| September 1st, 2005 05:39 AM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
New Orleans musicians plan jazz fest parades
September 1, 2005
BY MARK STRYKER
FREE PRESS MUSIC WRITER
At a moment when the future of New Orleans hangs in the balance, at least two vibrant slices of Crescent City soul, Dr. John and the Regal Brass Band, remain committed to performing at the Detroit International Jazz Festival this weekend.
The Regal Brass Band is scheduled to kick off the festival at 7 p.m. Friday at Campus Martius Park and then lead parades between Hart Plaza and Campus Martius at 3:15 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
As the Regal Brass Band marches proudly down Woodward Avenue during its twice-daily parades, the music should resonate as a heroic tribute to New Orleans' storied place in the history books as the cradle of jazz.
Officials at Music Hall were unsure whether the Regal Brass Band, one of New Orleans' leading parade bands, would be able to make it to Detroit as late as Wednesday afternoon because bandleader and saxophonist Lajoie (Butch) Gomez had not been able to locate three of the band's six musicians.
Then Gomez sent an e-mail to festival artistic director Frank Malfitano:
"We are going to put on a helluva show," wrote Gomez, who had evacuated to Atlanta. "I found one of my drummers in Houston, my tuba player in Panama City, my trombone player is flying in from Japan today. He's flying into Dallas and going straight to Detroit. He has no idea if he has a house.
"We will have a really good band. The energy is very high, and I have people standing by to fill in the empty spaces, but I am finding my guys as time goes on.
"Frank, we are very pumped up to put on a very good show. We will not have uniforms, but maybe we can get some festival T-shirts to wear, and we might need a bass drum and snare drum to use but I am working on that.
"We all feel it will be really good therapy to play the festival and to represent New Orleans at a time like this."
The Regal Brass Band is slated to kick off the festival at 7 p.m. Friday at Campus Martius Park and then lead exuberant parades between Hart Plaza and Campus Martius twice daily at 3:15 and 8 p.m. through the duration of the festival on Monday.
Malfitano, who has been a close friend of Gomez and the Regal Brass Band for years, said the e-mail had him fighting back tears.
New Orleans is as important to a jazz festival as the roots of a tree are to its branches. But the influence in Detroit is more than a metaphor this year.
The 26-year-old festival -- the largest free jazz festival in North America -- has launched a geographic and aesthetic expansion inspired directly by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
To broaden the festival's appeal, new stages have been added this year at Campus Martius and the Spirit of Detroit statue devoted to R&B, blues and other roots forms in the manner of the New Orleans event.
Meanwhile, the core jazz festival remains anchored at Hart Plaza.
The impact of Hurricane Katrina has transformed the usual pre-festival atmosphere from celebration to concern.
A shaken Dr. John said from a hotel room in Minneapolis, where he was on tour, that it was a difficult time for anyone from New Orleans.
Dr. John -- the rollicking New Orleans-born pianist and raspy vocalist also known as Mac Rebennack -- remains as much a part of New Orleans' cultural soul as okra-laced gumbo, even if he now lives on Long Island, N.Y.
"We all have people there, and there's no way to find out if they're OK," he said.
"But, listen," he continued, "I'm just grateful that the music is still the good side of it all. Music comes from the spiritual kingdom. ... I want people to know that we'll be there with the music. We know that's the one good thing we can bring and we know the world needs it.
"And Detroit is a special place for us," he said. "We got some early breaks there, and a lot of people in Detroit were open to what we do."
Now with the founding city of jazz under water, many observers worry that a critical chapter of jazz history may disappear like the lost city of Atlantis.
Detroit reedman Charlie Gabriel, 73, who was born in New Orleans, lamented the destruction of the historic home for traditional jazz at Preservation Hall and the possible loss of the extensive archives of jazz history at Tulane University.
And yet he also said the music would help rebuild the city.
"If you go back into the slavery time, people were free in the spirit of their music," he said.
"Jazz came through the field into the church and then into the clubs. The spirit of the music is going to save that city."
Contact MARK STRYKER at 313-222-6459 or [email protected]. |
| September 1st, 2005 06:44 AM |
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| albert |
I hope music can contribute to rebuilding this city.
What a disaster has happened over there; terrible pictures we've seen over here.
Albert
Holland |
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