Black taught Banks more about the music industry and pushed the young emcee as an artist, Black says — to take more chances with his lyrics and to open up more about his perspective as a Black man in America.

“Alfred Banks the person is really introverted, but Alfred Banks the rapper is ambitious,” Black says, “and you’re not going to stop him. He’s the most resilient artist I know.”

Early on, Banks performed as Lyriqs da Lyraciss — “Some blogs wouldn’t write about me just because they hated my name,” he now says with a laugh — and formed a sort of central brand, UnderDogCentral, a call out to the underdogs working hard for success, whether that’s mainstream or personal.

Within a few years, he had opened for Lupe Fiasco and Rakim, toured with New York rapper Mickey Factz,

Alfred Banks the person is really introverted, but Alfred Banks the rapper is ambitious and you’re not going to stop him. He’s the most resilient artist I know.

— M A R C E L P. B L A C K

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nue’s beats on Instagram. It lit a fire.

He reached out to the artist to produce what would become “One Guy Standing By Himself.” The name of the album comes from a SaxKixAve album title he half-jokingly pitched Allenback: “Two Guys Standing Next To Each Other.” The solo title took on its own meaning while working on the album.

“One Guy Standing By Himself” has an easygoing, lo-fi, West Coast vibe and is lighter than other releases by Banks. The album was a way for him to flex his muscles again and build back up, so the songs aren’t as interconnected as his past projects.

Still, Banks can’t help but dig in occasionally on the record: There are verses about the fight for Black equity and last summer’s protests against white supremacy, he touches on being stuck at home during Covid shutdowns, and he hints about how he’s feeling. There’s also a story about the time he lived in north Louisiana while in middle school, so his mom could take care of her sick father.

“It felt kind of personal, the vibe of the first couple of songs,” Sedrick Avenue says. He and Banks met about 10 years ago when he would come to New Orleans during the summers to perform and record.

“Not like at-the-therapist personal, but more digging into himself than rapping about outside things,” he adds. “He didn’t send back party songs.”

COVER STORY

18 G A M B I T > B E S T O F N E WO R L E A N S . C O M > M ay 1 1 - 1 7 > 2 0 2 1

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COVER STORY

P H OTO P R OV I D E D

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and Complex in 2014 included Banks on a list of New Orleans upand-comers to watch.

Banks looks back at his early years and calls himself “a dickhead” trying too hard to stick out, with a terrible, cocky attitude. He says the first time he met G-Eazy, a rapper he’d later work with, the 17-year-old Banks tried to have a rap battle with him on the spot out front of a library. It was really awkward, Banks says.

“If I could talk to myself, I would be like, ‘Just — chill — out,’ ” he says.

By around 2015, he was starting to follow his own advice and had chilled out a lot. It was time for a change. Banks wanted to start making more personal music, so he dropped Lyriqs da Lyraciss in favor of his government name. He wanted to present all sides of himself, not just the stage bravado.

His 2016 EP “A Beautiful Prelude” and the 2017 full-length “The Beautiful” feel like a turning point.

“The Beautiful” is a concept album Banks wrote to help him process his older brother Orlandas’ schizophrenia and his death by suicide.

“I had never really heard of schizophrenia before, so I did a lot of research on it,” Banks says. “Me diving deep into that and expounding on some of the things my mother would tell me about what my brother was going through, it helped me deal with it — not get past it, but just help me deal with my brother’s death.”

“The Beautiful” also opened a door for Banks to include more of himself and his mental health struggles in subsequent releas-

es. It’s not the only thing he raps about, of course — his 2019 album, “Road to a Rolex,” is very directly about getting paid — but he’s creating music that reflects his total personal life.

Produced by CZA and featuring Mickey Factz and Mega Ran, “The Beautiful” hit No. 12 on iTunes’ hiphop chart and entered Billboard’s HeatSeekers chart.

Banks may not be a hero in his hometown, but wins in the last five years have included spotlights

by The Fader and The Source — and BBC Russia of all outlets.

His song “Underdogcentral” was featured in the movie “Burning Sands,” and he starred in a European Volkswagen commercial. He’s also toured with Big Freedia and Tank and the Bangas.

“He’s not an up-and-comer no more,” Black says. “Nah, he has 10 years’ worth of goddamn championship belts. He’s established with numbers on the board.”

Somebody honks and waves at Banks while trying to dodge another car in the St. Charles intersection. “I have no idea who that was,” Banks says with a grin.

The bar is in the basement, but 2021 has already started strong for the rapper. He was featured on hip-hop collective GLBL WRMNG’s debut release in February, and he’s struck brand ambassador deals with Reebok, Durex and Whataburger. Along with “One Guy Standing By Himself,” he’s also working on new SaxKixAve music with Albert Allenback. And he’s hoping the show schedule will start to fill up again.

“I’m like a rapper with a temp job, I’m only getting shows every now and again,” he says.

Banks says there’s been a theme to his hip-hop career: It’s on him to figure himself out. He has had a lot of help — the mentors, his frequent collaborators, people like Black, Allenback and his manager Tavia Osbey — but “One Guy Standing

By Himself” is about Banks pulling himself together. He has to take care of his own business first.

“I have people who help me out throughout the way,” Banks says, “but at the end of the day, it’s up to me to get it done, whatever it may be.”

Fresh Start Nick and Kristin Gile serve creative comfort food

BY B E T H D ’A D D O N O FOR FRY AND PIE OWNERS NICK AND KRISTIN GILE , taking fresh-cut french

fries and loading them with creative flavors mined from 20 years of traveling together is nothing short of love on a plate. That love story — their own, the love for their adopted city, their customers and their staff — has been tested this year, well beyond the rigors of moving from the Hi-Ho Lounge on St. Claude Avenue to 7007 St. Claude Ave. in Arabi in the middle of a pandemic.

Besides coping with the pandemic, Nick is battling cancer, but they’ve persevered to get the new place open.

“As much as the pandemic sucks, cancer sucks more,” says Kristin, who often speaks on Nick’s behalf because his voice has suffered during treatment. After it initially had gone into remission two years ago, he’s currently fighting it with immunotherapy.

“He says, ‘If I can’t eat or be a smartass, I’m not doing it,’ ” Kristen says.

“We are hoping for the best. People might question why we push forward with the restaurant after three cancer diagnoses, but when you’re passionate about something, you figure out a way, without regrets. This is our dream.”

