“Summertime, and the livin' is easy,” goes the first line of George Gershwin’s amazing 1934 aria “Summertime,” one of the most popular jazz standards of all time. Summer is a wonderful time for evening strolls to take in the sights and sounds of New Orleans, dipping in to cool your heels and treating yourself to a refreshing sip and live music now and then.
Kim Welsh
Oscar Dunn, America’s Forgotten First Black Lieutenant Governor
March 07, 2022
A significant political figure in Reconstructionist Louisiana, Oscar James Dunn, rose to prominence after the Civil War, becoming the first black lieutenant governor, serving Louisiana from 1868 to 1871. After his untimely death in 1871, Dunn faded into obscurity. Until recently, there were no monuments, statues, or streets named for him in New Orleans. In Jul.
Lift a Glass to Springtime in New Orleans
March 07, 2022
Springtime in New Orleans is one vibrant celebration after another, and we are all more than eager to get out and kick up our heels! Flowers are blooming, the days are longer, we feel the first teases of summer weather, and we have never been so ready! The French Quarter is a wonderful place to take a leisurely stroll to visit classic establishments, local favorites, and a few hidden gems!
Shaking Up the Classics
March 07, 2022
Anna Tusa, owner of Briquette, was brainstorming over cocktails, thinking of creative ways to engage her guests in a small-group setting in her restaurant. “Why not do craft cocktail classes over lunch or dinner? We have a ton of great food tours, cocktail tours, and ghost tours, so why not a craft cocktail class paired with a three-course lunch or brunch?” From those pandemic ponderings, Tusa begun the Shaken Up NOLA Craft Cocktail Classes in 2022. The class is the best of both worlds, a food tour and a cocktail tour meshed with live demonstration and education in a relaxed environment.
Preserving and Promoting New Orleans Art, Music, and Culture
March 07, 2022
Founded in 2014, Gallatin Street Records is a record label of the New Orleans Jazz Museum directed toward the continued preservation and promotion of New Orleans music, art, and culture.
Zydeco’s Royal Family
March 07, 2022
Everyone is out this spring at the many festivals offered and the choices for music and food are mind-boggling! While you are out and about, be sure to dip into an explosive set of zydeco music and you won’t be able to resist the urge to dance! Zydeco music is a bubbling, melodic gumbo concocted from Cajun and Acadian music stirred together with Afro-Caribbean rhythms and call-and-response songcraft. “The only way you could be more funky is if you’d been born a skunk,” claims local music icon Cyril Neville of The Neville Brothers.
Connecting Cultures through Music
December 07, 2021
The French Academy in Rome was founded in 1666 by Louis XIV and served from the 17th to 19th centuries as the pinnacle of study for select French artists who, having won the prestigious Prix de Rome (Rome Prize), were honored with a scholarship in the Eternal City for the purpose of the study of art and architecture. In 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte moved it to the Villa Medici with the intention of providing young French artists the opportunity to see and copy the masterpieces of the Antiquity and the Renaissance and send back to Paris the results of the inspiration they had gained in Rome.
Pack Santa’s Sack Along the French Market District Colonnade
December 07, 2021
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! My girlfriend, Sarah, and I always vow to give back to our community we love by doing all of our holiday shopping with local businesses. We love supporting the shops who give back to the city where we live, work, and play…this year more than ever. Our favorite wonderland is the French Quarter, so we always look forward to a shopping extravaganza there during the holidays. We shop till we drop, stop for lunch, and shop some more.
Reveillon on the Rocks: A Toast to a New Year
December 07, 2021
Let’s toast to the New Year! May all your joys be true joys, and all your pain champagne! What a year 2021 has been! Yet New Orleans is always a place for celebration, and we will be among the first to pop a champagne cork or toast with a drink crafted for the season. The “holidaze” and cocktails go together like gumbo and filé! At this most festive time of year, cheers and toasts abound! Pop that cork at one of our local brand-new or classic traditional bars for holiday memories to cherish. There’s always a reason to gather with friends and family to toast each other and celebrate life.
The Human Canvas: Fine Art Body Painting
December 07, 2021
Craig Tracy, born and raised in New Orleans, is the owner of Craig Tracy’s Fine Art Body Painting Gallery. He has always known he would be an artist, and credits New Orleans’ authentic and vibrant culture as a significant factor in his passion, creativity and bliss. His family’s photo album is filled with images, capturing moments of the family members ritually painting each other’s faces for Mardi Gras, when individuality and self-adornment are considered standard practice.
Drinking in the Spirits of New Orleans
September 30, 2021
When my friends come to town, invariably their first question is “Where is an interesting and unique place to go for a drink?” shortly followed by “Will you meet us there?” Therefore I thought it may be helpful to share two of my favorite new bars, as well as one of my most beloved staples from the past decade.
