I know what it means to miss New Orleans.  All it takes is one visit, and the energy there will hook you in.  It’s everything Andrei Codrescu says, and it even has that same mad, manic lyricism that characterizes his descriptions.  There are moments in any visit that are just outrageous, rather impossible to replicated anywhere else on earth, and also very funny.  It’s a funny city.  There are more than a few stories of tragedies that have passed through here, too, of course, and they give a very definite bite to the sweetness here, and that’s probably part of the charm.  There are plenty of luxury hotels in New Orleans that are perfect for anyone with a more discerning taste in accommodations, and plenty of hospitality.

The history of music in the U.S. has its pattern echoed here.  It’s been home to some of the greatest musicians the past century has seen, and the rest of them seem to pass through here at one time or another.  It’s impossible to talk about the city and the music without mentioning the great Buddy Bolden.  He’s considered by most to be the real Father of Jazz, and it’s actually difficult to see exactly why.  His work was never recorded, but everyone who plays the style will admit their enormous debt to him, and his life is as mysterious as the city itself.

His instrument was the cornet, and he played by ear, picking up pieces from memory and then infusing them with other styles, including blues and gospel, and developed something that would change the history of music.  He also died a pauper.  After playing for only a few years, less than a decade, he was hospitalized for dementia related to alcohol, although schizophrenia was also part of the diagnosis.  His story is remarkable, and has been told a few times with deftness, but I personally like Gus Edwards version of his life the best, capturing the elusiveness of the quest to find his traces, along with some fantastic stories about one of the great figures in New Orleans.

Related posts:

  1. New Orleans Has a Jazz National Historical Park
  2. The Donkey Lady of San Antonio
  3. Durty Nellie’s Chicago
  4. Cincinnati’s Blegen Guest

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