They’ve been together 20 years, a romance fueled by a shared love of food and travel. Nick’s background is in fine dining. He’s classically trained in French and Italian cuisines and was the executive chef at The Bombay Club for years. Originally from Portland, Maine, he came to New Orleans in the mid ’90s. Kristin, an artist by trade, arrived from Chicago in 2000. The pair met when she bartended at a spot across from The Bombay Club.

From their home base in Holy Cross, the couple started Fry and Pie at the Hi-Ho Lounge in 2015. The chef had the idea to make upgraded, globally accented comfort food using classic techniques in a way that would be accessible and fun. “French fries are popular everywhere you go,” she

says. “We figured the potato is so versatile, why not make it more of a meal?”

Fry and Pie proved very popular from the beginning. The menu includes the best-selling Backyard Boil, which tops Cajun-spiced fries with crawfish tails, andouille sausage, melted mozzarella and crawfish cream sauce.

Turkey Time features elements of a traditional turkey dinner.

Although cream sauce, melted cheese and potatoes aren’t for everyone, the Giles aren’t trying to feed everyone.

“It’s a splurge food,” Nick says.

Many dishes get inspiration from places the couple has visited. The Thai Fighter has Thai-spiced chicken and peanut sauce under mozzarella, and the Seoul Train features Koreanstyle barbecued beef and kimchi.

“We traveled together for at least three weeks every summer at the height of hurricane season to places like Korea, Iceland and Thailand,” Kristin says. “Everywhere we went, we’d go to markets and eat street food. It became so clear that wonderful food is wonderful whether it’s served on fine porcelain or on a paper plate at a street food stand.”

Fry and Pie portions are large and most items are priced around $11. The creative menu also features many vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dishes. The chef’s five dipping sauces include spicy chipotle ketchup and herb aioli made with herbs grown behind the restaurant.

Nick’s individual pie servings also have been a hit. Priced at $5, a rotating seasonal menu might include the Burnt Out Elvis, with peanut butter cream crowned with bruleed bananas and fresh whipped cream on a graham cracker and ginger snap crust.

Eve’s Apple combines spiced Granny Smith and Fiji apples with salted caramel and brown sugar butter in a traditional crust, topped with a dollop of whipped cream.

The new space is an eye-popping homage to Nick’s love of sci-fi and

Bitters sweet PEYCHAUD’S, NEW ORLEANS’ NEWEST COCKTAIL BAR , opened last

week inside the Hotel Maison de Ville at 727 Toulouse St. It’s the latest project from Cure Co., which includes the bar Cure and the Mexican restaurant Vals on Freret Street and Cane & Table in the French Quarter.

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

Kristin Gile at the new location of Fry and Pie in Arabi.

corny horror flicks. The walls are bright with color and local art, all curated by Kristin, who also created the restaurant’s funky logo.

While they miss the late-night customers fueling up after catching a music or burlesque show in the Marigny, their new location broadens the access and appeal to locals and families. “We wanted to do both (spaces), but between the pandemic and Nick’s treatment, it just wasn’t feasible,” Kritin says.

Even during aggressive treatment, Nick continued making the pies and doing prep work for the savory menu by day, but he’s stayed away from the public because of the risk of Covid.

Kristin and a dedicated staff, including sous chef Aubin Leroy, have kept the restaurant going.

“Owning this business has taught us the true meaning of service at its core,” Kristin says. “We feel like we make a safe place for people to create loving memories with their friends and loved ones while enjoying delicious food. Providing that is a powerful thing for us and we’re grateful.”

The plan has always been to open another location, cater festivals and have a food truck.

“For now, we’re just taking things one day at a time,” Kristin says.

?

WHAT

Fry and Pie

WHERE

7007 St. Claude Ave., Arabi, (504) 766-0076; fryandpie.com

WHEN

5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Thursday-Monday

HOW

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Takeout, delivery, dine-in and outdoor seating available

CHECK IT OUT

Creative comfort food highlighted by loaded fries and individual pies

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

Head bartender Nicholas Jarrett mixes a drink at Peychaud’s.

Named for New Orleans’ famous brand of bitters, Peychaud’s will focus on a short list of mainly classic drinks. The menu features local original and popular cocktails such as a Sazerac, Vieux Carre, Ramos gin fizz, French 75, Pimm’s Cup and bourbon or brandy milk punch. A Peychaud’s fizz features infused Peychaud’s Aperitivo, citrus, seltzer and cucumber.

Peychaud’s bitters were created

by Antoine Amedee Peychaud around 1830. Bitters were made as patent medicines, but became integral to cocktails.

“It’s hard to find a more influential figure in New Orleans cocktails,” says Cure founder Neal Bodenheimer. “Every notable New Orleans cocktail, with the exception of a few, has Peychaud’s bitters in it.”

In researching the project, Bodenheimer learned that Peychaud once lived in the building that now holds the hotel. He contacted the Sazerac Co., the liquor company that holds the Peychaud’s trademark and produces it, and sought permission to use the name.

Peychaud’s bar will be run by Nicholas Jarrett, who has worked for the company for eight years, primarily at Cure and more recently at Vals.

Jarrett put a local twist on a cognac cocktail, the Roffignac, making Peychaud’s version with PAGE 20

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BOT H LO CAT IO N S N O W O PE N !

MONDAY 3:00PM - 10:30PM THURSDAY - SUNDAY 11:00AM - 10:30PM

New Orleans

HOME + STYLE + DESIGN

DON’T MISS THE JUNE ISSUE SPOTLIGHT ON

New Orleans

HOME + STYLE + DESIG M AY 2 0 2 1 N

the

Garden District M

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Oak-lined stree range of archi ts and a are representetecture styles neighborho d in this od. By

Named for

its large lots

Spruce up your space with water features

By SARAH

KAYLEE POCHE

— built with — at least by room New Orleans historic mansions for gardens, the Garden standards District and walkable you can smell oak-lined streets. is known for its the fragrant During the spring, Situated between gardenias, jasmine Uptown and and privets in bloom.

Historic District the Lower Garden as Magazine, Landmarks Commissio District, the much of St. Josephine, Carondelet n defines its boundaries city’s Charles Avenue and Delachaise streets toric district. carved out into its own separate, with hisThough as with everything in New Orleans, Neighborhood that’s up for debate. For instance, historian “Virtually everyAssociation.

Robert Cangelosi, style from 1832 architectural who teaches Preservatio to 1950 is n Studies at represente d, Tulane University, says architectural every American he generally defines the borders of the in the Garden style is represented borhood as neighDistrict.”

Magazine Street Cangelosi says and St. Charles, while the PROVIDED borhood has PHOTO Jackson and Louisiana avenues. lots of homes neighWendy Simmons’ before the Civil built The area is residence built following War, most were vate schools, home to a few prithe war. Some the including oldest of homes have Louise McGehee and belonged to the same Trinity Episcopal,S. as well as several families for generations, and elaborate while churches like of older people there are a lot Cathedral andChrist Church have been youngin the area, there Counsel. OtherOur Lady of Good professiona with families neighborho ls landmarks include od years, Bland moving in recent VIRTUA LLY Palace, Lafayette Commander’s says.

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IS REPR ESENT About a third were white, compared to of the buildED, ings in the neighborho 30.7% of Orleans Parish residents, EVERY AMER od are Italianate style, and 5% were ICAN black, as compared in New Orleans which begins to 58.9% of ARCHITECTU parish resid ents. and lasts until in the 1840s RAL The average according to World War I, income in the household STYLE IS Cangelosi. He the second most Garden District says $200,399, compared is is the Colonial popular style REPRESENTE to $71,938 in Revival the whole style, followed by D parish. the Greek Revival 6.2% of residents Similarly, style. Some IN THE in the neighof borhood live hood’s more the neighborin poverty, compared to 23.7% modest homes GARDEN DIST have Victorian fr RICT. According to parishwide.

“It’s this jewel onts. average rent the Data Center, housing,” says of historic ity, gas, water,(including electricBland of the Andrea St. Paul in the area is sewer and fuel) Garden District — Andrea St. occupy 62.7%$1,470. Owners Paul Bland of units in the OF THE GARDEN NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICT ASSOCIATION

“

inside

OLD IS NEW P. 4 // WATER FEATUR ES

P. 8 // NAPKIN S

P. 10 // DOG DECOR P. 12 // GARDEN DISTRIC T

”

P. 14

RAVITS

Photos by CHRIS

Splash

GRANGER

Neighborhood

RESTAURAN TS &

BARS

BOIL Seafood House (3340 Magazine St.) Columns Hotel (3811 St. Other Charles than Ave.) a Commander’s pools are one steady supply of mint Palace (140 3 Washington of the few life juleps and lots Coquette (2800 and Ave.) hacks New Orleanians of air conditionin Magazine St.) humidity that begin to g, can use take “Summers are District Donuts (22 terrible here, over our city this time of to mitigate the heat thing,” says year. so to 09 Magazine St.) David Abadie, landscapebe able to enjoy being French Truck Landscapin outside is a architect and g Architectur Coffee (2917 tricky owner e. Pools help Magazine Pools will also St., Suite Gracious Bakery make the summer of Magnolia undoubted 104) ly play heat bearable, + Cafe especially a crucial after a (2854 St Charles he says.

Jack Rose (2031 Ave.) tough year of social part in bringing people “You don’t havelong, together — St. Charles distancing. to Ave.) says Abadie. “You have a special occasion Joey K’s (3001 can just say, or a theme or Magazine St.) That’s all you ‘Hey, we’re anything have to say.

Lilly’s Cafe (1813 Everybody likes having a pool party; comelike that,” wants Magazine St.) to be invited to a pool to have access on by.’

If your yard to a pool. Everyone Little Korea doesn’t have party.”

BBQ (2240 Magazine smaller water space for a pool features can or your budget St., Suite Molly’s Rise add 103) “Fountains and Shine (236 can be enjoyed comforting and picturesqu won’t allow it, other, such8 as Magazine e elements. underwate The Ruby Slipper St.) r lighting year-round,” Abadie says. With the — they can Abadie also Cafe (2802 right lighting Magazinenotes The Rum House (312 “It’s pretty St.) the sound of water be enjoyed any time of — day, he has a calming 8 Magazine St.) amazing,” he says. effect on many adds.

“Water is magical The Vintage (31 people. and soothing.”

21 Magazine St.) Stein’s Market and Deli (2207 Magazine St.)

RESERVE SPACE

MAY 21

TOP LEFT: Mike and Angel elevated seating Patron’s backyard in Mandeville areas.

ABOVE: A secluded pool

at the Marigny

home belonging

features a pool,

to Csaba Lukacs

water fountain

and

and David Lummis

ISSUE DATE

JUNE 1

Rates begin at $150 Contact Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

Cobrafire (which is a little different than a regular armagnac), a raspberry shrub and mint.

Cure is partners with the hotel owners in the bar. The bar occupies what used to be a drawing room, and there’s a walk-up bar with some tables and banquettes. There also are tables on a slate patio.

The bar will be open Thursday through Sunday until 10 p.m. to start.

It is the second new business opened by Cure Co. during the pandemic. Vals opened in June 2020 after the project had been in development for five years. Cure was originally shutdown, along with other bars throughout the state, in the first wave of the coronavirus lockdown.

Since it serves food, Bodenheimer was able to get a conditional restaurant license for it. Cane & Table has continued to operate as a restaurant.

— WILL COVIELLO

New Parish JAMAICAN FLAGS ARE FLYING HIGH

over Oak Street. In the open kitchen, chef Charles Blake is getting down into the roots of his native Jamaican cooking. Upstairs in the lounge, his wife Lauren Blake is planning out the possibilities for the next event or private party.

The Jamaican restaurant 14 Parishes opened its second location in late April. For the past few years, the Blakes have been based in the Pythian Market, and they continue to operate their stand in the downtown food hall.

The new home is at 8227 Oak St., which was previously home to a Mellow Mushroom pizzeria, in the middle of a stretch of neighborhood businesses. Just up the street, Seafood Sally’s is another new restaurant from chef Marcus Jacobs and Caitlin Carney, founders of MidCity’s popular Marjie’s Grill. Cowbell, the longtime burger specialist by the end of Oak, just reopened for limited takeout service after a long pandemic hiatus.

For the Blakes, the new location is a big step up. For two years, 14 Parishes had a location on Clio Street in Central City, just off St. Charles Avenue. It closed in 2018, and the food hall became their full operation.

On Oak Street, Charles has a much bigger kitchen space. That means a menu anchored by coconut shrimp, beef patty meat pies, robustly seasoned jerk chicken plates and hearty oxtails has a lot more room to grow.

“This restaurant sets up a platform for us to do a lot more stuff,” Charles says.

The opening menu has jerk duck and jerk ribs. Here, the chef can serve whole roasted snapper in brown stew, with sides like spinach

rice and the Jamaican fry bread called festival, which has the golden, airy-crisp texture of a beignet.

Smoked herring, a traditional island flavor, is the centerpiece for his version of a charcuterie board, replacing the cured meats with the smoky fish dip, different cheeses, spicy pepper jelly, olives and crackers.

The restaurant has a downstairs bar that’s dedicated to rum cocktails, and another bar in the upstairs lounge.

The rum drinks include the Surrey, a mellow sipper with rum, ginger beer and muddled orange, and a rum punch with a trace of cherry syrup mixed with fruit juices and light and dark rums.

The upstairs bar is set up as a lounge, with one balcony over Oak Street and another running along the side.

The restaurant name refers to the 14 parishes that make up Jamaica.

St. Catherine Parish, near the capital of Kingston, is where Charles grew up, the youngest of four boys.

His mother instilled self-reliance in them, and that included how to cook.

“I cooked with her, then every Sunday mom would say, ‘I’m going to church, you’re in charge of dinner. If you burn it nobody eats,’ ” Charles recalls He moved to New York and later to Atlanta, where he ran his own restaurant. That’s where he met Lauren, and eventually they moved to her native New Orleans.

Things looked bleak when the pandemic hit and downtown emptied overnight. Their usual business at the food hall vanished.

But before long, they began revving back up. Their regular customers still wanted their favorite dishes, and they reached new customers.

“Takeout is the whole reason we’re here today,” Lauren says.

That’s one lesson they’ve built into the Oak Street restaurant. It has a dedicated takeout station, with a separate entrance for delivery services and people picking up their own orders. They plan to begin takeout service in the weeks ahead as staffing ramps up.

These are edgy times to open a new restaurant, but Charles says his wife provides the motivation and leadership to make it happen.

“Like she says, if it’s meant for us, it’s for us. If we don’t try we’ll never know,” the chef says. “So you walk out on this tiny branch and you see that it holds us, and you walk out a little farther, and it keeps holding us.” — IAN McNULTY / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE | THE NEW ORLEANS ADVOCATE

EAT+DRINK

21

T. Cole Newton Bar owner/author T. COLE NEWTON CAME TO NEW ORLEANS after Hurricane Katrina

to help the city rebuild. He later realized he had an aptitude for bartending and cocktail mixology and worked at Commander’s Palace and Coquette. In 2010, he opened his cocktail dive bar Twelve Mile Limit in Mid-City, and added the wine bar The Domino in Bywater in 2019. This week, he releases “Cocktail Dive Bar: Real Drinks, Fake History & Questionable Advice from New Orleans’s Twelve Mile Limit.” It includes classic, original and exotic drinks mostly from Twelve Mile, along with observations on running a high-end cocktail program, some bar science and what bars can do to keep patrons safe and be a positive force in their neighborhoods. There’s a staggered book release event at Twelve Mile on Wednesday, May 12.

Find details on eventbrite.com.

How has the “cocktail dive bar” concept worked?

T. COLE NEWTON: I wanted the book to capture the spirit of the bar. We have these nice things. We can do sophisticated cocktails. We have an award-winning, world-class cocktail program, but that’s secondary to what we’re trying to do.

We want to be a causal, approachable neighborhood bar.

There are people who have come in and are like, “Oh, you don’t have this particular demerara rum, you’re not that fancy a cocktail bar.” And on the other end of the spectrum there are people who come in and (are surprised to) see we have a cocktail list at all. But the vast majority are in the middle. Creating a space where all those people feel comfortable is what most people want. Most people don’t want a $15 cocktail that takes 20 minutes to make. They want an $8 cocktail that takes a minute to make and tastes almost as good. A good cocktail now is better than a perfect cocktail in 10 minutes.

There are a lot of places that insist on making every cocktail to order for every guest — one at a time.

Sometimes you have that guest who wants to see the whole process and engage in dialog with the bartender about why it works and why the measurements are the way they are and see everything go into the shaker. But even in the highest-end cocktail bars, most people don’t care. The finished product is the important thing.

I do nerd out on some things, like I do think the size and shape of ice is important. But it is one small factor. The same with proper glassware, and I talk about the difference between a flute and a coupe. Your drink is more aromatic in a coupe, but you lose carbonation faster.

There is an appreciable difference between those two things, but it’s such a small thing to get hung up on. Ultimately, if your cocktail is not a good cocktail, it’s not because you put it in the wrong glass.

RIDGEWOOD

PREPARATORY SCHOOL Knowledge • Wisdom • Discipline

How have some of the book’s exotic cocktails gone over at the bar?

N: They’re (all) included because I represented the totality of the Twelve Mile experience. Some of it is weird and different and some of the ingredients are difficult to find, but a lot of it is easy and approachable.

There’s a drink in there called the Cosa Nostra. It has Carpano Antic Vermouth, fernet, Catdaddy spiced moonshine and Smith & Cross, which is a funky Jamaican rum. It’s a weird drink. It’s not an entry-level drink. It’s not something I would put the Bud Light drinker on first. But it had a niche following.

There was a night when I was bartending and a guest came in and ordered a Cosa Nostra. I prepared it, and they hated it. The guest was very clear, “This drink is terrible.” I said, “Some people like it, it’s not for everybody.” And he said “No. You cannot serve this.” And then 10 minutes later, the same guest was like, “Are y’all hiring?”

The example (of a badly named drink) I use in the book is a Spitfire. It’s basically a Fireball French 75. Being a French 75 drink, they’re typically named after military hardware. The Spitfire was a plane. The drink has Fireball in it. But if you don’t know that a Spitfire was a vintage fighter plane and you don’t know that this is a French 75 variation, then Spitfire isn’t necessarily an appealing name for a drink on its own. And recognize that your Fireball drinkers and your fancy Champagne drinkers — that Venn diagram might not have that much overlap. I think that name was part of the reason that drink didn’t do as well as we thought it would.

P H OTO B Y PAT R I C K N I D D R I E

The book addresses making bars safer, such as addressing sexual assault.

What can bars do?

N: Organizations are becoming more pro-active. Bars and restaurants are learning that they need to do it. They’re learning that just being “neutral” is not a viable option, but by and large, I don’t think enough places actively intervene until things are out of hand. It’s rare that you’re going to see something happen that’s like, “That’s an active assault taking place right now!” It’s about being able to get out in front of these things and prevent that from happening to begin with. Like having signs in bathrooms, and both bathrooms if you have gendered bathrooms. People will know that the bartenders and the staff are looking out for it — creating a space where guests know that interventions will be welcome and appreciated.

Not only does it make people feel safe and welcome in your bar, but it prevents it to begin with. That’s one of the things about bystander intervention as a strategy in preventing power-based personal violence.

People don’t go from zero to violent rape; they test the waters. If they are checked at any point in that process, they’re less likely to escalate to the next stage. — WILL COVIELLO

We are currently accepting applications for the 2021-2022 academic year.

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

201 Pasadena Avenue Metairie, LA 70001 ridgewoodprep.com

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3-COURSE INTERVIEW

OUT EAT TO

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

Updates: email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.

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

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

CARROLLTON Mid City Pizza — 6307 S. Miro St., (504) 509-6224; midcitypizza.com — See MidCity section for restaurant description.

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

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

FAUBOURG MARIGNY Kebab — 2315 St. Claude Ave., (504) 3834328; kebabnola.com — The sandwich shop offers doner kebabs and Belgian fries. A falafel sandwich comes with pickled cucumbers, arugula, spinach, red onions, beets, hummus and Spanish garlic sauce. No reservations. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Mon. $

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

Reservations recommended. Takeout available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$

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

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

LAKEVIEW The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 2842898; thebluecrabnola.com — The menu includes sandwiches, fried seafood platters, boiled seafood and more. The Blue Crab platter has fried shrimp, oysters, catfish and crab claws and either fried stuffed crab or soft-shell crab. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Tue.Sun. $$ Lakeview Brew Coffee Cafe — 5606 Canal Blvd., (504) 483-7001; lakeviewbrew. com — This casual cafe offers coffee, pastries, desserts, sandwiches and salads.

Tuna salad or chicken salad avocado melts are topped with Monterey Jack and Parmesan. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery are available. Breakfast and lunch daily. $

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

Capelli D’Andrea combines house-made angel hair pasta and smoked salmon in cream sauce. Curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. $$$ Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop — 2309 N. Causeway Blvd., Metairie, (504) 835-2022; gumbostop.com — The Seafood Platter comes with fried catfish, shrimp, oysters and crab balls and is accompanied by fries and choice of side. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Kosher Cajun New York Deli & Grocery — 3519 Severn Ave., Metairie, (504) 888-2010; koshercajun.com — This New York-style deli specializes in sandwiches, including corned beef and pastrami that come from the Bronx. Takeout available.

Lunch Sun.-Thu., dinner Mon.-Thu. $ Mark Twain’s Pizza Landing — 2035 Metairie Road, Metairie, (504) 832-8032; marktwainpizza.com — Mark Twain’s

serves salads, po-boys and pies like the Italian pizza with salami, tomato, artichoke, sausage and basil. Takeout and curbside pickup are available. Lunch Tue.Sat., dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Nephew’s Ristorante — 4445 W. Metairie Ave., Metairie, (504) 533-9998; nephewsristorante.com — Chef Frank Catalanotto is the namesake “nephew” who ran the kitchen at his late uncle Tony Angello’s restaurant. The Creole-Italian menu features dishes like veal, eggplant or chicken parmigiana, and Mama’s Eggplant with red gravy and Romano cheese. Reservations required. Dinner Tue.-Sat. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Short Stop Po-Boys — 119 Transcontinental Drive, Metairie, (504) 885-4572; shortstoppoboysno.com — The menu includes more than 30 po-boys along with other Louisiana staples. Fried Louisiana oysters and Gulf shrimp are served on a Leidenheimer loaf with lettuce, tomato, onions and pickles. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $

MID-CITY/TREME Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream.com — This sweet shop serves its own gelato, spumoni, Italian ice, cannolis, fig cookies and other treats. Window and curbside pickup. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Brown Butter Southern Kitchen & Bar — 231 N. Carrollton Ave., Suite C, (504) 609-3871; brownbutterrestaurant.com — Sample items include smoked brisket served with smoked apple barbecue sauce, smoked heirloom beans and vinegar slaw. A Brunch burger features a brisket and short rib patty topped with bacon, brie, a fried egg, onion jam and arugula on a brioche bun. Dine-in, takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$ Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — Favorites include the Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, grilled ham, cheese and pickles pressed on buttered bread. The Boudreaux pizza is topped with cochon de lait, spinach, red onions, roasted garlic and scallions. Takeout, curbside pickup and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Mid City Pizza — 4400 Banks St., (504) 483-8609; midcitypizza.com — The neighborhood pizza joint serves New York-style pies, plus calzones, sandwiches and salads. Signature shrimp remoulade pizza includes spinach, red onion, garlic, basil and green onion on an garlic-olive oil brushed curst. Dine-in, takeout and delivery available. Lunch Thu.-Sun., dinner Thu.-Mon. $$ Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes New Orleans favorites such as red beans with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as grilled or fried seafood plates, po-boys, raw or char-grilled oysters, pasta, salads and more. Dine-in and takeout available. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Nonna Mia — 3125 Esplanade Ave., (504) 948-1717; nonnamianola.com — A Divine Portobello appetizer features chicken breast, spinach in red pepper sauce and crostini. The menu includes salads, sandwiches, pasta, pizza and more. Curbside pickup and delivery are available. Dinner Tue.-Sun. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

NORTHSHORE Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $

UPTOWN CR Coffee Shop — 3618 Magazine St., (504) 354-9422; crcoffeenola.com — The selection includes Coast Roast coffees made with beans roasted in antique roasters, and the sweet vanilla cream cold brew is a signature item. There also are pastries and snacks. Indoor and outdoor seating, online ordering and delivery available. Open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. $ Joey K’s — 3001 Magazine St., (504) 8910997; joeyksrestaurant.com — ­ The menu includes fried seafood platters, salads, sandwiches and red beans and rice.

Sauteed trout Tchoupitoulas is topped with shrimp and crabmeat and served with vegetables and potatoes. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$ Red Gravy — 4206 Magazine St., (504) 561-8844; redgravycafe.com — Thin cannoli pancakes are filled with cannoli cream and topped with chocolate. The menu includes brunch items, pasta dishes, sandwiches, baked goods and more.

Takeout available. $$ Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; theospizza. com — See Harahan/Jefferson section for restaurant description. $ Tito’s Ceviche & Pisco — 5015 Magazine St., (504) 267-7612; titoscevichepisco.com — The Peruvian menu includes a version of the traditional dish lomo saltado, featuring beef tenderloin tips sauteed with onions, tomatoes, cilantro, soy sauce and pisco, and served with fried potatoes and rice. Dine-in, outdoor seating and delivery available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$

WAREHOUSE DISTRICT Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant. com — The menu highlights Gulf seafood in Creole, Cajun and Southern dishes.

Fried oysters and skewered bacon are served with meuniere sauce and toasted French bread. Reservations required.

Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$$ NOLA Caye — 898 Baronne St., (504) 302-1302; nolacaye.com — The menu features Caribbean-inspired dishes and Gulf seafood. Seared ahi tuna is served with mango, avocado, mixed greens, citrus vinaigrette and sesame seeds. Takeout, delivery and outdoor seating available. D daily, brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$

WEST BANK Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant. com — This family-style eatery serves shrimp Mosca, chicken a la grande and baked oysters Mosca, made with breadcrumbs and Italian seasonings. Curbside pickup available. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$ Specialty Italian Bistro — 2330 Belle Chasse Hwy., Gretna, (504) 391-1090; specialtyitalianbistro.com — The menu combines Old World Italian favorites and pizza. Paneed chicken piccata is topped with lemon-caper piccata sauce served with angel hair pasta, salad and garlic cheese bread. Takeout and delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $$

MUSIC

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

BY JAKE CLAPP SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TRUST YOUR

gut, even when it gives you a stomach ache, says David Shaw. It was something The Revivalists’ frontman had to work on while recording his debut solo album.

“You won’t necessarily be super stoked or feeling good about doing something, but that’s just anxiety,” Shaw says.

“And you can’t let that kind of thing trip you up.”

Shaw released his new album last Friday through Yokoko Records, his own imprint at C3 Records, and the New Orleans-based singer and guitarist is marking the release with a series of weekly live-streaming concerts on Mandolin.com. The next one is at 8 p.m. Friday, May 14, from the Marigny Opera House.

“David Shaw” is the first time the musician has headed out without the backbone of The Revivalists, the New Orleans rock band he co-founded in

2007. Over the years, he had written a collection of songs that didn’t feel quite right for The Revivalists — songs that were a little more personal to him or centered more around his voice and guitar — and decided it was time to put them on wax.

After a packed 2019, The Revivalists in January 2020 released the surprise EP “Made in Muscle Shoals” and had been discussing taking some time off after touring through the rest of the year. Shaw says he was planning on tackling the solo project during that break. But the pandemic hit and he capitalized on the unexpected downtime to go ahead and record his new album.

Shaw asked guitarist and co-writer Chris Gelbuda, guitarist and vocalist Neal Francis, bassist Mike Starr, and The Revivalists drummer PJ Howard to join him at The Parlor Recording Studio in town. And while it is Shaw’s

David Shaw performs with The Revivalists at the 2019 Jazz Fest. The singer-guitarist recently released his debut solo album.

name on the record and he had the direction of the album, the other musicians helped shape the sound.

“Everybody was on the same page and just serving the music and serving the songs,” Shaw says. “I’m not really this authoritarian type leader. I’m more like, let’s collaborate. I don’t play drums. I don’t play bass. I want to know what you’re going to do.”

“David Shaw” is indeed

very personal and highlights Shaw’s voice and acoustic guitar playing, but the album has a range of feel-good styles: fiery rock ’n’ roll, soul, funk, rhythm and blues and more. And there’s a staunch optimistic streak throughout.

“Oh, those walls are coming down / And I noticed the ground was shaking, shaking / But I’m still standing here,” he sings on the track “Shaken.”

Shaw is already a pretty introspective guy. He’s open about his addiction recovery and advocates for mental health care — National Alliance on Mental Illness is one of the organizations supported by The Revivalists’ Rev Causes fund. But, he says, going solo taught him more about himself musically, emotionally, and especially learning to trust his gut a little more.

“That’s the thing I’ve really been tuning into lately, is just going with those little things that just happen in life,” Shaw says. “But you’ve got to tune your compass and focus and intuition because you can also follow the wrong things and just mess yourself up.”

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PAGE 4

North Mississippi Hill Country blues chops. He performs at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at Tipitina’s. Tickets available at tipitinas.com.

Royal partnership SAXOPHONIST KHRIS ROYAL LEADS HIS FUNKY DARK MATTER band, and bounce stalwarts Partners-N-Crime perform at 10 p.m. Saturday, May 15, at The Howlin’ Wolf. Find tickets at thehowlinwolf.com.

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THE LOUISIANA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA’S FINAL INSTALLment in its Music at the Museum chamber ensemble season features works by composers Courtney Bryan and Aaron Copeland in the historic church space at St. Alphonsus Art & Cultural Center.

Bryan, a pianist and LPO creative partner, performs her piece “And What I Mean is This.” Carlos Miguel Prieto conducts the program, which also features violist Ila Rondeau. At 6 p.m. Thursday, May 13, at 2045 Constance St. Tickets are $35 at lpomusic.com.

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THE NEW ORLEANS KLEZMER ALLSTARS, a jazzy collective often featuring Jonathan Freilich, Ben Ellman, Joe Cabral and others, performs in the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, and meal boxes and drinks are available from Cafe NOMA and the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group. Gates open at 5:45 p.m. Friday, May 14, and music begins at 6:30 p.m. Find tickets at noma.org.

Heavy metal surf’s up

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NASHVILLE’S JOECEPHUS AND THE GEORGE JAMESTOWN Massacre bring ye olde timey heavy metal stylings to the lower Decatur den of iniquity Santos.

They’re joined by local psychedelic surf rock band the Unnaturals. Santos has been largely silent since the pandemic began and is only now starting to book shows. At 8 p.m.

Saturday, May 15, at Santos. Tickets are available at santosbar.com.

Loose Talk THE WIKIPEDIA PAGE FOR LOCAL ALT-COUNTRY GENTLEMEN Happy Talk Band describes their work as covering the “joys and pitfalls of booze, fist fighting, bank robbery, murder, religion, dope, exotic dancing, and family values,” or as it’s commonly known, “a Saturday

night in St Bernard Parish.” Which is quite the coincidence, since they’ll be performing for free in the backyard bar at Pirogue’s Whiskey Bayou (6940 St. Claude Ave.). At 8 p.m., Saturday, May 15. Visit pirogueswhiskeybayou.com for info.

Free jazz SINGER BANU GIBSON SPECIALIZES IN SWING AND THE JAZZ songs of the 1920s-’40s, putting her spin on songs by composers like George Gershwin and Duke Ellington. The New Orleans Jazz Museum hosts a concert by Gibson and her band and will live-stream the show in partnership with jazz organizations in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Buffalo, New York, and Pismo Beach, California. At 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15, and free to watch at facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum/live.

Art in the park AS PART OF EFFORTS TO REVITALIZE GENTILLY, the city is hosting an event at Gatto Playground with local artists that will feature creative activities with themes of water, remembrance, adaptation and ecology and the unveiling of plans for further public art and infrastructure projects in the area. Photographer Jose Cotto will offer to take residents’ portraits, and they can opt to have their photos featured in a display at Filmore Playground. On Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1929 Wildair Drive.

Byproducts BJ’S HOSTS ITS MONTHLY OUTDOOR MARKET, Bywater Bazaar, with vendors offering art, vintage items, books, clothes, decor and baked goods on Sunday, May 16.

There’s also a tropical photo booth, on-demand poetry and Hawaiian food by Aloha Nola and snowballs courtesy of The Snoball Lady.

Masks are required. From noon to 5 p.m. at 4301 Burgundy St.

Strung out NEW ORLEANS BIRDFOOT FESTIVAL OF CHAMBER MUSIC continues with a virtual concert and discussion with Boston’s Borromeo String Quartet. The group performs Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor, a piece he completed after a bout with illness and reflecting on recovery. The performance is at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 16. Visit birdfootfestival.org for the Zoom link.

FILM

BY WILL COVIELLO IN THE MID- TO LATE1970S , some seminal

punk bands put their city’s scenes on the map. The Sex Pistols and The Clash exploded out of London. The Ramones represented New York, and the Dead Kennedys emerged from San Francisco.

Washington, D.C., had its own tight-knit scene, and Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Henry Rollins came out of it. The scene became known for things including slam dancing and straight-edge punks who didn’t drink, but it also accrued some unflattering nicknames, like “teenie punk.”

Directors James June Schneider and Paul Bishow’s documentary “Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement,” explores the formation of the D.C. punk scene from 1976 through 1984 in a film full of great footage from the era and interviews with Ian MacKaye, Rollins, members of Bad Brains and many more.

The film is grounded in the insider’s view of many members of early bands that built the scene. There is great footage of Bad Brains performing in the graffiti-covered walls of Madam’s Organ in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. There’s also clips of sweaty and shirtless MacKaye performing with Minor Threat as fans crawl on stage and dive back into the crowd. But there are many more interviews with members of early bands such as the Slickee Boys, Untouchables, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs, and even a clip from the Enzymes. The film also gets perspective from other contributors to the scene, from record store owners, ‘zine makers and the founders of the D.C. punk scene’s most important label, Dischord Records.

In many ways, the project looks like a yearbook or scrapbook. Many people in the community kept their photos, zines, posters, fliers, tapes and all the other byproducts of time spent in local bands.

The growth of a punk scene in D.C. did and didn’t make sense. The town wasn’t particularly well known for music outside of its signature go-go music and a bluegrass scene. The city was better known for its mild-mannered bureaucrats, and it wasn’t uncommon for teens joining punk bands to have parents working in the federal government. While some bands raged against the political machine, others stuck to singing about girls and cars, Rollins says. At

P H OTO P R OV I D E D B Y JAM ES J U N E SCH N EIDER

Teen Idles with Henry Rollins (right).

first, the only club that would book punk shows was a place called the Keg, though soon, the 9:30 Club opened and became a beacon for the D.C. music scene.

Regardless of where punk went, it looks tame in hindsight. There are some short spiky haircuts and skateboards, and Dischord co-founder Jeff Nelson apparently liked to light things on fire. But many of the scenesters wore leather jackets over preppy clothes. There were a lot of young musicians, and some bands broke up when members decamped to college. Howard Wuelfing, a bassist for the Slickee Boys, Half Japanese and other bands, says the scene was full of “sweet, intelligent … collector nerds.”

The film pays attention to both the people who became more influential, like MacKaye and Rollins, and those whose names are less commonly known outside of D.C. Its portrait of the scene includes the jostling of groups, including punk’s intersection with the pro-marijuana legalization Yippie movement. This chapter of the punk story ends after media coverage of the scene started to attract more and more kids from the suburbs and skinheads to the scene, and before MacKaye’s Fugazi launched. There are fast and furious one-minute punk songs and plenty of grainy old film footage, but the documentary is a great look at the organic ways a music scene can come together as a bunch of creative and driven people try to make something new.

“Punk the Capital: Building a Sound Movement” premieres virtually this week and is available via a link at zeitgeistnola.org on May 14.

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BY KAYLEE POCHE ERIC NGUYEN SAYS HE KNEW FOR A LONG TIME he wanted to write a book

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about Vietnamese refugees, like his parents, who came to the United States during and after the Vietnam War. But it wasn’t until he visited New Orleans in 2012 and learned about the city’s Vietnamese community that he got the inspiration he needed to begin writing.

“That community gave my story a skeleton to work on, which I could fill in,” he said. “Once I got to learn more about them, I felt like they had a really powerful story. I learned that they were really resilient … so I felt inspired to kind of tell a story that takes place in that community [while] also pulling from my own family’s history.”

Nearly a decade later, Nguyen’s debut book “Things We Lost to the Water” (Penguin Random House) is out in the world.

The book follows the lives of a fictional Vietnamese family who escapes the Vietnam War by boat and settles in New Orleans in 1978.

At the time, the mother, Huong, has a young son and is pregnant with another. Their father is supposed to come with them but ends up staying behind at the last second — for reasons none of them understand.

The culmination of Nguyen’s parents’ experiences immigrating to the U.S., the experience of New Orleans’ Vietnamese community and his own experience growing up as a Vietnamese American is a gripping tale of identity, family, love and loss.

The book alternates between the perspectives of Huong, her older son Tuan and her younger son Binh, who later goes by Ben. Though all of them have shared experiences, their experiences living in New Orleans are all significantly different. The result is a web of complicated family dynamics as they not only grapple with understanding themselves and their own identities in a new country, but also each other.

Huong is only in her 20s when she comes to the city, suddenly a single mother raising two sons on her own.

She works most of the time and is constantly worrying about her sons and whether she’s doing a good job raising them. She doesn’t always communicate that, however, and sometimes her actions come across as harsh or judgmental to her sons.

Tuan has childhood memories of his father and growing up in Vietnam, although they fade as he gets older. As a teenager, he ends up getting involved with The Southern Boyz, a local gang that touts its

Vietnamese pride, in a search for both a connection to Vietnam and a sense of belonging. Though over time, he grows to doubt the members’ claims about the country.

“They all came to America as kids and spent more time in New Orleans than Saigon. How much could they remember?” Nguyen writes. “There must have been a limit, a moment of transition when they were more American than Vietnamese, and there was no going back. Maybe they were fighting that, he thought, then he wondered what the point of fighting it was.”

But Nguyen says the character he relates to most of all is Ben, who grows up never having visited Vietnam and aspires to become a writer to learn more about the country he never knew and forge his own identity as a queer Vietnamese American. Nguyen grew up in the D.C. area and came to McNeese State University in Lake Charles to get his Master of Fine Arts.

“Even though the whole story was not based on my biography, that was like the most intimate part of my own story that I put into the story,” he says. Perhaps that’s why Ben’s storyline is one of the most compelling in the novel.

As the title suggests, “Things We Lost to the Water” is about loss, and arguably the biggest loss that runs throughout the book is the absence of Cong, the children’s father and Huong’s husband. Though he’s absent from the book, he’s a lingering presence, and how the family members respond to his absence helps shape the people they become. When the children do something of which she disapproves, Huong asks them, “What would your father think?”

P H OTO B Y T I M C O B U R N

“He functions mostly as a symbol of something that is missing from the family’s lives that they might not be able to get a hold of.” Nguyen says.

“I definitely tried to make him like a ghost in a way — without that supernaturalness to it, but just a lingering thought of this father is what haunts them. This lingering thought of a heritage, of a family, of a country, is what kind of haunts the book.”

Water also acts as a character throughout the book, tying Vietnam and New Orleans together. First, when the family and others escape Vietnam by boat, in the bayou near the Versailles apartment complex where they live with other immigrants, the pool in Gentilly where Ben has his first kiss, the beach in Vietnam they used to go to as a family, and then at the end: Hurricane Katrina.

Nguyen says water plays an important role in Vietnam, a coastal country. In Vietnamese, “nuoc” means both “water” and “country.”

Like Louisiana, Vietnam has a seafood economy, and residents of both places understand that while water can be life-giving and a source of fun, it can also be dangerous.

“It was very natural that a Vietnamese American story takes place in Louisiana,” he says, “just because of that history, that relationship with water as both something that is completely necessary for life, but it can also ... hurt you, can maybe kill you in the end.”

Nguyen has several virtual book release events this week. See his Instagram (@ericnguyenisok) for details.

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE TWELVE OF DIAMONDS

By Frank A. Longo

30 Calamari prepared by a San Francisco baseballer?

34 Atlanta baseballer’s collection of Kia cars?

38 Son of Isaac 39 Watch slyly 41 — Park (home of Edison) 42 Attys.’ gp.

45 “Scorpio” co-star Delon 48 Chicago baseballer moonlighting as a journalist?

51 Detroit baseballer’s Easter flowers?

54 Vaping item 55 Designer von Fürstenberg

56 Like many tiny headphones 57 Put the — (try to coerce) 59 Oomph 63 Gold lumps 65 Money owed by a Washington baseballer?

68 Tether again 69 Actor Quinn 70 OshKosh — (kids’ clothing brand) 71 What a Minnesota baseballer sleeps on?

75 Enormous 78 Latin “to be” 79 Litigious sorts 80 Taunt 82 Article in Ulm

PR

IC

E

84 Pioneer Boone, briefly 85 Cincinnati baseballer’s chewy candy?

87 Something a St. Louis baseballer confesses?

93 “Oh My My” singer Ringo 94 Ending with cash 95 Kitchen range brand 96 Warhol and Roddick 98 Pixar’s lost swimmer 100 Kansas City baseballer’s toast topper?

103 Pennant won by a Pittsburgh baseballer?

109 President pro — 110 Right-angled pipe joint 111 Sleek, in brief 112 1993 Nobelist Morrison 113 Some wind players 116 Florida baseballer’s rod-and-reel activity?

121 Web page for aficionados 122 Figure skating leaps 123 Sideways 124 Felt hats 125 Dog strap 126 Single bill 127 “Nuts” actor Wallach DOWN 1 Jenny with a diet plan 2 Singer LaBelle 3 Women’s golf star Lorena 4 Enemy 5 Filming locale 6 Bi- minus one 7 Member of a Kenyan tribe 8 Plant pests 9 “Fe” element 10 Saldana of “Guess Who” 11 Type widths 12 No. 2 in a statehouse 13 Burn — in one’s pocket 14 Vietnamese New Year 15 — Jima 16 Search to find a criminal 17 Actress Getty 18 Subsidize 20 Exact copy 24 Grand — (wine type) 28 Riviera resort 31 Old autocrat

GARDEN DISTRICT OFFICE 2016, 2017 & 2020

32 — Mae (loan offerer) 33 Charmingly oldfashioned 34 Sch. in Provo 35 Pilfer from 36 Smelly city air 37 Atop, in odes 40 Old IBM products 42 Noshed on 43 The top story 44 Rabbitlike rodents 46 Lands in eau 47 Actress Vardalos 49 MBA subj.

50 — colada 52 Motor 53 Some Muppet dolls 57 Just one little bite 58 — Tin Tin 59 More antsy 60 10th-century pope 61 Lack 62 Final degree 64 Sparkly rock 66 Spots on TV 67 16-oz. units 68 Numbered rd.

69 Pt. of ETA 72 Clumsy — ox 73 Skipjack, e.g.

74 Reveal everything 75 Grain in ale 76 South Korean airline

ABR, CRS, GRI, SFR, SRS

77 Confidential 81 Koch and Asner 83 Always, in odes 84 Old TV part 85 Letters after Sen. Javits’ name 86 “It’s either you —!”

87 Haul away 88 One-celled organisms 89 Actor Burr 90 Genetic stuff 91 Skit show since ’75 92 Mount — (Charley Weaver’s home) 97 Hexes 99 “King — Hill” 101 Volkswagen model 102 Somebody — problem 104 From Erin 105 Actor Ely 106 French river 107 Record of a single year 108 2003 Ben Affleck flop 111 Field of study 114 Propyl lead-in 115 Tristan’s title 116 Bad, to Luc 117 Hatchet, e.g.

118 “Alice” spinoff 119 Holm of film 120 Holy Mlle.

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 23

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 “— Sharkey” (’70s sitcom) 4 Winter bug 7 Corn, to Brits 12 SoCal daily paper 19 Mammal with a black mask 21 Cook’s wear 22 Ant-Man’s partner in a 2018 superhero film 23 Oakland baseballer’s footwear?

25 Boarded, as a train 26 Langston Hughes poem 27 Stuff hitting an umbrella 28 Fa-la linkup 29 Coop female

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